Whether it be from online stores or direct buy brands, you can purchase many gravel bikes on the internet and get them shipped straight to your door in a matter of days. Most shops assure buyers of a full build and safety check prior to shipping to your home address too, ensuring you have a ride ready bike as soon as it lands. Here are the best bikes, scoring over 4 stars, that we have tested and that you can get posted to your front door.
- The best mountain bikes we've tested that you can buy and get shipped to your door
- The best gravel and adventure bikes you can buy for under £1,000
- The best gravel and adventure bikes you can buy for under £2,000
The best gravel bikes you can get shipped direct
Bikes under £1,000
Bikes under £2,000
- Giant Revolt 0
- Giant Revolt 1
- Ribble CGR AL Shimano 105
- Bergamont Grandurance 6
- Canyon Grail AL 7.0
- Nukeproof Digger Pro
- Specialized Diverge E5 Sport
- Marin Gestalt X11
Bikes over £2,000
Bikes under £1,000
Triban RC 520 gravel
£850
The gravel-adapted version of Decathlon's acclaimed RC520 endurance bike comes with 36mm Hutchinson Overide tyres for trail and dirt-road riding. The gearing is perhaps a bit high for dirt riding, but the Shimano 105 components include the GS rear mech that'll handle a 40-tooth largest sprocket.
It's a favourite of our sister site road.cc whose reviewer Stu said: " When out for four or five hours riding purely on a mix of gravel byways and smaller dry, dirt trails, that steady, confidence-inspiring steering just lets you get on with the job of ticking off the miles and enjoying the scenery."
Marin Four Corners
£995
Marin's Four Corners might make the most of the current bikepacking and adventure trend to sell itself, but at heart, it's an affordable off-road tourer with planted handling and a versatile steel frame.
On the downside, it's heavier than similarly priced rivals and that's something that makes itself known on hills. If you're after something super lively feeling that'll spend most of its time on road, you should look elsewhere first, but it's a mighty fun jack-of-all-trades - which is exactly what an off-road touring machine should be. Online retailer Tredz stock Maring bikes ready to ship to you.
Sonder Camino AL Apex 1
£999
The Sonder Camino Al is an adventure bike from outdoor specialists Alpkit. Sonder is their bike brand and, as with the rest of their products, aims to provide great value for money. The Camino proves to be a versatile ride for a variety of conditions whilst being great value. This is a bike that enjoys going off-road but would also be quite happy taking you longer distances on tarmac too.
The bias - and the way the bike is specced certainly corroborates this – is towards off-road adventuring. The comfortable position is perfect for gravel excursions or riding long distances loaded with luggage, but for my preferences is just a little too upright for longer (proper) road rides. It’s a do-anything bike with a definite off-road flavour, but above all, it’s a bike to have fun with at a price that belies its capabilities. Alpkit ships Sonders from their UK base straight to your door.
Marin Gestalt 1
£995
Another all-rounder to make it to the list, we really liked the 2017 Gestalt 1 when we reviewed it, saying it was "A cracking bike for anyone wanting a versatile machine that'll do everything from commuting to gravel grinding". The 2020 Gestalt 1 uses Marin's Series 3 Beyond Road frame, and full-carbon fork, with Tektro dual-piston brakes, fixing two of our major criticisms of the base-model Gestalt. Online retailer Tredz stock Maring bikes ready to ship to you.
Boardman ADV 8.8
£750
Our mates over at road.cc tested the Boardman ADV 8.8, and said the bike was "well made, well specced and fun to ride, this latest adventure machine covers plenty of bases, from blasting the local gravel byways to year-round commuting. It's a lot of bike for not a lot of money." For £750 you get a carbon fork, Shimano Sora gearing and Tektro mechanical disc brakes. As you'll know you can buy Boardman bikes from Halfords online.
