Gravel Gear of the Year: 8 Standout Upgrades for Mixed-Surface Riding

Introduction

Gravel riding asks a lot of gear. You ride on surfaces that punish tyres, frames and, most of all, the rider. The right kit fades into the background and simply lets you get on with the ride, while the wrong kit makes itself known every few minutes.

The eight products below earned their place over a full year of mixed-surface riding, from damp winter lanes to long off-road days. Some are small and cheap. Others cost real money. What they share is that each one solved a genuine problem rather than adding features for their own sake.

Some of these picks are quietly unglamorous, and that is largely the point. A moulded plastic mudguard and a machined aluminium cage will never be the most exciting items in a bike shed, but they change how a ride feels in ways that matter more than a spec sheet suggests.

What Separates a Useful Upgrade From a Gimmick

The products on this list were judged on a small number of practical questions. Does the item hold up after months of hard use, in mud and rain, without needing constant attention? Does it fit easily onto a bike that is already built, or does it demand a new frame, new routing or a workshop visit?

Durability weighed heavily. Fabric that stays waterproof, hardware that does not shift or rattle, and finishes that survive repeated loading and unloading all count for more than a claimed saving of a few grams.

Versatility mattered too. Items that move between bikes, or that can be used for racing on one weekend and a multi-day trip on the next, proved more valuable than single-purpose gear.

Finally, cost was weighed against how often the item would actually be used. A cheap product that removes a recurring annoyance can be better value than an expensive one that sits in a drawer.

Mudhugger Gravel Hugger Rear Mudguard

The Gravel Hugger is a moulded rear mudguard designed for gravel bikes that cannot take full-length guards. It sits over the top of the rear wheel and is held in place with zip ties around the seat stays, so it works on frames with tight clearances where a conventional fender simply will not fit.

That tight fit turns out to be more effective than it looks. The guard does a genuinely good job of keeping spray off the rider’s back, which matters on a long damp ride where a gritty paste working its way through a single layer of lycra is nobody’s idea of a good time. Just as usefully, it keeps luggage and rear lights free of mud, so a light stays visible once a ride returns to tarmac.

Fitting is straightforward. Protective tape goes around the seat stays first, then the guard zip ties on. Mudhugger also sells Velcro straps as an option for riders who want quicker fitting and removal. Once mounted, the guard has not shifted, even when kicked on or off the bike, which makes it far more dependable than seatpost-clamping fenders. It has also resisted clogging, partly because the frame’s own clearance tends to clog first.

At £23 it is a modest outlay, and over its life it will plausibly prevent more than that in wear to bike, kit and rider comfort. One honest caveat: a race-focused gravel frame does not become a beautiful thing once a zip-tied guard is fitted. Fortunately, you cannot see it while pedalling.

Apidura Backcountry Bikepacking Bags

The Backcountry range is deliberately understated, and that is exactly why it works. The set was used on almost every ride over the course of a year, across central England, Wales, Devon and Cornwall, plus countless loops on the back roads of Bristol, and it integrated so smoothly that it stopped being something to think about.

The fabric has stayed as waterproof and durable after heavy use as it was when new, surviving rain, mud and full loads without showing wear and tear. The fastenings are straightforward and there are no fiddly zips, which makes swapping the bags between bikes quick rather than a chore.

The seat bag deserves particular credit. It fits the bike well and stays put, with very little of the sway that plagues other seat bags once they are loaded. The version used here is six litres, and a smaller 4.5 litre option is also available. The grey finish manages the neat trick of looking smart while quietly absorbing trail dust, and the bags have not rubbed up paintwork the way some bikepacking bags do.

Apidura also offers repair resources and tutorials for bags that do eventually break, alongside a Revive programme that sells repaired older bags at low cost to reduce waste. If you want luggage that is waterproof, hardy, easy to fit and easy to forget about, this range covers all of it.

Thumper Mini Compressor

The Thumper Mini Compressor is a pocket-sized air compressor that earns its place by solving one specific and very unpleasant problem. Many riders carry a hand pump, but a hand pump cannot deliver the sustained, high-volume pressure needed to reseat a tubeless tyre that has burped off the rim.

The Thumper can, and it has rescued more than one ride that would otherwise have ended early. It is not cheap at £139, but it lives permanently in a seat pack, bar bag or hip pack alongside the rest of the essentials: sealant, an inner tube, tough tyre levers, tubeless plugs and a multi-tool.

For anyone who rides tubeless on gravel, that combination of reliability and small size is difficult to argue with. The compressor has already proven worth the outlay, and for riders who split tyres or lose a bead far from home, it is the kind of item that pays for itself in saved rides.

PRO Discover Dropper Post

The PRO Discover dropper post comes with a smart two-way lever that can be operated easily from the hoods or from the drops, and that single detail makes a real difference in use. Dropping the saddle all the way down turns steep off-road descents from a negotiation into something genuinely enjoyable, and dropping it partway on the road lets you get noticeably more aero on fast descents.

When this post was fitted, there was very little choice on the market. Since then, FSA has launched a gravel-specific dropper post, Crankbrothers has followed, and RockShox has released a wireless electronic dropper as part of its Explorer range. What once looked like an odd choice now looks like a trend, and it is easy to see why.

For anyone who loves descending at speed, the dropper is one of the most fun upgrades available on a gravel bike. It is also the item most often missed when testing gravel bikes that arrive without one.

