Looking to spend more time in the saddle and a little less on the pavement? Instead of dropping some cash on a gravel bike, add a few key accessories to your current bike to give it adventure chops.
Top photo credit: 8bar bikes
If you’re at all involved in the cycling community, you already know that gravel racing is so hot right now.
But seriously: More and more riders — even high-level racers — are turning in their road bikes in favor of adventure machines and heading out on daylong epics across pavement, gravel, mud, and singletrack. Anything goes when you’ve decided to focus on the ride, not the watts.
You may not be able to plunk down a wad of cash for a dedicated gravel or adventure bike, but you can make your current ride a lot more adventure worthy. And even if you do have the cash saved up, you might want to test the waters with a few add-ons to your road or mountain bike to decide which kind of adventure bike you want. There are options available mimicking both road and mountain bikes out there.