Interested In A Gravel bike

blackstar500

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Currently on the look out for a winter or all weather bike as I currently commute each way 23 miles (twice a week) and Don't mind also using it for weekend ride. I would like to experience using bigger tyres not sure if bigger tyres are suitable for communting.

Kind of narrowed my choice to the below - Please help me .. only been riding for 1 year and half

Trek CrossRip 2 2017

Specialized Diverge Elite 2017

Genesis Croix de Fer 20 2017 Adventure Road Bike

Giant Revolt 3 2017

Mango point AR

Ribble CGR

plodder73

I've got an Orro Terra Gravel, really rate it, comes with 28mm tyres but space to go bigger.

w00dster

I do a lot of riding on bigger tyres throughout the year.
Personally I would ensure that the bike has hydraulic brakes and at least 40mm tyres. I know my examples below are Pinnacle but I wouldn't rule them out....

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-ar ... e-EV294853
https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-ar ... e-EV275624

kajjal

As above good tyre clearance allows you to fit road tyres or wider knobblier tyres. In the summer I run 33mm tracer pro tyres which work well for me on towpaths, byways and forestry tracks. In the winter I fit 25/28 roubaix pro tyres for road riding. It is only on rougher trails you have to slow down and can take a bit of a pounding but most are fine, I do a 50 mile mainly off road route on mine.

Hydraulic brakes really help as they provide much better braking than cable disc brakes.

If you are confident there are good second hand deals around on barely used bikes.

blackstar500

Kajjal wrote:

As above good tyre clearance allows you to fit road tyres or wider knobblier tyres. In the summer I run 33mm tracer pro tyres which work well for me on towpaths, byways and forestry tracks. In the winter I fit 25/28 roubaix pro tyres for road riding. It is only on rougher trails you have to slow down and can take a bit of a pounding but most are fine, I do a 50 mile mainly off road route on mine.

Hydraulic brakes really help as they provide much better braking than cable disc brakes.

If you are confident there are good second hand deals around on barely used bikes.

Which of the bikes were you referring too ?

kajjal

blackstar500 wrote:

Kajjal wrote:

As above good tyre clearance allows you to fit road tyres or wider knobblier tyres. In the summer I run 33mm tracer pro tyres which work well for me on towpaths, byways and forestry tracks. In the winter I fit 25/28 roubaix pro tyres for road riding. It is only on rougher trails you have to slow down and can take a bit of a pounding but most are fine, I do a 50 mile mainly off road route on mine.

Hydraulic brakes really help as they provide much better braking than cable disc brakes.

If you are confident there are good second hand deals around on barely used bikes.

Which of the bikes were you referring too ?

I have this diverge , the 2016 version :-

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes ... dsw/106644

Any similar bike would be fine.

w00dster

My requirements when buying my "adventure" bike was the ability to take 650b wheels so wide low pressure tubeless tyres, 1x drive train and lots of bosses for adding bottle cages, racks etc and hydraulic disk brakes.
I've previously had a Croix, decent enough frame, but heavy and mine had rubbish mechanical brakes, even upgraded to TRP Hybird Hydraulic things and stuff pap.
What do you class as wide tyres? And are you mainly wanting more comfort on the road or going "proper" off road at weekends?
I also have two Trek Domane's (carbon and alu), both take wide tyres and the Alu one 32mm with full guards. My Alu domane is currently set up with 33mm knobbly cross tyres and is ideal gentle off road riding. The carbon domane is just unreal in the levels of comfort and how smooth it is, obviously the 32mm tyres help along with the front and rear isospeed decouplers.
All of those bikes you mention will do the job, but I would have a think about your rides, where you can and will want to go, then decide on the minimum spec.
I like the Pinnacle's and also the Sonder Camino. There is also the Kona Sutra as another option. But that's meeting my requirements for a gravel bike which may differ to yours.
Try and get a test ride on a bike with 40 or 45mm tyres, Sonder do a try before you buy deal. It's great fun mixing your rides up with a mix of road and off road. Turning up at a local cycle cafe caked in mud with a huge grin is always amusing.

blackstar500

Quick update

Decided to go with this Specialised Sequoia https://www.specialized.com/gb/gb/116171

Not sure I would go off road yet , but the roads round my side is quite bad, I intend to use this for commuting and was wondering what is the minimum tyres one could get on this without losing the comfort or speed.

jason78

whats peoples thoughts on the cannonadale slate. so tempted

kajjal

I would possibly be concerned about replacement parts and how it performs on the road but appart from that if it rode well then it makes sense to me. I ride a diverge on a variety of off road trails and really enjoy it. The benefit is it is a lot faster on the road than my xc hardtail but you do take a beating on the very rough stuff.