Gloria All Gravel Titanium SRAM Force

Gloria’s All Gravel Titanium SRAM Force is a beast of a machine with huge tyre clearance, all the mounting points you could need for adventuring, and a geometry sheet that balances all-day comfort with the zest for just getting the power down and having a blast. Above all else, though, the All Gravel is amazing value for money, especially when you consider the lifetime warranty and impressive attention to detail.

Gloria All Gravel Titanium SRAM Force: Technical details

Like the majority of titanium frames, the Gloria uses 3Al/2.5V Grade 9 tubing. The wall thicknesses vary so it’s thicker to withstand stresses where needed, while narrower sections drop a bit of weight and improve the ride quality.

> Buy Now: Gloria All Gravel Titanium SRAM Force from Gloriacycling from £4699

The Gloria has that smooth titanium feel, a high-frequency buzz-neutralising quality that takes out the minor imperfections of the trail or road. It’s not quite as refined as the titanium models from Mason or the range of machines built by Enigma in the UK, but the difference is marginal… and kind of irrelevant when using tyres as girthy as these.

Also, as a frameset the All Gravel is less than half the price of something like Mason’s Bokeh Ti – it’s definitely punching above its weight.

Gloria has kept the price down by having the frames manufactured (to its own design) in the Far East, but that by no way means there’s scrimping on quality. The neatness of the welds is exceptional, and I’m not just talking about the joining of the tubes. All those little details like the ports for the cables, hoses or wires are finished to a very high standard. It also comes with a lifetime warranty, which translates to 25 years on any titanium component for the original purchaser.

Gloria has designed the All Gravel to work with mechanical and electronic groupsets, and you can choose either to run the internal cabling straight through the head tube, or keep things external until they enter the down tube via the ports, for easier maintenance.

Speaking of maintenance, Gloria has gone with a BSA threaded bottom bracket, which is an easy item to replace for any home mechanic with the right tool. It makes a lot of sense on a bike like this, as it’s probably going to see a lot of dust, mud and rain.

Gloria hasn’t scrimped on mounting points either. There are two bottle cage points in the traditional place, with another set under the down tube. There are bento box points on the top tube, and you get mudguard and rear rack mounts too. The carbon fork has mudguard eyes, cage mounting points (three bolts per leg) and dynamo routing.

Other details include a 31.6mm diameter seat post (with the option to run a dropper), a universal derailleur hanger (UDH), and the option of a RockShox Rudy suspension fork. There’s clearance for 2.1in tyres (53mm) on 700c rims, while the bike is optimised for 50mm.

Flat sections where the chainstays leave the bottom bracket shell mean your gravel chainset options aren’t hampered either. You can spec 2x set ups with a 48-tooth max chainring, while a 1x can use up to 46T.

Various frame finishes are offered with sandblasted being the base option, while brushed and anodised come with a surcharge of £150 and £250 respectively.

The All Gravel is available in six sizes, ranging from effective top tube lengths of 525mm through to 594.1mm. The bike you see here has a top tube of 550.7mm, a head tube of 140mm and stack and reach figures of 578mm and 385mm respectively.

The head angle sits at 71 degrees, while the seat tube is steeper at 74 degrees, and you get a wheelbase of 1034mm. It has a bottom bracket drop of 70mm and chainstays measuring 435mm. Basically, there is nothing extreme or extravagant here; it’s a tried and tested shape, and it works.

Gloria All Gravel Titanium SRAM Force: Performance

This is an easy bike to ride, and one that felt familiar when heading out onto the trails. Neutral steering inspires confidence on loose surfaces or when loaded up with kit, and I found the Gloria very forgiving in terms of handling. Running into a corner a little too quickly, or when having to adjust my line due to a loss of traction, the All Gravel reacted without fuss or getting flustered. The wheelbase has enough length in it to keep the whole bike feeling poised and well balanced.

I found the Gloria relaxing on big, multi-hour rides thanks to those traits. The front end had quite a calming influence on the way I rode, and it meant that even when I was tired the bike tracked exactly where I pointed it.

When the need for speed overwhelmed me, though, the All Gravel had enough get up and go to keep me interested. I could fling it down the singletrack in the woods without it feeling out of its comfort zone, and considering the 9.6kg weight it changes direction well. It never feels cumbersome. In fact, its weight creates a planted feel and, thanks to plenty of feedback from the titanium tubing, I always knew what the tyres were up to. The All Gravel isn’t designed to be a racer, so on the really technical stuff it isn’t the nimblest thing ever, but that’s to be expected. Everywhere else it just feels both efficient and a joy to ride.

Well-judged stiffness around the front end and bottom bracket means the All Gravel is a rewarding climber. With a frame weight of around 2kg (2.5kg including the fork) it’s never going to be a mountain goat, but I felt its uphill performance belied its efforts on the scales. Bikes like this tend to lend themselves to a seated climbing position, and the All Gravel can be tapped up a steep incline in comfort. Should you need to get out of the saddle it hides its weight well; some heavier bikes can feel top heavy, or awkward when being banked side to side, but the Gloria is well balanced.

