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Is this a moon on stick scenario at the moment?
I've been toying with the idea of a new bike for a while now.. I'm very time limited due to work and family commitments and finding time to get out on my big bike with the associated travel and faff is proving very difficult.
I HATE riding on the road with a passion from years of commuting by bike and the shitty treatment you get from a lot of other road users. A road bike is out so I started looking at hardtails with the idea of riding to local trails but it's a good 40 minute ride to get anything resembling singletrack and I'll just not do it..
A few mates (we all live within 5ish miles of each other) have bought gravel bikes over the years and try to keep off the roads and do interesting rides from the door in the North East so I'm going to join them.
I'm not really fussed on frame material TBH but I'm after hydro discs having ridden a CX bike with rim brakes for commuting I want something more powerful. Budget around the £2k mark.
Any suggestions welcome! Thanks
Wiggle have a few obviously size dependent as do Wheelbase again depending on size.
The internet is a wonderful thing 😉
Planet X?
I’ve been using a xls for a few years now, bit tight on rear wheel size but takes a 40c on the front no problem. Really good bike off road.
This is in stock...
https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/16185429/polygon-bend-r5-gravel-bike-16185429
Bikester have some
https://www.bikester.co.uk/bikes/road-bikes/gravel-bikes/
A few options at Freewheel
https://www.freewheel.co.uk/genesis-fugio-10-vargn21300
Sonder Camino 105 build from 17th January?
I went for a Specialized Diverge and upgraded the tyres/bars, pretty pleased with it overall. Shame it's only the GRX400, but not a lot of choice at the moment..
Hi
I switched to gravel riding last year - had a crash at Hamsterley on my full suss - northing major and no need to go to hospital. But with lockdowns and the worry of going to hospital I decided to get a gravel bike. I already had a London Road Planet x which I loved so after a bit research I went for the FreeRanger 650b/700cc model.
Had it since last November and love it, I started increasing the miles I was doing and this year got up to 100 miles on 1 ride. Also did a weekend ride from my door in Consett to Bambrugh (staying at a hotel overnight) then back to Hexham the next day via Rothbury.
Things I changed - not much switched the bar tape and got some gravel kings for summer riding.
There is one thing to be aware of (which I found out while changing the gear cable). The cable is internally routed and there is no outer cable running in the frame - consequently the cable rubs a groove into the frame over time - which can cause poor shifting. Solution was to add a run of outer cabling inside the frame.
Merlin cycles appear to have their own model Malt in stock in all sizes with GRX groupsets, look to be excellent value for money.
Merlin cycles newsletters keep saying that they have their gravel bikes back in stock, if that helps?
EDIT- beaten to it by Baz by 48 seconds!
got a brand new Wilier Jena in medium with hydraulic 1x 11 GRX sat next to me at work, just put it in the end of year sale actually.
Focus Atlas 6.7 2021 | Wheelbase
bought one of these a month ago. in stock, 3yrs 0% finance, ordered tuesday, turned up thursday. done nearly 250km on it so far.
Thank you very much indeed for all of the responses everyone. Some lovely looking bikes suggested and more in stock than I thought. Looks like there's a wheelbase down the road from me in Darlo that I may pop into for a look.
As always I seem to be right on the overlap between sizes in a lot of bikes.. a smidge under 6ft seems to land me right in no mans land..
Haven't ridden my road bikes for ages since getting a gravel bike. Son has the Merlin Malt 1x GRX - it's pretty good, just put 40mm WTB Nano's on for him but that (or 42mm) might be the limit clearance wise.
That Focus Atlas looks pretty good though, especially with 45mm tyres and fork mounts, etc. If I hadn't seen that I'd have said PX Freeranger, or Ti Tempest if pushing the budget up. I got a Titus from them earlier in the year and has been a wholly postive experience; helpful comms and responses to queries pre-ordering, quick delivery (earlier than anticipated) and I'm loving the bike...
I have the Planet X tempest in a spec similar to this: https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXTEMV3RIV1700BW/planet-x-tempest-sram-hrd-rival-1-titanium-gravel-bike
They have Small, Med, XL in stock and L coming early Jan.
Mine was bought to ride the Welsh Coast to Coast. Brilliant for that. All I changed was the stem, saddle and stuck an 11-46 (from an 11-40) for climbing lots of hills fully kitted up with bags.
Since then I went tubeless on those Fulcrum wheels. Bit of a pain but got there eventually. Then for King Alfred's Way (which was Covid'd but doing next year) I bought some cheaper superstar WTB i23 (I think) rims shod with 42mm Gravelkings. Sure it's a bit heavier and slower but a fantastic bike for lots of off road tracks. I don't really ride road much at all, but it does fine and it's so comfy.
Some of that comfort is from changing stock bars to some Richey Max. So it's had quite a lot of changes but it's perfect for what I use it for now. Even dumped the clips and back on flats.
That's the week before the C2C
On wider wheels.tyres.
A road bike is out so I started looking at hardtails with the idea of riding to local trails but it’s a good 40 minute ride to get anything resembling singletrack and I’ll just not do it..
if you can't be arsed to ride 40 mins to get somewhere..., anyway, under the recommend what you have, Planet X Freeranger.
I did though buy another set of wheels, as I'd had previous issue with tubeless & Fulcrum rims plus I wanted wider internals for bigger tyres. Got 25mm internals and 50c tyres.
I have just been to our local shop at lunch - Roots have a line of Trek gravel / cx / hybrid in stock:
https://www.rootscycles.co.uk/
i'm really impressed with the atlas, turned up built so i'm guessing came out of the showroom.
only things i've done are set the tyres up tubeless which went up with a track pump and fit the guards (SKS AL56). they were a bit of a faff with some cutting/drilling of the guards to get them to work well but now they are bomber.
wish I'd got hold of one in the first drop when they were £200 cheaper.
size wise I'm 5'10, dropped from a 56 specialized to a 54 as I always felt a bit stretched on a 56.
i've just changed the seattube spacer and bolt for a lower profile one on the rear guard as it was a bit close to the wheel and collecting leaves etc.
I have a Giant Revolt Advanced that has been faultless for the 2 years I have had it.
The Giant website is showing the alloy Revolt 0 in M and M/L in stock in a few shops.
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Ribble have various things in various sizes in. Spa have all sorts available, including frames that they could build you up how you want. I believe The Light Blue have stuff ready to go too. They did recently.
down the road from me in Darlo that I may pop into for a look.
Large Orro Terra C in-stock here if you detour to Bishop Auckland on your trip out.
I went for a Specialized Diverge and upgraded the tyres/bars, pretty pleased with it overall. Shame it’s only the GRX400, but not a lot of choice at the moment..
https://www.buyabike.co.uk/bikes/road-bikes/2021-specialized-diverge-elite-e5-gravel-bike-in-green__267?currency=GBP&chosenAttribute=96220-4056
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Ha, I bought that exact model and replaced the bars and tyres as well! TBH, it was the only thing I could find in stock in my size and I had a itch which needed immediate scratching but it seems fine for the money.Pity all the trails I was planning on riding it on have just been washed away by huge flooding in South West BC...😳
My mate just bought a vitus with full Sram Rival Etap for £2500 which I thought was a good deal.
He bought a large which was in stock.
Max.