Buying advice please

Andygrinding

Hi all, new to the forum so please go gently .
I'm selling my mountain bike and road bike and looking to buy a 'one bike to do it all' reason being that there aren't that many places to ride the mountain bike regularly in Lincolnshire and I'm starting to value my mortality more these days and would like to reduce the amount of road cycling. For these reasons I'm looking for a bike that will tackle some road riding, some forest tracks but mostly towpaths and gravel tracks etc we have some great cycle network routes round here. I really liked the look of the cannondale slate when they came out but now they seem to be unavailable in the UK?
I have an adventurous nature and therefore the idea of bikepacking appeals so whatever I buy it would be good if it is capable in that area too. Also I like the idea of 650b wheels with higher air volume tyres for comfort reasons but interestingly I read that they are surprisingly quick too. Budget is £1300
Bikes I've been looking at are:
Whyte Glencoe. I really like Whyte bikes and I think this one looks lovely. My issues with it are the hybrid brakes and the lack of a carbon fork.Also it's top of the budget.
Sonder Camino Al (Apex Hydraulic V2 in tarmac colour). Amazing value bike. I'm favoring this one as it has good reviews, brilliant spec and would certainly tick the adventure box. Only real downside is the frame doesn't look aesthetically as nice as the Whyte.
Would be interested to get the forums thoughts and opinions on these bikes and also any alternatives I may have missed whilst trawling the interweb.

sloppyschleckonds

Pinnacle Arkose

svetty

Andygrinding wrote:

I'm starting to value my mortality more these days and would like to reduce the amount of road cycling.

Andygrinding wrote:

I have an adventurous nature

? an element of contradiction here. Also slightly surprised that Lincolnshire with it's wealth of rural roads cannot provide road riding that isn't reasonably reassuring - certainly to the point where health benefits >> risks from an actuarial perspective. Accept YMMV however......

sam_anon

Svetty wrote:

Andygrinding wrote:

I'm starting to value my mortality more these days and would like to reduce the amount of road cycling.

Andygrinding wrote:

I have an adventurous nature

? an element of contradiction here. Also slightly surprised that Lincolnshire with it's wealth of rural roads cannot provide road riding that isn't reasonably reassuring - certainly to the point where health benefits >> risks from an actuarial perspective. Accept YMMV however......

a helpful reply to a perfectly valid query...

I bought a Pinnacle Dolomite and think it's great so the Arkose model line-up mentioned above would be worth looking at!

Andygrinding

Svetty - By 'adventurous nature' I meant I like the great outdoors and getting off the beaten track rather than having a death wish. The rural roads in Lincolnshire as elsewhere are great in terms of being flat and plentiful but it only takes one idiot to disregard a cyclists vulnerability and there are plenty of idiots on the roads. But thank you so much for your helpful input :-/

Andygrinding

Thanks for the advice on the Pinnacle Arkose range. I've had a look and really like the Arkose 4 as leaning towards a 1 x 11 sram gear set up but not so much the colour. It's a shame it doesn't come in black or grey.

Also in saying that the Sonder has similar spec but apex not rival and £400 cheaper.

shuttle_cock

There is a thread in my road bikes that someone is riding a Giant Tough Road, which looks good. I have a Giant Anyroad, ugly as hell, but great fun to ride on 38mm tyres.