A “Road Bike” for someone who doesn’t like “Road Bikes”

Giant Defy, it's what I bought 6 years ago in the same circumstances  well apart from being fat and unfit 🙂

Great bike and very comfortable for mile after mile. Makes the steel Croix de Fer  I also have feel like a lump of unresponsive lead that is neither any good on or off road. Having said that it's fine now its permanently attached to my turbo.

I don't like road bikes. I've got a Charge Plug!
Built some Hope RS4/wtb KOM tubeless wheels, Avid cable discs, 105 based 1x11, SLX cranks. Very much a MTBers road bike.

But I think you want to buy something shiny, so, err, Pinnacle Arkose?

If you enjoyed going road cycling and want to do more of it why do you want to buy a gravel bike?

I had a titanium plug and loved it, so I bought an Ali one for my Dad in Greece, anyway, I sold the Ti to buy an enduro bike. Took the Ali one out on holiday the other week, and had a blast, absolutely loved it. Perfect for the island roads (very similar to Oxfordshire) with that horrible rough top layer, and/or potholes. I have to say it rode as well as the Ti mainly due to the 42mm tyres on both. Also managed a big climb and then a fast gravel return to the house- the cable brakes were mildly terrifying.
So… what about sticking on a 2x groupset- rival or tiagra or whatever, some lighter wheels and fatish can tyres and running the plug.
If you enjoy it, get a better bike and use the plug for winter, mixed pathway type stuff.

If you enjoyed going road cycling and want to do more of it why do you want to buy a gravel bike?

This.
Buy a proper road bike, Giant Defy or similar and keep the off road bikes for off road.

Diverge?

(E5 elite is about that money)

If you enjoyed going road cycling and want to do more of it why do you want to buy a gravel bike?

This, get a proper road bike and you'll enjoy it even more. Right tool for the job and all that.

If you enjoyed going road cycling and want to do more of it why do you want to buy a gravel bike?

I’d pretty much agree with this tbh, with the caveat, I wouldn’t buy a bike now that couldn’t take 28s and guards.
However, fair to say I’m in my 50s and fat/unfit, if you’re young you may be perfectly happy on narrower tyres/no guards etc.
just for clarity, i have both, the gravel bike gets used most, the road bike lives on the turbo.

My Diverge makes a great road bike. I love the geo, the position, the comfort, the look and the bolt holes for useful accessories. I’ve done everything from mild singletrack to centuries, to 25mph chaingangs on it. May even CX race it shortly too.

But it is giving up speed / costing watts on the road and I do sometimes regret not buying an aero road bike….

After getting dropped 2 weeks running at our chaingang for example, I switched back to my old race bike and not just made it to the end, but “won” the sprint the following week.

Buy a fast tourer or Audax bike

A few things you need to think about IMO...
What does your back/body think about a racey/aero position, that will give you more speed for your effort?
Are you realistically going to want this bike to do some off-road riding, needing tyres >35mm?
Are you bothered about hydraulic disc brakes over rim brakes?

My Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc '16 is now ~5.5 years old, when I bought it I was worried about my lower back, so the 610mm stack on the "58cm" frame didn't concern me. But my back has been much better in recent years and this bike is now known as my "sportive aero brick," it throws away so much speed for effort that I finally fitted an adjustable stem this summer and at -40 degrees it gives a setup vaguely similar to a typical road race bike with all spacers above the stem. I'm glad I didn't cut the steerer, because I recently had to raise the bars for a random neck strain that lasted a month!

I don't know what I'd get if I was to buy a new bike these days. Part of me thinks a racey geo road bike, but then part of me thinks something like an On One Free Ranger or Boardman ADV 9.0 and have a set of road wheels equipped with nice road tyres.

The best bargain road bike I know of, if you don't mind rim brakes and skinny tyres <27mm wide is £635 for https://www.merlincycles.com/wilier-montegrappa-tiagra-road-bike-190094.html

The Plug is 120mm rear end, so single speed it shall ever remain. No way of fitting gears, plus it was only built over lockdown as a project to build a bike. It’s OK round town, it does that job OK and it’s quite fun to ride without being a hinderance to group riding or the fact I’m too weak it ride it in the hills.

