![]() Many gravel bikes are built with frame tubes designed to absorb vibrations and improve comfort over rough terrain. The Merida Silex+ 8000-E is a great example of a gravel bike with flattened-profile tubing (Image credit: Graham Cottingham) This style is perfect for criteriums and technical CX courses, but they will feel twitchier on other off-road terrain, especially steep descents. You will sacrifice a bit of straight-line speed and aerodynamics, but the off-road superiority is well worth the cost.Ĭyclo-cross bikes and some road bikes will have steeper head tube angles (shortening the wheelbase), which makes them better at tight cornering and handling. This helps the bike handle better at slower speeds and on technical terrain, and also reduces the chances of toe overlap. A slacker head tube angle lengthens the wheelbase and pushes the front wheel out further from the bottom bracket. Downhill mountain bikes share the same attribute, although their wheelbases are even more stretched out – and of course, the terrain they’re designed for is much more extreme.Ī longer wheelbase makes gravel bikes more stable on off-road terrain, as well as their slacker head tube angles (the angle between the horizontal plane and a line running down the centre of the steerer tube). ![]() Indeed, gravel bikes have a longer wheelbase, which helps stretch out their frame and improve handling on rough terrain. The wheelbase on a gravel bike is longer, to make off-road handling more stable (Image credit: Aaron Borrill)Īt first glance, you may notice that a gravel bike looks longer than most road bikes. ![]()
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