Types of gravel bikes range from what is sometimes called “fast gravel” bikes for racing, to capable gravel bikes intended to be able to handle quite technical off-road terrains, to endurance gravel bikes focused on comfort and convenience with integrated attachment points for luggage racks and mud guards. 

Which one you should choose depends on what type of riding you value and where you will be focusing most of your rides. 

What to look out for when choosing a gravel bike

Probably the first decision you will have to make is what material you want for your gravel frame. As with road bikes, there are typically four main materials you will find used for gravel frames. 

• Carbon – Introduced as a frame material as early as in the 1970s, carbon is now the most popular material for all types of bikes thanks to its lightweight and high tensile strength. Anyone looking for a high performance gravel bike for racing or fast exploring will want to consider buying a carbon frame. One main drawback for the material is its frequently high price for top quality options. 
• Aluminum – Though aluminum has lost some of its market share over the years to carbon, it is still an excellent material for bike frames since it is relatively lightweight and highly durable. It also has the advantage of being more easily repaired in the case of an accident where the frame is damaged. It is our firm belief that buying a high quality aluminum frame can be a much better option than buying a medium or low quality carbon frame. 
• Steel – The beautifully traditional material for bike frames, steel is less commonly used for high end frames these days. But there are still brands like Cinelli and De Rosa that are producing excellent gravel bikes using steel. Its durability, fixability, and customizability means that it can be tunable to your needs in a way that a carbon frame simply can’t be. 
• Titanium – Like steel, titanium has a small but vocal group of advocates who claim that it is the material that offers the absolute best ride quality. Supple without being flexy, responsive without being harsh. As a metal it also has the advantage of offering total customizability. Manufacturers like Passoni have made an art of creating efficient and beautiful Ti gravel bikes. It can be an expensive material, though, which sometimes limits its popularity. But that’s a shame since a gravel bike made from titanium can not only offer the same customizability as steel, but it can offer similar lightweight performance to carbon and similar durability to aluminum. 

What geometry should you choose?

Your choice of geometry will depend on your riding style and preferred terrain. As mentioned above, gravel bikes have been subdivided into three main categories: fast gravel, capable gravel, endurance gravel. And the best geometry for you will depend on the types of rides you will want to do.

Fast gravel bikes will look and ride as closely to road bikes as possible. These are the gravel bikes that tout their aero advantages, low weight, and component integration to approximate road racing performance as closely as possible. They will likely also not offer things like luggage rack bosses and mudguard attachment points. Colnago, Wilier, and Pinarello are a few of the brands that make these types of gravel bikes, and when you compare the geometry charts between their road racing bikes and gravel racing bikes, there will be very few differences since aerodynamics and snappy responsiveness will be paramount. 

Capable gravel bikes are the ones that emphasize the ability to take on extremely technical terrain. They frequently will look more like mountain bikes with dropbars than road racing bikes. Brands like Evil Bikes, Knolly, and Niner feature gravel bikes that offer geometry numbers much more similar to their mountain bike options. Unsurprisingly, these three brands are primarily mountain bike manufacturers, so they are just using their expertise to translate to a gravel bike clientele. Whether you are a roadie looking to dip your toe in mountain bike terrain but feel more comfortable with dropbars, or are a mountain biker who kinda would like to experience how light gravel feels on a dropbar setup, these are the bikes that can get you deep into backwoods territory without fear of getting stuck. 

Endurance gravel bikes sometimes split the difference between these two extremes. They will have geometry numbers that emphasize comfort, but probably won’t encourage you to take them off a steep dropoff on a semi-technical singletrack. These bikes will feel reasonably snappy when on tarmac, but will offer a shorter reach and higher stack to help you feel comfortable on multi-hour or even multi-day rides. The Pinarello Granger is a prime example, as is the Litespeed Flint.

Check out bike geometry guide to learn more about this topic!

Tire clearance

Tire clearance continues to increase with every new release. Though once 35 mm tire clearance for gravel racing was considered acceptable, more and more gravel pros are pushing for much wider clearance closer to 45 mm and even 50 mm tires, depending on the route and conditions.  

If you are planning on riding your gravel bike on very demanding routes with seriously poor trail conditions, then you will want to be sure you buy a gravel bike with wide tire capacity. Some gravel bikes help by designing frames that can take 700c wheels (typical size for road bikes as well) and 650b wheels, which are smaller in diameter. The 650b wheels take up less space in the frame, which can allow you to use much wider tires. 

However, if you foresee yourself spending at least as much time on pavement as on gravel, then we’d suggest tires between 38 and 42 mm will offer plenty of capability without adding an excessive amount of weight. 

The best gearing for gravel

Whether you are planning on going with a 1x or 2x often has to do with what type of riding you primarily like to do away from gravel. That is to say, are you a roadie or a mountain biker? To offer a blanket generalization, roadies can often feel most comfortable with a 2x or double chainring on their gravel bike because that will approximate not only the gear choice but the spread between gears that they are used to on their road bikes. Mountain bikers will be much more used to wide gear ranges with big steps between gears, largely because they have been riding 1x for years in any case. 

If you have never tried a 1x gravel bike groupset, this will likely be something else you will want to test ride before making a decision. With the wide ranges of rear cogs offered by the component manufacturers, your question won’t be whether you can find a wide enough ratio to get up the steep gravelly stuff you might face. But rather, the wide steps between gears might put you off having a 1x, especially if you are riding in a region that might not throw at you a ton of double-digit percentages on gravel climbs. And once you have decided you want one or the other, be sure to make certain that the bike frame you have your eye on accepts the drivetrain setup of your choice. Many manufacturers design their gravel bikes to accommodate both 1x and 2x, but not all do. It’s just one more thing to keep in mind.  

Conclusion – there is a perfect gravel bike for you

Though all this choice and subdividing of bikes for riding styles can cause confusion, one advantage is that with just a little research and soul searching, you can most certainly find the perfect gravel bike for your needs and skillset. 

If you would like to have any help sifting through the options, our experts at Wrench Science will be happy to help you on your journey of how to choose a gravel bike.