Gravel bicycle

They also share many characteristics of touring bicycles, such as relaxed geometry, wide tyres and wide-range gearing.

Gravel bikes have been constructed out of a wide variety of frame materials, including aluminium, carbon fibre, titanium and steel.

[citation needed] Electronic shifting is very common on high-end gravel bicycles.

[5] SRAM recently developed its own XPLR collection adding gravel-specific features in some of their RED, Force and Rival groupsets, as a complement of using their mix of AXS for electronic mountain bike and road bike ranges.

[citation needed] Gravel bike wheels are very similar to tubeless wheels used on some road and cyclocross bikes, and, indeed, 700c gravel wheelsets are often interchangeable with road and cyclocross wheelsets.

[citation needed] The main distinguishing features from tubeless road bike wheels are slightly more robust construction, and wider rim widths.

Tyre choice is a major point of debate in gravel racing, with riders trading off speed on sealed and high-quality dirt roads, weight, and puncture resistance and traction in dustier, sandier or muddier conditions.