The rise and rise of gravel racing and gravel riding is well-documented across the pages and feeds of cycling media. You could argue that gravel riding started as the antithesis to road; a lukewarm counter-culture to a sport often stifled by rules. An escape from the UCI was freedom, it was wind in the hair, it was outside, it was bikes. Gravel was finding your own way on two wheels, away from the pressures to race. Instead, it was about you and the outdoors – and probably some close friends. As a close friend once reminded me, the best gravel bike is whatever you are riding right now.
But we all know bikes do make a difference and the bike industry made sure they evolved to suit. Cyclists remained cyclists and sure enough gravel races popped up and have since become huge. Shimano released its GRX groupsets just a few years ago in response to this, but in September 2023 it released three new 12-speed groupsets and a new
