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I'm in need of a bike for commuting about twelve miles each way of gently undulating road and some riverside path. It's the sort of bike I'd like to hop onto kerbs and go for an explore as well.
Aesthetically, l love a skinny steel frame, and love a horizontal(ish) top tube. Up to £2k but preferably less!
Surly Straggler looks great, but stock seems an issue.
Kinesis G2 looks great and my LBS is a dealer.
Shand Leveret is curveball choice, but not 100% on the Alfine 8 speed and bar end shifter.
Would love to hear opinions, experiences or recommendations
Kona Rove ST. Love mine
Ribble cgr range or Cotic escapade look good. Couple of friends have Ribbles and rate them
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-cgr-725-gravel/
You could buy an old Dawes Galaxy made of 521ST, repaint, add a new groupset and wheels.
You'd have £1k+ spare, the noble feeling of re-use, and a really good bike that looks and rides like brandnew.
Otherwise you can't go wrong with a Surly.
One of my riding mates uses a Long Haul Trucker for what you describe. It's a great bike and very competent on offroad stuff (eg riding to Loch Einich near Aviemore).
Don't dismiss the Alfine 8. It's a very good hub, and you'll love the lack of maintenance, the longevity of your drivetrain. It's just different, not wrong.
Go for the G2 and get a second wheelset with the change. It's a cracking bike.
Brother Kepler Disc - it's what so run for sustranning and commuting. Stock has been gone for months but I found two frames in the basement and Brother are getting more stock next month
Love my Genesis Croix de Fer.
I have a similar ride and handles it well.
Toured a few NCN routes with ease and Am about to ride the Alfreds Way route.
Cheaper than some of the above (depending on model)
If you're willing to custom build the Sour Purple Haze is a lovely bike.
Don’t dismiss the Alfine 8. It’s a very good hub, and you’ll love the lack of maintenance, the longevity of your drivetrain. It’s just different, not wrong.
Barstad Aldine hubs can do one! Neither myself nor two local bike shops could get it indexed for longer than a couple of hours and both shops had it apart to try and see what was going on. Both mechanics started off all confident, they didn’t finish confident that’s for sure.
Lovely when it did work mind you. This was a few years back so hopefully they’re a bit more nailed now.
Not that I’m saying dismiss them, but I’d be wary of buying a bike that couldn’t take a derailleur, I’d really want that as an option.
Don’t dismiss the Alfine 8.
Until you have to get the wheel out on a dark rainy morning to change a tube (spanner’s, funny washers, disconnecting the gear cable, etc) or wonder what that dragging sensation from the back end is 😉 (hacked an inbred alfine to commute on, hated it)
Kona Rove or Sutra would be a good option. Love my Sutra and fits the skinny steel bike requirement perfectly.
I'm in a similar dilemma, currently torn between a Surly Straggler, Genesis Croix de Fer or a titanium Planet X Tempest. Understand that a new Surly Straggler is about to be announced so waiting for that
Have a G2, absolutely recommend for commuting, gravel and mild MTB. Very capable bike.
Has a Ribble CGR 725 for a few months last year till it hit stolen. Happy to answer questions on it if needed.
Now I have a Surly Midnight Special, as the geometry suited me slightly more.
Ti Sonder Camino would be my choice for that money, I think. I’ve got an alu one and it’s great.
Lots of great suggestions, many of which I hadn't considered, thank you STW.
One notable issue is lack of stock of virtually anything, but I'm willing to wait a month or two for the right bike.
Fairlight Faran? That's probably what I'm after I think. The Ribble CGR looks proper nice as well and a fair bit cheaper.
I actually have a Dawes Galaxy and if your on a budget it's a great call. Very very capable bikes and for what's a bit of a beast it's nice to ride.
The 2002-2003 ones have a rather lovely indestructible green bronze shimmer paint.
Ison should have some Surly stock coming in approx in a month so worth checking what is coming in.
Thanks NormalMan
Genesis Fugio? I’ve just bought one and eagerly awaiting it. Winstanley Bikes have Small and Medium for £1,999 and Freewheel have some sample and ex demo stock of the Fugio and other bikes in a few sizes.
