Review: More gravel-specific than the CGR, with long & low geom that works v.well on all sorts of terrain cycling RibbleCycles
This new Gravel model, though, has the geometry to really exploit the aggregate-based trails, giving a confidence-inspiring ride quality and behaviour, regardless of how technical or loose the terrain is.
On rough sections at speed, I'd hold myself slightly out of the saddle with my weight on the pedals and a light grip on the bar to let the bike 'flow' over the rough surface, and it just felt secure and confidence inspiring. Feedback levels are great, even when damped by the large volume tyres, and you always know what the tyres are up to.
One thing is for sure, though, and something I learnt from from cruising around the local trails: the 725 is definitely a comfortable and easy to ride big-mile machine. The Gravel showed its composure here, and continued to feel planted when being ridden. Only slower, technical sections took a bit more thinking about, but that was more to do with the effect of the weight rather than the bike itself.
You'll find standard bottle cage positions plus an extra set under the down tube; a top tube bag is also catered for, as is carrying loads on the fork legs. Up front, the fork is full carbon fibre which drops a large amount of weight compared with a steel one, which some brands spec with their steel frames. It is stiff enough to cope with the steering and braking loads even when carrying plenty of kit on the legs, helped by the fact that it uses an oversized steerer which sits inside the 44mm diameter head tube.
SRAM's XPLR range is the gravel-specific version of its road eTap groupset, spread over Red, Force, and Rival. On a 2x system, pushing both together would move the front mech, but here that can be set up to operate an electronic dropper post. As I say, more details in the upcoming review.
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