Road Bike vs Gravel Bike - Which One Is The BEST Buy In 2024?

Is your money better spent on a gravel bike or a road bike in 2024? We go through the main differences between an endurance road bike and a gravel bike to see which one we'd choose if we were only allowed one...

In today's review, we have the 2025 Boardman ADV 9.2 gravel bike going up against the 2025 Orro Gold STC road bike. Both are carbon bikes, cost around £2,500 and feature typical components for a gravel bike and road bike respectively.

Let us know which one wins the gravel bike vs road bike battle in the comments below...

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[Souzaphotos]

2x gravel bike with a 2nd set of wheels will be perfect for most people that want to do road and gravel but can only have one bike.

[chrisfanning]

It's really easy: Wide gravel tyres are completely incompatible with a narrow road frameset, but you can easily turn a gravel bike into a fairly rapid road bike by simply changing tyres. Geometry is down to personal preference and not really specific to gravel or road, since gravel framesets exist that are far lower and longer than many endurance/allroad road framesets. Also, my gravel bike doesn't have flared bars because that's a marketing gimmick; Off-road, you're riding on the hoods with a gravel bike because you need to cover the brakes, and the flares are irrelevant.

[BoxCarBoy]

This isn't even a question... A lightweight gravel bike with 2x, racy geo, big tire clearance, and a second set of wheels with road tires is hand down the closest you can get to a setup that can flawlessly cover 2 disciplines. A swap of wheels will either get you pretty far off road or 99% of the speed of a road bike. If you're not racing, you don't need that 1% at all

[glenjo]

I still have the bike I raced on in college (and to level set when that was, it was all friction shifting back then, I used Suntour Superbe which shifted way better than anything else.) I also have my race bike from when I finally hung up racing (about ten years ago), and I have a cross bike which I mostly used for commuting (and gravel biking, dirt roads are fine, single track can get a bit iffy.)

To be honest, my older race bike is now what is called a "gravel bike" except for the differences in the drive train. My much newer race bike has the twitchy geometry, and an inability to handle tires much larger than a 700x28 (and even that would be very, very tight.) In fact, way back in the day, racers would switch from road racing to cross racing by switching wheel sets, and that was about it.

[PazLeBon]

when i was young it really didn't matter is it was a grifter, chopper, bmx or racer, a bike was a bike :)

[br]

I use a gravel bike for both. Two sets of wheels, one with 30mm slicks and the other with 50mm treaded. I’ve done a 300k Audax day on the slicks and the Badger Divide on the treaded.

Yes it’s not the fastest bike, but at 60 neither am I and the relaxed geometry makes it very comfortable for hours in the saddle.

[co]

I'm not advocating for the gravel bike, but if you will be using a second wheel set with road tyres anyway, you will also fit that with a different cassette with smaller jumps between the gears.
Where I live (mostly flat, mostly tarmac) a performance/cross/all road bike with up to 35/38 mm tyre clearence should cover everything, even light gravel riding. I do gravel riding on an old cross bike with 35 mm tyres. It works fine.

[keithcieplinski]

My new 1x10 "gravel" bike is really just a road bike with fat tires. I ride it everywhere and it is way more versatile than my old road bike ever was.

[WalterDill-dj]

I've ridden thousands of miles on the Towpath here, never had a gravel bike - just 700cx28s or 32s. With that definition of gravel, I'll stick with road. I one day likely will choose more of an all road/endurance while keeping my road bike.

[MMMS]

I’ve got a Orbea Terra carbon gravel bike and have no problem keeping up in group rides with roadies. I use a second set of carbon wheels and Conti 5000s and it’s plenty quick. Maybe if you race there’s a little more noticeable speed on a road bike, but as an enthusiast who just likes to get 2k miles a year on the bike or so, I love my gravel bike. And with 1x12 GRX, I love the simplicity of it. My road cassette is narrower than my gravel cassette, and I put a bigger chainring on it to get the top end I wanted too.

[drill_fiend]

Whatever's the best bang for buck is the answer. Endurance or Gravel. I would advocate gravel for bikepacking and exploring nature.

[tristamrossin]

Gravel all the way for me, I've just done a 100 mile road challenge on one with 40mm tires, Every down hill I would get aero and would overtaking normal road bikes on skinny tires all day long. I had the advantage of a big granny ring for the really hard climbs too. Yes, gearing is more spaced out but only at the extreme low gear ratios where consistency and pace are less of an issue, these are the gears you use when you're struggling up a really steep ascent anyway. On a final note, I finished feeling a lot fresher than I would on my road bike, bigger tires and better geometry means a more pleasurable ride with very few concessions.

[darrenelbrow]

Bought a gravel bike 6 years ago before they became popular. Still riding a gravel bike, an Orro Terra C, but have an Orro Gold STC for road. Tried the 2 sets of wheels for the gravel bike. Got fed up with uneven wear on the drive train. My Orro Terra C does get ridden a lot more than the Orro Gold

[MarvhinVillafuente]

As a non racer I'm always into 1x endurance road bike. Cleaner look and less parts to maintain. Currently using 50T 11-46T can be fast in flats and easy on climbs. Perfect for MY needs.

[PamMorris-ohpf]

I have an endurance bike with 38m tire clearance and double chainring. I have 2 sets of wheels and can fit 40m tires if not too knobby. Works great if your gravel riding is not too extreme. Can still race the bike and be competitive.

[The_Trojan]

I recently bought a bike to replace my cyclocross and road bike with one bike. This was primarily to make my wife happy :)... My issue was deciding between a road bike that can handle some gravel vs a proper gravel bike.
I ummmed and ahhhed about a Specialized Roubaix with the 40mm clearance vs the Giant Revolt with the 53mm clearance. I ride mostly on sealed road with occassional mostly light gravel. In the end I went for the Roubaix as I presume it would be a bit faster on the road but I'm still not sure what was the better choice.
With the blurring of the differences between endurance and gravel bikes these days, these decisions get harder and harder.

[buggen]

As someone with both, my race bike always makes me smile whilst the gravel bike is a great commuter and winter bike plus it's fun off-road but not at all on the road. Therefore I need more than one

[sprintkick]

Own the “super” bike but now pivoting to the gravel. Just more versatility with an extra set of wheels. I’m fast enough especially since I’m not racing anyone but myself.

[kidShibuya]

Just happening to be riding on gravel sometimes is exactly why I got a grail back a few years ago. Maybe only 1% of my riding is actually on gravel but that 1% is brutal on tiny slick tyres. Plus thin slicks launch rocks somehow. I really don't like cycling by people or even houses when on gravel because I don't want to injure someone or smash a window.

[rolffuchs]

Something like the Specialized Crux can do both things very well. Fortunately I have both, a BMC URS and an Orbea Orca Aero