Gravel Bike Riding

The Gravel bike is best suited for all cyclists who like to ride off the beaten track, but also want to be fast on the road. It is particularly suitable for long-distance rides such as long-distance hiking trails and bikepacking. The advantages of a gravel bike are its versatility on different surfaces, its comfort and its speed.

The other side of the coin is that it is not as powerful as a road bike on asphalt and loses a lot of stability on trails compared to a mountain bike. Technical MTB trails are not rideable at all on a gravel bike.

Whether it's a short trip or a multi-day tour, with the right equipment you'll be safe and prepared for anything. Especially on multi-day tours with a gravel bike, you need to pay attention to a few things. Take a look at the story of Isabelle, who ventured on the adventure of bikepacking on the Carretera Austral in Patagonia with her gravel bike.

With a gravel bike you can also go on varied one-day tours with sections on the road, on classic cycle paths and on gravel and cover a lot of kilometres in the process.

The flexibility of the terrain means that you can find suitable gravel tours almost everywhere. We have put together a selection of the best tours worldwide.

Our guidebook also gives you an overview of gravel tours all over the world. Simply enter the region of your choice in the search field above and you will be taken directly to the relevant page with an overview of the gravel tours.

Due to the different types of trails you can ride on a gravel bike, it is a good idea to put together your own tour in our Tour Planner . The following applies: The more sections you ride on gravel and dirt roads, the slower you will travel and the more strenuous the sections will be. This is a factor that should not be underestimated, especially on long bikepacking tours.

Of course, you can flexibly reschedule during your tour, for example, if you notice that it is difficult to reach your destination on the original route, you can make metres on the road and save energy.

With the ADFC-BVA cycle map you can always find the cycle routes that are suitable for you.

• Interactive maps: The Outdooractive map provides you with all the information you need for your gravel ride including terrain, trails, way types, and elevations. In addition, with a Pro or Pro+ subscription, you can save all routes offline and then access them anywhere, and at any time. 
• Navigation and tracking: Find your perfect gravel tour and let our app navigate you. This way you always have the best orientation. You can also record your own track, plan and publish your own tour and inspire other gravel bikers.
• Skyline: With our augmented reality technology you have the possibility to explore your surroundings more closely. If you point your smartphone camera at your surroundings, it will show you which mountain peaks, lakes, towns and passes are within a 30 km radius.
• BuddyBeacon: This feature shares your location with friends and family in real time. This means you can be found quickly in an emergency - your safety is important to us.
• 3D previews: You can get an overview of your tour and prepare for the conditions with the 3D animated preview from map-based data and satellite images. Perfect for long-distance tours
• 3D videos: At the end of your outdoor adventure, you can create a unique video using our 3D mapping technology, tour details and your photos. So you can relive your personal adventure over and over again and share it with your friends.