ALL WHYTE ON THE NIGHT…
Stretching from rough commuter roads to mountain bike territory, the ‘gravel’ category covers a vast range of potential uses and riders. Unsurprisingly that means manufacturers are lining up various options. While geometry, fixtures, tyre clearance and performance priorities are important to finding the right bike, one of the main decisions is whether you go for a bike with a double or single chainring.
Running a single chainring with a wide-range cassette first caught on in mountain biking. The front mech-free simplicity suits wider tyres and the sudden changes of speed and terrain make bigger jumps between gears an advantage. Whyte was one of the first manufacturers to produce ‘SCR’ – Single Chain Ring – mountain bikes to maximise the clearance and stiffness advantages of gaining extra space in the bottom bracket area. So who better to get a pair of bikes from?
Whyte also pushed SCR early in its cyclocross bikes – proto-gravel machines that pioneered fat tyre compatibility and long, slack geometry – before single rings became standard in cross. Along with 3T, Whyte also went early on the road with 1x, but the big gaps between gears have always been a harder sell here. Even single-ring evangelist SRAM has softened its zealotry on gravel, introducing Wide Range 2x partly as a response to the success of Shimano’s 2x GRX gravel components.
But while gears are the obvious difference between Whyte’s Friston and Dean ‘adventure/gravel’
