Gravel has washboards, pot holes, trenches, lips, fallen trees, overhanging trees/brush, large rocks. I'm thinking a lot about downhill riding too with respect

Gravel has washboards, pot holes, trenches, lips, fallen trees, overhanging trees/brush, large rocks. I'm thinking a lot about downhill riding too with respect to your comment. For a downhill section on gravel, for a 8% grade descent - safety is perhaps the biggest limiting factor. In some gravel races, it is really debatable whether a hardtail or a gravel bike is better. That is all to say is that stability demands can greatly vary from one section to another on a gravel/mountain race course.