There are lots of gravel events cropping up and vying for your attention, but the Lauf Gritfest is one you should definitely get in your diary for next year. As it did in 2018, the event served up two days of quality gravel riding through spectacular scenery, with amazing weather and the winning combination of timed stages within longer routes making for a very laid back and sociable atmosphere. 

Salsa is an iconic bike brand that's been doing off-road capable drop bar bikes longer than most. The Journeyman brings this expertise and experience to a lower price, and there’s a lot to like about this pink beauty. But its beauty is only skin deep. While the ride and handling are very good, and there are some good components, it’s under specced compared to rivals which make it hard to recommend. 

The brand new WI.DE (Winding Detours) gravel bike from Open takes wider tyres than the company’s original UP from 2015 and is all the better for it, with supreme speed over all sorts of surfaces, infused with great handling and low weight from the original it’s based on. But the price tag puts it off-limits for many and you can only buy it as a frameset with a choice of one colour.

The Rondo Ruut CF2 is a fast and surefooted carbon fibre gravel bike with a neat trick up its sleeve - adjustable geometry - providing a small level of ride attitude tuning that helps it stand out in an increasingly crowded market. I’d like to see wider tyres fitted as standard though, but that aside there's a lot to like here.

The new Rockrider AM100 from Decathlon looks a great bike on paper but on the trail, it’s fantastic, a riot of fun and hugely capable. Modern geometry gifts this sub-£1,000 hardtail great handling and the parts package is all top-notch with no real weaknesses, with the dropper post being especially rare at this price. 

It was only a matter of time. A combined dropper and suspension seatpost seems the ideal product for gravel rides when the terrain gets rowdy and rough. Makers of the excellent Redshift Shockstop stem, unveiled their new ShockDrop seatpost at Eurobike show in Germany last week as well as their long-awaited suspension seatpost the ShockStop and a Kitchen Sink!

Pirelli has expanded its tyre range with two new gravel tyres called the Cinturato Gravel, and I got the chance to put them through a reasonably challenging first ride in the 150km Jeroboam gravel race in Italy last weekend. 

The Sidi Eagle 7 SR is an extremely comfortable shoe with a great fit, and equally at home whether you're riding cross-country, trails, gravel or cyclocross. It's an ideal design for commuting and road use too, though a little expensive for what you get compared to some rival offerings.

Highly capable, with a performance that shines on any surface as it smooths out bumps with the skinniest of skinny rear stays – and a very competitive price – the new GT Grade Carbon Expert is a top choice in an increasingly crowded gravel bike market.