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What should I be looking at £1500ish?
1x hydraulic. Ideally something in stock that I can sit on. (I know I'm dreaming.)
You’ll only regret it and ride your hardtail more. Save your money !!
I can't, the hardtail has retired and been hooked up to the trailer for the school-run.
I want something for riding from the house and doing 90% road with occasional "gravel" ride.
Sonder have stunner in the Camino.
Alas not in stock at the moment but I’ll be placing an order the moment they are in stock
https://alpkit.com/collections/sonder-camino/products/sonder-camino-al-v3-rival1-hydraulic
Yeah I loaned a Camino for a while. I didn't like it, position wasn't comfortable. It was medium and I wouldn't mind trying a large sometime.
They new Shatner Bassoon looks a cracking buy.
90% road you say? Kinesis G2 is perfect.
Hi
Very tempted by this https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBOOFRRIV1650/on-one-free-ranger-sram-rival-1-650b-gravel-bike
Full carbon frame and forks with hydraulics.
To replace the London Road I've had for about 2 years.
Loving my Pinnacle Arkose X, the 650b one, comfy and springy, quick on the road and fun on singletrack.
Just spent about £50 single speeding my old Inbred and I don't think I could beat it if I spent £1,500 on an entry level gravel bike for rides from the door.
I've spent the weekend looking at THIS Merlin Malt G2X with full GRX 810. In stock and pretty impressive spec for the money, £1450 at the moment.
I've got the free ranger linked above, superb bike, particularly once I swapped out the wheels for some lighter ones I already had and some wide bars and a shorter stem.
I bought a lost lad from Calibre (aka Go Outdoors) for £500 a few weeks back. River Mersey tracks, canal towpaths and Trans Pennine trail all 5 mins from door. It's 650b with 47c tyres, cheap groupset and mech discs. I've also got a 29er hardtail and a steel racer.
I've been surprised how much I've enjoyed riding it. Decent tyres mean it floats along and just smoothes out everything it crosses, including the fairly ropey tarmac around where I live. Despite the fact that I don't like mech discs they haven't been too bad and given that most of the riding is on car less tracks I don't really need to haul on the anchors anyway.
Slacker head angle means stability and predictability which is always nice on looser, rougher surfaces. Adds a bit of compliance as well.
I'd say go for it. They're quicker than (most) hardtails and with narrower drop bars add a little bit of sketchiness (compared to a hardtail) on tracks into the equation just to keep things interesting..
I bought a Nukeproof Digger a while ago and it became the bike I rode the most, perfect on pot holes back roads, gravel tracks, commuting to work. Its probably the best "fitting" bike i have had dont feel too stretched, the wide drops are comfortable the gearing is fine for most.
I have had it with panniers and full guards on, the fashion police wouldnt be happy but super practical. The comp model comes in just over your budget, i dont know how it compare price wise to other brands. It seems to work well.
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/nukeproof-digger-275-comp-bike-2021?g=0
Merlin Malt G2X GRX 810?
£350 reduction at the minute.
I want something for riding from the house and doing 90% road with occasional “gravel” ride.
Based on that usage I would just get a road bike. Most modern road bikes take up to 30c tyres which will be great on the road and fine on the 10% gravel.
There really is no need for MTB size tyres for rides where only 10% of the time you are not riding on tarmac.
I have one of these that I use for 90% road and 10% gravel. (I have a Marin 4 corners that I use 80% gravel 20% road)
https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/orro-terra-c-105-hydro-2020-bike?gclid=Cj0KCQiAhs79BRD0ARIsAC6XpaV0vjes48OKoJBveV7VvA2uj_xzAQFip4-aZErlYrvBmRzlmZXjKZQaAgXwEALw_wcB#orro-terra-c-105-hydro-2020-bike-small
Doesn't have the 1x groupset, but i prefer 2x for road.
https://www.orrobikes.com/shop/2021-terra-c-adventure-1x-grx600
Each to his own but that Orro looks likes someone too heavy has sat on it 🙂
I like that Digger. Listed Bike Weight: 9.73kg? That sounds more than respectable for what looks like a monstercross!
@kerley the 10% off road will be the occasional full off-road ride in the Peak or Lakes. Road bike won't be much fun for that.
