But while gravel bikes might seem like something new, they are in fact building on previous generations of more practical bikes. Touring bikes have always used larger tires, rack mounts, and a wider range of gears, but they have been looked down on by racers as too heavy and slow. Mountain bikes have had knobby tires and disc brakes for decades, but these never worked well with the clearances and levers on drop bar setups. Cyclocross bikes did have drop bars and knobby tires, but a very specific geometry that made them poorly suited to everyday riding.

So, what changed? Two things really, firstly amateur road racing went into a precipitous decline thanks to permits becoming harder to find and riding on the roads being seen as unsafe. Many road racers turned to longer dirt road events instead and opted to race 100 mile loops in Utah, California, Oklahoma, and Kansas instead of dozens of one mile laps around their local office park. Right around the same time, disc brake technology moved into the road world and this allowed for bikes to be built with more tire clearance and much more reliable braking. The technology and the market came together and allowed bike companies to design bikes that were capable enough to handle the rocky roads and trails that had previously only been accessible on mountain bikes, but also fast and comfortable enough to ride all day and link up trails with long asphalt sections.

However, cyclists have always wanted a bike that could do it all, and long before the days of disc brakes and carbon frames builders were trying to make bikes that could handle everything from tarmac to trails. With the help of our friends at The Pro’s Closet, we pulled a couple of these vintage gravel grinders out of the museum to look at how they (un)paved the way for Viathon’s latest gravel range.

The 1987 Steve Potts Signature is nearly old enough for masters racing now, but it contains several features we wouldn’t be shocked to see on a modern gravel bike. The drop handlebars are wide and flared to give control on trails and leverage on steep climbs, as you’d expect from Potts who was one of the very first mountain bikers. The gearing is set up for just about any kind of terrain, and those tan wall Fischer Fat Trax tires don’t look that unlike the trendy tan walls of today. Even those WTB Speedmaster Rollercam brakes are similar in design to the stoppers on some modern aerodynamic road bikes.

Just a year later, the 1988 Charlie Cunningham Racer also opted for a triple chainring, allowing riders enough gear for the climbing steepest fire roads on the small 28 tooth chainring and hammering out those pavement miles in the 48 tooth big ring. Cunningham also included enough space for three bottle cages and rack mounts, something a lot of gravel bikes today use to allow for those longer off-road epics when you’re going into the backcountry and need to be self-sufficient. Both bikes also use threaded bottom brackets, a standard that was abandoned for a while but that is now commonplace again.

Of course, there is a lot these bikes didn’t do that gravel bikes do today. Both the ‘80s bikes rely on center pull rim brakes with the rear brake hidden below the bottom bracket. At the time, these provided some of the best stopping power on the market, but with rain and mud clogging up the rear caliper and interfering with the rim - pad interface they’d be pretty petrifying on a wet trail. Modern disc brakes offer much more reliable braking. Both bikes also use 26-inch wheels, although these still exist, most high-end gravel bikes roll on a bigger wheel for more stability and a greater ability to roll over obstacles. There’s the issue of frame material as well, these steel frame bikes kitted out with what was once high-end gear weighs close to twice as much as a Viathon G.1 would today.