BITD I used to check reviews on MTBR (MTB review). Every brand has fanboys who rave and rave and rave, often, I think, to justify their purchase to themselves. But if you ignore all the 4/5 and 5/5 'chilis' reviews, you can often see a pattern where many people have the same problem.

On a bike like the Grade, if the frame and fork don't break, there is really very little to make people want to rate it poorly. Maybe if it didn't have the right braze-ons, or if the rear wheel only fit a 18mm tire or something, but there is little difference between any two reasonably functional rigid road or gravel bikes. I would go as far as to say that the GT, the competing X-road (or whatever) bikes from Cannondale, Trek, Specialied, Norco, Giant, Kona... etc etc etc are all almost equal in terms of performance. The only thing one has that others might not is a better fit for your body or riding style, and that is not something that an internet review can tell you.