I’m a trek guy, have an Emonda SL6 that I love and a FUEL EX that I also love. My natural instinct for a gravel bike is “they make the checkpoint” but not sure if there’s other stuff out there that maybe has more to offer. Gravel is a big world I don’t know, so does anyone have a Checkpoint SL and some feedback on it, or maybe some suggestions? I was thinking either get the SL6 and upgrade to Di2 or get the SL7
a friend has the SL6, he likes it. only complaint is it lacks some mounts which makes it difficult to use for bike packing trips.
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I don’t have one, so nothing specific to add, but you might be able to find more info from owners on this sub-reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/CheckpointClub/
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I have a Checkpoint SL5 and it’s my favorite bike I’ve ever owned. I chose it over my Madone 8 out of 10 times. I just raced it during the cedar blitz in Michigan and it was superb, and plan on using it for Barry Roubaix and CX come fall. Not sure how anyone can say it lacks mounts for bike packing, as it has fork, too tube, 3 bottle cage mounts, fender, and rear rack mounts. Not sure what questions you have but I’d be more than happy to try and help
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did trek update it? my friends has no fork mounts. he got it 2 years ago.
I can only assume they have. Unless there is differences between checkpoint models or something. I’m not an expert by any means
Awesome thanks. I’m wondering what’s so different between the SL5 and 6 for $850. I’d want to get di2 on there and GRX Di2 doesn’t seem too inexpensive which makes the SL7 kind of easy and has great wheels
Well the SL5 is clearly better because it comes in olive green 
. But seriously SL5 is a mix of RX 810 and 600 and comes with somewhat heavy alloy wheels. RX 600 doesn’t bother me, but I’m already looking to upgrading to carbon wheels. And with ENVE and Zipp quoting me 3/2022 for a full set, buying the SL6 or 7 would definitely be worth it. The 7 also has an upgraded cockpit, but I’m not sure what that entails.
My 2019 ALR 5 also has fork mounts 
For Anything Cages? All I’m seeing is a single bolt for a pannier rack.
I haven’t used them, but some guy on Reddit made Anything Cages work with something called a B-Rad. 
[e] This Trek guy also recommends B-Rads.
So you need to buy an intermediate device to actually mount something? Like I said, it lacks some proper mounts you would want for bikepacking.
You need an intermediate device to mount a specific third-party accessory, but like I said, I haven’t used the fork mounts at all.
I’m not interested in bike packing or commuting or sticking racks on the bike, so not a concern either way. I’m more so looking for something that can become my everyday bike for general riding and exploring and leave my Emonda as my weekend fast bike. Something I won’t care to get dirty or wet because I really baby the road bike
The SL6 seems like a good deal, though I really wanted electronic gears and it’s still GRX mech with those huge ugly shifters. Also has alum bars and seatmast but I have carbon versions of both here. The SL7 is nice too but I’m not all about the SRAM on it
I have a Checkpoint SL7 that I got a little over a year ago. It’s a great bike and I would highly recommend it. I’m not into bike packing and tend to ride it for longish (60 - 120 mile) weekend gravel rides on very hilly terrain and also use the bike for racing. I tend to wear a USWE pack, so don’t have a lot of stuff mounted on the bike other than a top tube bag, a Silca roll under the seat, and a couple of cages.
It’s a great bike but I made a few changes. I put on an Enve gravel bar which I love. It adds a bit more compliance, especially when down in the flared drops. I also swapped out the Bontrager rims for a set of Enve G23’s and this also dropped a lot of weight. The stock Aeolus Pro 3V are solid wheels, but significantly heavier than the Enve’s, so if you are doing a lot of climbing there is a big difference. The G23’s tend to soak up a lot of the rough stuff too.
I was skeptical of the SRAM Force brakes as I previously had bad experiences with older SRAM brakes on XC mountain bikes, but they have been outstanding with no issues all. Brake feel is great and they hold up during longer descents. The stock SRAM Force crank is easily upgraded to a Quarq PM but simply adding the PM spider. Nice not to have to replace the whole thing.
I’ve also got an Emonda (and a Super Caliber). The Checkpoint compliments these bikes really well. You can really change the character of the bike based on tire choice. I’ve ridden it on road rides when the Emonda was in the shop, and I’ve also tackled some pretty gnarly terrain on it as well when I wasn’t riding the Super Caliber. It’s pretty versatile.
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Awesome thank you! I looked and the weight of the 3v is comparable to my 50mm road wheels so not bad by MY standards. How did you like the stock tires? I expect the gravel one to become my main bike for shorter local rides or weekend adventures. I would anticipate out of 10 rides, 5-6 would be on the Checkpoint, 2-3 on the Emonda, and 1-2 on the FUEL EX, so I don’t want to get a low end model and not be happy with it.
How is the Eagle on the road? I have it on my MTB but with a 32t so never got it up to speed much on pavement, but having shared components would be nice, like derailleurs and cassette and chains.
In fairness I only used the stock tires for a couple of rides and switched out to GravelKing SK 38s early on. They are great tires and have held up well. Anecdotally they felt a lot faster than the stock Bontrager rubber, but I’ve got no data to back that up. I also have a set of GK SKs 43 for days on chunkier gravel. Currently I plan to ride these in Bentonville for Big Sugar in October.
Eagle on the road is what it is. It’s going to have some big jumps so you have to be flexible with your cadence. I’m fine with this since I also run in on the XC MTB bike, but some of my roadie friends would never touch it and prefer 2x for their gravel bikes. I prefer the simplicity of the 1x set up. One consideration is a 10-52T cassette. I did this on my Super Caliber since I plan to ride it at Leadville, but I still have the 10-50T on the Checkpoint. The 10-52T would let you up your front chainring size to give you a little more top end if you need it without sacrificing the steep hill bailout gear. One of my buddies did this on his Checkpoint and loves it. He also put on a blip box and some buttons so he can shift without moving his hands from the tops.
To be honest I think I’d be fine with the SL6, I prefer the Shimano shifting (just not those ugly as sin shifters) and I could get bars and stuff later. The only thing really holding me back from the SL7 is the SRAM, I just don’t like my AXS as much as my Di2
I have a 2020 Trek Checkoint SL5 and have absolutely loved it. I have two wheelsets for it, a road set and and a gravel set. I ride everything for road group rides to single track to gravel and everything in-between.
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What are some thoughts on 2x11 GRX vs 1x12 Force/Eagle combo? I’m leaning more for GRX because I like Shimano more, and the SL6 is considerable cheaper than SL7