The modern gravel scene is huge, with the best gravel bikes offering options to suit a wide range of riding styles. While gravel bikes used to be jacks of all trades, many bike brands now offer multiple models to suit different uses.
At Cyclist, we’ve ridden and reviewed many of the best gravel bikes on offer and here we have picked our favourites, but if you’re looking for something different, you can be pretty sure to find a review on our site.
The gravel bike spectrum now divides into multiple target markets. Gravel racing has really taken off, particularly in the USA. A gravel race bike has much in common with a road race bike, with aerodynamics as important for the off-road racer as the road racer. At the other end of the spectrum, adventure gravel bikes offer wide tyre clearance, low gearing and the option to load up for multi-day bikepacking rides.
Many gravel rides take in at least some tarmac and many road riders want to be able to take in light off-road to vary the riding, see somewhere different and link up their road riding in unfamiliar ways. It’s spawned a new category of all-road bikes. They’re among the best road bikes, offering wider tyre clearance and the handling to tackle less technical gravel surfaces.
Finally, while carbon bikes predominate, don’t discount metal gravel bikes. Whether alloy, steel or titanium, they provide a durable alternative to carbon and often offer features that mainstream carbon gravel bikes don’t.
We’ve covered all these gravel bike categories in this buyer’s guide to the best gravel bikes. Meanwhile, if you need help deciding, read our guide to what to look for in a gravel bike, lower down the page.
Reviews of the best gravel bikes
Best gravel race bikes
- Open Upper: RRP £3,999 (frameset) – Read our full review
- Canyon Grail CF SLX 8 Di2: RRP £5,149 - Read our full review
- Cervélo Áspero: RRP £3,399 - Read our full review
- Factor Ostro Gravel: RRP £8,430 - Read our full review
Best adventure gravel bikes
- 3T Exploro Ultra: RRP £5,099 – Read our full review
- Cannondale Topstone Carbon 2 L: RRP £4,500 – Read our full review
- Canyon Grizl CF SL 8: RRP £2,999 – Read our full review
- Specialized Diverge STR Expert: RRP £7,500 – Read our full review
Best metal gravel bikes
- Enigma Esker: RRP £3,799 (frameset) – Read our full review
- Mason Bokeh: RRP £3,300 – Read our full review
- Moots Routt RSL: £7,900 (frameset) – Read our full review
- Singular Kite Titanium: RRP £2,500 (frameset) – Read our full review
Best all-road bikes
- Colnago C68 Allroad: £5,999 (frameset) – Read our full review
- Enve Fray: RRP £5,500 (frameset) – Read our full review
- FiftyOne Sika: RRP £4,499 (frameset) – Read our full review
- Giant Defy Advanced SL 0: RRP £10,349 – Read our full review
Check out our full guide to the best all-road bikes
Related questions you can explore with Ask Cyclist, our new AI search engine.
How we test and why you should trust our advice
With almost every manufacturer now offering at least one of these incredibly capable mixed-terrain bikes in their ranges, we’ve been hard at work riding as many of them as possible.
Every gravel bike featured here has been put to the test on a variety of terrain by our team of expert reviewers, overseen by tech editor Sam Challis. We're not paid for our reviews, so you can trust us to provide an unbiased opinion.
New to cycling? Read our beginner’s guide to gravel bikes for a complete introduction to the discipline and, if you think gravel might be for you, don’t miss our detailed advice on how to buy a gravel bike.
Read on for the best gravel bikes chosen from our recent reviews.
Best gravel race bikes 2025
Open Upper
£3,900 (frameset) | View offer
- Fast on road and off
- 7.4kg weight with 40mm tyre clearance
The category-bending Open Upper has road bike looks, geometry and weight, except that you can fit 40mm tyres. It's also stiff and responsive, great for a fast ride out of town on tarmac before heading into the woods, where it's as capable as any gravel bike. With a full bike weight of 7.4kg in the spec we reviewed, it's light enough to make quick work of off-road climbs.
Open bikes are the brainchild of Cervélo co-founder Gerard Vroomen, who also designs boundary-pushing bikes for 3T such as the 3T Extrema Italia. The Upper is a lighter weight version of the original Open Up and keeps its short chainstays and narrow Q-Factor, with a dropped drive-side chainstay helping to add that clearance. It's a bike for covering ground fast, as attested by Tech editor Sam Challis, who built his own custom build on the Upper frameset.
