650b v 700c: Which is the best wheel size for gravel bikes?

Best wheel size for gravel bikes: Riders take part in the 2021 Gravel and Tar Classic
(Image credit: Gravel and Tar Classic)

Cycling has a habit of reinventing itself in its own image, and in their efforts to find the best wheel size for gravel bikes, manufacturers have dug back into the past to find inspiration for their innovation.

Exploring the many shades of grey between mountain bikes and road bikes threw up a trend from many of the best gravel bikes for offering the option of two wheelset sizes — 650b or 700c — for the same frameset at the point of purchase, as seen in the Pinarello Grevil 9 or Specialized Diverge. Bikes such as the Polygon Bend R5 or Merida Silex+ 8000-E even come with the smaller size as the default spec.

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Ben has been a sports journalist for 16 years, covering everything from park football to the Olympic Games. As well as cycling, his passions include podcasts, tennis and speaking enough Italian to get by on his snowboarding trips to the Dolomites. A DIY rider who is almost as happy in the toolbox as he is in the saddle, he is still trying to emulate the feelings he experienced as a nine-year-old on his first Peugeot racer – he couldn’t fathom the down-tube friction shifters then and he’s still wrestling with groupsets now. When he isn’t making a beeline for the nearest Chiltern hill, he is probably tinkering or teaching his kids how to clean a bike properly. He rides a heavily modified 1980 Peugeot PVN10 Super Competition (steel is real) when the road is smooth and dry, and a BMC Alpenchallenge when it’s not.