The gravel bike rather than a road bike is probably down to comfort and the ability to run far wider tyres and guards. I’m the wrong side of 50, fat, unfit, fused spine, rebuilt knee, and glass wrists.

I’m not quite sure if I could live with a being a full roadie! 😉 Yet!

The gravel bike rather than a road bike is probably down to comfort and the ability to run far wider tyres and guards.

A lot of road bikes can do that these days.

I recently bought a Pinnacle Arkose 3, I find that it works very well as both a gravel and road bike. It came with gravel wheels/tyres so I bought some road wheels and it works well for both. It's comfortable and has sufficient clearance for 50mm tyres but it's got a 2x10 groupset so isn't too gravel orientated and still work is very well as a road bike. I have a Canyon VCLS seatpost and Ritchey Ergomax bars to help with the comfort and also run 36c tubeless tyres on the road.

Think I'm going to sell my road bike and single speed MTB to get an Arkose. I only use the road bike once or twice a year and the road in Cheshire are like bloody gravel tracks anyway.

I'm never going to actually want to race, so a couple of mph slower won't make much odds. Will probably keep the road bike wheels with the faster tyres for road trips.

I had a very similar process to the OP a couple of years ago. I wanted to do a 160km road event thing (like Ride London - y'know, not actually a race but you want to do well); but I hate the whole roadie scene - lycra, boring boring riding, etc. So I looked around at Ti gravel bikes as a compromise and settled on a CGR Ti.

It does the job: it's "road" enough to be able to keep up with mates and actually push myself on the road; but it's gravel enough that I'm happy wearing baggies while riding it; and the position isn't too extreme coming from decades of MTB.
But...
- it was heavy (>10kg).
- it wasn't very fast and more importantly, didn't feel it (in that way that can be a bit dispiriting) - so I swapped out wheels, tyres, stem and seatpost which helped.
- It got me into sort of enjoying road riding, and now I want a 'proper' road bike that feels lighter, faster, and more encouraging to really push myself.

Long story short - do it, it's a great gateway and gives you a fallback if it turns out you hate road riding. But do beware that if all goes to plan you'll probably have to buy new wheels and tyres at least, and possibly (in a few years) a whole new bike. And Ribble bikes are pretty good for the price IMHO

I would also note there are rowdy and less rowdy "gravel" bikes; the CGR is much more like an all-road-ish bike (Mason Definition, Giant Revolt, Croix De Fer, Diverge) than it is a rowdier bike like a Salsa, etc. With the right tyres it'll be fine. But so would a Defy or similar. It's up to you. Depends what you want the upper bound of your top speed/effort to be, and what else you want to do with it. (I ride just fine with the road club on a gravel bike, because I'm never going to get into the fast kids gang without losing another 10kg, wheras also having fun touring/packing/off-road is a nice bonus).

Just stick road tyres on it for the club runs. If you go down this route, you might want to budget for a second wheelset.

Alternatives in the 2x gravel bike area: Cannondale Topstone, Trek Checkpoint, Giant Revolt (from the big brands off the top of my head). As usual, it's 1x, but everybody loves the Free Ranger/CF696 - newer version can take a front mech - but I am not a fan of 1x11 for mainly road use.

Just get a road bike that can take 28c tyres whilst also having mudguards on - you need that for group rides in the winter.

I think the Planet X hurricane has rack / mudguard mounts and is titanium so looks nice. Whilst not being all out racey geometry. My mate has got one recently for commuting and he likes it - he’s not at all into road riding really.

Is the answer to this question not always Fairlight Strael?

If you enjoyed going road cycling and want to do more of it why do you want to buy a gravel bike?

I've got the ribble cgr sl (carbon frame) it's as fast as the road bike it replaced. It comfy for all day riding and keeps up with a group ride.

