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Which "endurance" bikes should I be looking at if I want something tilting towards gravel rather than road? Only looking for something that would take up to 35mm tyres without guards as I'm old, want a tall head tube & it would be my "Sunday best" bike.
Been looking at Dolan RDX, Cannondale Synapse, Kinesis 4s etc so far & all ali framed tiagra or 105 equipped for under £2k versions.
Ribble have lots of mixed surface bikes on sale last time i looked
I love my Trek Domane. The isospeed bollocks thing is great. So comfy. Happily did 300,miles IAD with cotton boxers and random non cycling shorts.
So much so that I just bought a Trek Checkpoint, which I also love. It's actually harsher than the Domane, but I guess that is because it is stronger and built for loads.
If you're anywhere near Manc ( you poor sod) then you're welcome to try either of them
What size?
If you're anywhere near Manc ( you poor sod) then you're welcome to try either of them
Down south in leafy bucks, I generally size up from medium to large on account of my long arms & torso, weird enough body to be called "dachshund dick" on occasions 🤣
If you're comfortable building it up yourself then look at the Chinese OEM's and aliexpress for much better value. I've recently built up a Light Carbon LCR017S frame with full 12 speed mechanical 105 and carbon wheels for under £1500.
Over budget (although not buy a massive amount depending on what sales they have on, and I'd definitely get the carbon wheel upgrade), I bought a Sonder Colibri Ti for exactly that use. I was fed up of spending summer on uncomfortable skinny tyres, and winter with rattly mudguards, why not have one bike with decent tyres and mudguards!
It's not a gravel bike, I wouldn't set off to ride the ridgeway on it, but I regularly take shortcuts on it without a second thought.
It's not the tallest headtube (~20mm shorter than puire endurance bikes, 20mm longer than most 'race' bikes) , but that was a deliberate choice on my part, I've got short legs and long torso so didn't want a massive rise from saddle to bars.
Pro's - everything you'd expect, looks great, rides great.
Con's -
Guards are a bit short, especially the rear offers no protection to whoever's following your wheel. I'll probably swap to some fend-offs or similar before winter hits.
OEM alloy wheels are apparently a bit heavy
Tyres are a a compromise towards durability.
OEM finishing kit is harsh, I immediately upgraded the seatpost and saddle and new bars are on the way after concluding that even with quality tape the oem bars aren't working for me.
The thing about road bikes compared to MTB is that with a few exceptions they really are just the sum of their parts, so a good bike is just a good frame, good groupset, good wheelset and good finishing kit. So in that sense the finishing kit is a real letdown. On the other hand until you start spending £3k+ you're unlikely to get top drawer kit anyway. So with a few ebay bargains and transferring kit form previous bikes I'm still sticking with my conclusion that it's a great bike.
Happy enough, in fact more than happy to build up myself but don't do AliExpress & try to avoid Chinese altogether.
Sonder Colibri has been on my list as frame only & Sigma sports seem like they have some good discounts on Synapses in my size(s) 🤔
Cannondale Synapse, Kinesis 4s
The cannondale was my 1st choice until i saw the Sonder. The 11s clearance bikes got reduced to bargain levels, the full cost of 12s mechanical cheaper!
The Kinesis R2 and RTD all seemed to suffer from quite traditional 'square' geometry so I'd have ended up with the tiniest stub of seatpost showing,
I've got an alloy and carbon synapses.
Both nice bikes, but max 25c on the alloy and 32c on the carbon keeps mine on the road.
TBH you're probably as well getting a Gravel bike as you are an "Endurance Road bike" now.
The main difference is just change of tyres.
You may be down on Chinese Tat OP but I got a full frameset for £200ish (one of these) slapped on a mixture of old and new Tiagra/RX400, parts I already owned and have a couple of wheelsets, and now have a bike that serves Road and Gravel duties for a relative pennies, certainly not the stated £2k budget...
Only intending to ride on the road & synapse alloy is supposed to be good for 32mm with clearance for guards 🤔
TBH you're probably as well getting a Gravel bike as you are an "Endurance Road bike" now.
Petty & shallow of me but I don't like the look of too much "space" around the tyres in the frame & forks, plus I don't want flared bars or a 1x gears that some gravel bikes are going for now.
well, i think you are more likely to only have a 1x drivetrain on a gravel bike, there will be some 2x out there.. but certainly not as much as offered on an endurance road bike, which would be 2x nearly exclusively i would say. but yes, not much in it, maybe flared bars... maybe a clutched mech, wheels and tyres optimised for the type of bike...
TBH you're probably as well getting a Gravel bike as you are an "Endurance Road bike" now.
The main difference is just change of tyres.
I think there's a couple of other key differences here (I use a gravel bike for the road)
Gearing
Gravel likely to be lower geared (e.g. 46x11 top) and potentially under geared for parts of many road rides. I'm regularly sitting in 46x11 on flat /slight inclines and I'm no cycling Hercules.
For the road a double would be better as 1x gear gaps are more noticeable on smooth stuff.
Weight
It'll be heavier and I'd wager a heavier spec on the wheels for any particular price point.
That said I think it's a very nice ride on the road but I am wondering if I will want an endurance road bike instead as well if I continue to do current amounts of road riding.
Look for a secondhand bargain, surely?
I just sold a nice, barely broken-in Boardman carbon endurance bike with Ultegra for a touch under £500.
I'm sure you could get something lovely for a grand.
Happy enough, in fact more than happy to build up myself but don't do AliExpress & try to avoid Chinese altogether.
All of the frames listed in the first post are made in the Far East, most likely China or Taiwan. Most of the other parts will be made in China too. A full 12spd 105 groupset costs about £550 from a UK retailer but just over £300 from Aliexpress.
