Category: Gravel Bikes

The recent Roval Terra press camp wasn’t just a showcase of trick new wheels. Thanks to Mike Yakubowicz and his shop, Blacksmith Cycle, we were treated to a veritable smorgasbord of beautiful custom bikes from all over the world. Here’s a gallery of the bikes we rode during our time in Downieville.

Salsa Cycles announced this morning publicly that the Cutthroat model will be a ground-up redesign for the 2020 model year. The Cutthroat is Salsa Cycles carbon drop bar mountain bike which is aimed at bike-packing and long rides in remote territory, ala Tour Divide. It also is a fairly popular model amongst some gravel riders.

Riding Gravel contributor, MG, kicks off his test of the hot new 2020 GT Grade Carbon Pro gravel bike.

“One more bike, one less car. “I remember seeing this message emblazoned on a huge booth at the end of a trade show,” says Dennis. “And as I was reading it, a Bobcat came along and pushed the whole booth into a dumpster.”

The Cannondale Topstone Carbon has been one of the most talked about new gravel bikes for 2020. For more than two months, we’ve been testing a top-spec Topstone Carbon Force eTap AXS. Here’s an update on our experience with this groundbreaking new gravel bike.

The Eurobike trade show is happening in Germany now and with the demise of the North American trade show, Interbike, and no replacement for it, show news is packed into the time slot for Eurobike. Press releases are flying everywhere as a result. Here are a few tidbits concerning the gravel/back road rider which may be of interest that have come across our RidingGravel.com e-mail.

The stock feel of the bike fit wise is very roadie. It feels long, low, and narrow with the 100mm stem and 42cm bar. With lighter wheels and a swap to faster tires it has a very nice road presence to it. Right now I am running some Hutchinson 38mm tires…zoom zoom…I disliked the WTB Nanos on the road. Actually I simply disliked the Nanos…period

So I will be living with a Johnny Cash black Cannondale Topstone for a few months. I will be using it to play with upgrades on a budget to see where we can improve performance, drop weight, and add comfort. But first, I want to begin with my thoughts on how the bike is spec’d and how it is to ride stock at the risk of duplicating some of MG’s findings

This is an unusual debut, not only because it is from Knolly, and their first steel offering, but also because it isn’t another carbon fiber framed gravel bike. Let’s be honest, if you heard that “Brand X” was going to announce a high end gravel bike tomorrow, you’d expect it to be a carbon fiber frame. That Knolly decided to lead out with a hand featuring titanium and steel is very different, and noteworthy in today’s market.

Hot on the heels of Cannondale’s recent announcement of the 2020 Topstone Carbon, it’s time to wrap up the review of the 2019 Topstone 105 we’ve been testing since early-May.