I’m new to the forum. Subscribed this year for trainerroad to improve my bike.
Can I please get an advice if you have ridden any gravel/adventure bike or cyclocross bike as I’m in the market for one as I have gravel event 130km in 4 months.
I have a tri bike that I train on the indoor and a rim brake road bike.
My goal for this bike are the following:
endurance ride
sportive events
road and offroad riding like parks and discover areas where less cars are involved for safety reasons
all year around bike
I have been doing my research and looking around the forum. I also have my numbers from my bike fitter regarding stack and reach.
Im looking at the following:
trek checkpoint alr5 or domane sl5
norco search xr alloy or carbon
giant revolt
canyon grail alloy version
I just realised that having a tri bike, road bike and adding a gravel adventure bike is not ideal for me. I would rather sell my road bike and get a gravel or cyclo cross bike. I hope this make sense.
Appreciate the feedback if you own the following bikes above and your experience from roadie to gravel riding or cyclo cross to do all your riding.
Many thanks again. I live in Sydney Australia by the way so cars are not a big fan of cyclists on the road.
When I was going through the same process a few years ago I looked at the Checkpoint and the Revolt but not the others you mentioned. I ultimately decided to go with a Salsa Warbird and couldn’t be happier. Super comfortable to me, fast on the dirt and enough to keep up with all but the fastest group rides.
I’m now on my second Warbird. The first one was 1x and wanted to go back to 2x. It came with 700c wheels with 42mm tires. In less than a week I’ll be taking those 42’s off and replacing them with 28mm road tires. That will happen as soon as my new DT Swiss 650b wheels arrive.
FYI, if it’s the Warbird V4 (2019 and newer), the minimum recommended tire size is a 32mm. 28mm will be lower to the ground and increase risk of pedal strikes. You can run what you want, but just thought I’d mention it.
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately the warbird seems popular in my area and the frames are sold out. Ultegra specs are a bit outside of my budget. Thanks again.
More road but since i have a park nearby i don’t mind riding around the oval and back on the road. I know there will be compromise as there’s no one bike to do it all. Hope it makes sense.
Just a note, but you probably don’t want a pure cyclocross bike for what you’re describing. The geometry seems to be moving the opposite direction from gravel bikes.
Thank you. I was looking at the canyon website a few months ago and I believe the grail al won’t be available until August - early september if I opt for XS size. It should be enough time to adapt to the position.
Is there a difference in geometry between cyclocross and gravel bike apart from you can go wider tyres for the gravel bike?
Would the weight distribution on the cyclocross bike more on the front end vs rear end on the gravel bike?
My road bike is on a hybrid set up due to that I preferred the open hip angle when pedalling (tt bike position) and I feel a bit more weight on the front end.
Cross bikes are made for racing cross - shorter wheelbase, shorter reach. Also generally aero isn’t a consideration in cross. UCI tyre width restrictions mean they only need to be able to run 33mm tyres, but as you want as much mud clearance as you an get, they often can fit wider tyres too. Also they likely won’t have mudguard or rack mounting points.
You can obviously ride both types of bikes, but might be worth looking at the geometry chart to decide what you like.
Of those, get the one with the best paint and that’s available. I’d add the Topstone to your lost too.
Id also suggest saving money on the bike and getting a 2nd wheelset/tire / a bunch of accessories / other stuff. You don’t need the best frame in this space. Definitely toss the tires from those bikes and get something like the Conti Terra Speed / Gone allaround for mixed riding.
I have the giant revolt advanced pro 2. I bought the base model so I could upgrade - which I did and it’s been awesome. If I was to buy a bike today I’d also look at the diverge and the topstone as they are doing so great things around suspension. Of course - the best advice is - find a bike, buy it and ride!
What’s really great about these bikes is the multi use. I’m spending a lot of time in the roads and riding 36mm tires is awesome.
Crossbike geometry is everywhere. Euro style (https://www.ridley-bikes.com/product/x-bow-disc/#/customise/70406396?basketIndex=0) has a super high bottom bracket and move everything higher . US Style has about the same geometry as a main-stream performance road bike, but with slightly more room for tires. The top tubes are usually level and the cables are traditionally routed across the top of the top tube, so you can carry the bike easier. As a result they typically won’t ride as well as a gravel bike because it has less exposed seat post. You also can’t run frame /tt bags as well. Newer CX bikes probably won’t let your run anything but 1x. Most can run 38c tires now.
Gravel bike uses endurance bike geometry (1cm short and higher than performance road bike). More mounts, more luxury.
Aside from the 1x only cx bikes, they both make fine road bikes with road tires. The other exception might be the more MTB gravel bikes with the longer, slacker geometry, which won’t draft as well.
Norco search xr was one of my top list for endurance/ all around bike until I ended up with rim road bike. Does your partner ride on the road or more on gravel? I wonder if the bike will take road tyres or better of to stick with the tyre that comes with it? Thanks again!