- Read our full Open Upper review
- Buy now from Open (£3,900, frameset)
Canyon Grail CF SLX 8 Di2
£5,149 | View offer
- Low in weight, responsive gravel racer
- High value spec includes Shimano electronic groupset
The Canyon Grail has transformed from the original gravel all-rounder to a proper gravel race machine in its version 2 guise. Gone are the double-decker handlebars, replaced by bars with a slight drop to put you in a more aero ride position and frame profiles also now have an aero edge. The bars also include a 'Gear Grove', so you can fit extensions or other add-ons.
There's internal frame storage and the frame still offers a decent range of fixing points. Canyon sells a Fidlock frame bag to fit inside the front of the triangle, which it says makes the Grail even more aero and removeable 'Fork Sleeves' add bosses if you do want to load up. As with all Canyon's bikes, the spec of the bike we tested was good, with (now 12-speed) Shimano GRX Di2 and DT Swiss carbon wheels and the 8.5kg weight is competitive.
We found the Grail surefooted on trickier technical terrain, holding a line well over sloppy, rutted paths. Hit a tarmac or faster gravel section and the Grail is fast too. It's a stiff ride though, which we put down to the frame, the aero carbon seatpost ported from the Ultimate road bike and the 42mm deep carbon wheelset.
- Read our full Canyon Grail CF SLX 8 Di2 review
- Buy now from Canyon (£4,869)
Cervélo Áspero
£3,100 | View offer
- Variable fork offset for consistent handling on 700c and 650b wheels
- Low weight and fast riding
Cervélo is known for making fast road bikes and the off-road Cervélo Áspero is almost equally speedy. Marketed with the slogan ‘haul ass, not cargo’, it’s unashamedly racy. Of course, this doesn’t mean you couldn’t strap bikepacking bags to it, and there’s even a mount for a snack box on the top tube.
However, if you want to go out and win yourself some gravel races, this is the sort of bike that will help you do so. With a low frame weight and nippy handling, it’s literally and figuratively head-down in its approach to riding.
This balance is kept stable whatever tyres you use thanks to something Cervélo calls the ‘Trail Mixer’. Allowing the fork offset to be adjusted to maintain consistent handling, it permits the Áspero to work with 700c or 650b gravel wheelsets or slick road tyres.
- Read our full Cervélo Áspero review
Factor Ostro Gravel
£8,430 | View offer
- Lightweight, rigid and sharp-handling
- Floats over obstacles at higher speeds, but feels firm at lower speeds on more technical terrain
Aimed at the pointy end of gravel riding, the Ostro Gravel carries over Factor's performance road bike design to off-road riding. Based on the previous generation Ostro VAM road bike, the Ostro Gravel offers aerodynamics tuned for off-road riding speeds and 45mm tyres. Factor specs lightweight Black Inc Thirty-Four hookless gravel wheels. It expects gravel racers to push big gears and the ratios specced are probably on the high side for non-pros.
Although Factor provides a decent spread of mounting points, the Ostro Gravel is aimed at racers. It's fast-handling but firm over ruts and rocks at low speeds; at higher speeds there's the feeling of floating over them though. The 7.9kg bike weight helps here too. Despite the flashy builds on offer, the Ostro Gravel's pricetag is relatively modest.
- Read our full Factor Ostro Gravel review
Best adventure gravel bikes
3T Exploro Ultra
£4,074 | View offer
- Exploro Ultra increases tyre clearance to 61mm
- Designed for the most technical terrain
The Exploro Ultra marries extreme off-road capability with a fast ride on-road to create a versatile and distinctive design. The third iteration of 3T’s popular but controversial aero gravel bike, the Exploro Ultra has been shaped to work best with wide 650b tyres around 55mm-61mm.
Made for the most technical and therefore slowest terrain, the Ultra’s aero benefits are most likely to pay dividends on the rarer occasions it’s used on the road. At the same time, it utilises its big tyres to override the framesets’ otherwise aggressive attributes once off-road.
Other radical features include a dropper post and a super-wide single-ring drivetrain. So how does it add up? It’s undoubtedly the most exaggerated example of how designer Gerard Vroomen can successfully squish together two typically disparate drop-bar genres – aero and gravel.
Leveraging the transformative effect of tyre size and pressure, the Ultra switches personalities as extremely as it mixes genres. Off-road, its chunky Vittoria tyres offset the harshness of the aero frame and allowed it to take on technical terrain.
Yet back on the tarmac, the frame’s attributes become more dominant, leaving it feeling far more like a quick road bike than its off-road capability would otherwise suggest.
