People seem to think cross=gravel

The problem is that manufacturers disagree on what they are. Best to ride and see if it fits the bill.
For example, my Boardman CX Team is more like a road bike with clearance. It also has guard and rack mounts, but it rides livelier than the two other bikes I tried at the time. Arkose and Croix der fer.

I’m not sure ‘gravel’ is a particularly useful term for the UK. In the US it’s used for bike racing on gravel roads. But because they took fatter tyres, lots of people used it for adventuring.
Now pretty much everybody has their own take on what these bikes should be like.

tl:dr Massive variance even within each category imo.

Plenty of insight from you guys – all appreciated.

I think the shortlist is now down to secondhand Arkose, Diverge, Boardman or Jake the Snake. This is mainly based on what I’ve found across multiple sites right now re spec/size/colour (and I’m v fussy about the latter). A sweet £1500 or so 2015-16 model for <£1000 and it’s happy days.

Apparently our C2W scheme is limited to certain times of the year, and that means not for 4 months.

The Arkose is winning but the JtS used to get a lot of love in these parts.

18 Bikes where selling their stock Cotic Escapade in Medium for £800 vs £1000 list. Soho bikes already sold theirs to Austria. Cotic have gone direct only so shops selling down stock.

Also there is an STWer with a nice looking lightly used bike for £800 in Cambridge, was on classifieds a few weeks ago. I have his email address.

for an ‘adventure’ bike what about the Marin Four Corners? Seems like it has been well thought out for ‘adventure’ bikepacking and commuting

its not just head angle , its seat angle , its top tube height , its bottle cage bosses , its mounting luggage for adventuring , its the gearing its mud clearance with large tires fitted etc etc.

The flip side to that, the Arkose is actually steeper than most CX bikes, more like a road bike with big clearances, closer to what the Americans thought of when they invented ‘gravel bikes’ for racing on unsealed roads.

As opposed to the british take which seems more ‘monster cross’, off-(the fire)-road with bigger tyres and slacker angles. Probably because we don’t have a similar network of unsealed roads to ride on, so inevitably turn to bridleways.

Marin Four Corners

Really don’t like the look of those. Don’t actually like many Marins TBH for that reason actually (all IMSO of course).

Also there is an STWer with a nice looking lightly used bike for £800 in Cambridge

Cool. Is it L/XL? I’ll have a sniff around the classifieds later.

I’ve looked into this a lot this year

Loads of things if you’re going secondhand, some obvious ones:

Genesis CDF, Kona Rove, Pinnacle Arkose, Specialised Sequoia…

and some (slightly) less obvious:

Surly Straggler, Cotic Escapade, Jamis Renagade

The Marin Gestalt 3 isn’t so bad either…

The flip side to that, the Arkose is actually steeper than most CX bikes, more like a road bike with big clearances,

71.5 HTA with 50mm offset, been that way for a few years now. Less steep than most cx bikes, a pretty good trail and weight dist combo for a 32-45mm tyre.

I’m selling my Spesh AWOL Comp (L) which is a great bike if you’re at the more gravel – mtb lite end of the gravel spectrum. Did the dirty reiver on it last year with s-works renegades and it was fast enough for me and really comfy but also did the middle 60 miles of the Jenn Ride route on it one day as well but fitted with 2.0in ground controls for a bit more grip on the gnarlier stuff where it turned out to be surprisingly capable.

I’m not sure spesh really knew how to sell the AWOL and they had a few totally different build options but the 1×11 gravel version is a fantastic bike. I like mine so much I don’t particularly want to sell it even though I’ve had a ti replica custom made to scratch the ti itch.

OP – even a car park test of the Arkose, Boardman and maybe a true CX bike (maybe a cannondale from Evans while you’re testing the Arkose) will give you a rough impression of what type of ride you’re looking for.
Don’t make a blind decision, as they really do vary a lot.

i suspect many folk have not ridden a true CX race bike …..

which is akin to a road bike angles with some 30s/32s on….

being as they evolved for what the every man could do in winter with his road bike i guess.

neverbeentomoab – Member
Calibre dark peak 40mm tyres available in 58cm £549 only mechanical disc though

Had a quick look at this online – looks decent value.
Cheaper than the Boardman – but which has the better kit?