Takes 40mm tyres and mudguards. Has rack mounts and a threaded bb.

If you look at the geometry, there's not a lot of difference between that and the ribble endurance road bike, slightly less head angle and takes wider tyres.

I'm not a fan of steel so I'd personally pick the alliminium frame and 28mm or wider tyres and save some weight and money over the steel frame. I'd also look to upgrade the wheels too.

The alliminium frame weighs 1680g and the carbon fork 410g (+/-5g size M). With full bikes builds starting from 9.8kg for the Pro Build

The internally routed full monocoque Toray T800/T1000 frame weighs 1.15kgs and the full monocoque carbon forks 450g. Full builds can start from as little as 7.5kgs, a 105 build with default finishing kit weighs in at approximately 9kgs.

How do roadies survive British roads? I brought my road bike back from Spain where I use 22mm tyres. I tried to commute on it but the roads are in a shocking state. Currently pricing up a gravel bike.

32mm GP5000 on the rear for comfort, 23/25mm on front for marginal aero gains. 😉

How do roadies survive British roads? I brought my road bike back from Spain where I use 22mm tyres.

I ride a fair bit in Spain and they've got some shockers over there as well. But when it's good it's absolutely brilliant, some absolutely fantastic roads. But here in South Wales there's a some pretty good roads as well. Use 25mm over here the same as Spain. Never felt the need to go bigger for normal day to day rides. Got a gravel bike but only use that with gravel tyres if I'm going of road.

How do roadies survive British roads?

28mm tubeless, carbon bars and decent bar tape, and make the most of the rare occurrence of newly laid tarmac.

I disagree with those saying get a road bike. Unless you’re actually racing, a road bike is not necessary. A gravel bike will be almost as fast and far more comfortable and versatile. They’re all anyone who rides mainly on road needs. Just get the lightest one you can find (I’d avoid steel unless using it for bikepacking and go for alu or carbon). My Diverge is genuinely the best bike I’ve ever owned.

In the tried and true spirit ofrecommend what you have - a Light Blue Robinson. Reynolds 725, room for 35mm with guards, 38 without.(I haven't tried but looking at the clearance I'm pretty sure you can get a guard on the front with a 38. Back might be tight).
Frame is lighter built than a Croix de fer, It's a little shorter in the stack than full on tourer or gravel, a little longer in the top tube, so quite a nice midpoint between road and gravel. I decided that if the geometry and 38s weren't enough for whatever I wanted to ride, I'd get out the hardtail with it's 2.2s.
It's a much more comfortable ride and position than my full on road bikes. It's a little heavier and slower but then not getting constant pinch flats on 23s.....

Planet x London Road ti £1500 at the moment.

I had an alu one and it was a great bike. It'll take 40mm tyre with mudguards, but works as a road bike as well, I ran mine with 28's for road riding and it was pretty fast and comfy.

Just googled the Fairlight… so nice

I wouldn't class mrs_oab and I as road riders.
I discovered that we're still not sure of drop bars.
Our bikes are more 'do it all' - 36mmm(ish) slick tyres, full guards. Mrs_oab runs flat bar and bar ends, I've persevered with drops.
I've a rack on for the commute and occasional tours.
They're way faster than MTB or even gravel tyres, they're comfy. We watch the view and take a brew with us in bar bags.

Perhaps more 'touring' than road race, and better tools for what we do.

How do roadies survive British roads? I brought my road bike back from Spain where I use 22mm tyres.

28 minimum, it's the 21st century.

But no joke: I ride on slickish GravelKing 35s (no nibbles at all) at about 55-60psi, and people sometimes seem bewildered til I point out that a) there is barely any rolling resistance loss given my performance level and b) comfort.

I had the same questions twice, as a person who doesn't like road bikes....

I bought a road bike... sold it 2 weeks later.

i bought a different road bike,.... sold it 2 weeks later..

