Gravel Bike Buying Advice
I am thinking in buying a Gravel Bike with a price range between 2000 and 3000€. Currently I looked to Canyon Grail 8.0 and Specialized Diverge X1. I am thinking in Carbon bike but then got some people saying that it will be more important to use the 3000€ in a AL bike with top brakes and gears. Going one step back I am a beginner that wants to use the bike mainly in road and sometimes off-road but smooth off-road. So after evaluation cross-country, endurance or gravel I think Gravel maybe the best option for me.
So with those assumptions can you give me advices and recommendations on the best bike to buy?
Thanks.
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I'm also thinking of a gravel bike, to use mainly for the commute (50kms a day in London) but will also be used along towpaths and gravel paths in parks etc. I bought an aluminium CX bike 3.5 years ago which is my current commuter bike but I've never been completely happy with the geometry, which is making me think about a change.
Personally, I'm looking at steel frames, mainly for the ride feel and also partly robustness. Hydraulic disk brakes will be on my list (have them on both my other bikes and find them super reliable and excellent modulation when braking), also tubeless tyres, and mudguard eyelets too (not bothered about fitting a rack to the bike though).
Haven't looked at groupsets yet, but will be Shimano as that's all I ever have on my bikes. Not sure what the gravel-specific groupset is that they have in their range and why I'd favour that over Ultegra or 105, so will be looking into it.0 -
You need a Bokeh with Shimano GRX https://masoncycles.cc/products/bokeh-grx-di2kingstonian said:I'm also thinking of a gravel bike, to use mainly for the commute (50kms a day in London) but will also be used along towpaths and gravel paths in parks etc. I bought an aluminium CX bike 3.5 years ago which is my current commuter bike but I've never been completely happy with the geometry, which is making me think about a change.
Personally, I'm looking at steel frames, mainly for the ride feel and also partly robustness. Hydraulic disk brakes will be on my list (have them on both my other bikes and find them super reliable and excellent modulation when braking), also tubeless tyres, and mudguard eyelets too (not bothered about fitting a rack to the bike though).
Haven't looked at groupsets yet, but will be Shimano as that's all I ever have on my bikes. Not sure what the gravel-specific groupset is that they have in their range and why I'd favour that over Ultegra or 105, so will be looking into it.'Hello to Jason Isaacs'0 -
schlepcycling said:
Except I'm looking at steel.0 -
My only comment is that I hated the "super compact" 48-32 chainset on my Boardman ADV and swapped it for the 46-34 set up I had on my other bike. 16 teeth is way to big a gap (in my opinion), even more so as the chainrings get smaller.0
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schlepcycling said:
No probs, it looks like a decent bike.0 -
Cotic Escapade? Buy the frame and swap the bits over? If you're using it for commuting a more road orientated gear set up might be good rather than going for the gravel specific.kingstonian said:0 -
I've no idea what they are like to ride but the Wilier gravel range looks beautiful
Jareen- Alu, Jaroon - Steel, Jena-Carbon
https://www.wilier.com/en/my2020/world/endurance-bikes/gravel-bikes
Can often be found at reduced price on Wiggle0 -
Yeah, lots of thoughts going through my mind as to what to go for. I think what I'm going to end up doing is loads of research on the gravel bike scene and then decide whether it actually ticks all the boxes, rather than fully make my mind up now and just plough ahead which is my normal way of doing things !!!veronese68 said:0 -
Maybe we should go to a pub with CJ and LR then you can click the buy button after a skinful and some unwise advice.kingstonian said:
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veronese68 said:
Haha, beer would be an extremely bad influence on my purchasing decisions
Definitely up for a beer with you guys though in the near future.0 -
kingstonian said:
I'm also thinking of a gravel bike, to use mainly for the commute (50kms a day in London) but will also be used along towpaths and gravel paths in parks etc. I bought an aluminium CX bike 3.5 years ago which is my current commuter bike but I've never been completely happy with the geometry, which is making me think about a change.
Personally, I'm looking at steel frames, mainly for the ride feel and also partly robustness. Hydraulic disk brakes will be on my list (have them on both my other bikes and find them super reliable and excellent modulation when braking), also tubeless tyres, and mudguard eyelets too (not bothered about fitting a rack to the bike though).
Haven't looked at groupsets yet, but will be Shimano as that's all I ever have on my bikes. Not sure what the gravel-specific groupset is that they have in their range and why I'd favour that over Ultegra or 105, so will be looking into it.