If you'd said it was going more off road I'd have said don't get a sram equipped one but it's fine for tarmac (as it was designed for it) go shimano GRX if you think you'll do more gravel in the future.
Recently got a chinese carbon gravel bike - went for a double up front and 11/30 in the back and so glad i did.
it allows you to have a sensible range of gears without a comprimise.
When riding on the road i don't like massive gaps in the rear cassette....
But i suppose it depends on if you want a bike for all or one which can smash out the miles to get to the tracks then smash the road home again.
Went for 105 disc's which work really well - once they are blead properly.
I love it as it reminds me of 90's xc riding.
@kerley the 10% off road will be the occasional full off-road ride in the Peak or Lakes. Road bike won’t be much fun for that.
True, but a road bike will be a lot of fun for the 90% of rides.
A gravel bike may also not be much fun for a full off road ride either but you will no doubt find that out if you get one...
My mate has a Vitus Substance that he likes very much and is defo within budget. I have a Marin 4 Corners Elite which I can also recommend.
If you have any thoughts of using it on anything other than road go for a gravel bike. I recently sold my road bike as I just wasn't using it as even on road biased rides it's nice to have the option to drop on to a canal or BW.
As for a HT I'd get another if I had plenty of spare cash but wouldn't replace the gravel as that takes me right up to the point that I'd grab my FS. I agonised over all this most of this year and am very happy that I ended up with the Marin and my Stage 5. They cover all the bases I need.
the 10% off road will be the occasional full off-road ride in the Peak or Lakes. Road bike won’t be much fun for that.
Personally, I think this is a mistake, I think gravel bikes end up horribly compromised if you try to make them suitable for 'proper' off road as well.
I've been loving mine, it's fast, comfortable, capable and even fun in the mud (if you count sliding round every corner as fun) but it rapidly gets out of its depth or just 'not fun' once you start trying steep descents, rootsy stuff, fast rocky stuff etc. I commented to my riding buddy on our last ride that if you stick to flatter smoother trails, even if they're muddy and twisty, you get most of the fun of an MTB but with your legs providing the speed, not gravity.
I think once you add the dropper, the fatter tyres, the wider bars etc. you get something that might make the gnar more tolerable, but suddenly the long road sections between singletrack maybe become a chore? On road on my gravel bike the only thing I really miss is the slightly greater stretch of the road bike, it doesn't feel as easy to tuck down out of the wind on the gravel bike, in fact with the lighter weight CX tyres on it, the gravel bike sometimes feels quicker than my road bike on tarmac, which I'm just assuming is the difference in perceived exertion after churning through leafy mud moments earlier.
I'm currently riding a Planet X XLA, the new bike will be a replacement for this and will be used for the same type of riding.
Riding from home, most of my ride is road but I do sneak in the odd bridleway and trail centre blue routes when on holiday.
Cannondale Topstone 105 (alloy)
I have a Ribble CGR ti. 105 groupset.
GF has a Marin Nicasio II with 2x10 Tiagra.
Have ridden my big bike just once since August. Partly due to not being able to travel to Italy and the faff of having to drive to the mountains.
Have ridden the CGR just about everyday. Riding to the workshop on a mix of asphalt and gravel tracks. 80km rides on the weekend with the GF on mostly forest roads and tracks with some decent climbs. Thankful for the double up front.
Last week a friend was with us and she was struggling on some of the climbs because 1x.
Both bikes running 700c 40mm G-Ones.
slightly over budget and only med in stock
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXTEMV3RIV1700BW/planet-x-tempest-sram-rival-1-titanium-gravel-bike
I say it on every one of these threads, but to me Gravel bikes still remind me of riding early 90s MTBs, narrow bars, no suspension, less tyre volume (and associated drag) than a modern 2.3"+ MTB tyre...
Overall just a less complicated on/off road tool than a most modern MTBs that will still chop along quite well on a road...
The major benefit is that you can motor along on a road/lane/bridal path and if you do spot something worth jinking off for an explore when you spot something off to one side, you know the bike can put up with it...
