Seemingly, wherever gravel goes, audiences are prepared to follow. But did anyone truly see gravel's global popularity reaching such dizzying heights? Who knows. But the industry, of course, has responded in kind: cultivating, nurturing and at times shameless flogging, everything gravel.
If nothing else it's made for a range of products that run the gamut, offering technologically advanced kit to rival anything found on the road as well as bits and bobs that respond to gravel's lighter side.
Article continues belowPas Normal Studios new SS26 Escapism collection
It feels like the gravel racing product segment receives several additions weekly, each one confirmation of a status that has grown from burgeoning to established in seemingly the blink of an eye. Pas Normal Studios' new SS26 Escapism collection is a case in point.
The Danish brand’s relaunched gravel clothing range has been developed with the PAS Racing team. The jerseys and bibs, both in mens and womens, feature a slew of pockets that allow riders to be self-sufficient: cargo pockets, arm pockets and and even externally attached pockets for gel and bar wrappers.
There are also ‘hydration-ready options’, another feature that means you don’t have to stop or slow down. No smelling the roses in a plaid shirt and baggies here!
But perhaps the clearest indication that this is a range designed, at heart, for speed and competition is the inclusion of the Men's Escapism Speedsuit. Here it’s offered in dark red and in limited quantities. The rest of the colours across the range are said to be drawn from the landscape: light olive, stone brown and black.
Selle San Marco Shortlift saddles
While some gear labeled ‘gravel’ looks suspiciously like the road-going version save for a brown or green colourway or logo, gravel and all-road specific saddles make plenty of sense. After all, a good deal of the vibrations you'd experience from rough trails and broken asphalt will be felt through the seatpost and the perch attached to it. With a view to dampening such chatter, Selle San Marco has released its Shortlift Allroad range of saddles.
The lineup consists of three models: Sport, Racing and SuperComfort Racing. While the material used for the rails differs, steel on the former and carbon for the latter two, and the SUperComfort has integrated gel pads, all three rely on three pieces of tech designed to add stability and aid comfort: the waved profile, the Bow Rail System and the integrated Shock Absorbers.
Selle San Marco says the wave profile is integral to the Shortfit’s compact geometry, providing better laid distribution and stability over rough terrain. The Bow Rail System is designed to let the saddle’s frame flex around the rail, which helps to absorb shocks and vibrations. Finally, the in-built Shock Absorbers are there to filter out high-frequency shocks, with the aim of reducing fatigue over the course of your ride.
Prices start at £74.99 for the Sport model and rise to £144.99 for the Supercomfort option, which the Racing model costs £134.99. All three are offered in two widths.
Santini MADSS Gravel skinsuit
You wait for a dedicated gravel skinsuit and then two come alone at once. But unlike London buses the two on show here can easily be told apart. While the Pas Normal Studios offering above draws its colour palette from the earth, the MADSS Gravel suit from Santini looks to have been inspired by Jerry Garcia’s wardrobe.
Tie-dyed vibes aside, the Mega Aerodynamic Speed Shell, or MADSS for short, Gravel skinsuit is far more space age than summer of love. It’s born from Santini’s R&D department that focussed on aerodynamics and speed and has been adapted to meet the demands of today’s elite gravel racers.
The upper is light, breathable and fits like a second skin as you’d expect, with a low collar to help reduce drag. The sleeves are made from a ribbed fabric that is said to better manage airflow.
To assist with gravel races and events the skinsuit has an integrated pocket on the back to hold a 2-litre hydration pack; there are fabric loops on the shoulders for the drinking tube and a rear loop that can secure the pack with a carabiner, although both the pack and the carabiner will need to bought separately. You then get five more pockets, which should accommodate the longest races and the most liberal packing.
The shorts use what Santini calls a “high-resistance warp-knit fabric”, and feature raw cut hems with internal grippers. The pad is the C3 chamois, which is created for long distance rides and incorporates anti-shock gel inserts.
Fizik Tones
Each year, Fizik releases a collection of its products, both shoes and helmets, built around a one-off seasonal palette. Called Tones, this year the palette is 'Aurora', and consists of pinks and purples chosen to symbolise light and atmosphere and the birth of a new day: Aurora is both a Latin word for dawn and the Roman goddess of sunrise.
“Tones came from a simple idea: cycling is constantly changing both in terms of where and how we ride, so why should colour be fixed as well?,” says George Huzford, Fizik Senior Marketing Manager. “Tones will give fans of fizik and those new to the brand the option to bring a bit more personality into their outfits without moving away from the core products they already know and love.”
This year the collection comprises four helmets - Kudo, Kudo Aero, Kassis and Kyros - and seven pairs of shoes - Hydra, Powerstrap, Vega, Lyra, Proxy, Ferox 2 and Beat. Given the gravel slant of this roundup, there are plenty of options here for off-road enthusiasts, including the Kudo helmets and the recently updated Ferox 2 shoes.
Northwave Extreme X gravel shoes
As mentioned, Traka is Europe’s most prominent gravel race and the 2026 edition starts this week in Spain. Northwave is making its debut as a sponsor and has released its latest gravel shoe, the Extreme X, ahead of the event.
The shoe is packed with tech, from the High Tail system, which sees an asymmetrical design extend over the outer heel for improved support, alignment and stability, to the PowerShape arch support that’s designed to be comfortable over long distances.
The Hyperlight HT soles use unidirectional carbon for stiffness and maximum power transfer. Combined with the features above and you get a cycling shoe that Northwave says delivers a superior structural performance compared to previous models; this is a combination of torsional and compression stiffness which the brand says results in “greater responsiveness and stability during accelerations, pace changes, and on varied terrain”.