Sometimes the answer to what bike for someone who doesn't like road bikes, is a MTB 😀

The Plug is 120mm rear end, so single speed it shall ever remain. No way of fitting gears,

Sturmey archer 3 speed hub? Thats what i put in my ss road bike.

For social group road rides a gravel bike would be fine and you would have a bit more flexibility wrt offroad.

I use a PX Freeranger as my winter road bike, gravel bike, CX bike, commuter.

It is light and fast, takes a full guard, and I can run 45s on gravel and 32s on road group rides.

Mine is set up with Ritchey beacon bars and redshift shockstop stem, so its a bit more off road focussed. I have a couple of wheelsets too both set up tubeless.

TBF though weeksy,that's you with everything. 😉 😀
I am looking at a new frame(carbon) for the road and it will be gravel based.
For me it just gives more choice with tyres and bolting stuff on for touring/bikepacking.

But no joke: I ride on slickish GravelKing 35s (no nibbles at all) at about 55-60psi, and people sometimes seem bewildered til I point out that a) there is barely any rolling resistance loss given my performance level and b) comfort.

I use the 32's (TLC)on the road stuff here in Spain, its a nice tyre and compared to the mad prices people will pay for gp5000s dirt cheap.

+1 for the Diverge. Love mine, it can keep up with local road rides and thats running 1 x 10 and 40mm G-one's.
I like the comfort and position which at 50yrs plus is always a bonus.
So much so one of the roadies I ride with has just bought a Ribble CGR Di2 with 105 after he tried my Diverge. He commented on the more comfortable position, but he wasn't sold on the 1 x 10

Is the answer to this question not always Fairlight Strael?

Beat me to it - if you like steel then buy a Strael and be happy (once it eventually arrives...)

What was holding you back most on that ride? The single-speed set-up? Bike weight? Lack of fitness?

If you buy a steel bike WITH gears, it's unlikely to save weight.

If I were you I'd have a good look at the various gravel/allroad/endurance road options and think about where you're gonna ride it.

So if you're not actually going off-road, an alu or carbon endurance bike might be just the ticket. They can take pretty big tyres now.

I was looking at a CGR as a winter road/bikepacking/occasional gravel bike. They're a little weighty but do seem a great all rounder. I used to have a steel Charge plug 5 (before the 5 went ti, and the rest went Alu) and it was great - commuted on it with 40mm G-ones which did everything.

ONly thing to keep in mind, if you're out on a club run. with quick roadies on road bikes, you will be slower on a gravel bike/have to work harder to stay in the bunch. Part of the reason for selling my Plug was the clubber became a handlebar chewing exercise, vs. cruising along happily on my supersix.

Something like a Synapse or other endurance road will happily take 38's now.

In short, buy a endurance road/adventure bike with 2x rather than a 'off road focused' gravel bike with knobblies and 1x if you want to really enjoy the road.

Come, join us on the dark side, it's fun...

ONly thing to keep in mind, if you’re out on a club run. with quick roadies on road bikes, you will be slower on a gravel bike/have to work harder to stay in the bunch. Part of the reason for selling my Plug was the clubber became a handlebar chewing exercise, vs. cruising along happily on my supersix.

This +1

I've also got a Plug setup for solo road riding and commuting (32mm tyres, guards, fixed gear). And while it's lovely and comfortable, it's undoubtedly slower and harder work than the CAAD road bike which has 25c (measured as 27.5mm) tyres and generally light parts.

It's not that you can't stick some slicks on a gravel/CX bike and join a clubrun, it's just that if you're already struggling to hold on then it's making it harder. I fairly regularly take the plug or CX bike out with 'roadies', but only the ones I know are looking for a ride 1-2mph slower than I could manage on a road bike so we're all working at the same RPE (or at least desired RPE).

Position wise, higher bars off-road aren't always better either, I raised mine when I swapped bars and it was genuinely awful to ride, the front end was all over the place with no grip as it was unweighted. That's not a flexibility limitation, it just ceased to work at all off-road above a certain point. So don't bank on an off-road biased bike allowing higher bars either. Something aimed at audax/touring might be a better bet at a compromise between roadie weight and handling (because you want it to 'feel' fast) and a comfortable position.

