Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2019 i Cyclist Off Road

It might seem that gravel riding is still in its infancy, but already the market is awash with this new breed of bike. And it is starting to splinter into distinct categories. The definition of what constitutes gravel riding remains open to debate, and different brands are producing bikes to cope with a wide spectrum of road surfaces and conditions, from smooth tarmac to technical mountain bike trails. So what exactly is a gravel bike, and how do you go about choosing the one that best suits your needs? Cyclist Off-Road talks to the brands and builders at the forefront of the gravel movement. Cross over to gravel ‘A lot of the bikes look the same,’ says Dom Mason, founder of Mason Bikes. ‘But there are very subtle details that…

Selecting gearing is a little bit like choosing tyres. It’s heavily dependent on where you ride, the severity of the terrain, your riding style, fitness level and so on. The good news is there has never been more choice when it comes to gear ratios, so you should be able to find what you need. If you go for a 1x set-up, both the chainring size and cassette range need to be given careful consideration. A more road-focussed rider may wish to have a higher overall gear and smaller jumps between, which might mean a chainring in the region of 44t to 48t paired to an 11-28t cassette. A set-up to favour more off-road riding would likely require a smaller chainring size – in the region of 38t to 42t…

While the initial influx of gravel bikes may have been created off the back of a niche, the latest models are being seen as versatile ‘do-it-all’ bikes with a broad appeal. Riders who can’t afford (or don’t have the space for) a range of different bikes are recognising that this category might just be the ‘one’. It can be a road bike, winter trainer, off-road bike, commuter, tourer and anything in between. The good news is the burgeoning scene has lead to a wealth of new price-pointed options to make them as accessible as possible. Brands such as Canyon with its Grail AL and Cannondale with its Topstone have both recently launched new models targeting lower price points (from £1,099 and £899 respectively). Equally, Kinesis has recently launched its aluminium…

If you like your boundaries clear-cut, stop reading now. Over the past 1,000 years the southern Alps have mainly been ruled by the Counts of Provence and the mighty Duchy of Savoy (the family that eventually unified Italy into the nation we now know). But these peaks and valleys have been fought over by soldiers of all nationalities as allegiances between the ruling families of Europe shifted. French, Spanish, Sardinians and Austrians fought here in the War of the Austrian Succession, a bloody conflict provoked by the death in 1740 of Charles of Hapsburg, the last male ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon grabbed hold of the Alpes Maritimes after the French Revolution, then gave them back to Savoy. Eventually they were divided between France and Italy when, after…

TRAVEL The nearest airport to Santa Cruz is San Jose, but San Francisco is served by a wider choice of airlines and flight times from the UK, especially if you want to fly direct. We flew with British Airways from London Heathrow, which takes around 10 hours. It’s roughly a 1.5-hour drive from San Francisco down to Santa Cruz, depending on whether you take the slightly shorter Interstate (I-280) route or the much more scenic coastal road (Highway 1). ACCOMMODATION As a popular holiday destination there’s no shortage of places to stay in Santa Cruz, from big chain hotels to the more personal guesthouses, beachfront cottages and B&Bs. The closer you stay to the beach the higher the price. Expect to pay from £50pn on the outskirts of the city…

Giro Privateer Lace Gravel riding is a bit of a mishmash of other cycling disciplines, and Giro wanted to mirror that characteristic in the creation of its new Privateer Lace shoes. ‘Our regular Privateer is comfortable and durable,’ says Giro’s Dain Zaffke. ‘The Empire is the “hottest” in Giro’s line, but it’s a high-end shoe at a high-end price. With the Privateer Lace, we wanted to combine both shoes’ best bits and introduce the comfort and style of laces to riders less inclined to buy the performance carbon sole.’ Using a nylon sole cuts the cost of the Lace by nearly half compared to the carbon-soled Empire VR90. ‘Many riders not only don’t need carbon soles, but will actually benefit from nylon soles,’ says Zaffke. ‘The Easton EC90 carbon fibre…

