Should the Cycling Industry Embrace a New Category of Aggressive Gravel Bikes?

Question

In your opinion, can the cycling industry facilitate the emergence of a new segment within gravel cycling for the aggressive style gravel bikes?

Answer 1

Definitely, there is such a faith that the gravel category of this industry should develop into the category of aggressive gravel bikes. Such bikes would have mountain bike/’s tire clearance, slacker angles and could come equipped with dropper posts or suspension forks. The aim is to have a feeling of mountain bike on the bike where more rough gravel is expected. This would be in addition to creating subcategories of gravel bikes as it is done in roads and mountain bikes categories.

Comments

As a suspension technician watching gravel bikes turn into mountain bikes… I’d say you’re just ahead of the game

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Nothing wrong in being an out of the box thinker and pushing the envelope.  We need more guys like you.

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My favorite thing about bicycles is  figuring out how you want to ride, and finding what works for you. More fidelity in the bike spectrum is a good thing. We can't all own 20 slightly different bikes but, at least we can mix and match from a broad pool of  options to suit our own needs. More is better in the bike world.

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100% agree. The gravel market has very quickly grown in all directions and there needs to be sub categories to help the customers understand what they're buying. I get people coming to my shop saying "I bought this gravel bike because my friend said that gravel bikes are very comfortable on the road" and they've got something on the more gravely end of the gravel spectrum. Bikes are a spectrum, from endurance road bikes that can take 38c tires to Grountain bikes. It's 2023, bike category fluidity is the name of the game. Bring them all on and have fun.

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A company has been rocking the frankenbike from their factory for a while! It's called the Lauf Seigla - 2.25 tire clearance with 700c rims, suspension fork (not a MTB suspension), XC MTB geometry (mostly), drop bars (a very compliant one at that), UDH, 1x only, 17-18lbs!!! They also sell the entry level version, which has electronic XPLR, for $3500 (ish). Bought one, it's fast. I think you could objectively say it covers the MTB end of the gravel spectrum quite well but I'd love to see more data on the other end of the spectrum - aero gains or losses.

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That dropper lever is cool, haven’t noticed that on this bike before. Agree with you that they need more categories of gravel bikes. It will happen. For me, I would like just an aero road bike w clearance for 40-42s. But there are absolutely needs for bike packing gravel bikes, more single track capable gravel bikes, etc..

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I think the big problem is this: people think suspension is about comfort because their only experience with it is a walmart BSO with a coil fork - in reality, suspension provides increased traction and control and can make a huge difference