Best electric gravel bikes 2023

by Rebecca Bland Feb 9 2023

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Best electric gravel bikes 2023 – tackle the rough stuff with power and confidence — 2021_Cairn_BRAVE_main.jpeg, by Liam Mercer

The best electric gravel bikes for off-road adventures and all-round capability

Electric gravel bikes have grown in popularity at a similar pace to their unassisted counterparts. Whereas there were only a few models to choose from just a few years ago, there’s now a wide selection ranging from beefy and off-road oriented mid-drive options to more all-road, adaptable hub driven models.

Electric gravel bikes come in a few different shapes and designs. Some are more oriented to hardcore off-road riding, closer to what you’d use a mountain bike for. Others are more of a dependable commuting option that will handle towpaths and compact gravel with ease. (Take a look at our guides to the best electric mountain bikes or the best electric commuter bikes if you're thinking one or the other sounds a better fit for you.)

1. Ribble CGR AL e – £2,899 (best hub-motor e-gravel bike)

Subtle and sleek, the Ribble CGR AL e is an electric gravel bike that you might not even notice is electric at first glance. Like all of Ribble’s electric range, it uses the MAHLE Smartbike Systems X35+ hub-driven motor and a 250Wh internal battery to power it. Combined with the discreet top tube iWoc button which controls the assistance, it’s a very nice looking e-bike, but it’s capable as well.

It’s perhaps more oriented to bikepacking and all-road riding rather than just gravel, but the frame design makes it stable and comfortable enough to tackle almost anything. There are various configurations of the CGR AL e available. Our review bike came with the SRAM Apex 1x groupset and more road-oriented drop bars.

For more detail, read off-road.cc’s review of the Ribble CGR AL e (SRAM Apex 1x 650b).

2. Cairn BRAVe 1.0 - £2,359 (best Shimano Steps powered gravel bike)

It’s worth noting here that the BRAVe is now only available in its flat bar version (although there’s nothing stopping you switching the bars, shifters and brake levers out…), and also that it’s currently only available as a pre-order with stock expected in 2024. Now we’ve got that out of the way, there are good reasons we wanted to include this on our ‘best of’ list - not least because of its sheer capability.

The BRAVe looks like the love-child of a rigid mountain bike and a gravel bike, with 2.35” tyres and flat bars, as well as mountain bike inspired geometry. It’s built for British gravel, which is unlike that found in the US for the most part. We're talking not so much dusty compressed gravel roads and more rough, rocky bridleways that haven’t seen sunlight in 10 years.

For more detail, read off-road.cc’s review of the Cairn BRAVe 1.0 Drop Bar.

3. Boardman ADV8.9E - £2,799 (best value e-gravel bike)

Offering mid-drive performance at reasonable value, the Boardman ADV8.9E is a great choice for all-road riding. It’s marketed as an ‘adventure bike’ which we’re taking to mean it’s suited to tarmac as well as light off-roading. That said, the geometry has been tweaked from its e-road bike siblings to provide more stability on off-road terrain.

It’s powered by the Fazua Evation system, which is a mid-drive 250W motor with stated torque of 60Nm and a peak power of 400W. Our reviewer found it had plenty of oomph to tackle steep climbs on loose surfaces in ‘rocket mode’ (the highest assist setting), and the G-One tyres can handle technical terrain in the dry.

For more detail, read our review of the Boardman ADV8.9E.

4. Kinesis Range Adventure - £3,900 (most adaptable gravel e-bike)

With mounting points galore and wide tyre clearance, the Range Adventure from Kinesis is one of the most versatile electric gravel bikes on the market. Its price has risen by £400 since off-road.cc reviewed it in 2020, but it still uses the Fazua Evation mid-drive motor system that’s loved by many off-road riders.

This particular model comes with a top tube button rather than handlebar mounted controls for you to choose your assist level, which adds to the overall subtlety of the electric system. It’s ideal for gravel, bikepacking or commuting and the removable battery means you can ride it unassisted without much lag.

For more detail, read off-road.cc’s review of the Kinesis Range Adventure e-bike.

5. Look e-765 Gravel – from £5,190 (best looking e-gravel bike)

Another Fazua powered electric gravel bike, the Look e-765 shares a lot of the same design as the non electric version, including a carbon fibre frame. It starts at £5,190 with various builds above that, so value isn’t exactly the name of the game here. But like any Look bike, the style is there - it’s just whether you have the cash available to spend on it.

