There are plenty of options if you’re looking to upgrade your gravel bike for off-road riding. Some extras, such as more padded bar tape or a saddle upgrade, will add a little more comfort to a bike that’s going to be jolting you around, often for an extended period. Others, such as tubeless tech or tyre inserts, will increase reliability and reduce your potential down-time for punctures or other mechanicals.
Then there are bigger upgrades, such as fitting new wheels or a dropper post, that will have an impact on performance. Still others meanwhile, including bags, lights and straps, will equip you for bikepacking expeditions.
Whatever upgrades you’re looking at, you don’t need to spend a fortune to make a real differences to your gravel experience. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up some inexpensive options we think are worth investing in, and included some pricier upgrades too should your budget stretch a little further.
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14 of the best gravel bike upgrades
1. New bar tape
Much like bar tape for road bikes, there’s a lot to be gained by choosing the right bar tape for your gravel bike. You can buy gravel-specific tape that’s extra thick to cushion your hands – usually at least 3mm thick – and extra-grippy to help keep them attached to the bars.
As usual, there’s an earth-coloured gravel template usually on offer, although sticking to black seems sensible to cut down on cleaning requirements.
2. Cargo straps
While road riders can usually fit everything into their jersey pockets and maybe a saddle pack, gravel riding often involves carrying more stuff. Bikepacking means strapping a whole lot of stuff to your bike and the ability to lash small items somewhere convenient makes things a lot easier.
Cargo straps come in many designs but Voile straps (sold under both the Voile brand and licensed alternatives) are really versatile and quick to use, with a range of lengths to suit everything from a pump to a tent and you can link up multiple straps to hold larger loads. There are some great colours too.
If Voile is too rich for your blood, there are some decent cheaper alternatives that do a similar job.
3. Tyre inserts
If you're fed up with punctures, it may be time to try tyre inserts. They won't stop punctures from occurring, but may help you to keep moving when one does occur. They also allow you to run lower pressures for better grip in poor conditions, with a lower risk of sidewall damage or burping.
4. New tyres
Gravel bike tyres can be tricky as they need to be adapted for the conditions. A set that works well in the mud of winter will usually feel lifeless on dry summer trails.
Conversely, a low-profile tread that works well in the summer will see you slipping around once things get damp. So although an all-rounder tyre might work well most of the time, it's worth having a few different options that you can swap in as the seasons and the conditions change.
For a versatile all-rounder, consider the Schwalbe G-One R or the Vittoria Terreno Mix.
5. Bar bag
Further to that problem of how to carry extra things, a bar bag is a great option when riding on gravel. Its location in front of you on the handlebars makes it easier to get to while riding and it's not as prone as a saddle pack to getting dirty.
We've reviewed a range of bar bags in a variety of sizes, from compact options that allow you to carry a few ride extras to full-sized bar bags designed to carry a substantial part of a bikepacking load.
- Check out our guide to the best bar bags
6. Tubeless tech
Running tubeless is a godsend off-road, helping to avoid down time for fixing punctures and keep you running more smoothly. If you've not set up tubeless yet, you can buy everything you need – rim tape, valves, sealant as a tubeless kit – to make setup easier.
Alternatively, you can buy the parts separately. Many tubeless-ready wheelsets will come pre-taped, but tubeless tech isn't fit-and-forget, so you'll need a bottle of sealant to keep your sealant levels topped up as it dries over time.
- Check out our guide to the best tubeless sealant
Tubeless valves bought separately also offer an opportunity to pimp your gravel bike, with a range of colours and designs that inner tubes just don't give you.
If you do get that pesky flat that's too large for the sealant to seal, it may be time for a tyre plug. The best tyre plugs are quick to use and can save a ride. Many tyre plug kits are also very compact and easy to carry around, so they won't take up too much space even if you don't need to use them very often.
- Check out our guide to the best tubeless repair kit
Finally, a TPU inner tube can get you out of trouble if all else fails. It's expensive, but a lot more compact and durable than a standard butyl inner tube.
7. Saddle
Your saddle is critical for your comfort, so if you're not getting on with the stock saddle on your gravel bike, it might be worth looking for something specifically designed for gravel riding. Gravel bike saddles tend to have more padding than models designed for road use, but may have a wider central pressure relief channel.
