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I'm well up on steel stuff, however just as with Hardtail MTBS I'm beginning to lose he love of steel as its supposed benfits get eroded by increaed testing requirements, stiffer seat tubes and big low pressure tyres. My Alloy Scandal ihas turned out as one of my favourite hardtails and I've had stacks of Cotic, Dialled, etc etc.
I'm going to be building a new Gravel bike imminently, and if I go for an Alloy version over steel (I've been holding out for the new fearless) there is a very immediate weight benefit - and some of the alloy options seem to be rather better priced than Steel these days.
Have I missed any good value framesets - particularly those that actually appear to be in stock!
Sonder Camino - absolutely dirt cheap at £300, but when will they be back in stock..?
Ribble CGR AL - £600 - again, unavailable currently as frame only...
Dolan GXA - this is a new one on me, I quite like it - also £600 and appears to be available - top tube may be a bit high though.
What others are there? I dont really want to spend much more than £6-700 on a frameset, which used to be easy, however nowadays, not so much. Must be bolt through, clearance for 700x45 and proper off-road geometry.
Kinesis Tripster AT is another but pushing the price a little. Not sure if its more 'adventure road' than 'off-road' either.
I've a Planet X Full Monty, £800 all in inc. hydraulic brakes.
I think they were selling the frameset cw carbon fork for £300 during the summer.
If you're building up, beware the price (and availability) of groupsets & mechs/shifters/brakes etc.
I like the tripster, but if you're looking to save weight it might be a little heavier than you're expecting, I don't know how it compares to the others though.
@intheborders cheers, I'm aware of the Full Monty as I nearly bought one years ago but its not really what I'm looking for.
Ref availabiltiy - your right, I have most kit ready to swap off my road bike (105/Ultegra RX Hydraulic etc)but I'd really like GRX - I do wonder whether I might be better off just speccing up a Ribble/Dolan etc and flogging my road bike complete.
When you add the Sonder to your basket you get this:
"YOUR ORDER CONTAINS ITEMS THAT ARE ON PREORDER, AND SHOULD BE AVAILABLE ON THE 8TH FEBRUARY. YOU WILL RECEIVE THE FULL ORDER ONCE THIS ITEM IS IN STOCK"
Hope that helps.
Half tempted myself
I know virtually nothing about gravel bikes but... £600 for an aluminium Ribble frame???
One of my pals has the Vitus alu gravel bike and it looks beautiful and apparently rides very well. I'd probably get one of them as a full bike and do some parts swapping.
I kmow what you mean however that does appear to be very much the going rate nowadays. Most steel stuff is knocking on for £1000, especially those with a Carbon Fork (which I want).
Boardman ADV9.8 complete bike and swap out the bits you don't like?
Out of those i`d be going for the Sonder.... but you will regret not speccing up with GRX so sell the road bike complete would be my advice
I was going to say buy my Pro6 frame set but it doesn’t quite make the tyre clearance and it’s qr.
If you’ve got the cash, buying a whole bike and swapping any favourite bits over would probably be my approach
RM Cycles have lots on ebay.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/rmcycles-online/m.html
My hybrid frame broke and I picked up a Ridgeback Flight as a replacement which i'm very happy. Came in the proper box with all the fiddly bits
Bit of a dick move on my behalf but if you happen to be tall then I will be adding a very lightly used and immaculate XL Fustle Causeway frame to the classifieds later today/tomorrow when I have managed to take some pics. It ticks all the boxes re geometry and clearance.
I'm distinctly medium sized unfortunately!
I’ll have a medium chilli red Camino frame set for sale soon. Current v3 model and about 300 miles on from new in summer 2020.
I'm not sure I really 'get' steel. The steel bikes I've owned recently (Croix De Fer and a couple of hardtail MTBs) were heavy with a harsher ride than my Alu bikes. Perhaps very high-end steel is better.