On 650b rims the bike can accommodate tyres up to 54mm in width, which is ideal for hardcore off-road riding. Our reviewer found it best suited to things like fire roads, bridleways and the like. For the red route at your local bike park, consider something else. It weighs 14.8kg including pedals, so it’s easy enough to hoist over stiles on your shoulder as well as getting it in and out of the house or garage.

For more detail, read our review of the Look e-765 Gravel.

6. Canyon Grail:ON CF 8.0 - £5,099 (most unique e-gravel bike)

If you want an electric gravel bike with a powerful mid-drive motor and have deep pockets, the Canyon Grail:ON is a great option to consider. Its unique dual-level handlebars offer claimed increased comfort on the top bar while remaining stiff on the lower. Whether it suits you and your riding style is another matter, but the look is certainly out there.

It’s designed to be more of an adventure bike than pure gravel, thus it’s suitable for on-road riding as well as off. The particular model off-road.cc tested in 2021 features a Shimano GRX RX812 GS groupset and a Bosch Performance Line CX mid-drive motor, which gives you up to 85Nm of torque for those techy trails.

For more detail, read off.road-cc’s review of the 2021 Canyon Grail:ON CF 8.0.

7. Cairn E-Adventure 1.0 Rambler Edition - £4,289 (best of British design)

The Cairn E-Adventure 1.0 is a hardcore e-gravel bike designed by Brits for tougher surfaces than your fire roads and compacted towpaths. Based in Sussex, it’s been refined around places like the South Downs which are renowned for their hard-going bridleways and trails.

Unlike the flat-bar BRAVe which we’ve also included in this list, the E-Adventure 1.0 uses a Fazua Evation motor and removable battery system, as well as a Campagnolo Ekar 13-speed groupset. It’s been recently redesigned so we haven’t had our hands on one just yet, but the previous iteration was well-regarded across the industry.

8. Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon Lefty 1 - £9,000 (best suspension e-gravel bike)

The Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon Lefty 1 is certainly an eye-catcher. With the almost instantly recognisable Cannondale Lefty fork, it’s one of the only e-gravel bikes on the market that comes with suspension forks. But that’s not all. It also utilises Cannondale’s Kingpin suspension within the frame to absorb even more shocks from the terrain.

It comes equipped with the Bosch Performance Line Speed mid-drive motor and a 500Wh battery, which Cannondale claims can provide a range of up to 78 miles or 125km. If the Lefty fork puts you off, there are rigid frame options from the American brand to satisfy your electric gravel needs.

9. Giant Revolt E+ - £5,299 (best e-adventure bike)

At the top of the Giant e-gravel range sits the Revolt E+. It’s not the most expensive electric gravel bike on our list but it’s also not cheap. It comes with lots of mounting attachments and the ability to fit wide tyres (it comes with 40mm Maxxis Receptors), making it a great partner for off-road bikepacking trips.

It’s powered by a Shimano EP8 motor system, and uses SmartAssist to automatically adjust support levels while you ride, giving you a tidy cockpit with less clutter from displays and control pads.

How to choose the best electric gravel bike

Is an e-gravel bike worth it?

The question of whether a gravel bike is ‘worth it’ isn’t restricted to the electric variant of these bikes, it tends to be about the genre of gravel altogether. Whether it’s worth it to you will differ from someone else, but electric gravel bikes can be quite versatile and not limited to one type of terrain. Many electric gravel bikes make great bikes to ride on the road. They can be used as commuters or equally as bikepacking rigs with just a change of wheels or tyres, which helps somewhat with justifying the purchase of one.

What types of motors are common on electric gravel bikes?

Most electric gravel bikes use mid-drive motors. That being said, there are some popular models from Ribble, for example, that use the MAHLE Smartbike Systems hub-driven motors. Mid-drive motors are fantastic for more technical terrain as they drive the power more directly through the pedals than hub-driven equivalents. They also produce more torque which can help on the steep stuff.

How expensive are electric gravel bikes?

Like with most types of electric bikes, it varies significantly. You can spend thousands upon thousands on top-end premium models, but you’ll likely have just as much fun on mid-range models that cost half as much (and they'll also cost less to maintain) . Generally though, you’re looking at £2,000 and above for something decent.