Welcome to the inaugural CyclingTips Gravel Bike Field Test, presented by Giro Cycling. We spent over a week in sunny Sedona, Arizona, doing nothing more than testing the latest and greatest gravel bikes.

With four testers and a trusty mechanic, we reviewed twelve bikes across three major categories, and we rode them on a broad range of surfaces, including tarmac, dirt, gravel, and singletrack.

In addition to figuring out our favorites in each category during this test event, we’ll also discuss the processes we used to arrive at those decisions, what we liked (and disliked) across the board, why a gravel bike may (or may not) make more sense than a regular hardtail mountain bike, and how to pick a gravel bike if you’re just getting started. Dive into our findings below (and stay tuned, as there’s plenty more to come).