Ribble’s trail and adventure-ready gravel bike adds a new premium Reynolds steel option as the clearly named ‘Gravel 725’ slotting in between affordable alloy and more pricey carbon or titanium. Available at several attainable price points, the new Ribble Gravel 725 should be a solid contender for riders looking to take on any terrain, from weekend gravel loops to week-long off-road explorations.
Ribble Gravel 725 steel gravel bike
Following in the footsteps of their original gravel all-rounder CGR, the more off-road-ready Ribble Gravel gets its own Reynolds 725 steel frame option. With bigger tire clearances – up to 700x45mm or 650x47mm – tons of bikepacking-ready mounts, and generously flared bars, this bike is built to go further off the beaten track. When it comes to gravel rides, the old adage reigns – steel is real.
And this bike without anything too fancy still weighs just a claimed 10.8kg in its AXS build (medium).
Gravel Geometry
The Gravel 725 comes in a wider 6 size range (XXS-XL) to fit even the smallest riders looking for adventure. Its geometry is described as being more progressive – longer, a bit slacker at a 71.5° head angle, and comfortably upright with short stems for good control over any terrain.
Tech details
The new steel gravel bike is welded from triple-butted, heat-treated Reynolds 725 steel tubing with a straight 44mm headtube for the full carbon tapered steerer fork, a traditional 68mm BSA threaded bottom bracket, classic 27.2mm seatpost with an external alloy clamp, and a headtube gusset since you are probably going to abuse it off-road. And there’ll likely be some gravel suspension forks mounted to this frame by some riders, too.
The mechanical and Di2-friendly bike gets good ol’ internal cable routing through the downtube, plus a massive bridge between the down & seat tubes which allows for internal dropper routing. Just no 2x routing, or really room for a 2x chainset.
The Gravel 725 gets flat mount disc brakes, 12mm thru-axles, a replaceable alloy derailleur hanger, 3 pairs of water bottle cage mounts plus direct-mount toptube bag bosses, 3-pack anything cage mounts on each fork leg, plus a rear rack mount, and mounts for full-coverage mudguards front & rear.
Ribble Gravel 725 – Pricing, availability & options
The new Gravel 725 comes in three complete 650b SRAM 1x builds, plus a £1300 frameset with a full carbon fork & headset to build up however the adventure suits you.
The most affordable £2100 Ribble Gravel 725 Sport gets an 11-speed mechanical SRAM Apex 1x, hydro disc brake build with alloy Mavic Allroad 650b wheels wrapped in mini-knobby Halo GXC 47mm tires (not the extra-knobby WTBs pictured, which you can pick for just £10 extra if you can wait a few weeks). The £2400 Gravel 725 Enthusiast upgrades to mechanical Rival 1×11, otherwise with a similar component spec.
Then the top £2900 Gravel 725 Pro offers a solid value with a bump up to 12speed and wireless electronic shifting thanks to a SRAM Rival AXS XPLR 1x groupset.
All Ribble Gravel 725 bikes come standard with this matte Air Force blue paint job, but you can even customize the paint scheme of complete bikes for an extra £300. And you can customize build kit details too, with GRX 1x and even Campy Ekar theoretically on offer.
Bikes are available to buy starting today, with first deliveries going out this week for more than half of the stock builds. And frames and the remaining builds slated for about a month from now, starting January 2023.
