Transporting things by cargo bike makes sense in many ways: it’s fun, keeps you fit, often saves time and always saves a lot of money. Gravel bikes focus on the fun aspect. Gravel bikes also stand for pure freedom. The question of off-road or asphalt is superfluous – just ride wherever you like! These are two exciting, modern and trendy bike concepts.
At first glance, however, they don’t have much in common. And yet the question arises as to whether two such cool types of bikes could not be “bundled” into one vehicle? Hase Bikes from Waltrop have taken on precisely this mission. The Hase Gravit Dust is the result. In our Hase Gravit Dust test, we want to find out how well this “hybrid” concept works in everyday use.
In addition to this Hase Gravit Dust test, you can find out what other advantages such a gravel cargo bike has and what we did with this bike in our issue #23!
Contents Hase Gravit Dust Test
Hase Gravit Dust Test – who is behind it?
First of all, a few words about Hase Bikes from Waltrop. The bike manufacturer from the edge of the Ruhr area fits in perfectly with the lifeCYCLE philosophy. Hase Bikes have their headquarters on the site of the former Waltrop colliery in a very charming brick building with lots of greenery all around. More than 100 people work in the factory on interesting “special bikes” ranging from recumbent tricycles to gravel cargobikes.
The story of Hase Bikes begins with Marec Hase winning the state competition “Jugend Forscht”. His subject: a self-built tandem tricycle. Marec took part in this competition several more times until he founded his company in 1994: Hase Spezialräder. At that time, he had one employee and worked in the coach house of his parents’ home. His first product: the “Lepus” tricycle, which is still in the range today. The move to the colliery site followed in 2001. The Hase family lives here under the roof of the building. This year, Hase Bikes is celebrating its 30th anniversary – and the latest model: the Hase Gravit Dust Gravel Cargobike!
Hase bikes are handmade in Germany, are pragmatic, well thought-out and durable. They don’t follow trends, at best they set them themselves. You buy a Hase bike for many years. And all of this suits us perfectly!
Hase Gravit Dust: The facts
The Hase Gravit Dust is designed to combine load transportation and the characteristics of a gravel bike, with the manufacturer Hase relying on proven technology. The “Pino” is the tried-and-tested, super versatile tandem concept from the specialist bike manufacturer in Waltrop. Its robust “telescopic frame” concept with a 26-inch rear wheel and 20-inch front wheel is the basis of the Gravel Dust. Apart from a little more tire clearance, the same frame is used. By the way: with this frame concept, Hase has a super versatile, compact bike in its program that has been able to do what many other manufacturers have only recently presented as “brand new” since the end of the 1990s…
Back to the Hase Gravit Dust Test Bike. The rest of the Gravit Dust has nothing whatsoever to do with touring, urban or specialty bikes and has been consistently designed for cargo and gravel use. The new “Cargoboard”, which replaces the Pino seat, is at the heart of the cargo bike component of the hybrid concept. The entire equipment, from the handlebars to the gears to the tires, could just as easily be found on a normal gravel bike.
A little more specific: The Gravit Dust is equipped with a drop bar, comes with 2.1-inch wide “Billy Bonker” tires from Schwalbe and has a drivetrain mix of Shimano and Sunrace Microshift components. The 1×11 drivetrain with 40 chainring and 11-50 Sunrace cassette offers a gear ratio suitable for mountain biking and makes the bike fit for real mountain adventures. A special feature of the Hase drivetrain is the mix of Microshift brake levers and Shimano shifting components, which was chosen primarily with the price of the new model in mind. These parts are also used on other Hase models – which reduces costs. Speaking of which, the Gravit Dust starts at 3,790 euros. This includes the front loading area, and you can buy additional accessories for an extra charge.
Let’s move on to the “cargo” facts of the Hase Gravit Dust Test Bike. These are, at least in theory, quite impressive. The front loading area measures 50 x 85 cm and can be loaded with a full 70 kilograms. The Gravit Dust can Gravit Dust total Gravit Dust. As an option, you can order a sturdy textile box or a child seat instead of the cargo area – or simply everything, for maximum flexibility in everyday life. The special “Lowrider” bracket allows the mounting of conventional side bags. Alternatively, up to 40 kilograms of luggage can be stowed on the optional “Porter Rack”, which also comes from the Pino. That should be enough, right?
Hase Gravit Dust Test – Structure and setup
The bike offers a number of adjustment options, so it makes sense to take a closer look at them before you set off. Firstly, there is the telescopic frame. It makes it possible to adjust the wheelbase over a wide range. Without the cargo area, you could even use an extremely compact urban bike, which may look a bit odd, but would certainly offer certain advantages. So it would fit easily on a rear carrier or even on the train. This setup is also well worth considering for carrying or storing in the hallway. For daily journeys without the need for a large loading area, this makes perfect sense.
