Gravel bikes are great if you have a keen sense of adventure and you don’t always like to stick to the beaten path. These bikes are designed to traverse all sorts of terrain and can handle jumps, jolts, rocks, and more. If you’re a female cyclist, you’ll want to purchase a bike, especially for women. This is because women are often smaller than men and therefore won’t ride as comfortably on a bike designed for the male frame. We did some research to discover the best gravel bikes for women.
There’s nothing quite like hitting the trails with your highly-equipped gravel bike but be warned: not all gravel bikes are the same. Some bikes excel in muddy situations, while others are more beneficial for longer off-roading trips. It’s all about what you prefer in your biking style. Additionally, biking is an incredible way to stay in shape while having fun and getting some much-needed fresh air (especially during the pandemic). Biking efficiently works many of your muscle groups and helps you achieve tone and trim down fat, which is the fitness goal of many people.
More features: lightweight
The Royce Union RMT is a great 21-speed bike with convenient and precise shifters right on the handlebars. The frame is lightweight and sturdy and is made of rust-proof aluminum.
This bike is best suited for riders who want the true adventure biking experience. The features of the Royce Union RMT make it perfect for all-terrain and weather types, and the shock-absorbing construction will help you ride in comfort through all conditions.
More features: optimized fit, all-terrain capabilities, durable
The Tommaso Sterrata Shimano Claris R2000 Gravel Adventure Bike is a highly durable, strong, and high-performance adventure bike for entry-level and intermediate riders. The frame is compact and includes compact handlebars, offering maximum efficiency. The frame geometry is fairly unique and affords riders a smoother riding experience than other frames.
This bike is best suited for riders who are looking to do some serious off-road biking and trail exploration. Every element of the design and construction is intended to maximize speed, efficiency, and comfort during long rides on rough terrain.
More features: alloy dual-pivot brakes, high tensile steel fork
The Giordano Aversa Aluminum Road Bike is a 14-speed road bike with a lightweight aluminum frame, a Shimano drivetrain, and handlebar-mounted gear shifters. This bike has powerful brakes for fast stopping in all weather conditions and is a comfortable choice for new adventure bikers.
This bike is perfect for beginners who are keen to try the new and exciting hobby of adventure biking but aren’t quite ready to fork over the big bucks yet. This bike is super affordable (as far as mountain bikes go) and has a lot of features that make the price an absolute steal. It has everything you need to get acquainted with adventure biking, so gear up and get going!
More features: mechanical disc brakes
The Giordano Trieste Gravel Bike has a super durable frame and high-quality construction, making it great for longer rides. This bike is well-equipped to handle the roughest of terrains and allows riders to comfortably hit bigger bumps at all speeds.
This bike is great for intermediate adventure riders who are looking for a sturdy bike to tackle the more intense trails out there. It features 16 speeds and easy gear shifting, making it a great choice for beginners as well (although some of the more nuanced features may be lost on a true newbie). Therefore, this is also a great bike if you’re new but intend to spend a lot of time riding and improving.
More features: flat bar, mechanical disc brakes, smooth ride technology
The Schwinn Vantage Men’s/Women’s Sport Hybrid has many features found on traditional road bikes as well as those found on traditional mountain bikes. The frame is sturdy and durable, and made of carbon, giving it a stylish appearance and lighter weight. This model also offers extreme comfort and support to all riders and has a special elastomer soft tail suspension, preventing shocks from jostling the rider.
This bike is great if you intend to use your bike for everything from paved roads to the more intense gravel trails and even off-road riding. This hybrid bike is one of the best hybrid models we’ve seen and seamlessly incorporates key features from road and mountain bikes. Additionally, if you have specific needs for bike sizing, this model has eight size variations available.
More features: rear rack, pedal-backward coaster brakes
The sixthreezero Around the Block Bicycle is a cruiser model with a highly stylish frame and comfortable handlebars. This model features simplified brakes (unique for this list) and a rear storage rack.
This is the perfect bike for beginners or casual bike riders who aren’t planning to do a lot of off-roading or intense adventure riding. This bike is, at best, suited to moderately uneven terrain but would not be a good choice for trail riding or intense adventure rides entirely off-road.
More features: lightweight
The Huffy Hardtrail Mountain Bike is super lightweight with an aluminum frame that gives it extra stability and sturdiness. There are 21 speeds on this bike, and the gear changing mechanism is quite smooth and easy.
This bike is best for beginners and intermediate riders who are looking for a lot of control and precision from their bike. This model is very durable and comfortable on all terrains, which makes it a good choice for longer and more intense riding.
More features: mechanical disc brakes, assembly required
This Vilano bike is an excellent multipurpose model featuring high-end brakes, 21 speeds, handlebar shifters, and high functionality across speeds and terrains. The frame is aluminum, making it lightweight and durable.
This bike is great for people who intend to ride every day and are looking for a highly functional recreational bike that can handle most terrains. This would be the perfect choice for beginners and intermediate riders who love riding primarily on paved roads but occasionally want to take their bike out for a spin on another terrain.