No problem with the far East stuff but if I can avoid china I will, previously bought some same grade Shimano rotors which came from their Chinese factory & they were visually a lower quality than from their Malaysian factory, plus you know politics and all that - I know it's pissing in the wind but that's my choice.
Second hand is possible, but sometimes difficult to avoid knackered shit when it comes to eBay & there's some good prices to be had new.
There's always the Cotic Escapade on sale at the mo for under £1500
The latest carbon Synapse have a lot of tyre clearance and look good.
No specific recommendations from me but I did hear that the marketing term ‘all road’ had been revived for bikes that match your requirements. It might be a useful search term in your quest
Second Trek Domane. I traded mine for a Specialized Crux but in hindsight what I actually use my Crux for I might as well have kept the Domane. The Domane was so comfortable and can take up to a 38mm tyre. Only down side with the Domane is it’s not a light frame but rides great.
46x11 is fractionally more gear inches than 50x12 for the same tyre size (112.9 Vs 112.5 for 32-622).
As a heavier and less fit cyclist than I was three years ago, I don't miss 50x11 on descents, but I find the 46 ring more practical on flats and the 30 ring gives a very welcome easier gear of 30/34 once inclines exceed 3% or so on tarmac.
A full 12spd 105 groupset costs about £550 from a UK retailer but just over £300 from Aliexpress
I always assumed the AliExpress ones were fakes???
Judging by my current road* set up I think I'd be more than happy with a 46/30 chainset and closer ratio cassette.
* well touring really, 50/39/30 and rarely engage "top"
I have had a couple of Giant Defy carbon bikes and currently have a carbon Synapse. I don’t know which I prefer, both brilliant for my needs, being an older rider, using crappy county roads for rides typically 25 - 75 miles.
I think there's a couple of other key differences here (I use a gravel bike for the road)
Gearing
Gravel likely to be lower geared (e.g. 46x11 top) and potentially under geared for parts of many road rides. I'm regularly sitting in 46x11 on flat /slight inclines and I'm no cycling Hercules.
46/30 double for me, 11-32 cassette on the road wheels, 11-36 on the gravel wheelset.
don’t miss the 50T from my old chainset, the marginally lower ratios are a real benefit for climbing. If you absolutely had to reproduce the same ratio though going to a 10t sprocket would achieve it. Noting the effect of a slightly bigger radius wheel now tyres are bigger, it all shakes out pretty similarly.
I have of course jumped on the short cranks bandwagon too, 160mm means more spinning, by I honestly reckon my joints are benefiting.
The main thing is I’m still on the same pace as my peers on a Sunday, and riding solo more comfort means covering more distance before I crack.
Honestly you can get an unfashionable 2x GRX equipped, Aluminium framed Gravel bike from Merlin or Paul’s cycles for well under your budget with a bit of judicious shopping about. The remaining budget can be chucked at wheelers, tyres and changing cranks/contact points to optimise comfort. Carbon frames are fine but bigger volume tyres and a carbon seat post equate to very similar comfort levels.
Being comfortable for longer is how “endurance” is achieved…
My old Defy Advanced SL is running 30c GP5000's with Dura Ace rim brakes and could go to 32c. I imagine the newer disk ones will run much wider, although I find 30c on wide PSLR carbon rims to be just fine. So I'd look for one of those. Defy is the sportier end of Endurance Road, with a half degree slacker head angle (72.5) than the race TCR, making for a 1 cm shorter reach. I'm a medium and am 179 cm with a longer 120 mm stem. Oh and being rim brakes and Dura Ace 9000, it only weight 7.4 kilos - even with those fat tyres 🙂 . I also race a Propel Advanced SL on 23c GP5000's, but that only comes out for racing - I don't even train on it! It will take 25c but not 28c tyres due to the V brakes and close rear clearance.
John Degenkolb won Paris-Roubais in 2015 on this frame https://ebay.us/m/LzUyhK £1500 isn't bad. The frame when new was £3k.
The Boardman ADV 9.0 looks decent on paper, I'm not sure why they only do it (and the 9.2) in such a marmite colour scheme though (I do quite like the look of the 9.0 though...)
Not an area I know anything about, but what are Ridley bikes like? Merlin have a heavily discounted Grifin with 2x11 Grx. It's an 'All Road' bike which I gather is roughly what you're looking for. Would that work?
https://www.merlincycles.com/ridley-grifn-grx-rs171-carbon-gravel-bike-327312.html
You can get 35s in a defy. It's not a gravel bike though
@Pjay thanks, aside from the nobbly tyres & flared drops that Ridley looks just the ticket, although I'm not sure where the cables run - will do some investigation 👍
I've had a Boardman ADV before & just didn't get on with it for some reason 😕
TBH you're probably as well getting a Gravel bike as you are an "Endurance Road bike" now.
The main difference is just change of tyres.
Maybe, but then it's a compromise. Bars a bit wide, frame a bit stiff, gearing a bit low, chain stays a bit long, etc, etc,
I bought my Colibri-Ti precisely because I spend most of the time riding on the roads, so why not get a b bike that perfectly suits what I do 90% of the time. Sure it's not a lightweight racer, but then that would be a compromise every time it rains or on the average British chip sealed backroad. I could have a gravel bike, but that's a compromise everywhere that isn't a cheeky shortcut.
There's a fine line between flexibility, specialism and the lowest common denominator.
I've got a Boardman, well 3 actually, and once you put decent wheels on, they're great but if as you say they do not work for you, then i can thoroughly recommend a Planet X Tempest. Ti is great bike material.