If there's a cut-out it may have a rubber membrane under it to stop dirt from spraying your shorts. It may have a more grippy surface to help you keep in place and could have more durable metal rails rather than carbon.
8. Dropper post
If your gravel riding is taking you to more technical terrain, you might benefit from a dropper seatpost as fitted to most decent mountain bikes. This allows you, via a lever on the bars or a repurposed left shift lever, to release the seatpost-locking mechanism and lower the seatpost,
Dropper posts for gravel bikes typically offer between 50mm and 120mm of travel to get the saddle out of the way when you are descending, helping you to push your weight back and lower your centre of gravity.
Many gravel bike frames are now designed to allow you to fit a dropper seatpost with internal cable routing, so apart from the extra cable from the bars to the frame, there's no external change to your bike. Make sure that you get a dropper post that's the right diameter for your seat tube though – many designed for mountain bikes will be too large.
9. Wheels
As with any bike, a wheel upgrade to your gravel bike can change the character of your ride. The best gravel bike wheels tend to have wider rims than many road-going wheelsets, to better support wider gravel tyres.
They'll certainly be tubeless-ready and designed for disc brake use and they'll often include shallow aero rim profiles. Surprisingly, despite the extra abuse they're likely to get off-road, many high-end gravel bike wheelsets are as light as road wheelsets, helping to liven your bike up.
10. Cockpit
Another gravel-specific component, gravel bars come in a range of widths, drops and shapes. Typically, gravel bike handlebars are wide, with a flare to the drops, which are quite shallow, although some gravel bikes are fitted with bars that are more like those on a road bike. Gravel bike bars are usually made of aluminium alloy, so they're relatively cheap to replace.
A wider bar can improve ease of steering by providing more leverage. Some have a very pronounced flare, which positions your brake levers at an angle. Some riders like the wide flare, others not so much, but it does increase the room available if you plan to carry a wider bar bag, perhaps to stow a sleeping bag for bikepacking.
If you want to increase your comfort more on uneven ground, you could consider a suspension stem, like that made by Redshift Sports.
11. Brake pads
An appropriate brake pad is another item that can make a difference to your gravel rides. Heat dissipation is important, as opportunities to release your brakes may not be as frequent on a long gravel descent as they are on a faster descent on tarmac. Low wear is also important.
With that in mind, you can buy gravel-specific brake pads that are designed to cope with riding off-road. They're particularly useful when bikepacking or if you have an electric gravel bike that will be heavier and may be ridden faster.
Look out for compatibility with your brake calliper though – no two pads are the same shape and size.
12. Gearing
Gravel bike groupsets are usually, but not always, designed with wider, lower gear ranges to handle climbs off-road. Most modern groupsets will allow you to select gearing down to 1:1 and gravel bike groupsets often go significantly beyond this. If you don't think that your gear range is right for you, it may be worth seeing if you can fit a cassette with a different range.
Super-compact cranksets with 48/32 or 46/30 ratios are now usually fitted to gravel bikes. If yours has a standard 50/34 compact crank and you want lower gearing, a super-compact chainset may be worth considering.
Unfortunately, this usually means changing the entire crankset, as most compacts cannot be used with super-compact chainrings. Some of SRAM's single-ring groupsets give you more flexibility in choosing your gearing though, with smaller chainrings available.
- Read our guide to gravel bike groupsets
13. Short mudguards
At any time of year, conditions off-road can be wet and muddy, so the extra protection offered by mudguards is an advantage. Although many gravel bikes have mounting points for full mudguards, these aren't ideally for gravel riding on really rough or muddy terrain. Short mudguards such as Ass Savers' Win Wing can be a better bet as they avoid clearance and clogging issues.
14. Off-road lights
If you're going to be riding after dark, a high-powered front light will help you to see what's ahead of you a lot more easily off-road, lighting up obstacles so that you can ride with more fluidity.
In fact, a pair of lights is often useful, one on your bike and one on your helmet. Between 500 and 1,000 lumens output will give a good level of illumination, but lights are available that provide much greater output, which can be useful if you're tackling particularly technical terrain at night.
Looking for more upgrade suggestions? Read our guide to the best road bike upgrades
