REVIEW- GT Carbon Grade 105

chris217

This should probably be in the Cyclo cross section but may appeal to some roadies so here goes....

Basically was looking at the GT and the Spesh Divrge , didnt manage to tes the Diverge but was £750 more so was left with the GT.

quick summary; " immense fun with a serious side "

my first ride , bit of a remake of the GT advert !!! i did everything bit of road and any opportunity i went off road over some mud tracks ended up on some pretty gnarly singletrack and it handled it all well

its not a racer, of course, but very responsive , great on the road despite its off road prowess - climbs really well and has great traction on all surfaces.
pretty comfortable but surprisingly its also pretty stiff too and great out of the saddle really surging forward each stroke

the ride position is a little higher than a normal road bike given the increased crown to axle length to cater for the off road bit but this does not hinder its road going effectiveness , its feels like you could ride and ride and ride some more as you can get into a really comfortable position

suffice to say i am pretty impressed i started out questioning the purpose of the gravel / adventure bike explosion , but i kind of get it and i like it

Finally this will probably get the Mods twitching but the Carbon 105 version are reduced to £1750 on a certian online retailer that rhymes with Giggle !!!!

cheers

luv2ride

Glad to hear you're liking it. "Giggle" had the last carbon 105 2015 mediums in at £999 a few weeks ago (or perhaps a few quid more). I procrastinated and they'd all gone by the time I'd convinced myself to pull the trigger. FWIW I think gravel bikes make huge sense in the uk. For now though I'm making do with my Crosslight Pro6 disc, and new gravel single speed with hydro brakes. Still wish I'd clicked "buy" on the GT Grade though :?

Enjoy...

Fat-Boy-Roubaix

I have the Ultegra and my LBS got in to me for £2300 this included mudguards and two 25mm Tubeless Ones.

My main bike was a Supersix Evo Red - this GT Grade weighs in around 1.75kg more with my gear on it.

I have slammed it as far as I could but will order a slammed Headset as it was a little upright for me and I shortened the 115mm stem to 90mm

On the road its feel pretty good, not quite on par with the Supersix but not that far short. Done 500 odd miles on it and it takes me all of that to get the position dialed in. So far I am impressed, in fact very impressed. The bike radar review nailed it to be honest, I am never going to race so this type of bike is perfect really for everyday use. The Standard kit on it is pretty impressive for the price mark, Stans ZTR Grails on DT240s hubs, Praxis BB conversion. I could shave some more weight with Stem and bars but not much elsewhere.

I am really pleased with it, although I do think it is a bit fugly - if this was branded Cannondale\Specialized it would be getting rave reviews everywhere. I just wanted a bike I could enjoy riding in the winter, and I definitely got that.

milleman

Very interesting reviews, thanks for posting.

Looking for a winter/gravel bike with discs and have been reading some good reviews on this bike. Not seen one in the "flesh" so think that's the next step.

kajjal

I would give one a test ride, my diverge is very smooth on road and eats up the miles. Also until the going gets rough or muddy faster than my mountain bike off road. Breaking every strava PB downhill on road on it due to being smooth with good disc brakes.

chris217

thanks Luv and Fat, yes I am still tweaking / dialling in the ride position

despite all the positives.....I actually had a bit of lower back ache after my last ride ( think the saddle was too high and a bit more stretched out ) but otherwise really does make me consider selling my Defy Advanced

happy Christmas and New Year All !!!

meanredspider

I looked at the Grade but decided on the Jamis Renegade Elite as the spec is slightly better (wheels in particular) for similar money. I agree though that gravel/adventure bikes make a lot of sense in the UK - mine's been doing a lot of Highlands fire road this Xmas and a fair bit of MTB climbs - it's also encouraged me to take some much rougher routes on my commute that are both quieter but more interesting. Yes, it's only a road bike with discs, guards and wide tyres but the point is that it IS a road bike with discs, guards and wide tyres and not something I need to convert from something else. It's also NOT a CX bike - I don't like CX geometry or the CX chain set - the Jamis is lower at the BB and quite tall and slack up front.

