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There is no question that the gravel bike is a success story and is keeping the industry afloat in difficult times. You only have to look around you: Bikes with knobbly tyres and curved handlebars dominate the streetscape, even - or especially - in cities. Even traditionalists, who have long been critical of the new breed, now have to recognise this.
Criticisms such as sluggish steering behaviour - compared to a road racing bike -, high weight or emphatically comfortable geometry were certainly not to be dismissed out of hand, and they still apply to a number of gravel bikes. For some time now, however, the industry has been coming up with special concepts that transfer the riding fun of a sporty road bike to off-road terrain and paint a contrasting picture: Race gravel bikes like our five test bikes from Canyon, Rose, Scott, Storck and Trek.
These are the five race gravel bikes from the test
Extreme seating positions on the gravel racers
When it comes to the centrepiece, the frameset, the manufacturers are largely in agreement, both in terms of the racing geometry and the carbon material. The major influence of the handlebars and stem on the riding position is impressively evident. The established quotient of stack and reach is misleading for all candidates in terms of the actual position. Only when the cockpits are taken into account do the bikes reveal that they are closer to a sporty competition racer than a marathon bike suitable for long distances.
With the Checkpoint, Trek currently offers one of the most consistent gravel bikes for sporty use, as the US-Americans have developed the one-piece Handlebar-stem combination of the Madone take over. The Rose Backroad FF is on the attack with a progressively designed handlebar/stem unit. In comparison, the Canyon Grail is more moderate and therefore more suitable for everyday use or travelling. The riding characteristics paint a differentiated picture. All bikes tend to run very smoothly. The Scott Addict Gravel, which combines a long wheelbase, slack steering angle and plenty of fork travel, is the most stable and secure.
However, the Storck is also quite a lively model in the test field as, unlike the competition, it rolls on smaller wheels. In addition to the handling, the 27.5-inch format also has an effect on riding comfort, as significantly thicker tyres can be fitted than on conventional wheels. The Grix.2 is fitted with 50 millimetre wide tyres, a unique selling point in the category of race-ready gravel bikes, the trend is actually in the opposite direction. Racers roll on tyres with a maximum width of 40 millimetres, which meet the requirements of fast gravel tracks and combine low rolling resistance with good comfort.
Trek stands out
As all the race gravel bikes in the test are fitted with high-quality tubeless tyres, any weaknesses in the suspension of the frameset can be compensated for by precisely adjusting the tyre pressure. The hard-tuned Scott offers the greatest tuning potential, while the Trek rolls most smoothly over bumps. The Trek Checkmate is also the lightest bike in the field.
On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the US brand only offers it in the highest carbon quality, while the bikes from Canyon, Scott and Storck are based on a medium quality level. On the other hand, the bike is the only one to benefit from the SRAM Red XPLR 1x12 drivetrain, which is around 100 grams lighter. All other bikes are built with the functionally equivalent Force XPLR - and are therefore significantly cheaper. Although Trek also offers its Race model with the mid-range groupset from SRAM, it has the same price tag as the tested version.
Secret test winner
Together with Canyon, Trek delivers the best overall package, with both candidates just ahead of the competition. Also ahead of the Rose, which also received an overall grade of 1.8 in an initial test. had achieved. Because the Grail is 3700 euros cheaper than the Checkmate, it can feel like the secret winner of the test. The handlebar/stem units on both bikes are worthy of criticism, with little room for customisation. Replacement can also be expensive in the event of a crash. Only the Scott is easy to maintain. On the other hand, thanks to the system integration, the candidates look as if they have been cast from a single mould and follow in the footsteps of modern road racers. In any case, there is nothing to be seen far and wide of somehow sedate gravel bikes.
The test results of the race gravel bikes at a glance
At a glance: The sub-scores from 4.0 are in red, so you can see which bikes are out of the question for you due to weaker individual scores.
*LL = for life, CR = crash replacement, RA = racing exclusion
Julian Schultz
Editor
