GRAVEL WITHOUT THE GRIND

Gravel is now firmly established as a great way to get you riding away from the trauma of traffic and a means to open up a whole new range of o"-piste route options. But with longer and tougher events being added to the calendar all the time, what if your range is restricted by your fitness or other factors? We met up with Debs Goodall, from Yorkshire True Grit events, for a sneak preview of the 100-mile Five Forests event route taking Whyte’s Fazua motor-powered Gosport and human-powered Gisburn to see how electric and epic compare.

ESCAPE AND EVATION

As we roll out from Spiers House Cafe in Cropton, any worries about e-bikes shattering the peace of the forest are quickly dispelled. Even in ‘Rocket’, the most powerful of its three modes, the Fazua Evation motor of the Gosport is a barely audible whir that’s lost in the crackle of frozen snow patches. It’s aesthetically ‘quiet’, too, totally hidden away in a chunky down tube with only a small remote on the bars as a giveaway. Whyte has fitted the Gosport with chunky, fashionably tan wall WTB rubber on 27.5in wheels to draw attention away from its pregnant frame. With a top tube bag and seatpack fitted it’s a good-looking machine with similar ‘rugged intention’ kerb appeal to an SUV soft roader. It’s not just a cosmetic move either as more air volume in the 47mm tyres helps soften