The 35c Clement Xplor tyres mean it's harder to develop speed than the 25c tyres on the Foil - but they're great all-surface tyres: not frustratingly slow on tarmac (thanks to more-or-less continuous middle band) but sure-footed on mud, gravel and rocks and good a lovely smooth ride on anything but the roughest surfaces. I was to try tubeless but they're still difficult to get hold of.

The one clear conclusion I have made is what a complete waste of time and space thru axles are. They are slower and more fiddly to fit than QR and offer absolutely no benefit. My Volagi is disc-braked and I've had it nearly 5 years so I have a great comparison on a road frame. None of the suggested benefits are there: I get just as much disc-rub on hard, standing climbs; the wheels take just as much effort to fit and the rear takes much longer; I've also had a thru axle come loose which was probably my fault for not properly tightening it but I've never had this issue with QR. And then, of course, my BB-based workstand doesn't allow for TA. I can bodge it to make it work but I can imagine there are various bike carriers, stands and tools that won't work. I sincerely hope that this change gets killed off for road bikes. I'm all for innovation but it does need to work.

Finally, this is my first full-hydro disc braked road bike. The V has had BB7 and then TRP Hy-Rd. The hydros are very very good. It has also convinced me that 160mm rotors on the rear would be overkill on the road. They make sense on an off-road bike for loose surface descents where most of your braking is on the rear but on the road they are very easy to lock, especially with any braking on the front. 160F and 140R works well on the road.

Anyhow, like the OP, I'm a fan of gravel/adventure bikes. If I hadn't bought the Jamis I'd have bought the Grade.

hypster

I bought a GT Grade Carbon Ultegra a few months back to use as my main training bike, to be used year-round. A great bike and really comfortable but the only thing I'm still not sure about is the height of the front end. I think if I'd had a test ride first I would possibly been put off but I couldn't find a tester in my size - XL. I wanted a bike with disc brakes and mudguard eyes and clearance so went for the Grade on the basis of a number of good reviews.

The other bikes I was considering were the Cannondale Synapse Disc and the Trek Domane Disc but as it turns out they both have the same longer headtube so would have similar endurance geometry. I guess I'll just have to get used to it but it makes switching between bikes interesting!

The spec of the bike is really nice though and I agree with everything MeanRedSpider says about hydraulic discs and also the through axle. I have had QR on all my mountain bikes for years and never felt the need for TA and can't see any particular advantage for it on road bikes to be honest. The prolifeation of TA standards and sizes will also be a pain going forward as well I think.

Fat-Boy-Roubaix

Slamming the stem gets you a fair bit lower - also I found shortening the stem made it fit better. I went for 90mm I think I will get 100mm but the standard 115 was definitely overkill! Also once I have properly slammed the headset if that still feels upright I might look at a negative stem. AS per above the most peculiar thing as above having done 15k on my Supersix and that being down to the headset without any backache I am getting a slight one on this!

I forgot about the Hydros' easily done as they are fire and forget. The weather in the 4 weeks I have had it I would have churned my way through a set of pads and fair few mm of expensive alu on my wheels. Also covered the bike in that grey sludge. Then there is the braking which is fantastic.

Like MRS I hate CX bikes on the road, I bought a Boardman to do this job in 2011 and regretted it within the first week and spent quite a while trying to adjust it (polish a turd imo) to do this job, and failed - gave up. I found every ride I was longing for my then best bike a Specialized Roubaix.. I spent months researching bikes as I was so put off by the Boardman and was convinced that there was not a bike to take 'guards and disc brakes that I wouldn't mind taking the covers off in October and riding for 5 months.

I am so convinced about hydro discs that I am now looking at the Focus Ixalco Max for my summer ride! Just the fact that you can spend ££££'s on wheels and then not spend 6 months grinding them away appeals.

chris217

great comments guys,
Mean Red : i looked at the Jamis and had i managed to get to see one in the flesh , may have bought one as i like the similar frame structure to the old Giant Defy and looks comfortable

anyway pretty happy with the Grade but still interested in any reports from people who have ridden / owned the Spesh Diverge ....interested in comparison

cheers

chris217

P.S. full hydraulic brakes are fantastic ...actually have mech TRP Spyres on my Defy but the Shimano's on the Grade are way better / exceptional ...memories of the Hope Mini's i used to have on my MTB in early 2004 !!!