Is there really a difference between a gravel bike and a rigid mountain bike?

Since the dawn of the gravel bike, it has been a difficult niche to define, sitting somewhere in between road riding and mountain biking whilst also overlapping with both of them to varying degrees.

As gravel bikes have evolved and become ever more capable, there has been a growing voice claiming that gravel bikes are basically early nineties mountain bikes, but how true is that?

With a gravel bike and a rigid mountain bike to hand, we sent GCN’s James ‘Hank’ Lowsley Williams and GMBN’s Blake Samson to find out.

What bikes are we testing?

Both gravel and mountain bike disciplines have a wide spectrum of bikes to choose from. This is partly where some of the blurring of boundaries stems from as the most capable, suspension-equipped, wide-tyred gravel bikes are arguably just as capable as a super lightweight or rigid XC bike. With this in mind, that is exactly what the boys have chosen to put head to head.

Canyon Grizl CF8 Trail

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Hank's Canyon Grizl makes use of a suspension fork and a dropper post to help tackle rough terrain

Hank’s weapon of choice is a suspension-equipped gravel bike aimed at the more aggressive and adventurous aspect of gravel riding. Although it might have dropped handlebars, a closer look at this bike reveals a lot of technology that you would expect to find on a mountain bike. Along with the suspension fork, the bike features a dropper post, wide 45mm knobbly tyres and a 1x groupset.

Read more: Canyon Grail vs Grizl: How do gravel bikes differ?

Orbea Alma M-Team

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Blake has gone back to basics with his Orbea Alma with no suspension or dropper any suspension will come from his tyres or his body

Blake, on the other hand, is riding a stripped-back thoroughbred XC hardtail in the shape of Orbea’s Alma. The first thing you will notice about this bike is that it doesn’t have a suspension fork at the front, instead Blake has opted for Obrea’s Spirit rigid fork to keep things efficient when on the pedals riding up the steep climbs of the test area. Following the super lightweight XC theme, Blake has opted to use a rigid seat post instead of a more typical dropper.

The tests

In order to find out which bike will reign supreme, Hank and Blake have devised a series of tests to put both bikes through their paces. At the end of all of the challenges, the boys will decide which bike has come out superior.

Time trial

The first test is a classic time trial putting the outright speed of each bike to the test. The course is one kilometre in length with a flat profile and a gravel surface. On paper at least, this looks to be an easy win for the gravel bike in its native terrain but given that there are some high-speed corners to navigate, all might not be lost for the mountain bike.

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The flat time trial played in to the advantage of the gravel bike

After both Hank and Blake took to the course it was time to look at the results. With Blake setting a time of 2:11 on the mountain bike it was all on Hank to defend the gravel bike's honour. Luckily for the entire genre of gravel riding, Hank pulled it out of the bag with a time of 1:52, some 19 seconds faster than the mountain bike.

Read more: Gravel or mountain bike - what's the best bike for an adventure?

The climb

The second challenge of the day was one that could play into the hands of either bike. A 350m punchy climb was in store for the duo with the first half a relatively easy gradient on smooth gravel before it kicked up for the second half and got considerably rougher. With both bikes at an advantage over the other at different parts of the climb, it was open for the taking.

The weight of the bikes might play a pivotal role in deciding the winner on this punchy climb but the title of featherweight might not go to the bike you are expecting. At 10.2kg, Hank’s gravel bike with its suspension fork and dropper post is more than 600g heavier than Blake’s ultra-light XC bike.

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Even with nobbly 45mm tyres Hank struggled for traction leaving Blake to sail away to the win

From the start, Blake took an early advantage partly thanks to the lower gearing on his XC bike which gave him better acceleration off the line. From there things evened out with the gap not growing over the opening half of the climb. With a little lull in the gradient, Hank was able to claw himself back on terms with Blake before the gradient kicked up to the finish with Blake narrowly claiming the win for the XC bike. The wider tyres, lower gearing and more upright geometry all helped the mountain bike to retain its composure on the rougher, looser terrain of the upper section.

Downhill mountain biking

Much like the flat TT lent itself heavily in favour of the gravel bike, this final challenge looked to be an easy win for the mountain bike. Taking on a double black diamond downhill trail would normally be a task for a 160mm enduro bike, not a rigid XC bike or a gravel bike. With neither bike the ideal choice for this it was all up for grabs. With no suspension fork or dropper post, moving around the XC bike was going to be hard work, whereas for Hank, the geometry of the gravel bike was going to make navigating the jumps and drops on the trail a difficult job.

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Although the gravel bike was out of its depth on the downhill trail Hank still managed to ride the trail and get down in one piece

With the upper half of the trail full of flowy and fast jumps, Blake sailed into the lead making the most of his mountain bike skillset and the confidence-inspiring geometry and wide handlebars. As the trail crossed over a fire road it changed to a far more rooty affair with both bikes struggling for traction and composure. At the bottom, Blake finished ahead of Hank but impressively the gravel bike did successfully navigate the downhill trail without issue.

Read more: Suspension on a gravel bike: Exploring a thorny issue

Where does this put the gravel bike?

With all three challenges complete, Blake and the rigid mountain bike took the win in this set of challenges. In defence of the gravel bike, all of the tests were short in duration and only partially played into the gravel bike's advantage which is comfort and efficiency on long endurance rides.

What these tests unequivocally go to show is just how versatile modern gravel bikes can be. Of course, the gravel bike is going to find its limits long before a mountain bike will do, but if you are looking for a bike that can mix in some singletrack with tarmac on a multi-hour loop then it is hard to look past a gravel bike.

Ultimately, there is no right or wrong bike for you and you should always ride whatever bike you want. Riding bikes is all about putting a smile on your face and if you end a ride smiling who is anyone else to say you did it on the wrong bike?

There is tons more gravel bike content on the GCN website from setting your bike up for an adventure to explaining the difference between a road bike and a gravel bike – check it out!