Cervelo Aspero: Gravel Riding

With the Cervelo Aspero gravel bike fully assembled, it is time to bring it out for a ride! In order to test out the gravel crunching capabilities, the gravel setup with the Hunt gravel wheelset and Panaracer GravelKing SK tires was used.

With the gravel wheelset and the SKS frame bag mounted.

The brown sidewalls of the GravelKing tires looks outstanding here, clearly differentiating it from normal road bike tires.

Wide angle shot of the bike, gravel surface and beautiful skies.

2x11 speed drivetrain ensures a wide gear range and close gear steps for both gravel and road riding.

Tires with small knobs work well on sandy gravel surfaces with loose rocks such as this.

A gravel bike enables exploration into areas not possible using a normal road bike.

Deep loose gravel such as this makes it difficult even for gravel tires to find good traction. Still rideable with wide tires such as these 43 mm gravel tires, as they don't sink into the gravel.

Posing with nature

Exploring off-road areas not accessible by normal road bikes

Excellent paint job on the Aspero frame, this makes it unique compared to other gravel bikes.

The paint job stands out most under direct sunlight, where the glittering metal flakes can be seen.

What I love most about a gravel bike is the ability to go off-road any time I want, without worrying about the tires or gearing. Example is when I am riding along the road, and I spot a dirt track at the side of the road, going somewhere unknown. The gravel bike gives me the option to just ride down the trail for some exploration. Of course a MTB can do the same, but it is less efficient riding a MTB on the road.

Even when riding on well paved roads, the gravel tires roll better compared to MTB tires. This is due to it being less knobbly, and thus have lower resistance. Another way where you can tell there is less rolling resistance is by the lack of a humming sound, which is usually heard when a knobbly MTB tire is rolling fast on the road. The gravel setup thus makes it suitable for exploring roads that are not well paved, without being slowed down by MTB tires while riding on the paved road.