Raleigh Mustang Sport
£592
Also tested by road.cc is the Raleigh Mustang Sport. They reckon it is a decent all-rounder that will do nicely for the commute and can also take on off-road forays if you're looking to get into gravel/adventure riding. They also said it's not too heavy, looks cool, and while some of the cheaper components might be underwhelming, with its relaxed geometry it's a fairly comfortable and capable bike for the money. It looks like Tredz are also the stockist for the Raleigh Mustang.
Bikes under £2,000
Giant Revolt 1
£1,149
The Giant Revolt 1 is a decent gravel and adventure bike at a respectable price. If you can cope with the odd looks and adequate performance of Giant's unique Conduct braking system, you’re rewarded with a quality alloy frame, a carbon fork, and plenty of scope for adventures. The Revolt 1 nails its brief as a versatile bike: it has the ability to be a speedy commuter, a bag-laden gravel machine or a good time on the singletrack – just take your pick come the weekend. At £300 less than the Revolt 0 and only just over a £1000, it's also a good-value entry point to gravel biking, touring or fast commuting that's easily upgradeable should you really catch the bug. Again, online retailer Tredz is your friend here.
Giant Revolt 0
£1,499
The Giant Revolt 1 is a decent gravel and adventure bike at a respectable price. If you can cope with the odd looks and adequate performance of Giant's unique Conduct braking system, you’re rewarded with a quality alloy frame, a carbon fork, and plenty of scope for adventures. The Revolt 1 nails it's brief as a versatile bike: it has the ability to be a speedy commuter, a bag-laden gravel machine or a good time on the singletrack – just take your pick come the weekend. At £300 less than the Revolt 0 and only just over a £1000, it's also a good-value entry point to gravel biking, touring or fast commuting that's easily upgradeable should you really catch the bug.
Ribble CGR AL Shimano 105
£1,399
Ribble's CGR AL Shimano 105 is a hugely versatile and superb value bike for everything from gravel bashing to cyclocross and road commuting, offering a a full Shimano 105 group with hydraulic brakes for £1,399. The aluminium frame isn't overly compliant and the kit needs a few tweaks if you intend to mostly stick to dirt, but that's easy enough to custom spec it to your heart's content when you order thanks to Ribble's custom specification option.
Bergamont Grandurance 6
£1,350
The Bergamont Grandurance 6 is a well equipped aluminium gravel bike or ‘all-road’ bike. It’s decent value and has got a striking paint job, if not paired with the most progressive geometry. This is a classic endurance road bike with allowances for gravel tyres, mudguards and racks but for the price, I think it’ll make any owner a great weekend gravel adventure bike that will commute with ease on the weekdays too. You can buy one from Tredz online.
Canyon Grail AL 7.0
£1,350
Canyon’s new aluminium Grail adventure and gravel bike is a huge amount of fun on twisty trails and is able to provide good speed on a wide variety of surfaces, from road to gravel tracks. It’s also great value, as you’d expect from Canyon and is well specced, though I’d prefer to see a sub-compact chainset for tackling steep off-road climbs or laden with bikepacking equipment.
Nukeproof Digger Pro
£1,850
If you’re a mountain biker looking for your first drop bar bike for some sneaky training on a variety of surfaces, the Nukeproof Digger Pro could be for you. The chunky WTB Sendero tyres, dropper post, wide handlebar and short stem ensure it really shines on the dirt with great handling poise that’ll have you ripping, popping and sending in no time.
Specialized Diverge E5 Sport
£1,000
The £1,000 Specialized Diverge E5 Sport brings the US company’s latest adventure and gravel bike design down to an attractive price point and produces a package that works well in a multitude of uses. With the stock tyres it’s a solid and dependable road bike for road riding and commuting, but needs a tyre swap to open it up to more varied terrain, whereupon it’s decently capable for rough stuffing.
Based on riding our local roads and trails, we’ve been really impressed with the Diverge E5 Sport. It’s a competent bike for daily commuting and road rides that take in lots of rough surfaces, and with a change of tyres, it can contend with much more varied terrain. The equipment is thoughtful but where it does fall down, and it’s the usual problem for Specialized, is that it’s not the best equipped for the money.
