The following trio of bikes from outside s 2019 test in grand junction colorado provide a snapshot of the breadth and variety now available in the gravel market.
Gravel bike vs road bike.
Gravel bikes can handle more wear and tear than your common road bikes.
A gravel bike has a large clearance.
Gravel bikes can be thought of as the fusion between cyclocross bikes and road bikes.
Gravel bike vs cyclocross gearing.
Road bike vs gravel bike.
What are they supposed to do.
A road bike is designed to have the least rolling resistance possible which usually means running a 23mm or 25mm slick tire with between 90 to 100 psi.
As usual the idea comes from the us where the countryside is crisscrossed by miles and miles of unused tracks designed to help fire trucks navigate around remote forests.
Here are some fast facts.
As you can probably work out from the name road bikes are designed to be ridden on routes with a tarmac bias while gravel bikes can be.
And they can reach speeds way higher than that of a mountain bike.
Simply said a gravel bike is a combination of a road bike happy on tarmac and a cyclo cross bike happy on mud.
Difference between gravel bikes and road bikes.