Out of those i`d be going for the Sonder…. but you will regret not speccing up with GRX so sell the road bike complete would be my advice
It's hard to see how those other frames would be 2x as good as the Camino. I haven't ridden loads of gravel bikes to compare geometry, but it's certainly very comfy. I like it a lot. Recently put 1x GRX on it too which I am also very pleased with.
I had a good experience with Sonder - they replied to my emails fairly quickly. I knew I wanted a Camino frame but they were showing as out of stock, so I asked via email when they were due in - their estimate was accurate. If that 3 week wait suggestion ^^^ is correct then it's a no-brainer for me.
Be careful cashing in your road bike to order a custom (or off the shelf) spec'd Ribble. As nice as they are (and I haven't changed my order 'cause I really want it), there is a LONG delay on shipping builds out.
I ordered a CGR 725 GRX build before Xmas, email last week said it wont be built until 30th May!
If you, or anyone, wants a dirt cheap pinnacle arkose frame and fork (size 54) PM me.
I know virtually nothing about gravel bikes but… £600 for an aluminium Ribble frame???
...with full carbon fork?
My Kinesis carbon/QR/canti brake forks cost £260, I think a through axle/disc equivalent costs £280.
£600 for a frameset including fork looks not too bad really...
I may be out of touch, but Ribble used to ask £600 for a carbon frame and fork, and I got mine for half that (with a paint chip) in a clearance sale.
Maybe I'm being snobbish about Ribbles, my old one was a really good frame but in my head they are still a budget brand.
if you email sonder you can upgrade to the full carbon fork with the mounts on fork legs for an extra £50, I did very happy with it.
Maybe I’m being snobbish about Ribbles, my old one was a really good frame but in my head they are still a budget brand.
SAw a snarky comment on twitter (it may have been brant) about spending x thousands on marketing but they are still known as the place to get your winter bike...
If you don't mind the wait, then you could order a carbon frame from China for (at a guess) around six hundred quid. It'll be lighter and "better" than anything on your list.
The new Dolan looks to be a downgrade over their previous GXA frameset. I'd also take the weight claim with a pinch of salt - full carbon gravel forks are usually in the 450-500g range, which infers the bare frame is somewhere close to the weight of a Cannondale CAAD 10 road frame....
Merlin G2X – 50cm in stock
https://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-malt-g2x-gravel-frameset-197832.html/blockquote >
We got this for the elder son to build up a gravel bike from bits he found in the garage.
Generally lovely, except if you want fixed mudguards. The frame is fine but the fork only had two of the three necessary mounts.
But if mudguards aren’t you thing it’s not a bad buy.
While I'm no expert, I am also in the "£600 WTF?" camp.
Isn't this something a London Road can do... RRP £300 and sometimes £150? (Maybe not carbon fork).
EDIT ok it's limited to 35mm tyres, but a full bike for £800, shame there no gravel equivalent in stock.
Why are you selling the Fustle?
I ordered a CGR 725 GRX build before Xmas, email last week said it wont be built until 30th May!
@fettlin Ouch, I ordered mine beginning of Nov and received it early Jan.
It's certainly a lovely ride, so hopefully it'll be worth the wait for you.
I know virtually nothing about gravel bikes but… £600 for an aluminium Ribble frame???
Golf isn't cheap.
Why are you selling the Fustle?
A gravel bike simply isn’t for me where I live and the riding loops I want to do. I’ve ordered a Stooge as a replacement.
I ordered a CGR 725 GRX build before Xmas, email last week said it wont be built until 30th May!
That might be more to do with the GRX than anything else. I've recently ordered a new gravel bike and the SRAM version was available in Feb but I was told if I wanted GRX it was end of April at the earliest!
Isn’t this something a London Road can do… RRP £300 and sometimes £150? (Maybe not carbon fork).
EDIT ok it’s limited to 35mm tyres, but a full bike for £800, shame there no gravel equivalent in stock.
I'm running 40mm WTB Nano's with full mudguards on my London Road, it's such a versatile bike if you can get past the name.
