Evening...
the search for the gravel bike has continued, and the budget may, on approval, have risen... I rather like the look for the cotic, so does anyone have one? Is it worth it?
Cheers!
This popped up last week…
I demoed one the other week. Very stable, feels very light for a steel framed bike. It was Sora level kit which felt clunky but other than that it was all good. Whether it's worth it is up to you.
@whitestone I want to demo one but it’s 4 hours away from me... tho I will make the trip rather than buy blind
Love that the review basically says the newer version gets an extra star because gravel is now fashionable.
The world has caught us up.
My pick would be Mercury with orange grips, 105 and some orange hope bits on Cyclescheme so it doesn't seem like real money. Shame my 6 year old Roadrat doesn't warrant the change.
Self employed so can’t do cycle scheme... but I do like some of the hope orange bits! 😁
I have it's predecessor, the X, and it's ace. Feels good, composed in the rough stuff, fits 40c tyres easily, and is as quick as I want/need it to be. If I was replacing it, it would be with an Escapade.
Same as Pyro. I have an X with 16,000km on the clock and it’s been great. Would not think twice about replacing it with an Escapade if the need arose. Great bikes.
The world has caught us up.
With the option of smaller wheels and fatter tyres for a do anything drop bar bike it's just about caught up with the original roadrat from what, the mid-00s? (Disclaimer, I have one of the brown ones, bought from Northwind off here and as far as I know, at least third hand, and I'm rather fond of it).
I have an espresso Roadrat too. Lovely bike. Got it in road config at the moment with drop handlebars. I would like to update with an escapade and convert the RR back to flat bars and singlespeed, but the wheels I have that I would want to use on the Escapade are 142x12 bolt through. Hopefully the next iteration will go that way...and Titanium! Hope they hurry as I'm currently tempted with the Planet X Tempest Ti.
Contemplating one of these myself as a replacement for my Datum. The Datum's a lovely bike but it's a little to road-biased to be a proper all rounder and if that weight on road.cc is accurate the Escapade's barely heavier than the Datum either. The Mercury would match my MK5 Soul rather nicely too... @Kelvin presuming the Mercury colour will be around for a while as it's not been out that long?
There's a medium ex-demo one for sale from Cotic just now. (According to the email that's just arrived).
@lawman91, Mercury was just a limited thing for one batch… small has just sold out… there are 10 medium and 2 large left. My understanding is that when they are gone, they’re gone. The Blue is the main colour, and there are plenty more of those in all sizes.
@stwHannah, what are you riding now?
@euain, it is already sold.
@kelvin I’ve just finished riding this https://singletrackmag.com/gritcx/2019/09/24/spanner-bike-haute-gravel-review-titanium-twin-tube-madness/
and I’m waiting on the arrival of a Stooge. I rode my road bike today. I hope the Stooge arrives soon.
Just emailed them... now to speak to the boss! 😁😁😁
@kelvin, cheers for the update, I better get a move on by the sounds of it!
Cheers. Small with 105 shifters/brakes. Xt cassette. GRX mech. Hutchinson Overide 38mm tubeless
I know it's a break from what's being talked about but Alpkits sale is just about to finish with a decent saving off the Camino.
“Self employed so can’t do cycle scheme…”
If you ride to work you can buy it through your business, saves a fair bit on tax if you’re VAT registered.
@cheifgrooveguru, sole trader, not vat registered... plus my workshop is 3m from my back door! 😂
Does the escapade have a 12mm through axle on the rear or is it QR?
Does the escapade have a 12mm through axle on the rear or is it QR?
QR
"@cheifgrooveguru, sole trader, not vat registered… plus my workshop is 3m from my back door! 😂"
Ah... I do legitimately commute on a Levo!
I do want to start a 10-20k ride to work every morning tho
