RALEIGH ROKER PRO £2000

› Raleigh’s Roker looks like a racer that enjoys a bit of rough

Raleigh has six gravel bikes in its 2016 range, which is topped by the Roker Pro and the £2500 Roker Race. As you’d hope for from the most expensive bike on test the Pro is instantly likeable. It’s not the lightest machine here, and only gets SRAM’s Apex-level alloy chainset rather than Rival or Force, but it has an immediately fresh and clean feel.

The head angle is quite slack, which should slow the steering down. But the solidity of the 142x12mm front thru-axle helps to keep the steering sharp, and it still feels quick and responsive through the bar. Its chunky chainstays and 142x12mm rear thru-axle transfer your power well, but the curved toptube and flat wishbone seatstays mean that drive doesn’t mean discomfort even over rough forest roads. It wasn’t knocked off its stride by rutted and rubble‘repaired’ farm tracks, either

A lot of the credit for the Roker’s impressive ride quality has to go to the American Classic tubelessready wheelset and Schwalbe G-One tyres. The latter are listed as 35mm but thanks to the wider rim blow up to 39mm. Simply adding valves would turn them tubeless, which would make them lighter, smoother SPECIFICATION 9.06kg (56cm) Carbon Carbon, 15mm thru-axle SRAM Rival 1, 44, 10-42 SRAM Rival hydraulic discs American Classic Tubeless

Weight Wheels Finishing kit

RSP stem, bar and carbon seatpost, Selle Royal Sirio saddle, 35mm Schwalbe Performance G1 tyres and puncture-resistant in a single stroke. But even with inner tubes the fat, fast-rolling carcass feels great on the road when it comes to sustaining speed, and off road the stipple tread offers much better grip than you’d expect, even in the wet.

The FC350 chainset’s 44-tooth ring is the biggest on test, but this is offset by a super-wide-range 10-42 cassette. The result is that you’ll hit 60kph before you spin out, but can still grunt up walking pace cyclocross climbs if you’re determined. The flipside is the bigger gaps between gears, which can irritate when you’re riding shallow slopes or rolling terrain on the road.

A lot of the credit for the Roker’s ride goes to the American Classic tubeless-ready wheels