>>1721008When I started lurking /n/ a decade or so ago, the term gravel bike wasn't around yet. They were called cyclocross bikes. They were known as more practical road bikes with clearance for wider tyres and eyelets for racks and fenders. The meme was that a CX makes for an excellent commuter.
Somewhere along the line between then and now cyclocross bikes branched off and diverged into pure racing bikes with aggressive geometry and no provisions for everyday practicality that is a CX bike today, and gravel bikes with endurance oriented geometry and even wider tyres than allowed in cyclocross races.
That's a small part of the answer you're asking for, I guess.
