Why the Gravel Bike Might the Perfect All-Terrain Bike for You

A bike is a bike, right? Surely a bike can’t be more than a couple of wheels, a seat and some pedals… If you talked to any of our designers, you’d receive a resounding, “no.” Trust me, we know a thing or two about innovative bikes. For example, our client’s Companion Bike, pictured below. This compact, foldable bike design features a passenger seat – great for traveling with friends, family or those who can’t normally experience the joy of riding a bike. Like the Companion Bike, there are plenty of bike inventions designed to solve a specific riding problem. One example that caught our eyes was the gravel bike invention design from Moots.

So what is a gravel bike exactly?

Your typical road bikes are built for the street while you’re commuting or maybe a gentle path in the park. On the other hand, gravel bikes are built for grainy, rougher and inconsistent terrains.  When comparing a typical road bike to a gravel bike, you’ll notice differences in three distinct areas. The wheels, frame and the suspension.

• Wheels: Wider, lower pressure and larger tire tread patterns for increased grip and contact with the riding surface, and improved comfort. An especially important feature when battling against loose gravel.
• Geometry: While not as obvious as the difference between gravel and road bike wheels, gravel bike frames have a longer wheelbase and a slacker head angle resulting in a slower but smoother steering response.
• Suspension: While not every gravel bike needs a suspension, they typically use air-sprung forks. How does it work? The resistance created from pressurized air acts as a shock absorber for a smoother ride.

Moots | Routt YBB

Moots has been in the bicycle business for over 40 years building high-quality handcrafted custom fit products worldwide. In fact, they just celebrated their 40th anniversary back in January this year. Along with their gravel bike invention design, they also offer a number of road and mountain bikes as well.

Moots released their Routt lineup of gravel bikes back in 2014. Moots’ Routt YBB model, however, features their legendary YBB suspension that was commonly found in their mountain bikes for a balanced result that’s not too soft nor too harsh. The best part is you can customize every part of the ride, everything from the geometry to the fork to the routing. And with a maximum tire size of 50mm it also means you get maximum comfort, even off the beaten path.

To see Moots’ full lineup of bicycles, click here.

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!