Welcome one and all to Velo’s Fall Field Test, presented by Visit Maine! We spent two weeks riding seven of the latest and most important gravel bikes amongst the fall foliage of coastal Maine, which provided varied testing grounds from coastal trails to long stretches of gravel and singletrack trails as we ventured inland. Now we’re bringing you along for the ride as Alvin, Hannah, and Will figure out what the best all-around gravel bike is for 2026.
There’s plenty of beautiful rides, lobster rolls, and arguments over the minutiae of gravel ahead in this four-part series. We’ll get to the bikes and how we tested them in a second, but first, this is how we selected our test lineup.
The bike selection criteria
We want this test to be a close companion in your gravel bike buying journey, so with that in mind here is how we selected the bikes:
- New: The bikes needed to have been released within the last year to give us the best comparison possible of modern all-around gravel bikes.
- Budget: We capped the upper limit on test bikes at $6,000. You can easily spend twice that (or more) on high performance bikes these days, but this price tends to be the sweet spot for performance and value, and the amount that our readers have told us they’re looking to spend. Want to spend less than that? Some of these bikes come in well under that price point, or can be found with lower end spec. Want to spend more? In many cases, you can find the same models we tested with higher spec components.
- Availability: There are a lot of great bikes out there. We chose ones that are widely available either through your local bike shop or by purchasing online direct to consumer.
The 7 gravel bikes on test
Cannondale Topstone Carbon
Specification: Topstone Carbon 2 AXS – 1x
Tire clearance, claimed: 700c x 56 mm front, 52 mm rear
Weight (tested size): 20.1 pounds/9.12 kg (51 cm)
Price: $4,799
State Bicycle Co. Titanium All-Road
Specification: Titanium All-Road – Apex XPLR AXS
Tire clearance, claimed: 700c x 50 mm
Weight (tested size): 21.6 pounds/9.8 kg (Size S)
Price: $3,399
Canyon Grizl
Specification: Grizl CF 7 ESC
Tire clearance, claimed: 700c x 54 mm
Weight (tested size): 19.9 pounds/9.03 kg (size XS)
Price: $3,399
Specialized Diverge
Specification: Diverge 4 Expert – SRAM Rival XPLR
Tire clearance, claimed: 700c x 50 mm or 29 x 2.2″
Weight (tested size): 20.1 pounds/9.1 kg (size 52 cm)
Price: $5,999
Orbea Terra
Specification: Terra M20i Team
Tire clearance, claimed: 700c x 50 mm
Weight (tested size): 18.7 pounds/8.5 kg (size S)
Price: $5,999
Giant Revolt
Specification: Revolt Advanced Pro 1
Tire clearance, claimed: 700c x 53 mm
Weight (tested size): 19.3 pounds/8.74 kg (size S)
Price: $5,600
Pinarello Grevil F
Specification: Grevil F3 Apex AXS
Tire clearance, claimed: 700c x 50 mm
Weight (tested size): 20.0 pounds/9.08 kg (50 cm)
Price: $3,700
How we tested
In this four-part video series, we’re crowning our favorite gravel bike for 2026, so to do that, we rode each bike a lot — and then a whole lot more. We also put them through a wide range of challenges meant to decipher how they handle a wide range of environments, from type-1 gravel to singletrack better suited to a mountain bike.
We also know that wheels and tires have an outsize impact on how a gravel bike rides. That’s why we outfitted each bike with the exact same wheels and tires, Easton EC90 ALX paired with 45 mm Schwalbe G-One R Pro tires, each run at a constant tire pressure across the bikes.
Gravel means different things to different riders depending on where they live and what terrain is readily available — coastal California is not Kansas is not high country Colorado. Given that wide range, we devised a few tests to assess the full breadth of what these bikes are capable of.
- In episode 1, we get our bearings with all the bikes, setting them up with our control wheels and tires before taking each bike out for a first impressions loop. Unfortunately, not every bike will make it past the first episode. We’re here to pick our favorite gravel bike for 2026, and to get there, we’re eliminating bikes each step of the way until we crown a winner.
- In episode 2, we see how these bikes handle in a climbing challenge and a descending challenge.
- In episode 3, we continue the challenges with an aero efficiency test and an under-biking challenge, pushing the bikes to the limits of where you’d want to take a gravel bike — because, hey sometimes getting to the best riding requires pushing beyond your comfort zone.
- In episode 4, we take the bikes on a big ride across multiple types of terrain before crowning our favorite all-around gravel bike for 2026.
What’s to come in our Fall Gravel Bike Field Test
In addition to the four episode series, we’re also reviewing each individual bike. We’ll update this page with links to those episodes and reviews as we release them.
In the meantime, enjoy episode 1, and we’ll see you back here for the next few weeks!
Thank you to our sponsors!
Velo’s Fall Field Test was made possible by Visit Maine.
Additional support came from Leatt for helmets and shoes, Giordana for riding apparel, Feedback Sports for tools, Easton for wheels, and Schwalbe for tires.
The team that made Velo Field Test possible
A special thank you to the many folks it took to make the Velo Fall Field Test a reality!
Video team: Logan Patrick Nelson, Satchel Cronk, Max Barron
Video editor: Logan Patrick Nelson
Bike shop support: Maine Sport Outfitters
Routes, locations, and other logistical help: Visit Maine
Lunch wranglin’ and extra on the ground support: Caroline Lustgarten, Liam Ereneta, Brian Park
Testers: Alvin Holbrook, Hannah Gross
Host: Will Tracy
Source URL: https://velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/gravel-gear/best-all-around-gravel-bike-2026/