Saying that, I do keep looking at Sonder Camino's though! Being able to run 50mm tyres would be lovely.
I did a lot of research before buying a gravel steed: Dolan have GXA frames in stock which most don't (and can't give you a solid re stocking date). The original 2018 GXA was a handmade Deddacci frameset and so more expensive than the carbon GXC.
The GXA is a very nice frame and fork in the flesh. It couldn't be described as 'budget' IMHO. The ride (around the showroom!) felt great. Top tube is no higher than the other bikes I tried-that photo is misleading. The staff at Dolan stated it was their most popular model at the moment so I wouldn't hang around.
I’ll have a medium chilli red Camino frame set for sale soon. Current v3 model and about 300 miles on from new in summer 2020.
Don't want to tread on anyone's toes, but I could be interested in this. How much are you looking for?
Is it just me or are the Ribble and Dolan frames not identical except Ribble have put a colour matched grommet in the cable hole on the downtube? So it doesn't matter which of those you opt for if they're the same price.
The Fearless Warlock can't be far off but if you can't wait these are in stock and look nice (but are steel):
https://www.veloheld.de/veloheld-iconx-frame
https://www.goldsprintshop.com/Veloci-Cycle-Disko-80s-Frameset-L-56-cm
https://www.goldsprintshop.com/Fyxation-Quiver-Frameset-black-M
£600 for a frameset including fork looks not too bad really…
Really?
*Looks up alu frame and full carbon fork factory costs and sees nicely profitable business now I've left Evans*
Ridley ? seems to tick all the boxes
https://www.paulmilnescycles.com/ridley-x-trail-kanzo-a-gravel-frame-fork-frameset-700c-650b-mudguard-eyes-pmc-5793-p.asp
Isn’t this something a London Road can do… RRP £300 and sometimes £150? (Maybe not carbon fork).
EDIT ok it’s limited to 35mm tyres, but a full bike for £800, shame there no gravel equivalent in stock.
My 1st gen LR can do 40mm maybe 42 (no guards) and the fork is carbon (alloy steerer), I assumed they wouldn't make the newer ones worse... But you never know with PX I suppose.
Point is yes alloy frame/carbon fork/decent tyre clearance shouldn't really cost extra but sometimes you pay more for the stickers and sometimes you pay more for them to check stuff like, oooh I dunno, let's say seat tube ID as a random example...
I'd happily try the Camino for £300, I wouldn't even spend that much with PX though TBH, and I'd sort of expect Ribble to be about the same prices, maybe slightly dearer for an equivalent frame, but not double!
I'm genuinely curious at the £600 for an alloy frame and carbon fork comments, can you really get an MTB equivalent for that sort of money? I don't think this is plain gauge gas-pipe alloy either.
In fact, could you even get a steel F+F for that sort of money?
My Kinesis CX1 frame and fork retailed at £700 F+F although I got lucky with discounts so they cost me £500 by the end.
I don't think Planet X comparisons are really valid either, don't they have shockingly poor QA (coke can seat post shims etc?)
Edit: d'oh, I see exactly the same point being made one post above ^
I'm in the £600+ for an alloy frameset is very expensive camp (unless it's a high end frame). There has been pretty chunky inflation of prices across the board with cycling, but I don't believe it's because a brand/company costs have gone up by the same amount. There's also very little difference between the product you get, so it seems the value for money has gone down. Maybe it's because demand is now outstripping ability to supply so higher prices can be commanded and no sell-off of excess stock (taking up warehouse space) is needed??
I'm another camino owner very happy with the £300 value for money, and there used to be far more options in mtb and gravel in that price range...
Really?
*Looks up alu frame and full carbon fork factory costs and sees nicely profitable business now I’ve left Evans*
Why not. I'm sure many of us would rather buy one of your offerings than a PX or Ribble.
Might as well do some hardtail frames as well, they're not getting any cheaper.
^ Thanks for the potential support. But the longer I worked in the bike industry the more I realised why I'd not get into anything like that : )