This story is part of our end-of-year series This Year in Gear rounding up the most notable releases of 2020. For more stories like this, click here.
As we’ve noted many times, 2020 was a big year for bikes. As a preternaturally great option for socially distanced outdoor fitness, bicycles saw huge spikes in sales — and corresponding issues with shortages — beginning in spring and rolling on through summer and fall. But just because the very nature of bikes makes them a hot commodity doesn’t mean brands themselves do not continue to iterate and innovate. Just check out the most interesting releases of the past 12 months to see what we mean.
We’ve taken this fun, funky gravel bike across every type of terrain imaginable and it’s crushed them all. The lightweight carbon frame, fat-but-fast 700×50 tires, sleek internal cable routing triggering the 1×12 drivetrain and a handy dropper post combine to let you nimbly navigate or powerfully plow uneven ground, both uphill and down. Oh, and it’s pretty quick on flats too.