Whether click shoes, helmets or clothing: gravel wherever you look. Almost every manufacturer is trying to jump on the gravel bike bandwagon and include the right products for adventurous off-road cyclists in their range. Experienced long-distance mountain bikers can only smile at this. After all, they have been celebrating cranking through the terrain without suspension, with panniers on the bike and on narrow tyres for more than two decades. With light, sporty hardtails that are more comfortable to ride and can also tackle much more technical trails. But they are no longer hip enough. Fast gravel racing bikes for easy terrain, on the other hand, are. Thru-axles and disc brakes, as on mountain bikes, are no longer a problem with the latest gravel bikes from Canyon, Scott or Rose the rule. For more riding fun and comfort off-road, wide-supported racing handlebars, in some cases even lowerable seat posts, minimalist suspension (such as the Lefty-Oliver fork from Cannondale) and tyre widths of up to 2.0 inches. In addition, there are plenty of mounting options on the frame and fork to Bikepacking-equipment. The only thing missing is a flat bar to turn the gravel bike back into an unsprung hardtail.
Gravelbike: The approach to mountain biking
After our detailed Test and system comparison gravel bike vs. MTB last year, many new models and components are in the starting blocks for 2022. Despite this gravel hype, mountain bikers somehow have the feeling that someone has turned back time by 30 years. In many respects, gravel bikes are going through what mountain bikes went through in the early years. All parts have been gradually optimised for better off-road performance. But how close does the current crop of gravel bikes really come to classic mountain bikes with a rigid rear end? Or is the young bike category even unnecessary for hardtail bikers who want to cover kilometres? We took a closer look at two exciting bikes that fill the gap between gravel bikes and hardtails with suspension forks. If you scroll through the photo galleries of ultra-endurance races such as the Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco or the US classic Tour Divide, many of the bikes ridden bear the Salsa and Bombtrack logos on the down tube. That's why we chose these two bikes:
Salsa Cutthroat C GRX 600
Salsa developed the Cutthroat especially for long bikepacking trips "on mixed surfaces" and is considered an adventure gravel bike. Weight: 11.1 kilos without pedals. Price: 3599 euros.
Bombtrack Cale AL BPC
We quickly converted the Cale AL from the Cologne brand Bombtrack into a gravel racer with a carbon rigid fork and different tyres. Weight after our modifications: 12.2 kilos without pedals. Standard bike price: 2250 euros. The Carbon rigid fork from Bombtrack costs 350 euros.
How the two bikes performed on the Bavarian Orbit 360 circuit "Terra Trail" you will soon be able to read in BIKE. You can find more gravel bikes, accessories and equipment in the Gravel Special, which is enclosed with BIKE 9/21 as an extra issue.