In “Cargobike mode”, the large Cargoboard is of course mounted at the front. The Cargoboard has an angle compensation and is therefore level even with a variable wheelbase. You can therefore set a super-long wheelbase or shorten it slightly and thus influence the handling characteristics. With heavy loads, the long wheelbase is useful for good directional stability. If you’re planning a bikepacking trip through the countryside and only have light luggage on the front, you can consider shortening the wheelbase a little to get a more agile bike.
Either way, we recommend that you think about how you would like it before your ride: For the “operation” you will need a 5 mm Allen key and a little bit of time. It’s not a big deal – but we would still avoid these settings when we’re out in the forest with a loaded Cargoboard.
Another setting we would like to emphasize is the handlebar position. The handlebar height can be adjusted quickly and without tools using the telescopic system. The angle of the stem can also be adjusted. An Allen key is also required for this. To adjust the handlebar height, the quick release must be loosened and a safety pin pressed. Both settings are a little “tricky”, but are definitely helpful in case of doubt. Depending on the load, it is sometimes important to be able to adjust the handlebars higher. And of course, sometimes it’s also a question of comfort: the sporty gravel riding position is not always the right one. With a few screws and grips, the gravel racer becomes a comfortable touring bike.
To summarize briefly, the framework concept is really very flexible. It allows you to set up the Gravit Dust well for numerous applications. Most of the settings are a bit fiddly. But they do exist and that’s a great thing.
The Hase Gravit Dust in the lifeCYCLE test
Of course, we played around with all kinds of settings. However, we mainly tested the bike in a relatively sporty setup. This means that the handlebars were usually positioned rather low and the wheelbase rather long. This gave us a pretty sporty gravel bike – but with a large loading area over the front wheel! How did we like it? You can find out more in the following section.
Let’s start with a supposed “little thing” that actually took us the longest to get used to. It’s about the somewhat special drive combination. Hase installs components from Shimano and pairs them with parts from Sunrace. Ultimately, this is all down to stock keeping and therefore the pricing of the bike. This combination is also used on other Hase models, which naturally reduces costs.
It takes us a while to get used to the shifting logic of the Sunrace levers. In our opinion, the precision of the circuit is not quite up to date. The shifting feels a little spongy and it takes a while to get used to it. The mechanical disc brakes, on the other hand, require no getting used to and do an unexcitingly good job. The 1×11 drivetrain with 40 chainring and 11-50 Sunrace cassette offers a gear ratio suitable for mountain biking and makes the bike fit for real mountain adventures.
Naturally, we turn off the road at the first available opportunity and try out how much off-roading is really possible. And we can do quite a lot. The limit is only reached when we are clearly in the realm of technical mountain biking: The bike is simply too long and too low for steep trails with deep drops. It then touches down and feels a little wobbly. Of course, it’s not built for that – but we wanted to find out anyway. But everything else is great fun on that bike! So there are few reasons to prefer the road to gravel. At least when the loading area is empty…
When the Gravit Dust is heavily loaded, the ride feel changes somewhat. Due to the rather high center of gravity, everything feels a little wobbly and spongy. This is actually a completely normal, typical “front loader” characteristic and not really a problem. This characteristic only contributes to the fact that we prefer to choose easier routes when fully loaded. Relatively flat, reasonably well-maintained gravel roads are fun even when fully loaded. However, we avoid more technical descents and steep climbs and prefer to take asphalt paths.
Taken together, we have developed a great tactic with the Gravit Dust for everyday use: Fully loaded, we prefer to take paved paths and remote back roads. Off-road shooting when empty! In this way, every “purpose ride” becomes a real bike tour with high recreational value! We took every opportunity to avoid motorized traffic. To answer the question posed at the beginning, whether the gravel cargo principle makes sense for us: absolutely!
With the Gravit Dust, every everyday ride becomes a mini-adventure. Speaking of adventure: there’s nothing to be said against it either, and if we hadn’t tested the Hase Bike in the middle of winter, we would definitely have taken it on a bikepacking trip. Whether shopping or bikepacking, one thing is clear: it’s easier to travel with small luggage – something the Gravit Dust has in common with all other non-motorized bikes. If that bothers you, there’s some good news: the Hase Gravit Dust is also available with an electric motor. If you are looking for an all-terrain everyday bike with maximum riding comfort, this could also be an option for you. With an electric motor, the Hase Gravit Dust is available from 5,990 euros.
Hase Gravit Dust Test – Conclusion
Hase uses a framework concept that has been tried and tested since the end of the 1990s and brings it into the modern age with a few adjustments. The result is a bike that combines two popular bike types: the cargo bike and the gravel bike. It works really well! What we have to “complain” about relates to the equipment (specifically: the gearshift) and the somewhat fiddly handling of the setting options. Of course, you also have to like the “front loader” principle.
Apart from that, the Hase Gravit Dust is great fun! With this bike, every purpose ride becomes a cool gravel tour. Packing for your next bikepacking trip has never been easier than with the Gravit Dust! Even unloaded or “compressed” as a super compact urban bike, the Hase Bike is fun and makes sense in everyday life. If you’re looking for a lightweight, robust and incredibly versatile bike for everyday use, this is the bike for you!
