Gravel Bike Tricks And Techniques

Although riding Gravel Bikes may on paper be the halfway house between a road bike and a mountain bike, if you are new to riding gravel bikes - you can expect a very different riding experience, to what you are used to. Although riding a gravel bike can feel like riding a road bike on the smooth stuff, it’s a big change when you hit the rough stuff. In this post, we look at some of the things you can do, to make your transition to off-road gravel riding as smooth as possible.

Relax And Let Your Body Absorb The Bumps

Relaxing on the bike is great advice, regardless of the type of cycling or mountain biking you are doing - it’s especially important, however, on gravel bikes. The absence of suspension on gravel bikes - means it is especially important to use your knees & elbows as natural suspension. If you grip a gravel bike, the harshness of off-road terrain will make things incredibly uncomfortable.

When riding downhill, it’s also especially important to keep your elbows bent and relaxed, lowering your centre of gravity to maximise stability. Moving your body weight to the back of the seat will allow you to absorb lumps and bumps in a straight line. If you are riding on rougher terrain, get your body out of the seat to allow maximum movement from the bike.

Brake Lightly

Gravel Bikes feel better at higher speeds, rolling over rougher terrain with large wheels. If you ride too slow on a gravel bike, you can expect to feel more of the lumps and bumps from off-road terrain as the bike struggles for traction. Use the rear brake more than the front brake when riding off-road terrain, allowing the front wheel to continue rolling with momentum.

Body Position For Grip

As gravel bikes are not completely designed for off-road terrain, like mountain bikes are - it takes more effort to keep the tyres gripping and moving as they should be. Although we have discussed above, placing your weight over the rear of the saddle to keep things flowing on downhill sections - it’s important to ensure there’s enough weight over the front wheel to maximise grip and forward momentum. Gravel bike front wheels can feel like they are skipping and dancing over rough terrain; placing more weight over the front wheel can remedy this.

Thinking Riders Ride

A gravel bike is a thinking person's bike; route planning whilst riding is more important than ever as you cannot bulldoze through obstacles as you can do with a forgiving, full-suspension bike. Try and look ten metres ahead of you - and give the front wheel the ability to move.