TBH having a gravel bike prompted me to re-evaluate what I really want from an MTB, I eventually just got rid of the HT and decided to stick with an FS bike, my one MTB might as well have various toys and be reserved more for fun and battering about off road. for riding from my door the Gravel bike is pretty much perfect where an MTB feels like overkill... YMMV.
I say it on every one of these threads, but to me Gravel bikes still remind me of riding early 90s MTBs, narrow bars, no suspension, less tyre volume
Keep up, its not 2017 anymore, we are all aware of the comparisons with 90`s MTBs and have moved on.
Just joking, but it is funny how this gets banded around in the gravel groups and forums like its some sort of transcendental knowledge only available to the enlightened few.
Just joking, but it is funny how this gets banded around in the gravel groups and forums like its some sort of transcendental knowledge only available to the enlightened few.
It's just too tempting/relevant a comparison not to make. I use it more because 'Classic 90s MTB' seems a good way to classify a route which is 90% fireroad and 10% singletrack, which used to be considered an acceptable split for a classic MTB ride but which I now consider the perfect proportions for a gravel ride.
Just spent about £50 single speeding my old Inbred and I don’t think I could beat it if I spent £1,500 on an entry level gravel bike for rides from the door.
I didn't catch the build up of the joke, but that punch-line is brilliant. Still rolling on the floor laughing here..
Don't need the gravel bike debate. This is what works for me.
I have ridden a hardtail for a decade and just replaced it with a full-suss which sucks on the road. The "gravel bike" is the bike I will be riding when I am not on the FS.
My opinion is that gravel bikes are just drop-bar hardtails with skinner tyres. Turns out that they are a great option for most of the riding that I do. I have ridden further on my XLA than I ever did on my hardtail
Well I've just bought a flat barred Tour de Fer full on disc braked tourer - nice chunky Schwalbe Marathons, full guards, triple set up and dynamo - and it's going to used pretty much entirely off road - so a flat barred, fat tyred, 700c bike for riding on and off road - surely that's a better bet than a "gravel bike"?
(I sold my gravel bike a month or two ago - didn't get on with it and this is a it's more appropriate replacement, at least for the riding I've got planned)
I think once you add the dropper, the fatter tyres, the wider bars etc. you get something that
...is still all wrong off-road : )
This 90s XC thing. Bollocks : )
We went WAY faster off-road, rode techy rocky trails, steep-as-we-could-ride stuff and launched into and out of bomb holes etc on 90s MTBs. By the late 90s there were Z1s and 2.35 tyres. I was always an XCer yet rode those bikes way harder than I can any drop bar gravel bike now - and my current drop bar gravel bike is a custom project that's more capable than most production bikes that aren't just a 29er with drops on (ie a bad 29er). Drops and low front ends, low even compared to 90s XC geometry, are just awful off-road for anything that isn't open byways. Fun, but not the same.
Don’t need the gravel bike debate. This is what works for me.
Sorry, yes you clearly know what you want! I just had to bite when you stated 90% rides on road and 10% of rides full off road and that doesn't even sound like a compromise bike to me but 2 completely different bikes.
I don't follow my own advice as my only bike is not a road bike, gravel bike or MTB and I ride it on road, gravel and off road.
I built a custom gravel bike up for about £1500 during the first lockdown with only a couple of bike from the spares box, and that was with a £700 frame/fork set.
Not a Cotic Escapade then? 🙂
monkeyboyjc
that's properly nice
Drops and low front ends, low even compared to 90s XC geometry, are just awful off-road for anything that isn’t open byways. Fun, but not the same.
Saw a bike the other day ( think it was a light blue Darwin) looked tall at the front, drops, biggish tyres. They've obviously heard you.
Cannondale Topstone alloy - was a 105 but now x1 GRX
I have ridden past HT riders on downhill sections - amazing what it is capable of
Only limiting factor is my 2019 frame won’t play too nicely with 650b Tyres in that 45c will be the max it’ll take and the BB will drop too much
I recently purchased a Genesis Fugio. Much better for mixed terrain riding than the HT was. Good on the road, which I try and avoid, and great for exploring, towpaths etc. If I could afford a short travel 29er too I’d have all the bikes I need
’d have all the bikes I need
How that got past the STW filters I don't know.
Got a PX Tempest a year ago. Great bike but out of price range.