‘Metals tend to say to people, “dependability”,’ says Dom Mason, founder of Mason Bikes. ‘Carbon is infinitely more tuneable, and its strength-to-weight makes it superb as a frame material, but it simply isn’t as impact-resistant and I feel you can still make superb bikes out of metal. ‘Titanium is to my mind the best all-round material for a gravel bike,’ he adds. ‘It has a lovely smooth ride feel, and it can still be light. If you drop it on a rock you won’t punch a hole in it. People refer to Ti bikes as “life bikes” and as a frame material for fast off-road gravel experience it’s brilliant. Granted, it’s still expensive, but no more so than carbon. ‘As an aside, we’re also finding that people love the romantic…

Cannondale was the first big brand to release a dedicated gravel bike with suspension back in 2015, when the Slate raised eyebrows with its distinctive single-legged Lefty fork. Specialized went down a more subtle route for its Diverge and Roubaix bikes with Future Shock, a spring between the headset and stem designed to isolate the rider from road shocks and dampen vibration. The question remains, though, whether suspension systems are necessary on a gravel bike at all. ‘Gravel bikes are increasingly blurring the lines between road and MTB,’ says Chris Trojer, European marketing manager at suspension fork manufacturer Fox. ‘A gravel bike offers new possibilities and suspension on these bikes is just the next logical step in my world.’ Not everyone agrees. ‘For me, the key reason people love gravel…

Tread carefully Pick your tyres to suit your terrain Tyres are perhaps the most important component dictating where and how you can ride your gravel bike. They can affect grip, cushioning, rolling speed and comfort, and you’ll also want something durable enough that punctures aren’t a continual blight. It’s not always obvious what type of tyre to choose. The boom in multi-terrain riding has led to a flood of new tyre designs and sizes. Do you go knobbly or smooth? Do you go for 30mm, 40mm, or even 57mm width? And should you choose 700c or 650b wheel sizes? Where to start? Getting knobbled ‘There are a lot of options out there,’ says Clayton Wangbichler, product manager at WTB Tyres. ‘To narrow it down, it’s important to determine exactly what…

To download this route go to cyclist.co.uk/or1/france. You’ll need a good bike computer that can handle off-road trails, preferably backed up with a paper map (or, even better, hire a guide). From Breil-sur-Roya follow the D6204 north for 17km to St-Dalmas-de-Tende. Turn left onto the D91, signposted for Castérino. Follow this road on deteriorating surfaces until it becomes a gravel trail. Head northeast and along the Via del Sale, tracing the border between France and Italy, until you arrive at the Rifugio Don Barbera, which is home for the night. The route then heads south along the border on gravel paths before diving into Italy to rejoin paved roads at Triora. From there it’s around 60km to Ventimiglia on the coast, and another 12km along the coast to Menton in…

TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION Flights to Nice on the southern coast of France are available from all major UK airports. From Nice we took the train to Breil-sur-Roya (one hour), where we started the ride. That evening, we stayed on the Via del Sale at the Rifugio Don Barbera (rifugiodonbarbera.eu), which has prices from €20 (£18) for just a bed, to €50 for half board plus a packed lunch for the following day. The next day we descended to Menton on the French coast before taking the train back to Nice (40 minutes). BIKE HIRE Bikes came courtesy of Basecamp (basecamp. bike). Located in the Haute Savoie region of France, it rents out road and gravel bikes from around €80 (£70) a day, including Open’s UP and Upper bikes and the…

Loaded with every imaginable bikepacking bag, the flying Diverge just about met its match on our testing route. Nippy when on the tarmac and better tended gravel tracks, it was less happy over seriously rocky ground, where it could have done with slightly wider tyres than the 38mm rubber supplied and a broader handlebar to boost stability and control. More positive was its dropper seatpost, which allowed me to get the saddle out of the way when taking on tricky descents. The wide-range 1x electronic gearing was also a hit. Borrowing the rear derailleur from Shimano’s top-tier XTR mountain bike groupset, it showed no inclination to let the chain break loose, and kept everything quiet as we bashed along. In terms of comfort, Specialized’s Future Shock suspension system isolates the…

I set out to build the perfect bike for Grinduro. Having ridden the event, I would now say it’s practically impossible to have a bike perfect for every challenge you’ll face, so varied is the course, but the 3T Exploro is as close as you’ll find. It’s truly versatile – and great fun, especially with the addition of the Fox AX suspension fork (here colour-matched to the custom paint scheme by Fat Creations) and a 650b wheelset with 42mm WTB Resolute tyres. The beauty of this frame/fork combination is that the 40mm of suspension travel really aids grip and stability, which allowed me to carry more speed safely over the roughest sections and stay off the brakes on descents. With the flick of a lever, locking the fork means the…

