The bikes, tires, and gear people are riding

Mar 09, 2024

(Photo: Alvin Holbrook/VELO)

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Gravel bike races come in all variations. Some are steep, some are loose, and others are dusty. All of them require preparing for a gravel race with training as well as gear. SBT GRVL 2023 is no exception. What tires do people use for a gravel bike race like SBT GRVL? What kind of bikes do people use? What gearing do people use?

Here’s a small sliver of what gear non-pro cyclists are using at SBT GRVL this year. This collection of bikes comes from Meeting the people behind the ride, our story about a small sliver of the 3,000 riders at SBT this year.

Trends we’re seeing here and with other bikes here? Slick tires in a 700c x 38 mm width are perhaps the most common, with 40 mm tires in second place. Just about every tire is slick or semi-slick tread. There’s about a 50-50 split between 1x and 2x drivetrains, a much more even distribution compared to other gravel events.

Further, a vast majority of cyclists are going with just a pair of water bottle cages rather than a hydration pack, largely due to the sheer number of aid stations along the way.

Read more: ‘The greatest joy isn’t necessarily tied to the hardest thing:’ Inside gravel’s short courses