Gravel Guide
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What is Gravel?
Gravel stands for versatility and gives you the freedom to ride where you want. With a gravel bike, you can experience pure independence. Zip over gravel roads and master cobblestones or paved field, forest and meadow paths skilfully. Find the places where the asphalt ends and dive into a world full of new off-road discoveries with a gravel bike.
Whether it's an adventurous ride from the kiosk next door over gravel and crushed stone to an idyllic country park, on your daily commute to work. Paths you always wanted to try or a fast fun ride that demands off-road capability from you and your bike. Either way, gravel bikes give you the freedom to ride anywhere.
Gravel bikes are comfortable, versatile training and touring partners that will happily ride over most any terrain. Plus, gravel bikes often offer you the option of attaching mudguards and luggage systems – an interesting factor especially for commuters.
The fact is: Gravelling is for everyone and there is no reason not to own a gravel bike!
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The Gravel Geometry: Road Bike speed meets Mountain Bike comfort
The frame - the heart of your gravel bike. Made for adventures!
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Carbon vs. Aluminium
Stable, tough aluminium
The BACKROAD AL is our aluminium gravel bike with uncompromising design at a fair price – stiff, robust and tough. Perfect for beginners and everyday heroes. Yes, aluminium is less not as light as carbon, but it is much stiffer. Aluminium can take a beating and is less sensitive. Because a gravel bike should not lack damping properties, our aluminium model comes with a lightweight, high-quality carbon fork, which gives the bike damping properties.
Flexible, comfortable carbon
The BACKROAD is our versatile carbon gravel bike for your next off-road adventure – high quality, lightweight and extremely comfortable. The particularly high-quality material impresses with its flexing, cushioning properties, which are particularly noticeable in terms of comfort. Though a carbon frame doesn’t compromise on stiffness. Instead, a carbon frame gives you exactly the right amount of stiffness without sacrificing on comfort and flex. Especially on rocky trails or unpaved roads you will feel it when the flex of the carbon takes away strong vibrations and ensures that the traction of your bike is really good in bumpy corners.
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Gravel groupsets for every rider type and purpose.
The groupsets on gravel bikes are at least as versatile as the bike itself.
Gravel groupsets combine the advantages of the established MTB and road bike sectors so you have everything you need for gravelling! They are robust, fast and accurate. You can decide between 1-speed and 2-speed drives and thus determine the intended use of your gravel bike.
What does 1x and 2x mean?
1x stands for single chainring or a singlespeed drivetrain (e.g. 1x11), which means that you ride on only one chainring at the front and thus have fewer sprockets, i.e. gears, available. But that doesn’t mean that you’re missing something. A 1x set-up is more comfortable and easier to use because of the single gear lever. In addition, a narrower gear range and larger gear steps make the bike an off-road and short-distance specialist. Especially on short, crisp climbs, that wider gear range will give you enormous advantages, since you’ll get into the right cadence more quickly between trails.
BWith a double chainring setup or doublespeed (e.g. 2x11) drivetrain you ride on two chainrings at the front, which gives you more sprockets, i.e. more gears. Yes, more is better sometimes. But only if you actually need more gears. A 2x system offers you a wider gear range and finer, smaller gear steps, which is particularly advantageous for you on long distances or long climbs. So, with a 2x set-up you can ride anywhere without worrying about having enough gears.
Think about what type of rider you are and where you want to ride your gravel bike.
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The freedom to choose your own tyre provides flexibility & comfort.
No part of your gravel bike is as critical to your riding experience as the right gravel tyre.
It is extremely versatile and delivers rolling resistance, grip and puncture protection. Both the gravel bike’s all-rounder characteristic and the ability to clear most any terrain are possible due to its very wide tyres. It is quite normal to see tyre widths between 32 and 42 mm. They also provide you with the necessary comfort and control so that you are happy to sit relaxed in the saddle for a long time, even on a long road trip. When choosing tyres, consider where you will be riding your gravel bike. Do you ride more on tarmac or do you tend to blaze over gravel and dirt roads and sometimes through mud? It is important that the tyre fits your intended use.
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1 Schwalbe G-One Allround (tyre width: 38 mm)
asphalt / light, unpaved paths / light, dry trails
2 Schwalbe G-One Bite (tyre width: 38 mm)
off-road / unpaved roads / off-road specialist
3 Continental Terra Trail ProTection (tyre width: 40 mm)
rough terrain and coarse gravel / unpaved roads / easy trails with sticks and stones
4 Continental Terra Speed (tyre width: 40 mm)
high speeds on asphalt and sand / rough terrain and coarse gravel / easy trails with sticks and stones
5 WTB Venture Road TCS tanwall (tyre width: 47 mm)
For a variety of terrains / pebbles and gravel / adventure roads
No adventure is too big for you, Bike packing at it's best.
The BACKROAD offers plenty of versatility with its many attachment points for bottle cages, Anything Cages or bags, perfect for epic bikepacking adventures! You need nothing more than our ROSE gravel bike, the right equipment, and your gear to give you dreams of freedom: Put the bags on and go! If not now, when?
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GRAVEL RIDING IN ADVENTURE STYLE
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There is no reason not to own a gravel bike! 4 reasons why.
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Boundless versatility.
No bike is as incredibly versatile and beginner-friendly as our ROSE gravel bike.
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Amazing feel-good factor.
Our BACKROAD is a responsive, comfortable partner for your training and adventures.
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Fan favourite.
Our award-winning BACKROAD scores full marks and makes bikers' hearts beat faster.
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Modern design.
A real feast for the eyes when riding on gravel and crushed stone!
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