As with road bikes, many gravel bikes come equipped with a compact double chainring groupset. However, drivetrains with a single chainring – called 1x and pronounced ‘one-by’ – are becoming increasingly popular for gravel bikes. They might reduce the overall number of gears compared to a double, but they do come with certain advantages. For starters, taking away a portion of the drivetrain – losing the front derailleur, the associated cabling and one of the chainrings – reduces weight, improves rear tyre clearance behind the seat tube and means fewer components overall to maintain. That can be beneficial when you’ve got mud and filth to contend with. Also, a single chainring setup reduces the complexities of shifting. You only have one shift to worry about, simply up or down the…

Dropper posts were born in downhill mountain biking. The ability to instantly (at the press of a button or lever) drop the seat down helps to rapidly shift body weight downwards and rearwards, lowering a rider’s centre of gravity to increase stability and control on steep, technical descents. The jury is still out, though, on whether it has a place on a gravel bike. There is an argument that if the terrain you’re on is extreme enough to require a dropper post, the chances are you’re taking the notion of gravel riding a step too far and should really be riding a mountain bike. The dropper post is certainly a significant step away from the more traditional aspects of the road/gravel crossover, and it won’t sit well with the purists.…

ACCOMMODATION When not camping we stayed at Morag’s Lodge in Fort Augustus (moragslodge.com). Four of us bunked together for £81, while double rooms cost from £60pn. FOOD Ideally you should take food with you, but there are shops at Glenelg (90km), Shiel Bridge (100km), the Cluanie Inn (123km), Glen Affric Youth Hostel (129km), and finally the Tomich Hotel (160km). BIKE Make sure you bring spares, but Alpine Bikes outside Inverness (tiso.com/alpine) is excellent, if a long way from Fort Augustus. At a push, Girvans Hardware in Fort Augustus (girvanshardware.co.uk) might be able to help with simple repairs. THANKS Thanks to Fiola Foley and Komoot (komoot.com) for planning the trip and arranging accommodation. Gratitude is also due to Instagram’s @kellbellandbikes for perseverance in the face of being asked to ride the…

THE DETAILS The PEdALED Silk Road Mountain Race is an epic unsupported ultra-endurance bikepacking race sponsored by Alpkit. It takes between eight and 14 days to complete and includes numerous climbs of up to 4,000m in elevation. Riders must bring all necessary supplies and will only be able to resupply in towns and pre-set resupply points. Control cars follow the course, ready to assist in any emergency, but any other assistance (a wheel change, for example) results in the rider being pushed off the GC. Each rider has a tracker for organisers and spectators to mark progress, as well as offering an SOS button for emergencies. THE ROUTE The route is dictated by the organisers, owing to the uniquely remote nature of the Kyrgyz mountains and the related safety concerns.…

TRAVEL Arran is only accessible by ferry, for which Grinduro uses the crossing from Ardrossan on the west coast of Scotland. Race entry includes return ferry crossing as a foot passenger with bike. The closest airport to Ardrossan is Glasgow International, which is an hour’s drive away. ScotRail also operates a train service directly into the Ardrossan Harbour, about a four-hour journey from London. Typical journey time to Ardrossan from London by car is around 7.5 hours, and from Glasgow 45 minutes. Once you reach Brodick on Arran it’s about a 10-minute drive to the event village in Lamlash, for which the event provides a shuttle service by minibus, with bike trailers. However, it’s so close that many choose to simply ride there from the ferry (weather and good bikepacking…

If you’re new to gravel riding, there are several taboos you are going to have to get used to breaking. These include strapping extraneous appendages to your frame, wearing non-Lycra clothing and getting off and pushing your bike up hills occasionally. While the first two are largely cosmetic details, the last is something that many roadies would consider sacrilege, quoting the mantra that miles that aren’t pedalled don’t count. Personally, I dispute this and in support of my argument refer to the examples of Walter MacGregor Robinson and Davie Bell, two cyclists who pioneered the art of gravel, adventure or whatever-you-want-to-callit cycling a century ago, preferring to label it with the far more rock ’n’ roll moniker of ‘rough-stuffing’. This description is perfect, as it covers all eventualities and surfaces…