What I would say is whatever gravel bike you go for, budget for 2 sets of wheels (inc discs, cassette, tyres etc).
Having one road set and one gravel set makes it an even better bike.
Saw a bike the other day ( think it was a light blue Darwin) looked tall at the front, drops, biggish tyres. They’ve obviously heard you.
By the time the drops are the height of a 29er XC bike you just have a too-narrow XC bar position, I think of the grips and the front tyre making a triangle and that tall narrow triangle isn't much good for stability/control. imho the high/drops thing isn't very compatible with handling a bike over anything tricky off-road but it's fine for touring very easy, open tracks.
I had a couple of frames made a while back that tried the MTB geometry, short stem ideas, tall fronts etc. tbh I thought it all added up to either a very jack-all-trades bike that was a bit dull on lanes or trails, or a great US 'county roads' kind of bike. But even on the Ridgeway I preferred my 29er. Anyway... all subjective stuff and only posted for the chat, not saying either way of doing it is wrong/right.
(prob should move this post to the 'progressive gravel bikes' thread)
If you’d said it was going more off road I’d have said don’t get a sram equipped one but it’s fine for tarmac (as it was designed for it) go shimano GRX if you think you’ll do more gravel in the future.
Why's that? I'd naturally favour Shimano anyway, but that might be quite limiting.
I'm selling a Whyte 2018 Friston on gumtree. Newcastle way.
1750 new, on for 1200. Sub 1000 miles.
@kevt it's a 54cm (I'd say it's a large frame?). I'm 185 cm could probably fit someone a bit shorter and taller (defo for someone taller).
Ok ta, too big for me
Anyway… all subjective stuff and only posted for the chat, not saying either way of doing it is wrong/right.
(prob should move this post to the ‘progressive gravel bikes’ thread)
@jameso It's very interesting though. I'm fascinated by different designers takes on geo and how bikes are intended by the designer to fit etc. I can't get my head around the apparently diametrically opposed opinions.
I can’t get my head around the apparently diametrically opposed opinions.
People like riding different sorts of bike, it is that simple. Many people love big tyres and relaxed geometry bikes for gravel riding but I just find those bikes really dull to ride.
I ride a steep angled fixed gear on narrow tyres because that is what I enjoy riding but if most people tried riding it they would throw it in the nearest hedge within 100 metres.
Regarding geometry, one of the things I really want is less toe overlap. That means some combination of longer front centre and slacker head angle to create room for my feet. Doing that means some combination of shorter stem and/or steeper seat angle/longer stays to get the weight distribution back.
All this because I find the toe overlap an issue on steep techy climbs.
Conversely, I'd imagine someone living out in East Anglia would quite possibly want to complete opposite.
Edit: the key to how much of the about for me is pedal/shoe focused. I can't find a clipless shoe to suit my feet so flat pedals and shoes on a gravel bike seem to involve being further forward. Maybe I should consider old skool clips and straps.
I can’t get my head around the apparently diametrically opposed opinions.
In what way, that people don't arrive at a general consensus on good geometry/design?
Many people love big tyres and relaxed geometry bikes for gravel riding but I just find those bikes really dull to ride.
I ride a steep angled fixed gear on narrow tyres because that is what I enjoy riding but if most people tried riding it they would throw it in the nearest hedge within 100 metres.
Dunno about throwing it in a hedge, but I'd pinch-flat it not long after that 100m : )
In what way, that people don’t arrive at a general consensus on good geometry/design?
Yeah, sort of. Not about how individuals like to ride any given bike, that's just preference.
More about the the gravel bikes are road bikes with big tyres vs they are an entity to themselves
Or, I was reading about 2 bikes, hardtails from the LLS school. One designer had designed the bike to fit in a certain way, longer reach/ett for a given size. The other much shorter for a given size because far too many people were riding bikes that were too big. That bike was barely longer than a few years older bike that was far too short by modern LLS standards. And people are still arguing about 68 vs 64 degree head angles for xx trail use.
Dunno about throwing it in a hedge, but I’d pinch-flat it not long after that 100m : )
Doesn't happen - I use very tough tyres and have them fairly high as I hate the feeling of softer tyres (another thing people will differ on!)
The new Boardman carbon adv 9.0 looks a bargain