What makes a good gravel bike? Opinions vary, but I'll try to give a few thoughts on what makes one good to me.
Note - even if you fall in love with the very first bike you ride, you owe it to yourself to ride several more. This is a major purchase - you may like every one you ride, but to be sure - one will talk to you.
First and foremost, it's got to fit you. My preference is to have it sized just a little more upright than my 'best fit' for a road bike. Most gravel bikes will be set up with a slightly wider bar which makes the position feel 'right'. You want to make sure you don't have an overlap between your toes and front wheel (toeclip overlap). While this isn't a big deal on the road, I think it's a lot more of an issue on gravel. You are a lot more likely to encounter 'awkward positions' that entail very low speed turns like going up a steep hill and tacking back & forth.
How does the saddle feel? Start out with it dead flat, and adjusted to 1/4" less than your road saddle height (you did bring your own shoes and pedals, right?). Why the difference? Most people find they push back a little bit more, and the extra reach gives better leverage at lower cadence. You may find it better at the same height. I have the same length cranks on both road and gravel, and set my seat about 1/8" lower than road. My bars are about 1/2" closer at the flats, and almost an inch closer at the hoods (different bar).
Run up and down through the gears. How does it shift? Does it feel right to you? If not, ask the shop guys to check it and make sure everything is adjusted well. And do the brakes work without squealing or shuddering? Be careful how hard you grab disc brakes until you get used to them. It's very easy to lock up the brakes even on dry, clean pavement. This will take a bit to get used to the action.
Try to find a sidewalk or some rough, crappy pavement that you'd ordinarily avoid and ride that. You still can't bang into lips, breaks and potholes, but normal breaks in the sidewalk are perfect. You should get a feel for how the bike handles rougher stuff. If you need a reminder, borrow a road bike with properly pumped road tires and ride that first. You'll get the idea.
Next, take it around a few corners, progressively faster. Not criterium fast (if you've ever ridden crits), but see how it feels. Make sure it doesn't 'push' (want to keep going straight) when you corner. This is often where bikes will emit a very Zen-like 'Ommmm.' The right bike will 'flow' around the turn.
And now climb. Climb in the saddle, climb out of the saddle. It's a sad thing, but most bike shops are located on the flats, and away from hills. Try to find *something* to climb. You should feel connected to the bike - not flopping around when you climb, and without a bunch of flex in the bottom bracket. Hint - if you hear the front derailleur rub when you climb, the bottom bracket is flexing.
Finally, try some fast riding. If you can go downhill, make sure it feels OK. Any twitchy feeling? If so, it will feel more pronounced at full speed on gravel. Make *sure* it feels right to *you*. Most things can be fixed. A noodle-ey, twitchy bike on a long downhill is one thing you can't fix. A good bike should feel solid, not bouncing around, and not require tons of steering input to hold it on line.
Make sure you can reach the water bottle without difficulty, that 2 bottles fit, and that you understand how to take off the front wheel, the rear wheel and more importantly put them back on!
Now go ride your new bike!
~mj
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