I suppose the thing to consider OP is specifically 'what' for, and 'when' is this bike going to be used?

What: Is it just for joining Road chaingangs, or is it likely to pick up some additional duties? Might you want to take it off-road or use it to commute? could it's role feasibly expand?

When: Is it going to get used through the winter/year round, or only when it's sunny and dry? (be honest with yourself).

If it's exclusively for club road rides and isn't going to see a wet ride then get a "Proper" skinny tyred, guard boss free road bike, and only turn up on Dry days from March to late September...

If there's a chance that you might want to dabble with Gravel/Commuting/touring and/or ride during Autumn/Winter/spring then a 2x "gravel/all-road" type bike makes better sense (like a CGR, Arkose, etc) I'd throw some robust ~32mm road tyres in the budget and some guards (nobody will thank you on wet group rides if you turn up without guards). and go from there.

I think by default now a newly purchased drop-barred bikes are going to be disc equipped, so that whole "discussion" is really irrelevant. Groupset wise? People seem to think they need 105/GRX 600 on their first road/gravel bike, but Tiagra is just fine. And you'll either be looking at posher bikes in 18-24 months or putting it in the classifieds/ebay...

I ride in a road club with about 200 members. Not one rides a gravel bike or a steel bike, even in the 'steady' group. For me it would just make your life harder with no real benefit on the road.

If you are just dipping your toe in the water, I would pick up a cheapish used road bike to get you going. Perfect time of year to find a bargain!

I've got a gravel bike and a road bike, and would choose the road bike on the road every day. The gravel bike is more upright, heavier and slower handling. But then I don't like 'Endurance' yawn road bikes either.

I get the feeling that a lot of people who 'don't like road bikes' actually just don't like the 'idea' of road bikes and/or of road cycling as they perceive it. I'd try and ride one - demo or borrowed - you might be surprised. And if you're going to be regularly riding with a group on the road, it makes good sense.

I ride in a road club with about 200 members. Not one rides a gravel bike or a steel bike, even in the ‘steady’ group. For me it would just make your life harder with no real benefit on the road.

Now that is just weird (and stupid). My club will have at least 3 steel bikes out on any given weekend (say 30-40 riders) and they will be in all groups. You can double that number in winter.

A steel frame weighs around 1kg more than a carbon one - less than two bottles of water and less than that you will sweat out on a hot ride. In other words, an insignificant difference for a club rider.

Just fitted 32 Spesh Roubaix Pros on the SS road thing and they are awesomley grippy and so comfortable on towpaths and the army heathland around Aldershot.
I run them at 55psi off road and 65/70 on road.
Also dirt cheap for tubeless at qround £30 an end.

Canyon endurace in alloy with 2x10 Tiagra and rim brakes for £1150 is a cracking bike, add on £300 for discs.

Don't think it has mudguard eyelets though.

If you are just dipping your toe in the water, I would pick up a cheapish used road bike to get you going. Perfect time of year to find a bargain!

TBF ^^this^^ is more practical advice, I think we'd all just assumed the OP was defaulting to just buying a new bike (C2W was mentioned), but yeah a used road bike makes sense if you're just giving it a whirl over the next 6 months, 25c tyres and Rim brakes aren't actually unusable.

My group of mates that regularly ride road bike together (not a Club, just a handful of 40-something Fat Dads) do all ride road bikes; all but one currently with rim brakes, all more than 3 years old and nobody seems bothered about buying a new bike any time soon.
A couple of us do own Gravel/CX bikes as well but weirdly we don't actually tend to ride them together, only one of us actually owns a "winter road bike" with permanently fitted guards (me), all the others either slap on some Crud Guards or (more typically) merrily spray me with a rooster tail of water if it's a wet ride (or look out the window and bail last minute)...

