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I’m a late convert to gravel. I’ve moved on from thinking they’re just hybrid bikes with drop-down handlebars, repackaged in the name of marketing, but I am still sceptical. Surely they can’t be as fast on the road as, you know, road bikes, and surely they can’t be as good on trails as mountain bikes.

I tested a medium Guava Spot Force AXS (the brand’s most expensive of their three models) in a grey/black colourway, but I could have chosen another 159 colour options. Riding a 40T front chainring and carbon cranks, the bike comes equipped with the Sram Force AXS, a drivetrain that gives a huge range for steep gradients; there are 12 sprockets on the back, the largest counting 50T, otherwise known in cycling parlance as a dinner plate.

Capable of running a dropper post and with a tyre clearance of 50mm (I had 45mm WTB tyres), it’s set up for the most difficult of mountain bike terrain, while simultaneously being light enough at 8.8kg that it can eat up the road in no time. For many, gravel riding equals bikepacking, and the Guava Spot comes equipped with three bottle mounts, and top tube, rack and fender bolts. The cargo door, with a magnetic latch box on the down tube, cleverly hides basic tools and pumps.

My first experience riding the Guava was with one of the company’s two co-founders, Nacho. Immediately upon leaving their flagship Barcelona store, he took us to a set of steep ramps flanked by steps on either side. “Fancy riding up here?” he asked me. No, no I did not. A 45-degree angle is barely meant to be ridden down, never mind up. Nacho, though, cruised up. Huh, I thought, that 50T really does allow you to spin up the most horrible of gradients.

Over the following two hours, Nacho had me ascending and descending some pretty gnarly single track around Barcelona’s doorstep Sierra de Collserola, terrain so narrow and sketchy that it was definitely made for enduro riders. But the Guava handled it with aplomb, jumping over and gliding through branches, rocks, puddles and muddy patches. On wider, less uneven surface, it floated along breezily, and when asphalt became the ground underneath, it rode as deftly as most road bikes. The only criticism I could level at it was that cornering on wider wheels of 45mm wasn’t as smooth and as fast as their road equivalents, and I never felt like I could properly throw my body weight over the bike. But that’s to be expected.

The next day, Canadian pro and Guava ambassador Ben Perry threw me down even more technical descents in nearby Girona, bunny-hopping up and over ditches, divots and streams, and each time the bike responded with a figurative shrug-of-the-shoulder. The following month, as I tested the Guava on a mixture of sandy, rocky and damp surfaces, my initial thoughts were only reinforced: this bike can do everything. I really hadn’t envisaged that it would deal so well with such tricky descents, the frame soaking up all the obstacles in my path, and eating up the little jumps I dared to submit it to.

Whether on the tops or in the drops, I was regularly changing my position with ease, depending on the surface beneath my wheels. The set-up was comfortable, the stem length appropriate, but I did find riding in the drops for a sustained period of time stressed my back more than on my road bike. Nevertheless, the one time I was able to take the Guava out for more than five hours, I never had any comfort issues.

Disappointingly, I didn’t have the time to take the Guava out on a bikepacking trip as was my original intention, but I am convinced it would be the perfect companion on multi-day adventures, backed up by its many bolts to attach bags. Anecdotal tales from others riding Guava set-ups confirmed my assumption: this bike adapts to the rigours of bikepacking as well as it does to the demands of fast racing.

If you need a bike that can do everything, and be as dependable on a quick hour-long spin as it is across multiple days in a race or more leisurely bikepacking adventure, the Guava Spot Force AXS should be considered as much, if not more, than models by the far bigger brands. And best of all, not only can you design it in the colour you want, but if you pick it up in Barcelona, the owners will even take you for some tapas, some beers and a spin around Girona’s famous gravel tracks.

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