Deciding which bike to buy can be an intimidating feat that requires a lot of research and input from experts. You need to know exactly what kind of riding you want to do with your new bike and what features are important to you. We took into account a lot of factors when conducting our research to make the process as straightforward for you as possible.
If you’re a female cyclist Trusted Source Biking your way to better health: How to reboot your workout routine - CNN The first consideration when you’re taking up or restarting a cycling program is to determine whether you’ll be riding inside or outside — or a combination of both. Some factors to consider include year-round climate, traffic, access to bike trails, air quality and bike budget. www.cnn.com and you’ve never purchased a bike specifically for women before, you’ll be shocked at what a difference the simple design tweaks can make in your experience and the bike’s overall performance. Sadly, most bikes are designed for men, which means that they feature design elements and sizing standards better suited to larger builds and heavier bodies. Bikes specifically for women are built for smaller bodies and function at a higher level for women.
We considered many important features when testing and ranking the bikes on this list for you. Some of these features include wheel size, suspension mechanism, size and weight of the frame, braking system, and a number of offered speeds. There is no “correct” combination of features that makes one bike superior to another, but as you become more familiar with your particular preferences Trusted Source Zen and the art of bicycling to work | CNN If you live too far to commute to work, maybe you can bike partially – connecting to public transportation. Or bike before work, or make a new routine of early morning weekend rides. Are there errands you run or places you go on the weekends that can be reached on two wheels instead of four? There is no reason to deny yourself this fun, healthy, ecological and inexpensive mode of transportation. www.cnn.com when biking, know which features are your favorite.
One of the factors we considered when reviewing these bikes was wheel size. The standard wheel width for a 700c gravel tire is about 40mm, but it can vary in either direction depending on the type of riding the bike was designed for.
Wider tires are better suited for more varied terrain, while narrower tires will do better on paved surfaces without much variation.
Gravel bike suspension is also important when selecting a bike, as this feature can protect riders against excess jostling and physical discomfort when riding on uneven terrain or at high speeds. The Royce Union RMT, which was our Editor’s Choice, has great suspension for riders who are keen to do a little more adventuring with their bike. Most gravel bike suspension systems won’t be as sophisticated as those found on mountain bikes, but they’ll certainly be more effective than the suspension systems on a standard road bike.
A number of speeds are another important factor when selecting the right gravel bike for your needs. Having a wide variety of speed and gear options equips you to ride in all conditions and a variety of terrain types. If you anticipate going on longer and more challenging rides, you’ll likely want a bike that has a lot of speeds available, like the Tommaso Sterrata Shimano Claris R2000 Gravel Adventure Bike, which has 24 speeds available and was our choice for Premium Pick. The Giordano Aversa Aluminum Road Bike — our pick for Best Value— offers 14 speeds by comparison and is better suited for road riding than deep woods adventure biking.
The frame size that you’ll need for your gravel bike depends entirely on how tall you are. Taller women will want to opt for larger frame sizes to suit their longer limbs, while shorter women will need smaller frame sizes for more compact riding. Neither is better or worse than the other, but your comfort will largely depend on whether or not you purchase a bike that fits you.
The frame material has a lot of influence over the weight, durability, sturdiness, longevity, and handling ease of a gravel bike. Many standard gravel bikes come with high-quality aluminum frames, which are great because they’re resistant to rusting and can be ridden in all weather conditions.
Aluminum isn’t the only frame material option, however, and you’ll also find many bikes with Chromoly steel frames and are of significantly higher quality than the standard aluminum options.
Brakes are one of the most important features on a bicycle, as they help you maintain control and safety while riding. Riders who are looking for bikes for hardcore adventure riding, high-variety terrain compatibility, and many speed capabilities should consider bikes with disc braking systems. These are the most responsive and the best choice for higher-speed riding and precision stopping. Linear-pull brakes are also a good option for adventure riding, although slightly less good than the disc brake system. The least suitable braking system for adventure riding is the backward pedaling braking system, which can be difficult to pick up if you’re not used to it and can be confusing in emergencies.
Gravel bikes are also referred to as adventure bikes because they can be ridden in many different conditions and on many different terrain types, regardless of whether a clear-cut path is present. Another way to think of gravel bikes is as very modified versions of road bikes. They’re designed to handle more than a standard road bike but aren’t designed purely for off-roading the way mountain bikes are.
Our research to find the best gravel bikes for women was pretty exhaustive and covered a wide array of features, specs, and options for all types of riders. We looked closely at what makes each bike on this list extra special and took extra care to describe the scenarios that each option is best suited to. Our Editor’s Choice bike, the Royce Union RMT, was the best bike, hands down, and would serve any rider well, regardless of experience level. The Tommaso Sterrata Shimano Claris R2000 Gravel Adventure Bike, which was our Premium Pick, has a lot of special features and bells and whistles that make it really stand out and is the best choice if you’re ready to invest a bit more financially in your bike. We also loved our Best Value choice, which was the Giordano Aversa Aluminum Road Bike and was unbeatable in paved road conditions and still functioned very well on more diverse terrain. We hope you enjoyed this list of the best gravel bikes for women, and we wish you happy riding!