Have you looked at the Fairlight Secan?kingstonian said:I'm also thinking of a gravel bike, to use mainly for the commute (50kms a day in London) but will also be used along towpaths and gravel paths in parks etc. I bought an aluminium CX bike 3.5 years ago which is my current commuter bike but I've never been completely happy with the geometry, which is making me think about a change.
Personally, I'm looking at steel frames, mainly for the ride feel and also partly robustness. Hydraulic disk brakes will be on my list (have them on both my other bikes and find them super reliable and excellent modulation when braking), also tubeless tyres, and mudguard eyelets too (not bothered about fitting a rack to the bike though).
Haven't looked at groupsets yet, but will be Shimano as that's all I ever have on my bikes. Not sure what the gravel-specific groupset is that they have in their range and why I'd favour that over Ultegra or 105, so will be looking into it.0 -
@london-red @cjcp it seems we have a civic duty to drink beer and advise on this purchase.kingstonian said:
Haha, beer would be an extremely bad influence on my purchasing decisions
Definitely up for a beer with you guys though in the near future.0 -
Never had a gravel bike but isn't the cannondale topstone supposed to be one of the best gravel bikes?
OP it's within your budget so definitely worth looking at.0 -
Thanks for replies, and sorry to insist, but I have some doubts about buying a Gravel or a Cross Country. In terms of Gravel I was thinking in this one https://www.canyon.com/pt-pt/road-bikes/gravel-bikes/grail/grail-cf-sl-8.0/2375.html. As alternative I was thinking on this Cross Country https://www.canyon.com/pt-pt/mountain-bikes/cross-country-bikes/exceed/exceed-cf-sl-8.0/2429.html?dwvar_2429_pv_rahmengroesse=M&dwvar_2429_pv_rahmenfarbe=RD/WH. What do you think about each one? Are there better alternatives for the price? I considered other brands like Specialized, Canondale but IMOH it seems that Canyon has the best price for the value.
Thanks0 -
Thanks for replies, and sorry to insist, but I have some doubts about buying a Gravel or a Cross Country. In terms of Gravel I was thinking in this one https://www.canyon.com/pt-pt/road-bikes/gravel-bikes/grail/grail-cf-sl-8.0/2375.html. As alternative I was thinking on this Cross Country https://www.canyon.com/pt-pt/mountain-bikes/cross-country-bikes/exceed/exceed-cf-sl-8.0/2429.html?dwvar_2429_pv_rahmengroesse=M&dwvar_2429_pv_rahmenfarbe=RD/WH. What do you think about each one? Are there better alternatives for the price? I considered other brands like Specialized, Canondale but IMOH it seems that Canyon has the best price for the value.
Thanks0 -
To throw a spanner into the works,
Steel eh...kingstonian said:
https://www.wingedstore.com/complete-bikes/nemo-gravel-bicycle-2019-rival-1x-1127.html0 -
step83 said:
To throw a spanner into the works,
Steel eh...
https://www.wingedstore.com/complete-bikes/nemo-gravel-bicycle-2019-rival-1x-1127.html
Ooooh, now that is nice
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Very nice, but you could get a very nice whole bike for the price of that frame, or even a nice Ti frame.kingstonian said:
But it is very, very nice.0 -
The size guide is interesting. At a titchy 193cm it seems I wouldn't even make it on to an XS.
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I think most would struggle to meet an XS.mrb123 said:
The size guide is interesting. At a titchy 193cm it seems I wouldn't even make it on to an XS.
An yes you could easily pickup a full Ti for that money, but its a proper Italian so you pay extra (Italian tax) and now added flu tax.0 -
Going down the Ti route would get you this for your budgethttps://reillycycleworks.com/products/gradient-completeVaaru Titanium Sram Red eTap
Moda Chord with drop bars and Rival shifters - winter/do it all bike
Orbea Rise0 -
I bought my Grail 8.0 CF SL about a month ago and it's a fabulous bike.
I have been cycling for 6 years and do about 6,000 miles a year and also own a Canyon Aeroad, I live in Norfolk near High Lodge (just google it, Thetford Forest.)
As an all round bike I would say its pretty much perfect.
It's not as quick as my Aeroad, I did a the same 20 mile loop on both bikes one after the other, the Grail was 4 minutes slower with an average of 19.1mph and the Aeroad did a 20.4 average. But you never would expect the Grail to be faster than an aero road bike.