When I do (occasionally) go for a ride with a "Proper" organised group there are a variety of bikes on the ride depending on the group, and yes some are Gravel bikes with road tyres. One thing that does seems to be more rigidly enforced though on wet rides is using guards, a 'rule' which I'm actually a big fan of.
Hence I think if you're buying a bike to regularly participate in group rides (New or used), especially during the winter months, make sure the thing has guard bosses...

I ride in a road club with about 200 members. Not one rides a gravel bike or a steel bike, even in the ‘steady’ group. For me it would just make your life harder with no real benefit on the road.

Other way round in our club, the fast 22mph group will be almost all the latest and greatest kit, especially in summer as it doesn't wait for anyone. If you're feeling strong you can just sit on the front.

The social/steady/tempo/brisk groups (13-19mph) are a real mix though, from fast guys sandbagging on retro bikes to ATGNI types on the social ride.

Just been for a spin on my gravel bike 

It's wearing 38mm GravelKing semi-slicks. It's a little bit slower than my carbon road bike with 28mm GP5000s but really not much. In fact today's ride was the highest average speed I've managed this summer.

How do roadies survive British roads? I brought my road bike back from Spain where I use 22mm tyres. I tried to commute on it but the roads are in a shocking state. Currently pricing up a gravel bike.

I’ve been wondering the same for the last 15 years, my road bike will take max 25mm tyres. Just bought a gravel bike with 38s and it’s like a magic carpet on the crappy roads round here.

Agree with those that have said if you want a road bike get a road bike, but will you ride just road? My gravel bike will replace my road bike, even with knobbly 38mm tyres it’s pretty much as fast as my old road bike. It’s also more comfortable. If you really will just ride road then maybe look at a Spesh Roubaix or similar, or as someone else said, an audax style bike. Not all road bikes are racing machines.

I use a gravel bike (Diverge) with slicks and guards as a winter roadie, works fine on sedate winter rides. If however the pace is raised to say 30km/hr average I start to really struggle. My £400 eBay special carbon road bike is much easier to ride fast. It's much lighter but that's not the issue as I can climb fine on the Diverge, it's fast flat roads that become a struggle. Take the mudguards off and it does go better but then if it's not wet I might as well use road bike.

If you are spending £2k with C2W then have a look at Alpkit/Sonder. That'll get you a Camino (gravel) or Colibri (comfy road) in alloy or titanium. You can probably get electronic gears if you're happy with an ally frame.

Thanks for the advice and opinions. It’s helped, but I’m still in two (many) minds about which way to go with this.

To clear up a few things and trying not to drip feed requirements.

The cycle to work scheme is now off the table. I was told £1000 limit, “because why would you spend that much on a BIKE!”

I like steel. Aluminium I hate. There may well be nice Ali bikes out there, but I’ve never liked any I’ve owned or rode.

My MTB is a plus tyred, rigid Stooge. Admittedly it now does have gears and a dropper post. I’m a Luddite.

I’ve been single speeding off road since 2006, I only went gears last autumn. I last commuted on road in 2010 on a fancy hybrid that I’ve since used very occasionally as a CX bike, that was my last foray into road riding / geared thing.

I’ve headed down the gravel bike route because I “might” take it off-road once in a while. It might do a bit of bike packing. It might do a bit of touring. I’d like the option of bigger, knobblier rubber or skinny road tyres. Guards would be a big advantage for winter club runs.

I think I’ve just got to make up my mind and go for it. Plus I haven’t had a new whole bike since 2006. The Charge Plug is being sold. The fancy hybrid is being sold. I want (need) a new bike.

🙂

Surely n+1 is the right answer? Get both types of bike. Can't believe no one has suggested the most obvious answer...

(Says the guy with a Giant TCR and a Diverge...)
😁

I’ve just got a gravel bike. Carbon Topstone as it happens. Wasn’t sure quite what it would be like. It’s fun for light offroad single tracks, roots and light rocky stuff (I’m lakes based so not generally clagtastic)
It makes me smile and it’s remarkably quick and easy climbing. Guess it’s about 22lb or so. 1*11 SRAM apex. Doesn’t need anything lower or higher.
It makes me grin.