As you can probably tell, I really enjoyed riding the All Gravel. It just does everything well: it’s really comfortable, fun to ride and easy to live with, yet it has just enough zip that you can push your boundaries a bit too. It’ s just a very capable all-rounder.

Gloria offers the All Gravel as a frameset only starting at £1,499 in the sandblasted finish. That includes frame, fork, headset, seat clamp, UDH mech hanger and the thru-axles. Off the shelf builds kick off with SRAM’s Apex XPLR AXS with a GX rear mech and a mullet DT Swiss wheelset for £3,199. Another two hundred will get you a Shimano GRX827 Di2 build, or another SRAM Apex XPLR AXS option but with a RockShox Rudy suspension fork.

The build we have here oozes bling, with a SRAM Force XPLR 1x groupset, Zipp 303S XPLR wheelset, Zipp finishing kit and Vittoria Mezcal 2.1 tyres. It’s £4,849. These are all base prices, as you can change things like the frame finish and how you want the cables/hoses routed. Gloria is happy to accommodate a custom specification, too.

Back to this one though. The Force chainset sports carbon fibre cranks and comes with a 42T single chainring paired with a 10-46T 13-speed cassette. This latest version of the gravel-specific Force XPLR has really stepped up a level with faster, more precise gear shifts and a new lever design which gives unbelievably powerful braking with just a single finger. It allows you to keep a tight grip on the lever hoods on really rough terrain and control your speed at the same time.

The gears work a treat here, with the wide-ranging cassette giving a really big, low gear for steep climbs (or when carrying a lot of kit), while at the other end the little 10-tooth sprocket is plenty to push around when you need to get a lick on.

The handlebar and stem are from Zipp’s Service Course SL lineup, as is the seat post. They’re all aluminium. I’ve used these components on my own bikes over the years, and I’m a big fan. There’s nothing flash about it, but it’s well designed, does what it needs to do and looks new and fresh even after a lot of miles.

A common discussion between myself and fellow cyclists is whether deep section carbon wheels have a place on a gravel bike, especially in non-racing applications. Quite frankly, when they look as deep and menacing as these Zipps, I’m a ‘yes’ all the way. With a 54mm-deep rim they’re slightly deeper than most aero gravel wheels and, thanks to a 32mm internal width, they work especially well with big tyres. The max loading of 135kg means they’re a good choice if you want some aero while bikepacking.

Their weight isn’t anything to shout about at 1,610g, but I’ve ridden many miles on many sets, and always found them robust and durable. Laterally they are very stiff, and while the 303 Ss don’t have the most refined feel of the competition, you can mostly mask that with wide tyres.

It’s the first time I’ve used Vittoria Mezcal tyres and I must admit, I was very impressed. It’s actually a mountain bike tyre, though as it’s designed for a balance of speed and grip it’s a great crossover for gravel riding. The shallow central tread flies along on hardpacked gravel or mud, but it’s still enough if the going gets a little bit soft. The shoulders have deeper treads for bite in the corners regardless of the conditions, which I found a real bonus when taking the bends at speed.

I found the Mezcals supple, and they were durable on my usual test route – a route that can catch tyres out with small bits of exposed flint being exposed in the dry, dusty conditions of the last few months.

Gloria All Gravel Titanium SRAM Force: Verdict

At £4,849 the All Gravel’s trump card is its price. For instance, Ribble’s Gravel Ti will set you back £5,299 in a similar build with Zipp 303S XPLR wheels, and that comes with Ribble’s own Level finishing kit and a frame that’s limited to 45mm of tyre clearance. It does get a power meter, though. Suvi had mixed feelings about it when she reviewed it for us back in 2023.

Dave recently reviewed Alpkit’s Sonder Camino Ti GRX1 Di2 and was impressed. It’s a bit more relaxed than the Gloria, but it’s equally well equipped in terms of mounting points. A Force build with Sonder’s own carbon wheels is cheaper at £4,173.99, although the wheels aren’t as expensive as the Zipps and it gets quite basic finishing kit. As a frameset the Camino Ti costs £1,999, which is probably a fairer comparison – the Gloria All Gravel frameset is £1,499.

The Enigma Edge is part of its Ready to Ride range, which is also made in the Far East, and it uses tubing with custom butting made to its own design. The tubing is actually size specific to maintain the same ride quality regardless of whether you ride the smallest bike in the lineup or the largest. I rode it a couple of years ago and I was really impressed with how it behaved, and with the ride quality overall. It doesn’t quite have the tyre clearance of the Gloria at 47mm, and there are a few mounting points missing, but it’s a beautiful bike. It’s sold as a frame only for £2,299 or £2,777 as a frameset. Full bikes start at £4,195.

There’s no point saving a few quid if a frameset just rides like a dog, and thankfully that isn’t the case here. I loved the Gloria for all kinds of gravel riding. Long, short, fast, ponderous – you name it, the All Gravel delivered a brilliant ride, and one that was fun too. Personally I think it’s a good-looking thing as well. The All Gravel is a great-value path into titanium bike ownership, which is an achievement on its own – and yet that’s far from the main reason to buy it. And that’s more impressive still.