I’ve been idly looking at adventure road bikes and wondered if it’s possible to get a carbon framed like, hydraulic braked version for under £1000 so you could get it on the cycle to work scheme?
Are there any bikes like that or there?
I know getting a good bike is more important than arbitrary spec checklists but just out of curiosity!

Planet x or on one?
Edit: nope

You can get a few hydro-disced road bikes for £1k. You can get some carbon bikes for £1k, but not both. Hydro discs are just to expensive.

Boardman do a CX with hydros for £1k if any use? Aluminium frame though, think you’l struggle for carbon and hydros sub £1k

Why carbon? Cheap carbon is usually a bit crap. Go for alu on that budget.

At the risk of being sensible, why hydraulic brakes too.

The BB7 mechanical on my Giant Revolt are brilliant and more than enough for road and bridleway use.

I think this is the first year of bikes (talking RRP at least) under £1000 with hydro discs, eg Arkose 3. Will take a bit more “trickle down” to cheaper groupsets before we’ll see a carbon framed one.

hydros for me as they’re more powerful and also less need for adjustment as the pads wear

Arkose 3 looks like it was made for someone wanting a hydro disc “adventure” bike for a grand on CTW.

thanks all, that’s pretty much what i thought! i don’t really care about frame material tbh, i’d rather test the bike and know that it’s good than worry about specs but just wanted to check in case i’d missed anything.

Arkose 3 definitely at the top of the list to look at.

I’m looking at something similar to use mainly as a winter road/wet weather road bike but not bothered about carbon.

I’ve got the Akrose on my list as well as the PX London road, the Boardman CX and Eastway Balun C1, no idea what to buy though!

Arkose 3 looks like it was made for someone wanting a hydro disc “adventure” bike for a grand on CTW.

Yep, I have the current Arkose 3, bought on C2W – ally frame (very nice one) with Carbon forks.
I do really like it – and the brakes are awesome, totally on another level to my ‘dry weather’ road bike.

My only slight grips are –

Despite the brakes being super powerful, the levers/hoods are a very odd, and slightly uncomfortable shape – nowhere near as nice as the 10-speed 105 levels on my other bike.

The front end is very stiff – and can be quite hard going on crap roads – this is noticeable when compared to the ride comfort on my Giant Defy.
However, the Defy has very thick bar tape, with pads underneath – I’m going to replicate this on the Arkose and see if it helps.

If you want a bike that will really do everything I’d recommend it – loads of tyre clearance, mounts for rack/guards/etc, nice build quality, etc.
If you just want a winter road bike (which in hindsight – is all I probably really needed) than I think there maybe better choices for the money.

I’ve got the Akrose on my list as well as the PX London road, the Boardman CX and Eastway Balun C1, no idea what to buy though!

I discounted the London Road mostly due to not wanting a SRAM build.
I discounted the Boardman as I wanted rack/guard mounts, and didn’t want CX gearing, or a SRAM groupset.
Not seen the Eastway.

The Revolt is a very-underplayed bike. I’m genuinely surprised not to see more of them.

At the risk of being sensible, why disk brakes too.

The Cantis on my tourer are brilliant and more than enough for road and summer bridleway use.

If you want hydraulic brakes then cable brake’s won’t really be a substitute.

(I do genuinely like my canti’s though)

At the risk of being sensible, why disk brakes too.

There is the arguable benefit that if you’re taking a bike off road through gritty puddles then having the braking surface away from the rim is useful.

I say arguable as there are still a few puddle around and my discs were making a right old racket yesterday so even with a central rotor the grit gets everywhere. Easier to replace a rotor than a rim I guess.

Just not convinced for road\adventure that hydraulic poooowwweerrrrr is really necessary. I don’t race and I’m not fast so maybe I just don’t need it. 🙂

Agree on the revolt – I’ve got one (Revolt 2 from last year) and it’s ace. Now selling it to pay for new wheels for my next commuter

May consider another Revolt (probably the 1 this time for the better drivetrain – the Sora is good but I can’t get used to having a triple ring)

Btw – the TRP Spyres are really quite good

The Revolt is a very-underplayed bike. I’m genuinely surprised not to see more of them.

