"gravel" is more of a mindset. Yeah, granted, it's been taken over by most marketing departments trying to push people into buying new gear, but ultimately, it'

"gravel" is more of a mindset. Yeah, granted, it's been taken over by most marketing departments trying to push people into buying new gear, but ultimately, it's about being able to ride both paved roads and whatever tracks are there in the outdoors nearby. There's always the debate / meme of "are gravel bikes just 1990's hardtail mountain bikes with drop bars?" and ... the jury's still out on that one ;-) AFAIK a full suspension is an overkill, but if it's what You got, go for it. You'll just be a bit slower. If You're looking for some testing, perhaps try to just get yourself a new pair of gravel tyres that fit Your wheels. That's by far the biggest source of resistance. If it's fun, pick up from there. There are plenty of videos on youtube on how to hack into a gravel bike a cheap old frame (either hardtail MTB, or some CX / touring frames). Doesn't have to more than 100-200EUR / USD in the end.