Which Multi Use bike?

LIRider

Hi I am new to the forum and am looking to get my first bike..

So hoping to get some good advice and guidance.

I want a bike for Fitness, some trails ( when i say trails think woodland, dry, not mountainous. Gravel, dirt and mainly dry ) I also want to use on the road and rack up some miles..

The bikes i have been looking at are.

Specialized Sirrus - altho i read this is very much a road bike despite being labelled as multi use.
Specialized Crosstrail
Trek Domane ?
Niner RLT

I have read that CycloCross bikes are good and also Gravel bikes but which model of the above suits my needs best?

Once i know which brand \ model I can then decide on if i want Carbon / Alloy and which Gears.

Apologies if this is in the wrong section - any guidance appreciated.

Thanks

w00dster

Sounds to me like you need a cross bike. I would discount the Domane if you are going to be riding on gravel and dirt. I have a Domane for my winter ride, its a comfortable bike, but I wouldn't want to take it off road.
For offroad riding, and also for road riding I have a Genesis Day One Disc. I would recommend you look at bikes that allow for wider tires (28mm minimum) and you can fit mudguards. The disc brakes are a godsend in the bad weather, you will thank me for this advise in the winter/wetter months!
With a cross bike you can also swap the chunkier tires out for slicks and ride on the road. I have a road specific "summer" bike, the times / speeds are slower on my cross bike - but not massively and thats the price you pay for an All Rounder.
The Niner RLT looks good, not seen any of them over in the UK. Decent enough spec for £1200, Shimano 105 is about middle of the road, but its a good gear set, I've got much less one of my bikes and its absolutely fine.
I personally don't like the look / spec of the Specialised Sirrus, there are better bikes out there for that price. (I have a personal dislike for Tektra brakes, not used the discs, but I personally just wouldn't buy them - they may be fine, but worth googling any reviews)
Might be worth having a look at the Genesis Croix De Fer? By all acounts thats supposed to be a good all rounder. The BMC Granfondo GF02 105 might also be a good shout for your needs?

LIRider

Hi w00dster. Thanks that is just the kind of advice i was looking for. As a beginner speed is not the essence but a good ride is. I am based in Long Island New York and from the UK. So the Niner comes up when i search reviews here.

I also see the Giant Anyroad 2 but its seems not much for the money?

Also someone recommended i should def have suspension forks. Would you agree?

w00dster

Suspension forks not necessary for gravel paths or easy going off-road riding. As an example I was trail riding at the weekend through Elvedon Forest in Suffolk, pretty flat easy trails, no suspension forks needed.
I personally think that once you ride routes that require full suspension, then you're requirements for a full all rounder have changed and a MTB is needed. You may not enjoy taking a MTB out on the road, I do it for smaller rides, but it's not as much fun as either my road or cross bike. Might want to have a think about the type riding you'll be doing, if it is just gravel tracks, road and the odd trail then cross firs the bill, anything where the trails get serious then MTB is the way to go. I'd personally avoid hybrid bikes, but that's just my opinion.
The Giant, looks ok. But again probably better spec'd bikes put there. I had a play on a Trek Crossrip a couple of months ago, that was decent, only had Sora gears but handled nicely and the braking was impressive. Being out in the states you might get Trek's cheaper than other here?

Monty Dog

CX/gravel bikes are much the same - just marketing people creating sub-niche e.g. I rode my CX race bike on a 100-mile gravel race, does that make it a gravel bike? You certainly don't need suspension IME - it adds unneccessary weight for little benefit. You might want to change the tyres for something more suited to your riding conditions e.g. a semi slick if riding tarmac/dry hardpack whereas you'll want a knobblier tyre for mud/looser conditions. Likewise, choice of gears depends on local terrain and your fitness - I'm taking a CX bike to Scotland for 2 weeks this weekend, and fitted a 36x24 MTB chainset as I'll be riding terrain not really suited to any type of bike!

Adamgt

Okay, so I'm not just saying this because I have my Sirrus for sale but I have owned 2 of those bikes and used them for the type of riding you mention.

I've found cyclocross bikes not particularly cheap as they are usually specced for racing and there's not as much choice around.

My crosstrail was a good bike but really it was just a mountain bike with bigger wheels cheaper parts. Might as well just get a proper hardtail mountain bike that will be cheaper and have a better spec. I rode this more or less always on gravel/dirt paths but then on the road a bit more so swapped for a sirrus.

I had a sirrus comp which was just great. Went well on the road and did gravel paths too. As someone said above, you really don't need suspension for gravel paths or other light offroading. In fact I had more fun riding the sirrus than the crosstrail because of the weight saving and being able to ride the trail faster. The sirrus is hardy enough to take it too, not like a road bike, they're pretty solid.

I ended up getting a sirrus elite recently (the comp was the wrong size for me) and it is a great bike. I have wider Schwalbe CX tyres to go on if I want to use on trails and Gatorskins for the road, the CXs are pretty good on the road too though.

So based on my experience, I'd recommend the sirrus. A good all round bike.

LIRider

This is great guys thanks so much..

I will look at all the options you have put forward and i know elveden so it sounds like the same thing i will doing just woodland trails nothing too hilly.

And the sirrus was high on list - i have heard good things about the niner RLT so def going to check that out too.

Once again thank you so much - appreciated

samsbike

Other bikes to add to your list, are the giant roam, genesis cdf, planet x kaffenback etc

garethrex

Blimey this bike milarky is a nightmare. I thought I'd have a little look around then pop out and get one, but no, there has to be millions of shiny bikes with differences that I don't understand. I wonder if anyone can help me, I cycle a lot, but up until now on a crusty old mountain bike. But as I am mostly on the road I'm think hybrid, along the lines of this thread. So far narrowed, maybe to:

Giant Roam 3 (this has v-brakes)
Merida Crossway 20 (this one has mech discs, but does that make a difference?)
Carerra Gryphon (much cheaper, but suspiciously so!)

All help and sage advice is much appreciated.

bigmul

Checkout the Boardman CX thread in commuting chat. I think it's up to around 110 pages now, should give plenty of advice there.

tangled_metal

I've got the specialized Crosstrail sport disc version or comp disc version I can't remember. Front suspension, 27 gears hydraulic brakes which are amazing compared to my old road bike brakes. Took me a bit too get used to as they used to stop too quickly sending me to the handlebars.
It's great for my commute to work with pannier and towpaths or other non-technical trails. It's not as fast as a road bike but it's surprised me how good it is on the road too. If you're not bothered about speed on the road but looking for something that can mix the terrain a bit.