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Video: GT Grade gravel bike put through its paces in ProvenceGT Grade gravel bike Vimeo still

Video: GT Grade gravel bike put through its paces in Provence

Mont Ventoux and other stunning scenery the backdrop for versatile on- and off-roader
by Simon_MacMichael
Tue, May 26, 2015 10:34
8

If you’ve been paying attention to developments in the bike world over the last year or two you’ll know that gravel bikes are very much ‘a thing’ as they say.

Whereas once upon a time you might use a CX bike to throw over rough terrain, now frame manufacturers have come across something more specific to your needs when it’s rough roads, rather than mud, that you’re facing.

Here’s a video from Provence in the south of France showing the GT Grade (which we had a look at last year and is pitched as a bit more of an all-rounder than simply a gravel bike) being put through its paces – on-road, off-road, and even on the slopes of Mont Ventoux.

Gravel bike from provenceallbikes.com on Vimeo.

 

As the blurb accompanying the Vimeo clip says, “Far from worrying about whether a road, cyclo-cross or all-terrain bike was better, it helps me ride almost without limits, without constraints, there are no more barriers …. Truly, an absolute favourite, a real ‘EnduRoad’.”

For those of us in Europe, gravel bikes are a relatively new thing, but they’ve been around for about five years and have grown up as a sport in their own right in parts of the US where there are gravel roads.

They’ve been taken up by the industry because the bikes are so tough and adaptable. The Jamis we reviewed yesterday is an evolution of the gravel bike. Their main distinguishing characteristic is that you can ride them off road and they take big tyres.

They tend to have disc brakes too and a long wheel base. Mind you, those are all things you could say about a cross bike too … so time will tell whether it’s a true evolution, or if they’ll just be a passing fad that ends up in the wider CX category.

gt grade
gravel bike
Provence
Mont Ventoux
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

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Fish_n_Chips | 9 years ago
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Well that marketing video worked for me 19

Avatar
paulrattew | 9 years ago
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I have a GT Grade Carbon 105 and absolutely love it.
It's not as fast on the road as my standard bike - primarily due to the position not being speed focused and the handlebars being super wide (which is great for stability and control off road but crap for aerodynamics).
Also, it doesn't climb as well as my standard road bike due to being a bit heftier.
To focus on those points misses the point of the bike through. It rides very well on the road and climbs very well for its weight. It is super comfortable and smooth. Great for long days in the saddle especially when you can't rely on the road surface being perfect. Show it a genuinely rough road surface (such as cobbles) and it feels in its element. Point it off road and it is a huge amount of fun. It almost begs you to test it out.
I run it with a set of hutchinson sectors (28c) tubeless. These have proven brilliant for rides that are primarily on the road or on gravel-type surfaces. If I am going to be spending the majority of the day off road (especially forest tracks and that sort of thing) then i stick on a set of cyclocross or similar tyres (it currently has a set of schwalbe sammy slicks on it which i am running tubeless at about 40psi).
I love riding hard and fast on the road but this bike just offers up a whole additional world of potential fun. I am not going to be getting many PBs on sportives or up my local climbs on it, but I'll have a hell of a lot of fun in the process.

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jacknorell | 9 years ago
0 likes

Surly does come to mind, and slightly more recently Salsa.

Not very new, but nice to see it grow in popularity.

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andybwhite | 9 years ago
0 likes

Marketing gruff or no, these 'inbetweey' gravel bikes are brilliant. Old tourist 'rough-stuffers' have tried to adapt touring bikes to these jobs for decades and many swapped to MTBs when they appeared in the 80's, so here has always been a demand for them, it's just astonishing that it has taken so long for both the industry and the rest of the cycling community to catch on. That said, some manufacturers have been producing these bikes 'on the quiet' for many many years. The no.1 go to bike in my stable is still my 2002 Bianchi San Remo shod with 38mm hoops - a gravel bike before its time.

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NorthEastJimmy | 9 years ago
0 likes

I've got one of these supposed 'gravel' bikes (Specialized Diverge) and I've never loved riding a bike more than I do on this! I do see it more as a CX bike, it just seems to come alive on rough cycle paths where my previous cross bike only 'managed' the rough stuff. It's as close to a road bike I'd want, yet reminds me being a kid on a MTB when hitting the bridleways!

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Dr_Lex | 9 years ago
0 likes

A bit of marketing guff? I'd go further and say its predominantly marketing, similar to that for fat bikes and MTB wheel sizes.
On the plus side, it's all about bikes...

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joules1975 replied to Dr_Lex | 9 years ago
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Dr_Lex wrote:

A bit of marketing guff? I'd go further and say its predominantly marketing, similar to that for fat bikes and MTB wheel sizes.
On the plus side, it's all about bikes...

Not entirely marketing - they came out of people wanting something for off-road that was quicker than a mountain bike but less race focused than a cross bike. They have been around in some form for a while but they have recently come to the fore thanks to gravel sportives in the states, and the bike industry have not caught on.

Re wheels sizes on MTBs, again, not all marketing - there are definitely benefits to all three sizes. Yes the 27.5" size did seem to come from no-where, but the 26" size only happened by accident, and so it was inevitable that at some point someone would go 'hang on, why are our wheels that size? and is it the best size?'. As for the 27.5" size, for the whole industry to switch almost overnight, there must be more than just marketing, cause a change like that across the board within a matter of two years or so is totally unheard of.

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Matt eaton | 9 years ago
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I like 'gravel' bikes but I do feel like there is a bit of marketing guff around them (like any 'new' bike category or technology). In reality I see these bikes as sensible road bikes. Highly capable on the road but with a few compromises that make them well suited to less refined surfaces. Somewhere between a touring bike and a CX bike is where I would put them and in truth this narrow gap in the market probably doesn't really need to be filled that desperately.

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