5 Reasons Why You NEED A Gravel Bike

5 reasons you might want to consider a gravel bike if you're in the market for a new bike.

The following companies (that you'll see in my content) support me either financially or with free stuff, so huge thanks to these guys for helping the channel thrive:
Attacus Cycling,
Wilier Triestina,
MET Helmets,
Shimano,
SkinGrowsBack,
Hutchinson Tyres
Pedalsure

[lukewebster]

I only have a gravel bike at the moment, and without a doubt it has been the best fun I've had in a long time! I spend half my time cycling down roads and seeing new paths and single-track shooting off from the side, and I end up going "let's give that a go!" Highly recommend!

P.s love the videos!

[markreams]

The more time you spend off road the less time you spend in traffic. I’m recovering from a broken leg after being hit by a truck. I’m replacing my road bike with a gravel bike!

[Quevallyn]

Love my gravel bike. I have two sets of wheels with Gravelking slick 38mm for road and dry, light gravel (New Forest gravel roads) and 42mm WTB Resolutes for when it gets wet. As a result, I’ve ridden 2x more kms since buying it 2 years ago than in the same period with a road bike and a trail MTB. The gravel bike will do pretty much everything, relatively well.

[frazergoodwin]

Bang on.
Last year I needed to replace my bike. I wanted a bike to do club rides, fast(er) short road rides, long Belgian endurance rides (e.g. "We Ride Flanders"), gravel /all road exploring and bikepacking.
Idealy I would have n+1 and a bike for all these types of riding. Unfortunately this is not my financial position though.
So a Specialized Diverge Sport with 105/GRX400 components and two wheel sets was my solution. Stock DTSwiss R470 wheels have Pathfinder42mm tires set up tubeless and a set of Hunt Aero wide wheels have conti GP5000 32mm tires.
One bike. Loads of possibilities!

[scottmcrobb]

I love my Gravel Bike. Bought it as I was sick of having to maintain a training bike and a commuting bike. Needed something that I could do it all on (train, commute, ride on bike/country paths with my daughter). My Space Chicken does it all. Do lose a bit of top end speed with my 1x drive train but I am no longer interested in PR's on Strava now that I am 47. I ride on 40's but I am considering switching to 32's until we hit October and the crappy weather and roads again.

[dalesteenbergen]

*Patiently waiting for my specialized diverge to arrive at the end of the year*

Its only the base model but I can always upgrade parts and isn't that what it's all about

[steverhysjenks]

I like this. I went gravel for the versatility. But I did also get a spare set of wheels. So I can more road focused or trail focused when I have kids. Really happy with it.

[stupots]

You've convinced me. Going to spend some decent money on my first bike in years and swaying between road and gravel. I think for all round flexibility its going to have to be the gravel

[Ellistine]

N+1? N-1 more like. Sold my MTB and Road bikes.

[HanOfGod]

I wished i had bought a Gravel bike, but got a really good deal on my current bike which i couldn't refuse and i was getting back into cycling.
But when i next upgrade, i would get a Gravel over a pure Road bike. For the riding i do and the speeds i ride, having a road bike is not the most comfortable as my flexibility isn't great and sometimes i wish i could ride on some tracks or paths but road tyres aren't the best suited for rougher surfaces.
Some of my friends are looking to get into cycling and I'm recommending Gravel bikes.

[JonFairhurst]

Nailed it! (Especially wide tires and mounting options.)

[ellelancaster]

I love my gravel bike, and bought my Diverge for pretty much all these reasons! Highly recommend as a versatile option you can go practically anywhere on 😄😄

[BoxCarBoy]

Gravel bikes with racy geometry are true N-1 bikes with no compromise, as they have next to zero performance/speed loss to a road bike if the gearing is correct and tires are swapped out. My Look 765 Gravel RS has what I call mullet geometry with super short chainstays (420mm) for road bike speed/responsiveness and a super slack head angle (70deg) for stability off road. It is as capable off road as any rigid bike can be with 650x2.1 tires, yet is actually faster on pavement than my old road bike that I used to race on with road tires. Love it!

[robertwalkerdine]

Recently bought a bargain 2nd hand cyclocross bike. Absolutely love it! In the future I'll definitely be thinking of selling the road bike and cyclocross and getting one gravel bike for everything. So much fun, feel like a kid again bombing through woods and fields

[symbiantscycling]

I got a CX bike a couple of years ago and although I love riding it my next purchase will definitely be a dedicated gravel bike

[ryanhaggs]

I love my gravel bike so much fun to be had exploring new trail that I would have never seen on the road bike

[BackyardBikeShop]

BOOM! Bang on, well explained. We love 'em as you know. Would defo point people at gravel bikes for their first bikes now they are just RIGHT!

[jean-paulchaudron]

Love the videos. Gravel bikes are the best of both worlds in my opinion....off road, on road...they are fast, lots of fun and with 2 set of wheels they truly feel like 2 different beasts.

[MattSwain]

Added a gravel bike to my stable a few weeks ago. It opens up more options for me in terms of getting away from traffic but rolls on tarmac so much better than my mountain bike. My mountain bike still has a place, my bike skills aren’t the best, so drop handlebars and no suspension are still a scary proposition once the surface gets more uneven!

[davewehrle]

You only need an aggressive gravel bike for road and gravel. When my Cervelo C3 frame broke, Cervelo decided I needed an Aspero. I was skeptical. No longer. For starters, the top tube is longer on the Aspero so I am on a more aggressive position from the start. It is extremely responsive AND comfortable. I ride HED Jet 55s on the road with GP 5000 TLs and HED Ardennes with Panaracer GravelKing SK 32 or 38s on gravel. I ride Force 1x 44t x 25-11 in most road situations and 36-11 in most gravel situations. I generally swap out my road Look pedals for mountain SPD on gravel. One bike is all you need.