Pinarello Grevil Gravel Bike Review

Pinarello loaned me this bike for review, and I was not paid for the review by either Pinarello or Competitive Cyclist. I am, however, in the Competitive Cyclist Affiliate program, so if you click below, every purchase you make helps support my channel:

https://competitivecyclist.g39l.net/Rxr2R

Like it or not, Gravel Bikes are basically the new black. The scene has absolutely EXPLODED, and as a result every big bike brand on the planet has their own quite unique take on what they think a gravel bike should be.

I grew to love long days on dirt roads (or trails) where I almost got lost at every turn, so when everybody started making bikes and wheels and tires and components that bridged the gap between my road and mountain bikes, I turned into the meme of that guy nodding and pointing at his head. And then I just kept riding my road bike on everything. And there’s a couple of reasons for that (1) I didn’t have the budget for a gravel bike, and (2) I live in southern california near san diego, and most of the stuff around here is pretty smooth. But some of it isn’t...and I found myself longing for something with fatter tires from time to time because there were long and short connector roads that I simply couldn’t ride on my Bianchi Infinito with 28c tires, even when they’re deflated to 50psi.

So I started riding a few bikes - the Ibis Hakka, a Bianchi Infinito, a few cross bikes from Giant and Specialized and after all that I ended up on an Allied Alfa All road, mostly because Allied was founded by a good friend, and I loved buying a carbon bike that was hand made in my hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. And it was a great bike in just about every way, but I ended up selling it to buy my current bike - the R5.

And that brings us back to the Grevil, which I got to test at the same time as the Canyon Grail CF and Grail AL. I must admit, having all three in my garage for about 6 weeks was pretty amazing...but it was also pretty enlightening because I discovered that all gravel bikes are not created equally.

And that’s obvious the first time you look at the swirling, twisty asymetrical-ness of the frame. And it’s not smoke and mirrors - the tubes are a direct descendant of the Dogma F12 with ovalized leading edges and flat back trailing edges to reduce aero drag. You get a slightly more pliable carbon on the Grevil as well, and after riding both the F12 and Grevil on some of the same fire roads I can testify that that their engineers made the right material selection: the Grevil’s frame takes the edge off, for sure, and the flattened chainstays and seatstays help out as well.

And the frame can accommodate 700c or 650b wheels. And that, right there, is the turning point of this review...because, the Grevil is two different bikes when you flip the wheels from 29 to 27 and a half.

With the larger diameter, you get a gravel race bike - if there is such a thing. It’s super stiff, a little harsh, and equally responsive on and off the road. And with 28-32c road slicks installed, this is a bike that will go toe to toe with older versions of the dogma, like the F10, all day long - which puts it in pretty elite company. Yeah, the handling wasn’t as snappy as a PURE road bike, but when I pointed this thing uphill - on road or off - it felt almost just like the dogmas I’ve owned and loved. But that created some cognitive dissonance because...I’m not really sure I’d want to ride the Grevil in that configuration OFF road for more than a few hours. Compared to the Grail, it really only felt good at higher (raceday) speeds, where the Canyon felt good no matter how slow or fast I was going. And that kinda bummed me out, but didn’t surprise me because this is a characteristic of EVERY Pinarello I’ve ever ridden - the faster you go, the better the bike feels. Because it was DESIGNED TO GO FAST. But then…(smile)...I put on the 650’s with some fairly wide tires.

And what I got, was ALL of that stuff that I just mentioned, at any speed. t wasn’t as fast on the road with the 650’s, but the bike is so fun with the smaller wheels that I didn’t really want to ride on the road. I actually kept my mountain bike pedals on the Grevil most of the time because the bike always tempted me to go too far down a road or trail that I likely couldn’t navigate on a 700c bike.

So with two wheelsets the Grevil is really three very different bikes in one: in 700c mode it’s a hardcore gravel race bike AND a really good road bike, and with the 650’s it’s one of the best swiss army knife bikes I’ve found. I wouldn’t hesitate to roll an all day mixed terrain event on the Grevil in 650 mode...in fact...if I owned one, a set of 650c Zipp 303’s with Ultradynamico CAVA’s would be a permanent fixture.