Ok…I get the answer generally is “YES” but hear me out I sold my gravel bike last year and got a new SuperSix Evo since road riding is much more convenient right from my front door. I’m having some serious FOMO for gravel riding through so I’ve been thinking about buying a new gravel bike in the $3-4k USD range. I’m 6’5" so finding good used bikes has been a challenge and there are some decent (but not crazy) deals out there now. I can afford the bike so money isn’t the concern.
I feel like there’s some unease out there with tariffs etc (not trying to get political) and maybe with bike sales struggling there could be deals later in the year. It also seems like we’re sort of at a turning point where gravel bikes will be coming out with bigger clearance and UDH standard (thus more future proof). There’s likely new Shimano Di2 1x stuff and new Force/Rival (with Red trickle down tech) on the horizion.
This makes me feel like the smart move is to wait and see what happens, but that might mean missing some good riding for a while (but I’ll still be riding plenty on road with my SuperSix).
What do you think? Anyone else potentially in the market but not sure what to do?
IDK. For me, the most important thing is to be doing the riding I want to be doing, so I have bikes suitable for that. If I didn’t, I’d buy a bike with the necessary characteristics. I figure the current tech is plenty good and wouldn’t be too concerned about upcoming stuff, the benefits of which are mostly illusory anyway. As far as huge tire clearance and UDHs, there are already plenty of gravel bikes with those characteristics, so if those are necessities, there’s no reason to wait. I can’t comment on the economics.
I shall think there’s always something to think about in the future, that’s the purpose of innovation and marketing. I feel that in the end, if you have a need or deep want to get a new bike and you can get it for a price that you feel comfortable with knowing you might be missing out on something in the year later, go for it. None of us can predict the economy.
I sold computers and IT stuff for decades. I hated clients and customers that would use the ‘but what about the future?’ question. Yeah, what about it? If you are worried about it being outdated, don’t buy anything as everything is outdated as soon as it’s released for purchase.
But for the OP: If you can find the bike you need, buy it. Hopefully there aren’t a lot of tariffs ladled on it, and you can get your N+1 for the team. As for predicting the economy, I think people can predict the future if nothing major changes. ears of crap and recession, possible depression. Think about it: For YEARS politicians have been talking about a depression coming, and it looks like it could really happen. If WW3 starts looking more possible, the economies of the world are already, or rapidly spiraling down. So at some point, being prepared is smart, but also planning for a more positive future makes a heck of a lot of sense too. For me, currently I’m looking at splurging on a gas/hybrid vehicle to hopefully hedge the future for higher fuel costs. None of our vehicles are hybrids currently, and one is a gas guzzler actually.
But at least a bike can also be used for transportation if fuels become scarce. And why do I have such a rosy outlook for the future? I read quite a bit of ‘Project 2025’, and it’s a horrific future if all of that comes to pass. There won’t be much of our current daily lives that isn’t warped and uprooted if they are able to do what they think they can.
My opinion is the best time would have been before Xmas. Deals on frames etc.
Now that the economy is shrinking and people don’t have a lot of confidence about the future it might be a time to find a deal. I say look for that deal. Your LBS might be looking to shed some inventory to pay the rent.
I’d say it’s just as likely as bikes going on sale in a year as going up a good chunk in price. No one knows, but I definitely wouldn’t rely on a hopeful sale to wait.
I think your suggestion of the Lauf in the other thread was good. UDH, good clearance, and one of the best values on gravel bikes.
Further north the riding season is just getting started. I feel like you’ve got a lot more to lose by waiting, than you do to gain.
If I found a deal like that I wouldn’t have started the thread From what I can see on FB/Pinkbike, people are asking way too close to retail!
That’s kind of where I’m leaning but I have some minor reservations about Rival right now with the possibility of a Force update coming soon. I had Force AXS on my last gravel bike and loved the shifting but was not impressed with the brakes. Everyone raves about the new Red levers and if the new Force is anything like those, it would really be worth waiting.
I know it’s not a gravel bike, but it is a capable bike. I can fit 38s on mine comfortably. You could throw on some knobby 35s and handle a decent amount if you want to wait for a true gravel bike. I actually did a few CX races on my SuperSix this past year on 33mm CX tires. The SuperSix has crazy clearance for a road bike. Not sure what the gravel is like around you, but I have a set of GP5000 AS TR on mine in 35c (inflate to a little over 36mm) and ride 95% of the roads around me, gravel included.
That said, there’s never a “right” or “wrong” time to buy a bike in my opinion. If it makes you happy and you can afford it, go for it. The new Cannondale SuperX looks sick. I wanted a new bike for no other reason that I wanted one, so I bought it. No regrets. I got my SuperSix on sale but I probably would have paid full price and still been happy. It brings me joy every ride I do. And that’s priceless in my opinion.
I was thinking about this. I think a 38 would work up front and maybe 36 in the back (currently on Reserve 52 63 wheels). Might get a cheap set of wheels to keep set up with knobby 35’s like you suggested. Appreciate the tips!!
I think the SuperSix could handle a few of the gravel events locally that I’ve done but some are definitely too rough and/or would require serious climbing gears.
I don’t believe it will. I have a 2022, size 54, and 35c Gravelking SS+ on the stock alloy rims (17mm IW I think, pretty narrow in any case) rub on the chainstays. Maybe the newer generation is roomier.
Agreed, unless you have for sure knowledge of something coming out soon (next 6 months or so) that you know either will add meaningful benefit to your usage or will somehow make the other options obsolete (this almost never happens) then that question really doesn’t matter. There will always be something new.
I bought a new bike last year because I thought it was a good deal. And I helped my GF do the same a couple years ago. I didn’t know things were going to get worse for the market and I might have been able to get a better deal.
I have zero regrets. I have been riding the crap out of my new bike instead of wishing I had a new bike, cursing at how best my old bike was, and cursing the stupid tubes I keep replacing.
(Wanted tubeless and disc brakes, and didn’t want to invest any more money into my old Supersix Evo)
If it’s the Siegla I wouldn’t let groupset put me off - swapping that out in 6-12 months isn’t a ‘should have waited’ kind of situation if it means you’ve got something you’ll ride between now and then. Certainly not in the same way that UDH or clearance would be.
Sea Otter is next week and Unbound is in ~8 weeks. I don’t have a realistic sense of how product launch timelines might coincide with those two events but they are the dates I’d have in mind when thinking about how long I might have to wait to get a fairly complete picture of what 2025 releases might have in store.
I sold my gravel bike last year and got a new SuperSix Evo since road riding is much more convenient right from my front door. I’m having some serious FOMO for gravel riding through so I’ve been thinking about buying a new gravel bike in the $3-4k USD range. I’m 6’5" so finding good used bikes has been a challenge and there are some decent (but not crazy) deals out there now. I can afford the bike so money isn’t the concern.