The best titanium gravel and adventure bikes you can buy
The best, prettiest and most desirable Ti drop bar bikes
[Updated October 13, 2020]
Titanium gravel and adventure bikes are ever-increasing in popularity these days, whether that be for the sleek good looks or compliant ride. We've rounded up all the Ti bikes you can buy for drop-bar off-road forays. Enjoy the premium bike goodness...
- The ultimate guide to frame materials: what's best for bikes?
- The best four-piston disc brakes you can buy for all-mountain, enduro and trail MTBs
- The best titanium mountain bikes you can buy
If you're more interested in pure mountain bikes, then make sure you check out our roundup of all the best titanium mountain bikes on the market too.
10 great titanium gravel bikes
- J.Guillem Atalaya Gravel – ~£3,600
- Sonder Camino Ti – from £1,899.00
- Knolly Cache – ~£2,300 (frame & fork)
- Reilly Cycleworks Gradient – from £3,199.00
- J.Laverack GRiT — from £4,455.00
- Kinesis GTD v2 – £2,200
- Ribble Adventure Ti – from £2,399
- Enigma Escape GRX – £3,999
- Enigma Excel GR – £5,800
- Salsa Fargo Ti – ~£2,200 (frame & fork)
J.Guillem Atalaya Gravel – ~£3,600
With exquisite attention to detail, understated looks and a cracking good ride on road, forest paths and gravel tracks, with space for wide tyres on 700C or 650B wheels, the J.Guillem Atalaya Gravel is an enticing choice in the premium titanium gravel bike market.
Sonder Camino Ti – from £1,899.00
The Sonder Camino Ti is the sparkly brother of the regular alloy Sonder Camino, such as this one we tested a year or so ago. The Ti version comes in at two different prices, there's a cheaper SRAM Rival equipped bike for £1,899 and then there's the choice of a SRAM Apex bike or a Shimano GRX specced bike for £2,149. All bikes are sold with 700c wheels but can, of course, fit 650B ones too. There are four sizes (Small to XL) and geometry looks very similar to the alloy Camino, if not identical.
Knolly Cache – ~£2,300 (frame & fork)
Knolly might be best known for its many-linkaged full-suspension machines, but it's surprised us with the launch of a new, titanium-framed gravel bike. It's called the Cache and the brand is making some bold claims for comfort thanks to a custom tubeset.
Knolly has aimed to push towards an ultra-modern off-road geometry, designing the bike to be used with a short stem while featuring a longer front centre. It’s claimed that there will be enough clearance for a 45mm tyre on 700c rims and the frame is designed to run with either a rigid or a suspension fork. Ok, so we're not totally sure you'll be able to buy one of these in the UK but we kind of hope that they do decide to sell them here to!
Reilly Cycleworks Gradient – from £3,199.00
We reviewed the Reilly Gradient back in 2017 where we found it provided a ride that is as lovely as the bike is to look at, with space for wide tyres for heading off into the wilderness or adding dirt and gravel roads to your route, and a high level of refinement.
J.Laverack GRiT — from £4,455.00
Here is another new gravel and adventure bike to add to your wishlist. British titanium specialist J.Laverack has added a gravel bike to its range called the GRiT which can take up to 700x48 or 650x52 wheels and tyres and costs £2,500 for the frame, with complete bikes priced from £4,455. The GRiT builds on the popularity of its original J.ACK allroad bike with bigger tyre clearance and a few geometry changes to ensure it can tackle challenging off-road terrain. The new fork has an increased rake and the chainstays are longer to provide a more stable ride on loose and rough trails at high speed.
Kinesis GTD v2 – £2,200
Kinesis launched the GTD (Go The Distance), a titanium 'ultra-endurance' road frame in July 2018, and it's recently been tweaked to the v2. The GTD uses an all-new custom-drawn 3Al/2.5V titanium tubeset, intended to be both tough and lightweight, though no frame weight is given. Kinesis has also sought to increase compliance by curving the seat stays while straightening the chainstays to increase lateral stiffness. The v2 has tweaked sizing with improved fit and comfort in smaller bikes, a new carbon fork with increased clearance and a new bottom bracket shell that makes room for 30mm axles with Di2 cabling.
Ribble Adventure Ti – from £2,399
Ribble launched a whole new range of bikes at the Cycle Show a while ago, this is one of two new adventure bikes, aptly named the Adventure Ti. You can build up the bikes to your specification on the Ribble bike builder website or buy them as a frameset - the titanium frame gets a carbon fork whilst the other steel 'Adventure' bike sports a steel one.
Rachael has the Ribble CGR Ti frameset on long term test (pictured above), more details are here.
Enigma Escape GRX – £3,999
Enigma has a deservedly good reputation for high-quality, UK made titanium frames and the Escape is their do-it-all bike for un-made roads, gravel and off-road. It's a bike that can take on a serious amount of terrain, and miles, either loaded or light.
The Escape boasts a revised geometry that has lowered the bottom bracket a touch over the outgoing Ecroix and made the angles a little less road orientated and more relaxed for the conditions that its aimed at. It's aimed for exploring - and exploring a wide array of paths, trails, roads and tracks. We tested this frameset back in 2017, you can read the review here.
Enigma Excel GR – £5,800
Enigma Bikes added this UK made titanium gravel bike to their lineup last year and the show sample we saw was sporting some bold, blue Hope Tech bling. It's made from super-strong but super-difficult-to-work-with 6Al/4V titanium alloy. Frames retail at £3,300 and can be built up with whatever components you choose.
Salsa Fargo Ti – ~£2,200 (frame & fork)
The Salsa Fargo Ti, a bike that treads that narrowing line between road and mountain bikes, it appeared back in the brand's range in 2017. It is pitched firmly into the growing adventure and bikepacking market but with a mountain bike DNA, there is a lot to like if you're coming from a mountain bike background.
First introduced in 2009 the Fargo was ahead of its time, a mountain bike with drop handlebars built around 29in wheels. Since then the whole gravel and adventure category has exploded, and the rise in popularity of bikepacking leading to many bikes capable of tackling all sorts of terrain, from smooth to wild. Tyres are getting wider and there's a growing interest in 650b (27.5in) wheels to allow even more voluminous tyres.
What have we missed? There must be other Ti gravel bikes out there that have have been missed by even our eagle eyes! Let us know in the comments.
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9 comments
Where are the actual test reviews to justify these as "the best"? Or is this just another shop window click fest?
Lynskey??
Where is Planet X tempest or Titus, Genesis croix de fer ti, et al ?
I think that photo of the Ribble CGR Ti just looks a little odd here! There are more photos of that bike here and I put one in the article too.... https://off.road.cc/content/news/first-look-ribble-cgr-ti-rachaels-long-term-gravel-test-bike-4493
No Ribble CGR Ti Gravel bike
No Planet X tempest Ti Gravel bike
No Sonder Camino Ti Gravel bike
All availible as a complete bike for under 2.5k and two of them are availible on the ride to work scheme
Did they fit the wrong fork to the Ribble?! Looks like kaka and the bars are higher than the saddle!
That Ribble is one ugly bike - I'll take a Bokeh Ti.
Mason Bokeh Ti?
What about the Planet X Tempest?