Marin Gestalt X11
£2,000
If you want a gravel bike that doesn’t shy away from challenging and technical terrain but is right at home on the daily commute and long adventure ride, the new Gestalt X11 is a really solid choice. A gravel bike for mountain bikers, the handling and stability is a highlight and the dropper post, activated by the redundant SRAM left-hand shifter, is a bonus on steep terrain.
The Gestalt X11 blurs the line between road and mountain bikes more than most (short of the new Bombtrack Hook ADV anyway or fitting drop bars to a mountain bike) and in doing so creates a bike that is highly capable on and off-road, super fun and backed up with plenty of versatility to cover all sorts of riding requirements.
Rondo RUTT AL
£1,700
The RUUT AL is the new aluminium adventure gravel bike from Polish brand Rondo. It’s a super comfortable multi-surface machine with agile handling that can be adjusted between fast and racy to more upright and relaxed through its cleverly designed, geometry adjusting Twintip fork. If you are thinking of trimming down the number of bikes you have or if you only have enough room or money for just ‘one’ bike the Rondo RUUT AL should be taken for a test ride.
It’s a really a very good gravel and adventure machine for storming the byways and bridleways and a fabulous commuter to boot. I’m not sure that it makes a lot of sense to flip the Twintip back and forth on a regular basis, you’re bound to have your favourite. But if you are looking for one bike to do most of your riding, having a sneaky second bike available for weekend trips at the flip of that Twintip is a bonus.
Added to that there's the ability to fit 27.5x 2.1" mountain bike wheels and you actually have two more choices to play with, so overall it's a beautiful, geometry morphing, do anything adventure bike and is highly recommended.
Bikes over £2,000
Merida Silex+ 6000
£2,650
The Merida Silex+ 6000 is a nimble-handling gravel/adventure bike that offers plenty of versatility along with a comfortable ride courtesy of chunky 650B tyres. The Merida Silex+ 6000 is a gravel/adventure bike with a performance that inclines towards that of a mountain bike. It's a great choice for multiple surfaces, but it's at its best on more technical routes when the nimble handling is a real boon. This five star scoring bike is available at Tredz online
Mason ISO
£3,490
Sometimes a bike comes along that completely delivers in its capabilities, looks and build quality. The Mason ISO - In Search Of - is one of those bikes. With an Italian hand-built frame, a superb level of finish and detail it nonchalantly comes along and redefines what a drop-bar bike is assumed to be capable of being. It's more at the adventure end of the spectrum thanks to built-in racks and the ability to run to fat tyres for off-road comfort and traction, but it's still hugely versatile. Mason build and ship directly
Vielo V+1 Rival Editon
£3,499
The Vielo V+1 UDG Rival Edition is a smooth and stable road plus bike that's a lot of fun whether you're riding smooth tarmac or broken tracks. It's not quite as light as the original V+1 that we reviewed last year, but the difference is small and it exhibits that same assured performance and attention to detail.
Shand Stooshie
£3,195
The Shand Stooshie is a comfortable and relaxed-handling all-road and occasional gravel bike with enough versatility to serve multiple uses. This new version with regular dropouts makes it more affordable than the Rohloff model if you only ever want to run a derailleur-based drivetrain.
Enigma Escape
£3,899
The updated 2020 Enigma Escape is a compliant, capable and versatile road, gravel and adventure bike that offers all the magic ride quality and durability titanium is renowned for. It's a fair bit cheaper than quite a few rival titanium offerings too, making it a good choice in a crowded market.
You might also like:
- The best titanium gravel and adventure bikes you can buy
- The best money-no-object gravel and adventure bikes we've tested
- The best mountain bikes for under £1,000 - the best budget buys ridden and rated
Comments
Planet X's range is awesome
Planet X's range is awesome value for money, including their carbon & Titanium models.
Why are they never mentioned is a mystery to me.
The Titanium Tempest gravel bike is awesome value for money, delivered to me in tiny little Malta from Planet X in the UK in just two days.