Carbon gravel bikes are usually mild and responsive, in addition to nonetheless delivering loads of consolation and flexibility. However they don’t come low cost, which makes these offers from Decathlon very interesting – there’s £1000.01 off the SRAM Power AXS mannequin, whereas the Sram Rival AXS specced model will prevent £800 from the unique worth.
Decathlon’s in-house Riverside RCR gravel bike is constructed round a carbon frameset designed to mix stiffness with compliance. It’s a mix that you simply see on a number of the finest gravel bikes, making them ideally suited to quite a lot of trails in addition to for longer days within the saddle.
With a most tyre clearance of 42mm, this can be a bike that is designed for pace reasonably than off-grid bikepacking, making it a good selection should you’re planning on getting into any gravel races or occasions sooner or later. It additionally probably implies that the bike ought to adapt effectively to street use when wanted.
Each fashions depend on SRAM’s well-proven AXS wi-fi shifting. A full digital 12-speed groupset at these costs is tough to come back by, which solely provides to the enchantment of those offers. Right here it is the gravel-centric XPLR variations, which use a single chainring alongside a large 10-44t cassette, delivering loads of vary.
Equally, each fashions supply a formidable checklist of parts from manufacturers that embrace Reynolds, Fizik and Hutchinson.
It is price delving into the small print a little bit extra right here, particularly with regards to the wheelsets.
Each fashions are arrange tubeless, however you will want so as to add one in every of the perfect sealants to finish the job. The carbon Reynolds hoops on the Power-equipped mannequin are 40mm deep and have an inner rim measurement of 23mm. This makes them ideally suited to operating large gravel tyres, just like the 40mm Hutchinson Touareg fitted to each bikes.
The Rival bike comes outfitted with Fulcrum Speedy Pink 900s, which once more have a large inner rim width designed round large, tubeless tyres that run at low pressures – it is right here the place gravel bikes get a lot of their consolation and grip from.
Different noteworthy parts are the flared gravel bars and the Fizik Argo Terra saddle, each designed particularly for the paths.
