One for all, and all for fun – four of the best gravel bikes from RibbleCycles Want a bike that can do it all – from commuting, to cycle touring, to trails, to fast road riding? Then we have the answer: you want a gravel bike 🔗 🔗 Sponsored
If you could only have one bike, what would it be? Firstly, it would have to be practical so you could ride it on typical journeys, commutes and the like. If it had loads of mounts for bottle cages and bags, you could go touring with it. You’d probably want a bit of speed, so you could join your mates on group rides and feel the rush of fast road riding. And imagine if it was also able to handle a bit of off-roading, so you could take on any pedal-powered adventure.
Of course, long-in-the-tooth riders will tell you that gravel bikes are only domesticated cyclo-cross race bikes, a concept that has been around for donkey’s years. There is a lot of truth in this. But as much fun as cyclo-cross racing is, it is a bit niche and the market for dedicated ’cross bikes rather reflected that.
With a slightly more relaxed riding position, gravel bikes are comfier and more suited to urban riding than dedicated road or ’cross bikes. But with drop bars and highly efficient gears and brake sets, they can still keep up with club runs and sportives. Both of these qualities, along with gravel bikes’ tendency to feature rack and accessory mounts, means they’re great for long-distance multi-day rides, too.
Ribble has an incredible selection of bikes suited to almost any conceivable application, but we’re focusing on the brand’s dedicated gravel bikes, starting with the entry-level Ribble Gravel AL, the Ribble Gravel AL e electric bike, the Ribble Gravel Ti titanium bike and finishing with the flagship Ribble Gravel SL carbon bike.