- Read our full 3T Exploro Ultra review
Cannondale Topstone Carbon 2L
£4,500 | View offer
- Confident handling, with Kingpin rear suspension adding comfort
- Around 500g added to the bike's weight from SmartSense lighting
The Topstone Carbon offers 30mm of travel at the rear thanks to the Kingpin rear triangle design and Cannondale sells specs with its Lefty suspension fork too, adding yet more ride comfort and control over rough ground. We reckon the 45mm tyre clearance hits the sweet spot for gravel riding and other modern features include a longer reach and shorter stem, while the Topstone benefits from Cannondale's Out Front steering geometry and a BSA bottom bracket.
The Topstone Carbon feels both smooth-riding and sturdy under power. The bike tested had Cannondale's SmartSense integrated lighting included, pushing its weight up to 9.6kg, slowing acceleration, adding to the messy front end cabling and precluding a bar bag or saddle bag. We also questioned SmartSense's usefulness on a bike designed to ride off-road. SmartSense is easy to avoid though and overall the Topstone Carbon handles well and is comfortable.
- Read our full Cannondale Topstone Carbon review
Canyon Grizl
£2,999 | View offer
- Big 50mm tyre clearance and a full set of mounts
- Very competent on more technical terrain, but a little slow-feeling on roads
The more adventure-focussed of Canyon's off-road duo, the Grizl offers 50mm tyre clearance and mounting points for exploring over more technical terrain. The ride is geared to the off-road and the Grizl's combination of geometry, weight and grippy 45mm tyres felt out of its element on the road. But once off tarmac, the Grizl comes into its own and we sought out technical lines for fun.
As usual, Canyon provides quality spec choices and the CF SL 8 is now available with Shimano GX 822 1x 12-speed, SRAM GX Eagle AXS 1x 12-speed or Campagnolo Ekar 13-speed, with a fairly modest price increase from when we reviewed the bike.
- Read our full Canyon Grizl review
Specialized Diverge STR Expert
£4,699 (RRP: £6,250) | View offer
- Future Shock headset suspension
- Diverge STR adds rear suspension
The first generation of the Diverge benefited from a Future Shock system that incorporated a suspension cartridge in the top of the fork steerer. The Diverge STR that launched for 2023 adds rear suspension as well, courtesy of a flexible 'frame post' whose movement is controlled by a small damper mounted at the rear of the top tube.
While the Diverge STR's geometry isn't ultra-progressive, it rides brilliantly on a variety of terrain. Generous mullet gearing – where road shifters are combined with an MTB cassette and rear derailleur – means you can climb just about anything.
The flagship S-Works Diverge STR is eye-wateringly expensive but the Expert spec with SRAM Rival AXS offers a near identical ride and saves you a huge sum. If you're not bothered about the rear suspension, you may still spot the odd deal on the outgoing Diverge.
- Read our full Specialized Diverge STR review
- Buy from Specialized
Best metal gravel bikes
Enigma Esker
£3,799 (frameset) | View offer
- Hand built with custom and off-the-shelf frame sizes
- Smooth-riding, fast and versatile
Designed for fast gravel riding, the titanium Esker is welded and built to order in Sussex, allowing Enigma to offer 11 stock sizes as well as custom geometry for a small price uplift. Customers can choose their braze-ons, cable routing and component specs and the down tube is made of harder, stiffer alloy for power transfer.
The wide range of sizes meant we were able to choose the optimum fit and the geometry offered a smooth ride and great middle-of-the-road (or trail) handling that was surefooted without being lethargic on tarmac, with a 9kg weight as built. We reckoned the 40x50t lightest gear was a bit too low and the Enve bars a bit too flared, but they're both options you can choose when speccing your own build.
- Read our full Enigma Esker review
Mason Bokeh 3
£3,300 | View offer
- Alloy frame with custom build options
- Balanced geometry mixes comfort and performance
With its third generation of the Bokeh, Mason has made subtle changes including the inevitable increase in tyre clearance, now 55mm on 650b wheels, more fixing points and a new carbon fork. It's a bike that has excelled in ultra-endurance events, maturing into a fast gravel bike for multi-day trips. We reviewed the aluminium bike, but there's a titanium frameset too.
Mason's low volume allows a wide choice of specs for the Bokeh, including dynamo lighting routed internally through the fork legs and frame. The ride is punchy on tougher terrain, with geometry that owes much to the Definition all-road bike, so that the Bokeh feels like a road machine, but one that can handle pretty much anything. Load it up and, although slowing the Bokeh down, the extra weight doesn't adversely impact the ride.
