Here’s a link to last year’s thread: Best Racing Gravel Bike 2025
Looking at the models listed last year the most recent (and maybe only so far) update is the new Stigmata: 2026 Santa Cruz Stigmata - BIKEPACKING.com
Is this the year that bike falls out of favor, as much as it had before under Keegan? No mention of aero is probably the biggest issue I see. Suspension forks seem to have had their moment as well?
What else is coming in 2026? Did we get info on the new Crux yet?
Honestly, I’m not sure that bike was ever “in favor” compared to other options on the market. Especially considering that it was so successful for Keegan. I just don’t see many of them at races compared to other brands. Based on the article, I’m not clear exactly what was new vs. carry-over, but it sounds like it’s still limited to 50mm tires. Maybe that’s a good trade off for folks still wanting to run 2x, but will certainly rule that bike out for folks wanting proper big tire clearance.
I think that is the big one people are waiting for. I’d expect integrated cabling and downtube storage. The big question (in my mind) is whether they go big on tire clearance and limit the bike to 1x drivetrain. Allied seems to be doing well with their new Able (1x and big clearance, but high price point), so that seems like the right path to me. But I’m also biased as a Lauf fan boy (which has been 1x with big tire clearance since 2022).
Agreed. I have like five friends that all got the Stigmata because the bike shop sells Santa Cruz and they tend to all get the same stuff. But I don’t see that bike at gravel races almost at all. I looked at it a couple years ago, but it seemed way too mtb-y and heavy for me to be interested. I always said I would buy a Seigla if I bought something now, but after racing on mtb tires this past summer I realized that for where I live, they just aren’t needed and our rides and races have too much pavement in them. That said, for me, I now favor the new Aspero 5 because tire clearance be damned, that thing is aero and the gearing is exactly what I want for hauling ass on our smoothish gravel and pavement. But I’m waiting to see what Specialized does with the new Crux because that may be awesome as well.
Crux has been a huge success and both Matt Beers and Mads had a massive 2025 on it. And they don’t use XC tires. It already fits 50’s and has the right geo for a race bike. So it’ll likely be an evolution of it with small changes like Aethos 2.0. Geo and clearance will likely stay very much the same
And unveiled at one of the key races they will have a chance to win. Maybe with their 3 mes big hitters and strong women squad it could be Unbound. Or Sea Otter if they don’t want to wait too long.
I have both a Crux and a Stig, and have the Stig for the geo. It’s ideal on steep descents. But rowdy downhills are not a big thing, especially in American gravel so makes sense that it’s not an ideal gravel race bike
One bike that wasn’t around at the beginning of last year is the new Allied Able 2.0
This is the one that most intrigues me now because it gives you the ability to go big on tires, internal storage and cabling (I get some might not like those), and every picture I see looks pretty sweet….
I’ve been keeping my eye on the new Able. Definitely checks off my list of wants/needs. But as noted earlier from others, the high price point makes me want to look at others first.
Also revealed or updated last year at Sea Otter was an update to Ventum GS1. Gone is the flip chip, and they added more tire clearance upto 56 on the front and 50 in the rear. then minor aero update on the headtube.
Next to the Able, I like Ari Shafer looks comparable without the high price. Seems more adventure / bike packing versus race geo but otherwise a good looking spec’d bike.
I’m stoked to see what the unnamed Factor will be in its final form, after a glimpse of that prototype at Unbound. Looks aero and optimized for big tires
Other than the Crux - what other frames to we expect to be updated in 2026 that could be in the running for 2026 gravel race bikes? My only other thought would be the Scott Addict? I don’t think MOG will be updated from what I heard and all other major brands (Trek, Cannondale, Allied, Cervelo just released their latest within the last year or so). Anyway, I feel like 2026 might be a bit underwhelming with new releases so the Crux better be worth it! I’m itching to upgrade my 2022 frame…
One thing I liked about the Able when I looked at it was all the builds come with 165 cranks and Race Kings.
I have an older Lauf. I love it and would get a Siegla but the cranks are too big for me wanting to be seen as “cool” 
At one point, they allowed you to pick crank length, stem, and some other config options (like seat delete). Not sure if that was on all builds or if you can still do it, but I wish all bike companies worked that way. Of course, you are paying a premium for that with a Allied, but it’s certainly worth several hundred bucks and saves the hassle of swapping in new parts and selling/storing old stuff.
And that’s why I often go with a frameset (which is what I did with my Seigla). Doesn’t always make $ sense depending one what parts you have laying around, but it’s nice to have exactly what you want. And once nice thing with the 8 bolt Quarq/SRAM spider-based PM’s, it’s easy and relatively cheap to keep the PM spider and just swap arms if you want a different size.
If I was in the market right now for a carbon gravel frame, the 3T Extrema Italia would be high on my list. 57mm tire clearance, aero features, etc. about the only thing lacking is downtube storage.
165 cranks are hot right now. You could pull those cranks and sell as new and probably find your desired (presumably longer) crank on ebay for less than you would get for some 165s.
Looks good on paper except the price. $6500 for frame only and $10k for a basic Rival/GX Mullet build. Not sure how much of that is just US pricing/tariff, but that’s some next level stuff. Makes the “premium” Allied stuff look like walmart bike pricing…
Yep - I would definitely expect something like that coming out of Italy to be at a premium. Certainly not worth it to a lot of folks, but it’s an option for sure. Plenty cheaper than my Mosaic.
Is “made in Italy” really a big selling point for bikes these days? I like a lot about the specs on that bike, but at the end of the day, it’s just another plastic frame with the same stuff bolted to it. I guess I might be in the minority, but I think of Asia as the go-to region for mass produced quality carbon frames. I don’t understand paying a premium for some romantic notion of Italian cycling from days gone by. Particularly if we are talking about a gravel race bike that is going to be beat to hell after a year or 2 of racing. It’s kind of like when I took a tour of the Allied factory a couple years back watching them try to make bikes in the USA (which seemed like a selling point to many). These were good people trying their best to produce a quality product. But as a guy with a lot of experience in manufacturing, all I could see were error prone and inefficient production systems/processes compared to modern Asian production. I’d much rather have one of the Asian made Allied bikes vs. one of the earlier ones made in the US. Ignoring the production efficiencies and price differences, the quality is just better.
A custom hand built steel/titanium bike is a different deal and is as much about the art and craftmanship as the performance, so I get the premium there. I just don’t think of mass produced carbon bikes that way, but I guess some people do.
Salsa Flyway will be out this year, likely released at Mid South in March. I’d be interested to see how this stacks up with the others. Salsa hasn’t done any sort of update to their warbird since 2019….