Cycling UK Forum

I recently created the following utility website for finding and comparing gravel bikes:

http://www.gravel-bikes.co.uk/

It's something I built in my spare time because I was finding it increasingly difficult to find/compare bikes, especially with the many new gravel bikes now available.

You may (or may not) find it useful. I'd also be interested in any feedback you might have about the site. Cheers

BTW - I hope this isn't considered spammy as there is no revenue associated with the site. It's just a hobby project of mine.

What did you choose as your definition of gravel bikes?
I am guessing that disk brakes was one of the specifications.

meic wrote:What did you choose as your definition of gravel bikes?
I am guessing that disk brakes was one of the specifications.

I agree it's a bit of a loose term. Basically any bikes I see in articles/reviews, or anything on manufacturer websites where they refer to gravel/adventure/all-road/etc bikes.
And yes, they all tend to have disc brakes.

Is there any distinction between a faux-cx bike like my (rim-braked) Van Nicholas Amazon and a gravel bike, other than the disk brakes?
Then the light tourer Amazon is almost identical to the faux-cx version (they were actually just one bike when mine was made).

It is your project and you get to choose where you set the borders of what you include or exclude.
Makes sense to catalogue all the disk braked versions before looking at rim braked ones, when that is done you could consider rim braked ones too, if any are still being sold.

I don't know about others, but I'd be more interested in seeing, and being able to filter by, the non-headline attributes of the various bikes, such as...

available as frameset only
weight (frame)
mudguard fittings
rack fittings
light fittings (i.e. a hole in the front of the fork crown)
max tyre clearance (rather than initially fitted tyres)
BB type (BSA68 threaded shell, PF30, PF86 etc etc)
headset size(s) (1 1/8 straight, 1 1/4 to 1 1/8 tapered)
internal/external cabling
front/rear wheel axle types

Admittedly, such info isn't often made readily available.

A couple of thoughts:

isn't there a gravel bikes or two with suspension forks?
I think perhaps worth distinguishing between full carbon forks and those with merely carbon blades
also I believe there's one with a suspension seat post.
the Raleigh Mustang has PROMAX - DSK330 brakes, not Claris

andrew_s wrote:I don't know about others, but I'd be more interested in seeing, and being able to filter by, the non-headline attributes of the various bikes, such as...

thelawnet wrote:A couple of thoughts:....

.
Thank you both very much for your feedback.
I've tried to keep it simple for now. Just to get things going. In the future I will look to expand the filters to include more info like you have mentioned.
And thanks also for highlighting mistake with Raleigh Mustang. Cheers

thelawnet wrote:A couple of thoughts:

isn't there a gravel bikes or two with suspension forks?...

You wouldn't want one, as the limit is the tyres, you won't go through such rough terrain at speed to require a suspension.
Put it this way: with 29er mtb's that are using wide tyres (over 2.4") in not strange to see they are using rigid forks, right because the tyre can do plenty enough. If you are on a 37-40mm tyre you don't want to go full-blast on rocks unless you want to dent your rims, a suspension will do very little to prevent this. Let alone the extra weight, cost and maintenance.
There's only few situations (and bikes) where it can be useful.

Gattonero wrote:

thelawnet wrote:A couple of thoughts:

isn't there a gravel bikes or two with suspension forks?...

You wouldn't want one, as the limit is the tyres, you won't go through such rough terrain at speed to require a suspension.
Put it this way: with 29er mtb's that are using wide tyres (over 2.4") in not strange to see they are using rigid forks, right because the tyre can do plenty enough. If you are on a 37-40mm tyre you don't want to go full-blast on rocks unless you want to dent your rims, a suspension will do very little to prevent this. Let alone the extra weight, cost and maintenance.
There's only few situations (and bikes) where it can be useful.

?

The Specialized Roubaix has a 20mm suspension fork. https://www.specialized.com/us/en/smoother-is-faster

They are on 28mm tyres.

Fox make a 40mm suspension fork https://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/cat ... iew-51204/

There are also a few 30mm gravel suspension fork https://www.cxmagazine.com/review-lauf- ... ss-iceland

https://www.cannondale.com/en/USA/Bike/ ... 720e8cd066

Aside from the Specialized forks which are under them stem (so you only get "shock absorption" but not more grip) the others are in fact a niche market: what the market pushes is not necessarily what the user needs.
Is very pointless to have a suspension with a 30mm tyre, because you don't get all that grip to allow you full-speed on rocks: the suspension will absorb the shock but the tyre will get squashed and damage your rims. A large volume tyre is arguably the best suspension you can get for small shocks and vibrations, because not only a tyre carcass reacts a lot faster than a suspension, but also will improve you grip in the first place.

the Laufrader forks is really a no comment for me: cycling is also harmony, that thing is all but "harmony" with the rest of the bike!