Read our full Mason Bokeh 3 review
Moots Routt RSL
£8,000 (frameset and KIT) | View offer
- Great ride on and off-road
- Superb construction and finish
The Routt is pretty close to being the perfect single bike. It’s a delight off-road yet gobbles up the tarmac with equal gusto.
This is managed thanks to its exquisite titanium construction and a geometry that transfers between genres without giving much away.
With clearance for tyres up to 45mm, swapping the treads redefines the bike, leaving the Routt as close to being a single bicycle for all occasions as we can think of.
Beautifully made and likely to outlive its owner, the Routt justifies its rarified pricetag and gains an equally rare five-star review.
- Read our full Moots Routt RSL review
Singular Kite Titanium
£2,500 (frameset) | View offer
- Quality frame with huge 55mm tyre clearance and plush ride
- Elegant, customisable frameset and titanium fork
Singular mixes MTB design and touring bike aesthetics. The Kite titanium frame and fork are built in small volume in the Far East to the design of Singular's founder and owner Sam Alison, allowing buyers to tweak the spec to their needs. There's huge frame clearance: 55mm on 700c and 60mm on 650b wheels and the stem and seatpost are also own-brand titanium.
The ride position is upright and MTB-like and there are other mountain bike touches such as the shape of the forks. It's a straightforward frameset with custom-drawn round tubes, a threaded bottom bracket and external cables, making adjustment and maintenance easy. We found the ride on 44mm tyres plush and well-balanced across a range of surfaces, but a swap to either narrower or wider rubber would extend the bike's capabilities still further.
- Read our full Singular Kite Titanium review
Best all-road bikes
Colnago C68 Allroad
£5,999 frameset, £14,000 as tested | View offer
- Hand-built in Italy with 35mm tyre clearance and a slightly more relaxed geometry than the C68 Road
- All-road orientation works well on UK tarmac and lighter off-road rides
The C68 Allroad offers 35mm tyre clearance and sits between the C68 Road, with 32mm, and the C68 Gravel with 42mm, allowing you to spec the frame for rougher roads or lighter off-road riding. As with all Colnago's premium C68 range, the C68 Allroad frameset is hand built in Italy, although there are more pre-formed frame elements than on previous generation C-series bikes, saving weight and adding rigidity.
The frame geometry is similar to the C68 Road, although the ride position is more relaxed and geared more towards mixed terrain. The C68 Allroad feels firm on more technical terrain, but on the smoother off-road that Colnago says it's designed for it's an accomplished performer. A more comfortable ride position and more tyre clearance than the C68 Road might make it a better choice for many UK roads too.
- Read our full Colnago C68 Allroad review
Enve Fray
£5,500 (frameset) | View offer
- Aero optimised 900g frame with mounts for mudguards and more
- Confidence-inspiring ride on 35mm tyres, with room to go up to 40mm
The Enve Fray offers 40mm tyre clearance, 10mm less than the Mog, Enve's dedicated gravel bike, but 5mm more than the Melee road race bike and allowing you to spec the frameset for all-road or endurance duties. It adds to its versatility with comfortable geometry and a full range of mounting points and in-frame storage.
The claimed 900g frame weight and aero features lead to a fast ride for the 7.5kg premium build tested and Enve's components offer internal cabling, benefitting the clean looks The Fray is confidence-inspiring on a mix of terrains and the high stack and long seatpost provide plentiful ride comfort.
- Read our full Enve Fray review
- Buy now from Saddleback (frameset £5,500)
FiftyOne Sika
£4,499 frameset | View offer
- Low weight, fits 40mm tyres, comfortable geometry
- Waiting list, few matching wheel choices for now
FIftyOne Bikes has designed the Sika, its first non-custom frameset, to provide a racy ride, while still providing 40mm tyre clearance and a comfort-oriented geometry thanks to the high stack. The Sika is low in weight too, with our test bike weighing 7.3kg. The stiff frame and sharp handling are on a par with many race bikes we've reviewed.
The wide tyre clearance allows you to configure the Sika for off-road duties, while the design still allows you to ride fast on tarmac. We reckon its all-road capabilities and competence on tarmac showcase where road bike design is heading.
