Can I Survive A Road Race On A Gravel Bike?

Gravel bikes. They are fast, light and versatile. The true do-it-all bike! But can they truly do it all? Can a gravel bike keep up in a road race? To find out, we sent Conor to Thruxton Circuit to enter a crit race on his Orbea Terra gravel bike. With 40mm gravel tyres, a single 40T chainring on the front, 10-42 cassette on the rear and MTB pedals, how long can he survive in this race?

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[gcn]

Have you ever entered a road race on a gravel bike? 🚴 Let us know in the comments below! 👇

[KeatB]

“Can an ex world tour pro hang on to Cat 3 weekend warriors?”, not sure you needed a video to answer that.

[natureshamy]

6:51 mate was eyeing Connor's tires and you could see the disappointment in his face. 😂

[nwhiting]

I agree! I use my Scott Addict CX for everything: crit racing, longer road rides, gravel, and of course CX. I do have two sets of wheels and cassettes (chain, too). One bike to do it all.

[wheeler]

Looked like a sit in sprinter circuit .. All the 3rd cats love those. Position on the bike and fitness experience at that level counts more than equipment . Ex pro will easily survive. :)

[jons]

I’m running a 10-42 rear and a 44 front ring. It gives me the top-end speed on the flats and gives me the ability to find a comfortable gear ratio in nearly any scenario. That’s on my gravel bike. It has gotten me thinking about building up a road bike with a similar setup.

[ericlundquisthere]

I've got a Norco gravel bike with a GRX groupset, 46-30 chainrings with 10-speed 11-36 cassette, and 38mm tires. I do still want to get some thinner road-specific wheels for the summer road rides, but I'm really happy to see that something even more gravel-focused than mine can hang on in a tarmac race!

[Undadawg]

I've owned a gravel bike for a few years now and love it. I have two sets of wheels; road and off-road. I've used it for group road rides, family rides, gravel rides, and city commutes. Gravel bikes can be a great do-it-all bike for those who can only afford one bike.

[Aragorn.Strider]

Nice to see as I have the same tires as yours. I didn't know they were that good

[salzhaltigersalzhaufen]

Gravel bikes are awesome I just recently like 2 months ago bought one and its been fantastic so far got me bikepacking even though it was freezing cold and I can do all my MTB trails on it and have way more fun on my way to and from the trails

Not as fast on trails obviously but currently I´m also just running 35mil tyres so I have to be a little bit careful but it still loads of fun

[alastairgain]

I have a 44 front ring and run on 47mm Byway WTB tyres and it is fast, with the right tyre pressure I’ve ridden my gravel bike at over 20mph av for over an hour, but mostly it’s not about all out speed on the road, it is an exciting bike to ride, really opens the world up to go where you want, it is the perfect all round bike, love it

[nickstahl]

I'm thinking of getting the Orbea Terra H30 but add a second set of wheels to scratch the road itch. Wanted to get the Orca at first but realized that I'll be more flexible with a gravel bike plus I'm just riding to keep fit and enjoy the sun. No chasing PBs anymore. The Terra will allow me to take advantage of the trails in the woods around my house.

[jeffreywilliams]

It would be interesting for Conor to show up the next time with a road bike and compare the results.

[davidhenry]

Not surprised that Connor could hang with them. I suspect that the gearing rather than the tires are what held him back. Nice ride Connor!

[ryuujinusa]

More racing please. Road, gravel, TT, anything.

[markhaneklaus]

Like the intro when Connor is dropped by the big me to get back on the track after two surgeries, thank you

[diverron]

This will help decide that my next bike will be gravel, even though I go on a lot of roads. I am not a racer, so don’t care about high speed. Just a normal hobby cyclist who rides for exercise.

[ashleyhouse]

A gravel bike is just an endurance geometry bike with wider tyres. If you can't keep up with your mates with 28mm road tyres fitted, it's not about the bike.

[DavidMackenzie]

Great to see you in the mix racing, Conner. Well done.

[LHTkayaksport]

For my gravel bike i use specialized pathfinder which aare very good as the have low drag running through the middle.