Waaay Out
Why your next bike might be a monster.
I'VE HAD THIS ITCH LATELY TO HOP onto a bike loaded wi th camping gear and ride way out there. Every t ime Ise e bikepacking images, I envision being on a rid geline, far from everything and everyone, watching the sunrise as I pack up my campsite before setting out for another amazing day on the bike. I know I’m not alone in this desire. Most cyclists I speak to love adventure, and most see multi-day bike trips as a romantic endeavour they’d love to experience. But while ‘touring’ bikes – the ones we picture crossing the country on paved roads – have been around longer than any of us have been riding, these days more and more people are looking to take their adventures off-road, away from cars. It’s the main reason gravel bikes are the hottest thing in the drop-bar space right now.
With bigger tyres and greater emphasis on comfort than a road-racing-style bike, gravel bikes can venture onto everything from gravel and fire roads to singleand doubletrack, all places you’re unlikely to see motorists. Add a few small frame bags, and a gravel bike can take you away – not just for an afternoon, but for multi-day, overnight adventures.
But to really get out there, far away from cars, and to stay out there for a longer period of time, you need
something bigger and more capable than a gravel bike. You need a super-gravel bike (aka an adventure-touring bike or bikepacking bike).
So what does a super-gravel bike have that a gravel bike doesn’t? For starters, it has clearance for bigger tyres, and more mounts for bottles, bags and cargo carriers. And where a gravel bike is more like a road bike with bigger tyres, a super-gravel bike is longer and slower-steering, like a mountain bike. It’s also designed to take a drop bar (you can’t just throw a drop bar on a mountain bike that isn’t designed for one, or the reach goes all weird), which offers many advantages for long days in the saddle. A drop bar creates more real estate for your hands and lets you move more easily into comfortable positions during a long ride. It also lets you shift your weight for improved control on steep singletrack, or to get into a lower tuck when you’re above the treeline with nothing to shelter you from the wind. These bikes are essentially drop-bar mountain bikes, and they’re growing in popularity.
But the category is still small, because compared to the general population of cyclists, there aren’t huge numbers of riders heading off on weeks-long, self-supported off-road tours. It seems, though, based on the bikes being offered by some brands and from what I saw at the most recent North American Handmade Bike Show, that interest is growing. Even more so among the younger generation of bike tourers and potential bike tourers, according to Dan Meyer, deputy editor of Adventure Cycling magazine. It’s because this niche category is designed for a unique and demanding purpose that I find it so fascinating. And right now, no bike ‘trend’ is more exciting to me than the exploding super-gravel one.
For now, there aren’t that many from the mainstream manufacturers; though there are a few carbon examples (available on ultra-special order), which keeps the weight down and helps to absorb bumps and vibration better than metal, allegedly, a big advantage for long rides on rough roads and trails. A lighter-weight bike is also easier to handle on skinny singletrack, especially when it’s loaded with gear or when you have to hike-a-bike a good distance.
But saving less than a kilo on the bike when you are loading it with coffee options, warm socks and baguettes isn’t totally necessary, writes Tim Brink.
The Curve Kevin GMX (Gravel Monster Cross) pictured above does a lot of that for you, in titanium, along with boost axles, which allow for stiffer and tougher wheels and make room for grippy and floaty 29x2.4-inch tyres with plenty of mud clearance. The oversized main triangle allows for frame bags and one-litre bottles, and there are plenty of mounts for bottles, cargo carriers, and frame bags, so you can plan for days or even weeks without your nearest Woollies.
Trek’s 920 doesn’t come with a shiny titanium frame, but it will leave your wallet freed up to accessorise. If you aren’t ready to drop a hundred grand on a pimped niche bike like the Kevin – plus more, for all the bags and ultralight camping gear you’d need for a months-long back-country trip – it offers a bullet-proof aluminium ride, racks and mounts, and a spec level that won’t let you down alarmingly far from Putsonderwater. My head tells me 920, and my heart wants the Kevin. Ulitmately, I’d take either – I just love that a bike like this exists. Even better is knowing that when the day comes that I’m ready to pack up my gear and go in search of that idyllic ridgeline – whether for a day, a month, or longer – the perfect bike is already waiting to take me there.