I’ve been single speeding off road since 2006, I only went gears last autumn. I last commuted on road in 2010 on a fancy hybrid that I’ve since used very occasionally as a CX bike, that was my last foray into road riding / geared thing.

You seem similar to be. I went fixed gear only in 2003 and then had a few spells of single speed MTB. In that almost 20 years I have had geared bikes for around 2 years total and while at first they seem like a revelation and can be noticeably quicker on certain roads (flat, downhill) I soon just want to go back to a single fixed gear as I just simply enjoy riding more.
The difference with you in this case is you want to ride with others and maintain same speeds so a single speed is never the best option there but for me it would be short-lived as I would miss the single gear too much.
I can sit with groups or road riders if they are trundling along at 18mph and I usually pass them up hills but as soon as they up speed, go downhill etc,. I run out of legs as I am geared for 18mph.

Trek Domane. Mine is fine on road, I’ve also used it off road, 35mm tyres, new model might take 38mm.
I have two sets of wheels, fast light wheels with 28mm fast tyres and a winter set with 32mm Bontrager R3 tyres. Works well for me.
I’m looking at Gravel Bikes for the extra tyre width, but it’s hard to justify for the lack of gravel I’d do.
My Domane has done the SDW, Ridgeway, Delemere and Thetford, also used it for a Gravel “Race” but can’t remember the name of it.
Road wise, as it’s generally my bad weather road bike, it’s used to ride with a fairly fast group of ex road racers. It’s not as quick as my aero road bike but we generally average 18-21mph for 60 mile rides, depending on weather and route. The Domane will keep up.

I'm in my late 30's, skinny but unfit. My bikes are not too dissimilar to yours as I've a 2014 steel Charge Plug which has 2x9 gears and disc brakes and can fit a 35c tyre, a geared 29er hard tail, a rigid single speed Stooge MK2 running 27.5. x 3.0 tyres and I've recently picked up a 2014 Giant Defy as I was interested to see how I'd get on with a lighter bike.

The Charge Plug is quicker than the mountain bikes and doesn't feel too slow, but as some others have mentioned I found that it's hard to maintain a high speed on the flat or slightly undulating roads, and I really feel the weight on the hills. It's not unpleasant, but it feels heavy. At the same point it feels planted and it's a great bike for cruising round country lanes, can take full guards and is pretty versatile. It's more all road than gravel.

The Giant is much better specced and is probably 3kgs lighter than the Charge. It's easier to maintain speed, feels lighter on the climbs and feels more responsive when you want to pick up speed when already moving. It does feel a bit more nervous on rough roads though, can only just take 28c tyres and rim brakes aren't as confidence inspiring as discs.

Overall the Giant feels like you get more speed for the effort you put in than the Charge, if that's what you're looking for I'd consider looking at lighter road bikes.

Used rim brake road bikes are really cheap right now, you could get something decent to see if you like it and have change from £400.

That said if I could only keep one I'd sell the Giant. It's a great bike but it's a bit of a one trick pony.

The cycle to work scheme is now off the table. I was told £1000 limit, “because why would you spend that much on a BIKE!”

You should still be able to use the c2w scheme but pay the difference yourself.

My first foray into the roadie scene was a carbon Defy with Ultegra, it was a great intro although I quickly realised being a fit mtb 'r didnt translate into a strong roadie.... several years on having become a proper roadie and 3 times a week mtb'r I now have nearly a perfect n+1.

Cotic Solaris, winter hardtail, its just ace does its stuff well.
Trek Remedy 9.8 -although this is probably surplus and for sale
Orbea Rise M10, not because I need an e-bike, but its great, works as a recovery ride and is bloody ace.
Genesis Datum, full carbon, 105, 38mm tyres gravel fun. Will never sell this one.
Cervelo Caledonia, di2 winter bike, takes full bolt on mudgaurds currently on 32 mm P Zero's, its plenty fast enough for 23mph club rides and was great in Flanders in the classics earlier this year. Cobble gobbler.
Basso Diamante SV, fast, comfortable, its on 28/30 P Zeros

and my trusty Focus pub/tourer/shopper, with panniers, 34mm schwalbe marathons, will never wear out.

