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Fast on road & gravel: Gravel bikes are the perfect basis for sporty touring and everyday bikes. Some manufacturers therefore offer the complete equipment as standard ex works. The road bike editors of our sister magazine TOUR tested 5 fully equipped gravel bikes that are still very sporty. From mudguards to headlights, they have everything you need to be able to ride them at any time and in any weather - leaving no reason to stop.
The 5 gravel bikes with full equipment in the test
Right on trend: gravel bikes with full equipment
The gravel bike is also so popular because, as the "SUV among bicycles", it can, if not replace, then competently replace several specialists. If you don't necessarily race, you can use it for a sporty after-work ride, a family outing on forest paths, an extended cycle tour or the daily commute to work. Many models also allow for mudguards to be fitted for everyday and winter use, luggage to be carried when travelling and some manufacturers have even designed the frame with a lighting system in mind.
Gravel bikes that are already equipped with all of this from the factory are becoming increasingly popular, as the road scene has shown in recent years. If the accessories are fitted by the manufacturer from the outset, this has the advantage that all components are harmonised and should work better than subsequently adapted solutions. In most cases, it is also cheaper overall and saves a lot of tinkering - and last but not least, it looks better.
Particularly popular examples from €1599
We took a closer look at five particularly popular, current examples of such bikes. The criteria for us were a sturdy aluminium frame and a modern drive unit with hydraulic disc brakes. The price window for these bikes ranges from 1599 euros (Cube) to 2499 euros (Rose). This is a surprisingly wide range considering the equipment, which at first glance appears to be very comparable - almost all of the drive components and brakes on the test bikes come from Shimano's GRX gravel groupset.
In our test, however, a closer look, a walk through the test lab and in practice reveal even more surprises. One of them is that in this test field, a higher budget does not automatically mean a lighter bike. Most of the candidates are around twelve kilograms, regardless of price, Bergamont is clearly left behind in this rating with a very heavy frameset. A closer look at the equipment also reveals differences.
In principle, Shimano's GRX parts for the wheels are a good choice, robust and the spare parts are inexpensive. In detail, however, the bike brands do not always offer the latest technology. For example, only Cube and Stevens modern twelve-speed drivetrains. Bergamont, Radon and Rose shift with eleven sprockets, which means either one less climbing gear or a coarser gradation. There are also differences in the brakes: Often, savings are made on the brake discs, only Rose gets everything out of the hydraulic systems with a high-quality disc.
A disservice to wide tyres - or: sheet metal with too little protection
Not everything works so smoothly when it comes to accessories either, as the test rides show. Take mudguards, for example: to fulfil their purpose optimally, they need to be long and wide enough; one centimetre more than the tyre width would be good. The Cube and Radon stand out negatively here because the mudguards only just cover the 40 millimetre wide gravel tyres and splash water flies past them.
The front mudguards on the Rose and Stevens could also be five centimetres longer to better protect your feet and drivetrain from dirt; on the Cube, on the other hand, the rider directly behind gets really wet.
Bright & tidy: the light of the gravel bikes
Good news from the lighting: All bikes are equipped with high-quality hub dynamos and LED lighting including parking light function. The lights from Supernova (Stevens) and Busch&Müller (Rose) represent the state of the art in lighting technology. Only the lamp from Radon looks a little cheaply made, but also shines well.
The rear lights are elegantly restrained: the high-quality Busch&Müller rear light on the Rose is minimalist, but does a good ballet in the dark. On the Stevens and Cube, the small rear lights are integrated into the mudguard - on the Stevens so far that it is barely visible from the side. Nevertheless, an LED seatpost does make up for the weak point.
The candidates have little to offer in terms of passive safety: Only Stevens installs tyres with reflective strips and a large reflector at the rear. Strictly speaking, all the others would have to have rear and spoke reflectors retrofitted so that the bikes are allowed on the road in accordance with StVZO.
Here are the 5 gravel bikes again - click to go to the test
Results & TOUR grades of the gravel bikes with full equipment in the test
*LL = for life, CR = crash replacement, RA = racing exclusion
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.
The bikes were assessed according to TOUR scaleOnly the weight rating has been adjusted due to the accessories fitted.
How TOUR tests road bikes & gravel bikes
Jens Klötzer
Editor
