We look at three exciting new gravel bikes that can help you get off the road – and up the hills – without the grind
Photography Russell Burton
Gravel has become one of the most popular drop-bar pursuits, and with the combination of road-bike speed, challenging terrain, spectacular views and lack of traffic, it’s easy to see the appeal. Ebike popularity is also booming as motors keep improving, batteries become smaller, weights lighter, and looks a lot more appealing.
The marriage of the two bike genres is a match made in heaven, especially here in the UK with our changeable climate. Without the USA’s dry, dusty gravel conditions, we can struggle to get traction on steep, slippy inclines where you’d usually have to stand to get the pedal power. If you slip and put your foot down, it’s a battle to get going again, so inevitably most gravel rides will involve some bike-hiking. An extra 250W or so of motor power allows you to stay seated and increase grip, giving you a boost up those tricky bits. So a good e-gravel bike will save you plenty of shoe leather but, most importantly, it’ll add a huge dollop of spark and fun to a ride, particularly on the ascents.
We’ve chosen three new e-gravel machines at a variety of prices and all with different power units. Let’s get down and dirty with them!
AL e Al e!
First up, Ribble’s Gravel AL e is the only aluminium-framed option tested, which means it’s the heaviest – though not by much. At 14kg, it’s only 320g heavier than the Orro and 460g more than the Scott. It’s the cheapest here by some margin, too, but Ribble value shines through as it has a better specification than the Orro and isn’t far off the hugely pricier Scott.
At the heart of the Gravel AL e sit a robust and well-finished alloy frame and a slender carbon fork with triple ‘anything’ mounts, mudguard eyes and plenty of tyre clearance (47mm in 650b and 45mm in 700c). The oversized down-tube doesn’t look out of place and it’s only the triangulated bottom bracket shell holding the Mahle charge port that you really notice compared to the non-e Ribble Gravel. The frame, like the fork, has plenty of fixtures to appeal to bikepackers: bottle mounts, rear rack, rear guard and a flattened, frame bag-friendly top-tube.
The frame geometry is classic gravel stuff. My Large test bike has a 72° head angle and steep 73.3° seat angle. The 603mm stack and 406mm reach gives the AL e a potentially long, low ride position, but the curvy Level Gravel riser bar with ample flare (42cm at the hoods to 51cm at the drops) plus a 30mm rise from the c
