Top 9 BEST New Gravel Bikes 2026 | LEAKED Bikes & The New Specialized Crux

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]Would you rather a gravel bike that looks like a road bike? Something that can fit mountain bike tires or something that is super lightweight? Well, with gravel bike brands going absolutely berserk during May, there's plenty of choice. But who's got it right and who's barking up the wrong tree? Here's a look at nine hot off the press gravel bikes and my opinion of them. This is Cycling Weekly. Let's get into it. We'll kick off with this fifth generation Specialized Krux, or as I like to call it, the Narmarmac. Why? Well, it looks just like an SL8 Tarmac, other than it fits 55 mil tires, comes with wheels with super blunt edge, and is designed to reduce rider fatigue on bumpy terrain. Like the Tarmac, it is really light. The S Works model has a frame weight of 789 grams. And complete builds start from 6.9 kilos. As you'll soon see as we go through this list, Specialized isn't the only brand to have gone big on Arrow. The Big S claimed that this is nearly 10 minutes faster over Unbound 200 in no small part thanks to being 15.2 W faster than the previous generation at 45 km/h. To be fair, every tube has some quite radical changes and I think the result is rather good-looking. This is a good-looking bike, right? This one then it does look as though Specialized has got their gravel race bike bang on. Good clearances, good looks, impressive weight, and very little in terms of compromise. From the people that I know that have ridden one, it also sounds like they haven't cocked up the handling either. I'm definitely sticking this one on the wish list, but it does come at a price. Next up, well, Ridley, they provided me with the best road bike surprise in 2025 with their Noah Fast 3.

[00:01:47]It's not a bike that I thought was going to be for me, but the ride feel, the comfort, the speed, and everything else about it far outperformed any preconceptions that I may have had. Now, the Belgium brand looks to repeat this success on gravel and can probably also lay claim to the deepest head tube on a gravel bike. Spot at the Trackr, this Aerero gravel race bike has the letters RSS written on it, which we're told stands for Ridley Speed Shop. Just like the Krux, it seems to have enough space for super wide tires. They're rumored to be 57 mil of clearance, so it beats it in that regard, but it is likely to be heavier. I've got a lot of time for this brand at the moment, and the initial signs look good for this new gravel bike. I'm hoping we can get one of these in to ride. One new gravel bike that has swung under the radar somewhat is the Look G85 Sesal. This once again is a performance focused gravel bike and we spotted an even racier looking version missing its integrated storage at the Sea Otter Bike Show last month. Unlike other releases though, this one makes no error claims. Instead, positioning itself as more of an allrounder. No problem with that, but it does only have space for 50 mil tires, which could see this date quicker than some of these other competitors. I'm also not too struck on the aesthetics, but feel free to disagree with me in the comments. But at the moment with a £25,000 price tag for the frame set, a £1,090 g frame weight despite no arrow claims, this one I feel like it just misses the mark from playing it safe to well the opposite of playing it safe. This is the unreleased factor that was also spotted at the tracker event and it appears to borrow plenty of tech from the one arrow road bike. The idea with these super wide forks is that the air is going to get messed up by your legs anyway, and they'll create less resistance in turbulent air than laminate air. We know that the prototype will fit at least 53 mil tires, and to be fair, you probably fit whatever you wanted into the front of it. We also know that it does have down tube storage, quite similar in design to the factor Monza. Is this a hit or a miss then? Well, I'm sure it will go down well with the racers. The Austro Gravel is getting a little bit long in the tooth now, and this looks like a radical but welcome update with all the features that I'd be looking for in a gravel race bike in 2026. It probably won't be for everyone though, and Factor looks set to continue its lineup of well, specialist tools rather than well, a reducing SKUs kind of direction. Speaking of which, Factor does have a gravel bike which might well be up the street of well, the more general public. It's called the Sarana and its purpose is to go long and go fast. This one is literally covered in mounting points. You can buy it with a suspension fork at the front. It will take 57 mil tires. It once again has down tube storage and the rear end is said to act like a leaf spring to maximize comfort and be just as great to ride on our 20 as our two. The SRA is designed for ultra endurance races, but I think that this is probably the most versatile bike that Factor has ever released. It's got custom bags, too.

[00:05:01]It's suspension corrected for a 30 mil travel fork, and one thing that I particularly like is the fact that it takes a standard round profile 30.9 mm seat post. That means you have more choice of dropper posts. The negatives, well, there's only two colors, and I'm not sure about what this bit on their website means. Zero structural drift in stiffness after 40 hours of continuous simulation. Are other people experiencing that? Might need to do some more digging on that. Felt is back and they've been busy. Not only do they have a new road bike, but also a new gravel bike, the Breed. It's certainly light.

[00:05:38]Not as light as the Crux, but it is still a sub 1 kilo frame and complete builds are close to 7 kilos. It's got plenty of aero claims and can take a 54 mil tire at the front and a 52 mil tire at the rear. It's got the same bar as that new Nexar road bike, but the one thing that I just can't get over is the height of this fork. So, Felt say is like that because it's been suspension adjusted. But personally, I think that Felt has got itself a bit confused here.

[00:06:06]This is a lightweight race bike and if you want to fit suspension to your gravel bike, then personally I'd be choosing something which can take more than a 52 mil tire at the rear. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Let me know down below.

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[00:07:16]May really has been a wild month for gravel bikes. We've still got three new gravel bikes to cover. This is the Argon 18 Antimatter. Cool name, I know. It launched in the middle of May and well yeah it's a looker. It does have integrated storage. It's also got some rather fetching custom bags in partnership with Apoa. It ships with Zip super wide explore wheels and it will fit up to 55 mil tires. I was having a look at one of these in the flesh the other day and it really does look like a nice bit of kit especially in this seaf foam and neon colorway. Argon 18 had what appeared to be a tough few years over COVID and so it's great to see them back firing on all cylinders. This is a bike that I'm very keen to ride. And then this one, this is the new Kais from BMC. The Swiss brand says it's for pure gravel racing speed that's faster and more capable than ever. Apparently, it's the answer to every racer's biggest dream. It's got the brand's own carbon wheels, too, complete with carbon spokes. First time I've seen a set of those. It's got space for up to 52 mil tires and some lovely touches such as the aerobottle cages and a rather clever bar system which looks a lot less FAF than some integrated cockpits. This one here weighs 7.1 kilos and I think it looks really good. There are a few things that I would change though. It ships with these Continental 45 mil Tower Competition tires. They're undoubtedly very fast, but are they not a bit niche? they wouldn't be much good on some of the gravel that I've got around me, for example. This one is definitely worth considering if you want speed, but you don't need those mountain bike tire clearances. And our final bike is a new Canyon. It's not yet released, so no official figures, but it looks a lot like a new Grail CFR. Now, Canyon hasn't been afraid to try new things on the Grail in the past. Remember that double-decker handlebar? That put me off buying one of that generation. But this one seems to be in agreement with the new norm. Super wide clearances, some arrow touches, and have a look at this handlebar arrow. Let me know which one of these gravel bikes you'd choose in the comments below. If you enjoyed this content, then please give it a like.

[00:09:29]Subscribe to the channel for lots more road and gravel content, and hopefully there'll be some reviews of these bikes dropping soon. We'll see you next time.