[Closed] £750 do it all gravel type bike.. Planet X London road?

I would be totally honest with yourself how much off road stuff you plan on riding. Going by spec it can only take a 35c which is pretty narrow in the gravel world which wont be super comfortable. I run a 44c which although slower on the road i can run lower psi and have a more comfortable grippy ride off road, and ride more interesting stuff. But for road riding it will be perfect i ran a 35 for commuting days and it really good. Fast enough and nimble enough to not feel sluggish, but also super chill for awful london roads.

I second what joepud says: 35c is not enough. I've been using 42c but I'm going to swap to 38c as I've just bought a Whippet so I won't be doing so much off-road on the gravel.

This might be a better bet: https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/pinnacle/arkose-1-2021-gravel-bike-915759#colcode=91575911 . Evans are shite these days, but Arkose have a good rep. 800, so just above your budget, and they seem to be in stock!

I’d imagine 85% of the riding would be on road, the rest would be gravel and tow paths etc. Living in Dundee I’m not far from the Angus Glens and there are plenty little fire roads to be ridden there.

Thanks for the reply mate.

... or could you stretch to 899? That would get you a bootzipper, which is a bit like a flat bar gravel.

I looked at them last night but they don’t have my size (Small).

Well I know my older LR can take 40mm+ tyres. But I also know I wouldn't hang on a Month and a half for one, are Ribble CGR ALs not available?

Have you considered looking 2nd hand OP? Plenty of bargains still to be had!

Regardless of which bike you go for, I’d agree with joepud/easily above, 35c isn’t enough.
My previous bike, a charge filter, fitted me perfectly, and had decent wheels and tyres, 35c, but just not wide enough.
My new bike, takes 40c with mudguards, or 45 without, but is a far better bike, mainly due to the tyres.
I know it doesn’t sound like much extra, but it’s enough to make a big difference.

Had a look around at second hand stuff, not much catching my eye locally, and anything worth considering is down south and they won’t post.

Those Ribbles are gorgeous.. maybe I should up my budget..

The london road will easily take a 42mm tyre. It’s what I have on mine.

Just had a look on the Ribble website, quoting April for delivery.. 😱

tomtomthepipersson

The spec clearly says Max Tyre 35mm. Planet X do change specs, maybe they have in this case? Or did they claim that when you bought your bike?

1981miked

You could try contacting them using their online thingy - ask if it can fit a larger tyre, maybe if not using mudguards.

Yeah I think I’ll ping them a message tomorrow and ask the question. Just want to get something sorted a bit sooner than October for the Planet X or April for the Ribble..

Soon be the 7 month winter setting in here in Scotland.

I think the spec has always said max 35 - I had some 42s so gave them a try.

The spec clearly says Max Tyre 35mm

Spec might well say 35mm, but I've got 40mm WTB Nanos and full mudguards on my London Road.

Just as an aside, I had a London Road. Really liked the way it rode. Until the TT/ST weld cracked out of warranty. Replaced it with an Arkose. Is ok but doesn't ride as well.

I second what joepud says: 35c is not enough

I will clearly be an outlier here but for 85% road and 15% fire road (not actual off road) 35c will be more than enough. I have ridden gravel roads for the last 20 years on bikes with a max of 28c, currently riding 25c and don't find any problems with comfort and grip is largely irrelevant for gravel roads as I am riding in straight lines mostly.

Just to chip in on tyre size. My gravel bike came with a 40mm WTB Nano. I now run 33mm Schwalbe X Ones which I prefer on the road and are far better in mud. Granted the 40mm might be better on fire roads, but the skinny tyres cope fine. I'm amazed how well the bike now copes in the sloppy stuff.

Mrs_oab and I do a similar amount of road to you - I would say 10% off road, and that's generally forest roads and estate tracks, not single-track or technical.

Mrs_oab is on 34mm Giant AT's, middle_oab 35mm SmallBlock8's I'm on 36mm Kenda Kwick tyres.

They are perfect for what we do. Full guards, a rack on mine (commuting), bar bags and comfort. Mrs_oab is flat bars and bar ends. I'm drops and still not 100% convinced by them.

All will get marginally bigger tyres when they wear out - likely both 36-38mm, but slick centre tread.

A Liv Invite, Boardman CX and Merlin GP2.

They need lower gearing on both, I plan on both mine andrs_oab's going over to Microshift wide range 2x10 or 3x9 shortly, mrs_oab to also move to titchy cranks for her titchy legs.

My London Road runs 700x42mm WTB Resolutes. Great bikes! Plenty clearance still but 40 is the max if also running mudguards.

I had sold my 1x11 Ultegra'd one on ebay for a bit over that, but the buyer never showed up and I don't regret holding on to it.

Mrs kilo and I use cx bikes for gravel, off road trails and mtb trails, basically just riding it off road. The majority of our trips out will, despite living in Sw London be off road, maybe 80/20. Two of them are max 35mm on the rear (Planet X xls and an ibis) but on both you can easily run a 40mm in the front. I’ve not really noticed much difference between a 35 or a 40mm rear tyre, but the wider front tyre , which seems to be an easy win in a lot of bikes, is noticeably better.

Again I bought a small London road last year for daughter to use runs 42 wtb resolutes no problem, to be honest I didn’t even think to check just put the tyres on. It’s a very versatile bike in the apex config. Hydro brakes would be nice but good enough for now.

I put a smaller chainring on it though. 42 was a bit much I thought. Which meant a different chainset.

I have 2 gravel bikes, one with 35 mm tyres and one with 45. The 35 mm is more than capable on all the off road bits I take it on..I dont take either on particularly technical terrains however.

I had 41mm Knards on my old London Road with room to spare.

Replaced it with an All City Macho Man which was much better IMO.

I've got some 42mm Conti Speed-Rides on my 2019 LR with room to spare (though they aren't that knobbly), great bike!
I got mine with the full hydro rival GS for £799 a couple of years back which was a steal. Have ridden gravel, trail centre blues and lots and lots of road miles on it, really love it. The only thing I wish mine had was bolt through wheels from a compatibility/future proofing POV as QR disc gravel wheels are a bit thin on the ground.

Iirc brant designed the LR around the Bruce Gordon rock and Road tyres that are 43mm
I've currently got 38mm halo twin rails on mine, I use it for bridleways and slow club runs

I have a Glencoe, while it is a great bike its not worth £1,300 in hindsight.

The forks weigh a ton as does the frame, the frame doesn't have a mud guard bridge and is a struggle to clear 2" tyres, once it gets claggy mud on it you get a lot of audible rubbing on the frame.

That said, super comfortable for long rides and the brakes and gears are spot on.

I alternate between some 2" nobbly tyres and the slicks they come on.

I'd get the Kona Rove and make it a 1 x

https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/bikes/road-bikes/gravel-adventure-bikes/kona-rove-al-650b-2021-bike

Lots of good info folks, I appreciate it, the Kona is very nice and I do like a Kona.. had a few over the years. But sadly none available in my size. I’m just a wee lad at 5ft 6.

Spoke to Ribble today and they confirmed that it’s April delivery for their gravel bikes. Looked at all the usual suspects but the LR still looks the best value IMO.