Until very recently, gravel was something you shovelled onto the driveway. Now though – in case you’ve been burying your head in a pile of it recently – it’s a kind of riding. One that blurs the lines between XC mountain biking, cyclo-cross, and road riding. To their proponents (and they now include once mtb-only stalwarts like Evil and most recently, YT Industries) gravel bikes deliver the kind of speed-over-the-ground thrills of a road bike, but on natural terrain and flowy singletrack.
To their detractors, they are road bikes out of their element and the best way to spoil a good mountain bike ride.
So who has it right? Time for to step in and deliver a verdict on gravel riding… totally unbiased, of course. You can completely disregard