Lots of bikes will do lots of things but its like mtb, a rigid hardtail can do anything but others do it better...

I think when I get to 10 I will be happy

its plenty fast enough for 23mph club rides 

What club is that, and is that on pan flat roads without traffic or junctions ? Never seen a club ride average that anywhere close to me.
If you can keep up with a 23mph group that's down to you and your fitness, the bike is just a small part of it.

Our chainy is 23-25mph although not strictly affiliated to the local clubs.

https://strava.app.link/ZVhdetvDvtb

Fastest I’ve got the Diverge round is 24mph. Fastest road bike speed is 25.3mph

I do have to skip a few pulls on the outbound section on the Diverge as the +3kg means I’m over threshold and I often get dropped (and have to TT it home to save my average!) once the games start in the last few miles V potentially ’winning’ on the road bike.

Some of the LeCol boys round London, make that look silly though. Dirty Reiver winner Harold Evans posts some ridiculous rides. Their standard smash is 27mph (as are some of his solo training rides!). But they occasionally do a 29mph!

https://www.strava.com/activities/7612800254

Our chainy is 23-25mph although not strictly affiliated to the local clubs.

https://strava.app.link/ZVhdetvDvtb
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What club is that, and is that on pan flat roads without traffic or junctions

pretty much pan flat!

 

I can only dream of riding 30 miles and stay under 500ft of climbing 😂😂 But 23mph+ on any route is good going I'll give you that.

It doesn’t feel flat at 95kg on a 10.5kg bike 🤣🤣🤣

It doesn’t feel flat at 95kg on a 10.5kg bike 🤣🤣🤣

It would feel bloody flat to me at 70kg as I chewed on the handlebars trying to keep up with the more powerful riders!!

Come on out next year, what doesn’t kill your makes you stronger 💪🏻

Looking at the top ten on that segment it might well kill me!!

I think this isd out of budget, but thought I would share. I have been riding steel and carbon race bikes for years. In 2015 I bought a Kinesis Grand Fondo disc and the now for the past couple years a Enigma Etape disc, both cheaper Ti. The Kinesis broke, mainly due to a design fault (oval openings on the downtube near the head stock interface) so less we say the better. But boy do these bikes both ride well!

I have spent the summer on my Colnago and a couple weeks ago, because it was raining, I got my mud-guarded Enigma out. Its such a lovely bike to ride and descends amazingly. If you can push the budget look at Enigma. Such a lovely company to deal with and proper warranties

I can only dream of riding 30 miles and stay under 500ft of climbing

I can do 3 miles and 500'... 😲

Come on out next year, what doesn’t kill your makes you stronger

I'd give it a go, but don't expect me to do a turn and you can stay right in front of me. A 95kg wind break would be my only chance of hanging on 😂😂

I have a CAAD13 for all road-biking duties, aluminum frame but Force AXS and carbon 45mm wheels. It goes on the trainer September to March so doesn't really see any really horrific weather. I do run 30mm Schwalbe Pro Ones though to absorb some of the shite irish road chatter!

Before that i had a Reilly Spectre which was great for long distances but just a bit of a barge for gas gas sprints, it was also slightly too small for me which meant the seatpost was right on the minimum insert which was a bit disconcerting.

One thing i will say is try before you buy - my CAAD13 is 56cm and i'm 6ft 2 - i sat on it in the shop and rode around the car park and decided it did "fit" on reflection however its maybe a little small (can you spot a pattern here...)

The CAAD13 is fast but lets face it, i'm never going to race and all my "fast" buddies have left Ireland so might chop it in for an aforementioned Fairlight Strael with the sizing based on bike-fit data.

I want to do the Rapha 500 this year and will defo value comfort over speed.