- Read our full FiftyOne Sika review
- Buy now from FifityOne Bikes (frameset €4,499.00, €250.00 deposit)
Giant Defy Advanced SL 0
£10,349 | View offer
- Superb ride comfort, low weight and top-notch spec
- A little more racy than its predecessor
38mm tyre clearance places the fifth generation Defy firmly on the on/off-road boundary despite its billing as an endurance bike, while the D-Fuse seatpost and handlebars provide ride comfort. The weight of the SL 0 frameset has dropped by 195g, and unlike other high spec Giant bikes, the Defy retains its separate seatpost, rather than a seatmast, to add extra ride comfort.
Cabling is now internal and Giant has reduced the frame stack for a more performance-focussed ride position, befitting the Defy's UCI race sticker. A sub-7kg weight for this top spec makes for lively handling and fast climbing, aided by the quality Cadex wheels and premium SRAM Red groupset.
- Read our full Giant Defy Advanced SL 0 review
What should I consider when buying a new gravel bike?
What flavour of gravel riding do I prefer?
As outlined at the top of this post, gravel bikes are now very diverse, so a good place to start is deciding what type of riding you want to do. At the extremes, gravel race bikes are very different from the most adventure-focussed gravel bikes, so if you want to race or you want to load up for off-grid adventures, there's a gravel bike for you.
Gravel race bikes often sacrifice tyre clearance in favour of speed, a gravel race bike may have higher gearing for faster riding and in many cases the frame will have a firm ride for off-road performance.
Adventure gravel bike, on the other hand, may be set up with wide, grippy tyres that feel a little slow on road and offer low gears that are great for off-road conditions but may cause you to spin out on faster sections.
Fortunately if you're not sure, there are still plenty of all-rounder gravel bikes available which offer good tyre clearance and the mounts you need for bikepacking. If you want to mix off-road with tarmac, meanwhile, an all-road bike might be the best choice.
Do I want one or two chainrings?
Gravel bikes are often offered with a choice of single chainring (1x) or double chainrings (2x). 1x has the advantage of mechanical simplicity. It also usually increases tyre clearance and reduces the risk of clogging.
On the other hand, the gear range offered by 1x may be lower than 2x (although some of the widest ratio options are 1x).
Although theoretically you get half the number of gear ratios, in practice a 2x groupset has several overlapping gear ratios between the two chainrings. As the number of speeds offered now stretches to 12 or 13, the jumps between ratios with a 1x setup may not be that great, particularly in the mid-range in which most riding takes place.
Electronic or mechanical shifting?
Both Shimano and SRAM now offer a choice between mechanical and electronic shifting in their gravel bike groupset ranges, although Campagnolo Ekar and Ekar GT remain mechanical only.
Electronic shifting is less prone to contamination than mechanical shifting, so you should get more precise shifting with less fettling required. It's also more configurable if you want to fine-tune your shifter behaviour.
On the other hand, you need to keep the derailleur batteries powered up and electronic groupsets are usually significantly more expensive than mechanical. Components for electronic groupsets are more expensive than those for mechanical ones, particularly the vulnerable rear derailleur.
Why choose hydraulic disc brakes?
Disc brakes are standard on gravel bikes, but in lower priced bikes there's often a choice between cable-operated and hydraulic systems. As with mechanical groupsets, cable disc brakes are more prone to contamination and performance degradation.
Hydraulic disc brakes usually offer more powerful braking and more modulation, although they need to be bled periodically to keep them working at their best.
What tyres do I need?
Gravel bikes are normally sold with all-rounder tyres. They'll be fine for many off-road surfaces, but may not have enough grip for damp conditions. A grippier tyre will serve better here, but may roll slowly on the road. There are also tyres designed for faster, drier conditions and on/off-road riding.
In muddy conditions, a low profile tyre tread can quickly clog up and you'll lose traction. Mud can also accumulate on the tyre sidewalls and the frame, in the worst case stopping your wheels from turning. A dedicated mud tyre can help, while if you run a slightly narrower tyre you'll have greater clearance in the frame and less tendency to clog.
Our guide to the best gravel bike tyres will help you choose.
Do I need to set up tubeless?
Almost all gravel bike tyres and wheels are tubeless-ready, although gravel bikes are usually sold with inner tubes. You'll save yourself a world of grief by swapping to tubeless, as you can run your tyres at lower pressure, you get a measure of puncture resistance from the tyre sealant and you'll reduce the chances of pinch flats should you hit a rock or other obstacle.
On the other hand, tubeless isn't fit-and-forget and you'll need to check sealant levels and keep them topped up, as sealant dries up over time. A puncture will deplete sealant too and not all seal properly with just sealant, so you may want to carry a tubeless repair kit and/or spare inner tube.