Best no fuss bike I’ve owned. Genuinely impressed.

I wasn’t doubting disks are better to a large extent, just that a lot of it is in the head of the person buying/riding it. I’d put money on most people never getting through £1k worth of rims in the lifetime of a bike, but still using it to justify a new £1k bike.

And if the conditions are good enough to make a gravel bike usable off road (as opposed to a CX bike with big mud clearances) then the ‘disks work in the wet’ argument is neither hear nor there because it’s not wet (this also assumed the average MTB’er will actually ever go out riding on the road in the rain).

I like my bike with cantis, like others like theirs with BB7’s, but if starting from a clean sheet I can’t see much reason to not go with the best solution to the problem (even if I don’t entirely agree that the problem really exists).

Do the Shimano hydros have the equivalent of servo-wave, so there is a decent gap to the rotor ?

Otherwise I will take the adjustability of cables so I can set a decent gap and not have rubbing brakes in the mud.

The main problem with the Revolt is the aesthetics, it’s not a looker!

I have an Arkose 2, which at the time (I had my 1 year old email through the other day) was the only gravel style bike I could find with hydro brakes and mudguard and rack mounts. 1×10 with a bar end shifter has been reliable and great, no issues from me at all

Unfortunately they’ve since dropped it and have changed the Arkose 2 model, so Arkose 3 is the natural option

Do the Shimano hydros have the equivalent of servo-wave, so there is a decent gap to the rotor ?

Otherwise I will take the adjustability of cables so I can set a decent gap and not have rubbing brakes in the mud.

I have shimano hydraulic brakes on 2 bikes – my ‘gravel/adventure’ CDF30, and my Defy. I have never had rubbing brakes in the wet on either of them. The CDF in particular has been through some horrid conditions.

And if the conditions are good enough to make a gravel bike usable off road (as opposed to a CX bike with big mud clearances)

Is there really a difference? I thought it was more of a geometry thing (“sportive” headtubes with CX tyre clearance) than a tyre clearance thing that differentiated between “gravel” and cx. There are lots of “endurance” road bikes that have discs and clearance for 28 or 30mm tyres, but they’re not “gravel” bikes.

then the ‘disks work in the wet’ argument is neither hear nor there because it’s not wet (this also assumed the average MTB’er will actually ever go out riding on the road in the rain).

I’d say it was the opposite, that MTBers were using these types of bikes to ride because the trails were completely waterlogged and they were saving the MTB for the dry weather/rideable trails. Or using them for commuting.

For an adventure bike…

… I’d have thought rubbish brakes and hope for some foul weather to maximise the potential for daring and risk. Or maybe even dispense with the brakes, now that would be an adventure 🙂

Not carbon but you might be able to get a Mango Point AR with hydraulics.
The standard 105 setup comes in well under £1k and they might offer a hydro upgrade if you contact them.

Can’t think of any carbon bikes with hydros for £1k unless you pick a deal up in the sale. I think I’ve seen some of the PX bikes go for that sort of money in the sales either as Rival 22 or Rival 1 equipment.

Buying on spec per pound?

Claud Butler. I,e, shite.

Carbon fork could easily happen with hydraulics for £1k, but not a carbon frame, as far as I’m aware.

Buy the clearance Frankenfat for £699 and convert it to hydraulic, or the £799 olive 52cm London Road Rival 1, if they can be done on C2W. 😀

Unfortunately they’ve since dropped it and have changed the Arkose 2 model

To clarify, we just have 2 different Arkose 2s models stocked now. The 1×10 hydro brake Arkose 2 had no spec changes due for 2016 so stayed the same, the Arkose 2 ‘2016’ is a 2×10 bike as we still have a lot of demand for that gearing spec. Same frame and fork etc though.

Oddly 1x sells well at the top end and the entry level but is still a minority in our sales in that £850 area.