Originally Posted by
Darth Lefty
It just seems like a rebranding of the bikes that already existed, "cross style" all-purpose bicycles for normal people. Those had already been changing from cantis to disks.
Some of them are just a drop bar on a hybrid.
Admittedly, the term "gravel bike" is somewhat marketing driven.
But there are meaningful differences between a typical gravel racer, and a cyclocross bike. Biggest difference is tire clearance. Maximum legal tire width for UCI races is 33mm. Most cyclocross bikes are designed to use a 32-35mm tire.
Purpose built gravel racers are typically built to take tires 2" or wider. Gravel racers also tend to have a bit longer wheel base, higher bb, longer chainstays and more relaxed head and seat tube angles.
I did DK on a traditional cyclocross bike, and it worked pretty well, but squeezing 40mm tires on to it created mud clearance issues at times.