This isn’t the Shimano gravel build you’d get off the shelf. Shimano’s wireless XTR Di2 rear derailleur is a mountain bike part, and 105 Di2 is a road group. On paper they don’t belong on the same bike. In practice the 105 levers pair straight to the XTR derailleur, and the result is a clean 1x Crux with a 10-51 cassette and no cables anywhere in the drivetrain. Mizubikes may earn a commission from links in this post. ...
Wide gravel rims are everywhere now, and the pitch is always the same: a wider rim supports the tire better and gives it a rounder, more stable shape. That part is true. What gets mentioned less is that a wider rim also makes the tire wider, and on a frame that’s already close to its limit, that extra width can be the difference between clearing and rubbing. So I measured it. Same tire, same bike, two rims with very different internal widths, at two pressures. ...
Buying a gravel bike in 2026 is harder than it should be. The category covers everything from aero race bikes to drop-bar hardtails, the drivetrain standards changed in the last two years, and a “50mm” tire can measure 54mm depending on the rim. This page pulls together everything I’ve written on the subject, in the order I’d think about it if I were buying today. 1. Start with tire clearance Tire clearance decides more about what a gravel bike can do than any other spec. It sets the terrain the bike can handle, how comfortable it is, and how much room you have when it gets muddy. Most current race frames clear 50mm or more. Older frames and some fast, road-like gravel bikes stop at 45mm. ...
Claimed weights are a starting point, not a measurement. Brands weigh the smallest size, unpainted or without hardware, and the number on the website rarely matches what lands on your scale. So I weigh everything that comes through my garage. This page collects all of it in one place, and I add to it every time something new goes on the scale. All weights below are mine, measured on my own scale, unless a row says otherwise. ...
Mizubikes may earn a commission from links in this post. The SRAM versus Shimano gravel question looks like a speeds argument: 13 versus 12. It mostly isn’t. The real differences are what your frame accepts, how much you want to spend, and whether you want 1x, 2x, or cables. Here is how the two systems compare as of November 2026, using published specs and US pricing. I haven’t ridden these back to back, so the ride-feel points come from other reviewers’ reporting. ...
Mizubikes may earn a commission from links in this post. Ask five gravel riders what pressure to run and you’ll get six answers. That’s not because they’re all wrong. Tire pressure depends on how much load is on the tire, how much air volume you have, and what you’re rolling over. Rider weight and tire width are the two biggest inputs, so that’s where to start. This post gives you starting numbers, shows where the popular calculators disagree, and covers the two things that trip people up: rim width and hookless limits. ...
When the Crux 5 launched in May, it was the bike everyone else had to answer. Five months later, most of them have. Canyon released a new Grail with even more clearance, Ridley’s Kanzo Fast 2.0 just won BikeRadar’s Bike of the Year, BMC reworked the Kaius, and X-Lab started selling a 55mm-clearance carbon gravel bike for about a quarter of the S-Works price. I ride the previous-generation Crux, so I have a horse in this race. I haven’t ridden every bike below. This is a read of the specs, prices and the reviews from people who have, with my own experience as a Crux owner where it applies. ...
When I built up my Cannondale Scalpel HT as a drop bar gravel bike, I left it on a pair of 2.25" Thunder Burts. That made sense for a first pass. They roll fast, they’re light, and they kept the bike feeling like a gravel bike that happened to have a mountain bike frame under it. But the whole point of starting with an XC hardtail was the tire clearance, and I wasn’t using it. So I swapped to a Schwalbe Racing Ray up front and a Racing Ralph in the back, both 29 x 2.35, and took it out on the trails I normally ride. ...
Mizubikes may earn a commission from links in this post. Tire clearance is the spec that changed fastest this year. A frame that was “generous” at 45mm two years ago now looks conservative, and a few brands are quoting numbers that used to belong to cross-country hardtails. This chart collects the published maximums for the frames people ask me about most, plus a few others worth knowing. A warning before the table: these numbers are not measured the same way. Some brands quote a tire with 4mm of frame clearance, others use 6mm, and 3T avoids the whole question with its own measurement system. I’ll cover that below. Treat the table as a starting point for shopping, not a guarantee that a specific tire fits. ...
Mizubikes may earn a commission from links in this post. Most of us don’t ride pure gravel. A typical ride starts on pavement, links into a dirt road or a stretch of singletrack, then comes home on pavement again. That kind of ride rewards a tire that rolls fast on asphalt and still holds its line when the surface turns loose. It doesn’t reward a knobby tire built for mud or a slick built for a paved bike path. ...