The Grail was really smooth on the road and I could feel it rolling slower than the Aeroad.
I have also done a 40mile road ride on the Grail and where as it is more than capable as road bike it feel like it started to get hard work after about 40 miles of just tarmac use, I had 70psi in the tyres too.
But using it as intended it is a fantastic bike to ride. My rides on it so far are about 40 miles, with about a 60/40 mix of gravel/ single track and road
On gravel/ fire tracks it is fast and I can average about about 17-20mph on them. The hover bars are brilliant and really does smooth it out, as is the split seat post, but sometimes you can feel the seat post flex when you are climbing on the road and some of the force goes into that and not to the pedals.
On single track is ok if it is fairly smooth but rutts and tree roots become slow and naderagery.
The spec and quality of the bike is great especially for the money. I have gone for the GRX 810 with 48/31 and 10/34, the clutch on rear mech is good with no chain slap at all and its always gone into gear with no problems even in 6 inches of Norfolk's finest slime mud! It also has the DT Swiss Ali rims, its about 1.5 kgs heavier than my Aeroad.
My only gripe is that it comes tubeless ready but with no tubeless valves. So you have to spend another £10-15 on valves if you want to run tubeless + sealant.0 -
I'd strongly look at the ORBEA Terra M20-D 1X (or 2x speed if you wish). A very fast, competent gravel bike by all accounts/ reviews that can hold it's own on the road too.
About £2.5k for the stock version. Epic Cycles also offer a wheel upgrade at discounted rate, and will probably also do best price if you contact them. I'm probably looking at getting one of these in the foreseeable.
Oh, and if you don't fancy one of the 3 stock colours, you can design your own frame colour scheme for free....0 -
As a beginner, I'd suggest you buy something like a Cannondale Topstone 105. It gets great reviews and would make an ideal starting point for you.ivo.jorge said:Thanks for replies, and sorry to insist, but I have some doubts about buying a Gravel or a Cross Country. In terms of Gravel I was thinking in this one https://www.canyon.com/pt-pt/road-bikes/gravel-bikes/grail/grail-cf-sl-8.0/2375.html. As alternative I was thinking on this Cross Country https://www.canyon.com/pt-pt/mountain-bikes/cross-country-bikes/exceed/exceed-cf-sl-8.0/2429.html?dwvar_2429_pv_rahmengroesse=M&dwvar_2429_pv_rahmenfarbe=RD/WH. What do you think about each one? Are there better alternatives for the price? I considered other brands like Specialized, Canondale but IMOH it seems that Canyon has the best price for the value.
Thanks0 -
Edit - duplicate post.0
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I wouldn't spend a fortune on a gravel bike - if you are using it off road then it's going to pick up a lot of grit and muck which will wear the kit on it faster and if you are pushing things you'll probably take a few tumbles.
I wouldn't buy a heavy steel bike either - I did that and I think I preferred the old cyclocross bike I used for this type of riding - well apart from the cantilever brakes that barely worked. If I was looking now I'd just get a cross bike in fact - if I wanted to do a lot of off road I'd get a MTB.
[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
I bought a Spesh Diverge earlier this year, the 2019 Expert X1 at a big discount. It replaced a 5 year old Boardman CX. I absolutely love it!
I went out yesterday for a road ride with a mate who only had a short time to get out, when we parted I was in two minds as to how to finish the ride, road or gravel. I took the very satisftying gravel option. You just can't beat the versatility of them.
I'd certainly recommend the Diverge.0 -
Hey Guys
I am considering Niner RLT vs Mason Bokeh frameset and am concerned mostly with the differences with handling from geometry. I am not bothered re frame material.
Use case would be 200m national park beside Barcelona - lots of 5-6% fireroad and plenty of smooth single track. So hoping to build up the frameset with 1x 650b and dropper post. Would also like to take on flatter/rolling bikepacking trips. Realise 1x will be compromise for that.
Can you guys take a peek below and let me know how you'd guess the Mason differs in handling from the Niner? Thanks!
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If you are comparing a 56cm Niner, then the closer Bokeh sizing would be the 56cm. The stack and reach allow you to compare best, and the 56cm Bokeh with 2x5mm spacers under the handlebars would be almost identical to the Niner.
Handling wise - wheelbase is almost the same, head angle and seat angle are both the same.0