OK, I'll succumb - I really quite fancy a gravel bike.
I've a 7yr old Cube cyclocross bike that I converted to flat bar commuting duties, I enjoyed the multiple, and more aero, hand positions of a drop bar bike, but it had steep angles, v twitchy handling, v tall gearing, and could only take very narrow tires. It was alarmingly bad on anything gravel, also as the tires and to be at 80psi plus to avoid any punctures. Its fine for the pub, nae use for anything else.
No idea where to start looking, non-mtb geometry numbers mean little to me.
basic desires:
Suitable for a long legged 195cm tall bloke
not bum up, head down - nice and relaxed, tall headtube/bars
nice wide tires
plenty of bottle/rack mounts
not looking to spend more than 1.5K
Would really appreciate any guidance!
Vitus Substance?
My first stop would be planet x.
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBTIGR700RIV1/titus-goldrush-sram-rival-1-titanium-gravel-bike
Bit over budget, but it's titanium god damnit!
https://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-malt-g2-claris-gravel-bike-2021-197226.html look stonking value in Covid times for a thru axle frame/forks at £575, to maybe consider upgrading to hydraulic brakes at some point.
Given the thru axle, I'm half think I might fancy one of these as a "do anything" commuter to replace my fatbike, instead of ~£450 for a Voodoo Marasa or similar if Halfords get on top of their severe stock issues.
No geo chart on page I can see for this V2 Malt, but it can't be too far off the V1 spec can it (that sized large iirc)?
The 59cm frame remaining of https://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-malt-g-tiagra-gravel-bike-2019-114706.html might work for you OP at £699.
New Giant Revolt 0 due soon. Current one is ace.
The GT Grade is great, the new model even more so. Frame suits larger riders. I'm 6'1 with long legs and the 58 was fine. Not sure if any about at the moment but definitely worth a test ride.
Pinnacle Arkrose, on the traditional way of recommending what you have.
look no further my friend.
https://surlybikes.com/bikes/straggler/blockquote >QR alone would put me off this.
Tall front ends end Giant Revolt, Merida Silex, Norco Search.
I've got the original grade which I've considered upgrading but the new one has more reach and less stack, I think.
My mate is a similar size and has a Spec Diverge, tall head tube and they do XXL size too. Not sure how much he paid for it but I am sure it was under your budget.
Genesis Vagabond or used Fugio for that. I had a Vagabond and it has a very high/tall headtube. Probably the most comfortable drop bar nay any type of bike I’ve ridden, ymmv. It’s more of an inbetweenie Graveltourer vs 29er with drops
*Edit. Maybe not as the XL is only listed as suitable up to 193cm
Marvellous, thanks folks, that's got me googling instead of working 😬
Of course, not mentioned on here, but loving the look of the Nukeproof Digger
There are a number of good looking options, cheers all!
These look very tasty spec for £1k, due in August, XL allegedly fits up to 195cm.
i'm 193 cm tall and recently got a 2020 Norco Search XR A1, 60.5 cm. Its my first all road/gravel bike. Its got a Shimano GRX 2x groupset and 700c wheels with 38 mm tyres so isn't 'full gravel' (full gravel to me is 1x drivetrain and 650B wheels with bigger tyres). It's got an aluminium frame with internal cable routing with lots of frame mounts and a carbon fork.
The geo isn't too aggressive, the 407 mm reach feels good, nice and roomy seated and standing pedalling. I had to change the 110 mm 7 degree rise stem as I felt a bit too stretched out, I fitted a 90 mm 12 degree stem which feels right for the 'all road' (50/50 gravel and back road) riding i've been doing. The 620 mm stack height is good, not too low though there are other bikes with a higher stack height. I also changed the bars for some wider ones (50 cm) which feel a lot better than the stock 46 cm ones. The rest of the spec is I think is pretty good for the £1.595 price tag, except for the plastic Shimano bottom bracket which I killed after only 116 total miles.
I've just checked the Evans site, looks like no more 60.5s are left, doh!
I'd make a list of reach and stack numbers and see they how compare with what you have. I bought an Arkose in part because of the generous stack, that and the low price. Very happy with me my Arkose. But I imagine all these bikes being welded up on the same factory do I see nothing magic about it. If you want a bike where they have worked on the off road geometry look at Whyte.
I should perhaps add tat I'm a big bloke to. 100kg and 1.93 metres
Finally gravel bikes mean different things to different people. Ranging from nearly a man to a road bike with a bit more . I think that makes recommendations and reviews hard to interpret
I'm looking for the same thing and most of the bases are covered above. Add to the list Ribble and Marin. Ribble especially as you can change the spec to suit.
My mate has a Vitus Substance and really likes it.
Cheers again all, really interesting digging in and seeing whats out there. Very helpful!
I fear I may be heading towards some kind of monster-cross niche-whore disaster though.
Having had a wee go on a pal's Escapade at the weekend, it did flag a few issues - namely to do with wheel size, being a large person
having a 27.5" wheeled bike, even with 1.5-2" tires, feels a bit like going back to the days of tiny wheels on giant gate-like frames that really didn't fit. And for the kind of riding I plan, in fact the typical gravel/forest ride type riding, Shirley bigger diameter is better?
Seems a shame that all the wider tire choices in Gravel flavour are only on 27.5" wheels.
Hence the question - are there any 700c/29" options that hold a wider tire (again, say up to 2")
Or at this point am I heading into silly monster-cross bodges?
On-one Freeranger can take up to 50mm on 700c wheels.
I'm on a 650b space chicken (the predecessor) and at 6ft 3in it fits me well.
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Thats good to know, thank you!
Giant Revolt takes up to 700x45
Latest Sonder Camino 700x50
I agree that unless you want a thin road tyre option on one set of wheels big 700c must be the way to go