Sportful Tempo Jacket

Temperature regulation on the bike is a constant compromise, and the UK winter makes it worse: a crisp one or two degree day can be followed by a mild, wet and windy twelve degree day. Two principles help. Dress for how you will feel once riding, accepting a slight chill at the start, and carry a spare layer for a mid-ride coffee stop. Then keep it simple, layering a single insulating fibre pile with a windproof and waterproof outer.

The Sportful Tempo Jacket is built on that idea. It pairs a windproof outer with a brushed fleece lining, adding a Gore-Tex Infinium membrane across the sleeves and front, which provides warmth on all but the coldest days while still letting a lot of heat escape when the effort rises. It is largely waterproof and comfortable when damp. The cut is excellent, and after a year of hard riding the sleeves and elastic still feel perfectly snappy. The tall fleece-lined collar is a highlight, keeping drafts out.

Paired with a sleeveless summer base layer, the jacket stays comfortable down to around three degrees Celsius. Add a waterproof or insulating layer on top and it covers just about any condition worth riding in. One wish: the earlier version could use a slightly chunkier dual-ended zip, and the newest generation appears to be moving in that direction. The current jacket is also available in bright yellow.

Shimano RX8 Gravel Shoes

A gravel-specific shoe sounds like a contradiction, and it is fair to ask why a road shoe or an XC mountain bike shoe would not do. Shimano’s own road and off-road S-Phyre models share much of the same upper and carbon sole plate, so when the RX8 arrived in 2019 it was not immediately obvious where it fitted.

In practice it fits very well. Shimano set out to combine the lightness and stiffness of a road shoe with the robustness and walkability of an off-road shoe, and the result is a shoe that becomes indispensable once you ride it regularly.

Most importantly, it fits brilliantly and stays comfortable no matter how long the ride. Heel hold is secure and the toe box is wide, which should suit a lot of riders. There is one small nitpick: the forefoot tread, while it supports a solid connection with the pedal body, is a little narrow, so walking over rough ground feels slightly less stable than on shoes with a wider tread pattern. In reality that rarely matters much.

Overall the balance is well judged. At 582 grams for a pair of size 43s, the RX8 is as light as a top-end road shoe, while the robust upper and sole tread suit rough off-road riding far better. A dedicated road shoe will be lighter and stiffer, and a proper mountain bike shoe will be tougher, but for adaptability across a range of riding, this one is hard to beat.

Tailfin Cargo Cage

The Tailfin Cargo Cage is not strictly gravel-specific, but it may be the most versatile item on this list. It attaches to bottle cage bosses, which are becoming increasingly common on adventure-style bikes, and it lets you strap pretty much anything to the frame or fork to dramatically increase on-bike storage.

The large version used here weighs just 79 grams, and a smaller version is available. Because the cage’s own weight is so low, there is little reason to remove it when it is not in use, and it does give the bike a permanently prepared look. Construction quality is what really earns the recommendation: the cage is machined from 7075 T6 aluminium with no welds and no plastic parts, so it should prove ultra reliable while still looking good on any bike.

For multi-day rides where comfort and gear volume matter more than speed, the cage makes it easy to carry bulky items such as a winter sleeping bag and mat. On hot, dry routes it is an excellent place to store extra water. It is equally useful for ultra-endurance racing, where scarce resupply points make it valuable to be able to throw extra supplies onto the bike mid-event, provided you are carrying the straps and bags.

As long as weight is distributed evenly, luggage carried low on the fork is not too disruptive to handling, and it can help plant the front tyre for a bit more traction. Be aware that a loaded front end will feel like a barge in tight corners if you are not used to riding a loaded bike.

Paired with a purpose-built fork pack, the whole setup feels completely bombproof.

Apidura Expedition Fork Pack

The Apidura Expedition Fork Pack is the natural partner to a cargo cage. Strapped directly to the cage, it turns unused fork mounts into genuinely useful carrying capacity, and the combination has proven entirely dependable over long distances.

The pack makes most sense on multi-day rides where you need to carry enough gear to stay comfortable rather than to travel fast. That need only grows in the colder months, when a winter sleeping bag and mat become part of the load. Carrying that weight low on the fork keeps it out of the way of the main triangle and helps keep the bike planted.

Overall Buying Advice

The cheapest item on this list may well be the one that changes the most rides. A £23 rear mudguard keeps you dry, keeps your lights visible and keeps your luggage clean, and it does so on frames that cannot take anything more substantial. If you ride gravel through a British winter, start there.

Bikepacking bags and cargo solutions are worth spending more on, because the difference between bags that fade into the background and bags that rattle, shift or leak is felt on every single ride. The Apidura Backcountry range and the Tailfin Cargo Cage both fall firmly into the forget-about-it category, and the Expedition Fork Pack extends that storage further down the fork.

The remaining picks answer specific problems. A dropper post transforms descents, the Thumper Mini Compressor rescues tubeless setups that a hand pump cannot, the Sportful Tempo Jacket simplifies winter layering, and the Shimano RX8 balances road-shoe speed with off-road walkability. Buy the ones that match the riding you actually do, and skip the rest.

Conclusion

None of these eight products is flashy. What they have in common is that each one removes a repeated frustration, whether that is a wet back, a burped tyre, a rattling seat bag or a frozen descent. That is what made them worth keeping over a full year of gravel riding, and it is a better guide than any headline specification.