Written by April Drage
Curve's range of titanium and steel gravel bikes, is as vast as it is innovative and aesthetically pleasing. Whether you’re looking online or in person at Curve HQ, becoming overwhelmed by choice in the presence of so many beautiful machines is an understandable response. So how do you choose which bike is going to be the best match for your riding needs and terrain? Let's explore our popular options more below:
Belgie ULTRA
Curve's endurance road bike, but also works well as a light duty gravel bike. If you love long days in the saddle on the road but also want to head out on some champagne gravel, our Belgie ULTRA can accommodate 700 x 33 off-road tyres (or 35mm slicks!). This would make for a fast friend on the gravel indeed. Curve squad member, Jesse Carlsson took our ULTRA on The Border Run recently. According to Jesse, it was the perfect choice for his style of riding and the fast rolling, hard pack conditions enjoyed throughout the day. Read more about how this performs on gravel HERE.
Perhaps you already have a road bike and you’re keen to extend your repertoire beyond the champagne. The recently released GXR4 allows riders to run tyres from 40mm slicks to a chunky 2inches (50mm) or even bigger up the front. Kevin is the bike of choice for the vast majority of gravel events, with the stock set up including 50 mm tyres. Kevin excels at mixed terrain riding and can hold his own as an endurance roadie when called upon as well. Kevin’s main triangle is surprisingly large (even on an XS frame) and the wide range of mounting points (including our innovative Very Good Mounts on the fork) means that Kevin works well for bikepacking, light touring and overnighters. The gear range on the stock build (featuring a 10/52 MTB cassette!) makes it short work of loaded climbing - bring on the hills. Adding to the versatility; the stock build options include a choice of Curve 700c G4T carbon (all road) wheels or Dirt Hoops Carbon 29er (mountain bike) wheels.
Looking for the fastest Kev yet? You like the frame work Kev was built on, with clearance for 29 x 2.0” and the comfort only titanium can offer. BUT you’re ready to step into the world of titanium/carbon hybrid race gravel bikes!
AIR Kev’s carbon seatube is bonded into a 3D-printed titanium here in Melbourne at Curve HQ, to provide the stiffest and most responsive ride to date. Including a more aggressive geometry and flatter top tube for a more racey silhouette. If you look more at average speed and champagne gravel than singletrack and big bikepacking missions, this is the Kev for you.
Available with SRAM E1 XPLR groupsets as stock, we’ve built the AIR Kev platform to be ready to race straight from the box. With the tighter gear ratios perfect for faster rides. Also now available to be run fully internal, for the extra sleek look.
The Chevrons have raced their AIR Kev’s across the globe in the biggest gravel races like; UCI Gravel World Championships and the infamous Gravel Burn!
Need another gear after AIR Kev? Crossing the boundary from AIR Kev to Big Kev V2, the CarboKev meets all the modern day gravel racing standards! The frame’s construction is organised into two functional zones, merging the best of titanium and carbon material properties. The Stiffness zone; carbon down tube and chainstays form a direct load path from the head tube to the rear axle. A solid, efficient foundation to maximise power transfer and steering accuracy. The comfort zone; the titanium top tube and minimal seat stays are tuned for vertical compliance to reduce rider fatigue without dulling front-end response or compromising power transfer.
Clearance for 29 x 2.2” tyres and a low, race oriented front end and fully internal cable routing, makes CarboKev a true gravel RACE bike.
Big KEV
If Kevin can do it all, then it’s fair to ask; what on earth does anyone need a Big Kev for?! I have to admit, I asked myself this very same question at first. I don’t come from a mountain biking background and as a smaller rider, so initially it was tough for me to appreciate the value of a bike designed around a 29 inch wheel platform. Over time I learned that a larger diameter wheel with a tyre width of 2.1 inches offers more comfort on rough terrain. 29 x 2.1 holds speed and rolls over rocks and ruts more easily than the equivalent tyre in a 650b. In sizes medium and above, Big Kev can take wider tyres still; 2.35 in the rear and 2.4 up front. Confidence and comfort, with a small sacrifice of a little speed on faster rolling surfaces (relative to a 700 x 40 for example), as you’d expect if you’re rocking mountain bike tyres on the road. Big Kev maintains the same number of mounting points as the Kevin and as a complete build, it’s ready to tackle BIG adventures. It's the dream bike for The Tour Divide. 
GMX+ (titanium and steel)
Want to ride the rough stuff with even more comfort and carrying options galore? The GMX+ was designed to tackle rough and remote bucket list bikepacking trips like Curve owner Jesse Carlsson’s own event, Race to the Rock. The GMX+ is described as a cross between a gravel bike and a drop bar mountain bike. I tend to think of my GMX+ (affectionately referred to as Xena2) as part overlander, part armchair and a friendly, confidence inspiring pack horse. The GMX+ doesn’t beg me to ride it like a gravel bike; I’m more inclined to sit and spin up the climbs than I am to jump up on the pedals and push. The GMX+ accommodates 2.35 to 3 inch tyres, this adds grip and comfort; a forgiving and fun ride. The combination of tyre size and long wheelbase makes short work of more rough terrain, such as corrugations, rocks and sand.
The GMX+ is designed to accommodate a variety of flat bars and groupsets and I've tried most of them! Most Curve customers (myself included) prefer to run their GMX+ with the Curve Walmer Bar; riding this rig in the drops, fully loaded on gnarly descents is a dream! Finally, the GMX+ stock builds come with a dynamo hub (a means for generating electricity and powering lights) making it well and truly 'adventure ready'.
With all of this in mind, it can be a little overwhelming trying to decide which of these lovingly designed freedom machines is the best match for current and future excursions. My formula resolving this dilemma seems to be consistent with that used by many other Curve customers, it is (obviously) N+1, where N is the number of bikes already owned.
