The launch of Gravel Bike Magazine

Gravel Bike
Oct 3
3 min read

Gravel biking is officially a thing – an exciting thing that’s changing the landscape of bike riding with mountain bike races being reclassified by the federation as gravel bike races, new bikes coming out with all kinds of unique features, and many of our most seasoned road and MTB pro riders lining up for gravel races here and all over the world. When both our ladies and men’s SA champions Hayley Preen and Matt Beers are regularly racing high-profile gravel bike races, you know this is not a fat bike-like trend that was fun for a while but soon forgotten.

With all the serious cycling event companies now hosting gravel bike single day and stage events, the scene is exploding. If you don’t have a curly bar dikwiel already you’re probably sweating on the fence. The tech is sweet, and with nearly 600 000 kay’s of gravel roads in our sun-soaked South Africa alone, many of those leading far into vast unexplored spaces, it’s the stuff us nature-loving bike clan are hooking into for good reason.

With anything this big comes a community and a desire for information and inspiration on where, what, how, who, and when. As long-time publishers of South African road, triathlon, and mountain bike magazines, we had to heed your call and deliver a deep reading, offline, me-time, image-rich celebration of this new velo discipline.

Lachlan Morton, the Malibamatšo River valley in Lesotho, and adventuring through Finland

And here it is. Gravel Bike Magazine is officially live.

From Friday October 3rd this large format coffee table keepsake will be on shelf nationwide. Almost 150 pages of glossy but dusty filth, to keep you frothing and ready to get out into the many superb routes we have identified and explored in detail. We hope to keep you ‘edutained’ by interviews with interesting riders and up to speed on tech from new bikes to gadgets that will make your ride more enjoyable. We highlight the best races out there and even get a magical taste of riding gravel under the northern lights.

Yes, we know some riders find the combination of corrugated roads on stiff bikes a little scary, but there are bikes, routes, tyres, and treats to please every taste. Our highly experienced contributors chew the fat on this debate and share some fascinating wisdom. See what you think, and share your thoughts with us once you’ve enjoyed some reading and riding time, applying some of their guru advice.

What’s even cooler is that our launch edition of Gravel Bike Magazine is wrapped with a kick-ass copy of the Official Guide to the Nedbank Gravel Burn. If you haven't heard about this first-of-its-kind week-long stage race, you may have taken winter hibernation under that rock a little too far. This new event will likely set the benchmark of what gravel riding can provide. The team hosting it are seriously experienced, and they have attracted an insanely stacked pro field. This will be one to follow. The mag alone will provide 80 pages of Karoo-inspired magic.

Check out the two new mags wrapped together on shelf now at Exclusive Books, Woolworths, and many other newsstands. Nearly 230 pages of gravel stoke for less than 100 bucks. Go grab the rad value pack, or you can download it here now.

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