Six all-road bikes

If you like roads, lanes, tracks and trails and want to connect them all, you should consider an all-road bike. Here are six...

When we were young, we had one bike and we went everywhere on it. We weren’t constrained by whether it had road- or off-road tyres, or something in between, the correct gearing, or indeed any gear options at all. If we wanted to ride over there, we would and if we couldn’t ride, we pushed. Or just threw it in the hedge and walked.

These days, our more cultured cycling palettes see the nuances that differentiate various bikes. Well, here at CyclingPlus we certainly do, it’s our job! The problems sometimes arise when trying to categorise an activity, as it can provoke as many questions as answers and alienate riders.

The obvious example is gravel. In the USA, where the term derived, there are thousands of miles of gravel or unmade roads. They’re not usually technical, but they can be epic. How

does the same term translate to UK riding? We do have gravel roads, albeit shorter and the most significant are in far-flung parts of the country, but the word gravel is perhaps too literal, which is why we’ve termed this group test ‘all-road’.

Instead of only considering the gravel portion of our rides as a goal, all-road riding is that real-world thing we’ve all always done: riding from A to B on whichever legal route we choose. With six quite different takes on what constitutes all-road rides, we’ve been lapping up our favourite road, dirt, grassland and gravel loops to see which bike manages the best hovercraft-like transition from smooth to rough and back again.

Our selection includes some mountain bike-inspired tech, smaller wheels, wide and narrow tyres and all kinds of gear ratios. It’s refreshingly eclectic. Just like being a kid again.