Brother Kepler Disc – it’s what so run for sustranning and commuting. Stock has been gone for months but I found two frames in the basement and Brother are getting more stock next month
+1 for the Kepler. Its an amazing bike and I use it for exactly what your after commuting (before lockdown) and now gravel rides. Got a front rack and 32Cs tyres for commuting and some 38Cs for gravel duties. Its an amazing bike it can do everything from commuting to work to GBDuro (literally).
If you want something with more aggress geo maybe check out the Brother Mehteh
(I am assuming that the bike in the picture is yours)
How are you getting on with the tyres, Clement explor USH?
Are they tubeless?
Scratch that question.
Done some 'googling'.
Clement USH now Donnelly USH, NOT tubless.
(Whinstanley £28.50)
kilo
Until you have to get the wheel out on a dark rainy morning to change a tube (spanner’s, funny washers, disconnecting the gear cable, etc) or wonder what that dragging sensation from the back end is 😉 (hacked an inbred alfine to commute on, hated it)
I don't see that as any more hassle than trying to get a wheel past a derailleur for the tyro.
There's a technique just as there is with a derailleur bike. Disconnecting the gear cable is a breeze.
One notable issue is lack of stock of virtually anything, but I’m willing to wait a month or two for the right bike.
Dunno what size you are looking for but there are quite a few Croix de fer frames and full builds on eBay and gumtree at the moment. Prices seem to be coming down out of the stratosphere - I guess stuff isn't moving as fast now.
The Kona roves are nice although I think they changed the nomenclature. The steel one is now the dl I think.
Marin Nicasio seems nice from the test ride I had. And a bargain. Fearless vulture, masi cxgr (takes a dropper I'd that matters) or giramondo
The genesis tour de fer might fit the bill and doesn't seem to sell as well as the Cdf so you might find stock.
Thanks for the replies. I'm 6'1" so I think that puts me on a 58cm, or large for some and XL for the Tempest.
I've seen a couple of Genesis CDF available Cromolyolly thanks, and also the Planet X Tempest seems in stock.
G2, Al Camino, Kona, Kepler, CGR and Surly all seem to be 'preorder '.
@normalman Ison looks to be a distributor - do you mean that retailers should get stock from them soon?
Add a Pipedream ALICE to the list OP. Commuted on mine with 650bx47 tyres and mudguards until COVID, then changed them for 2.8 Mountain Kings and rode it around Bikepark Wales and Afan (with the kids) with no other changes!
Remarkable thing.
A bargain.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/gravel-bike-genesis-croix-de-fer-20-large-frame/1385590223
Or have a go yourself
Ison is the distributor for Surly. They put on their insta the other day that there is a Surly delivery in approx 1 month.
You can ask your local Surly dealer or ask Ison what they have coming. They have always been super helpful to me.
Another possible option have you thought about the Soma Wolverine? https://www.somafab.com/archives/product/wolverine
I'm getting a leveret through work. Bit pricy without discount though.Pretty much cycle to work all year round and am lazy with maintenance through winter so interested to see how the belt drive compares
I've got a Large Mason Resolution I'm about to post in classifieds. Takes 32 F 28 R with mudguards or 32/32 without so if its mostly road and hardpack gravel then it is about as light a skinny steel bike as you can get (for sensible money). 1*11 and 10-42 so nice gearing for commuting/light gravel too.....
PM sent re Mason!
@abingham - the Pipedream seems a bit burly for what I'm after but I have a set of Hope Hoops that will slot straight into that frame that they have in stock. No online reviews though, so I'll PM you for a bit more info if that's OK.
Email sent to Bikemonger to enquire about Incoming Surlys.
Thanks all
There is something about a Shand. Saw a guy commuting on one the other day and thought it looked lovely. Had normal gears though 😀
New Surly Straggler - might opt for this if I can just get a frameset in "Chlorine Blue" as not keen on SRAM APEX and Avid BB7s
https://surlybikes.com/bikes/straggler
I wanted the same about 8? Years ago. I bought a Singular Peregrine, which for the original bill and has been amazing in all sorts of different ways since.
Saw on Singular's Instagram today that he's had proto's for the new Peregrine delivered so, as above, if you don't mind waiting, there's another option on the way.
And the winner is...
The Pipedream A.L.I.C.E.
The fact that I could use my existing spare wheels on the frameset was the clincher (so please forgive the Hope blue hubs)
Lovely on the road so far - not a lightweight but not slow by any means.
I took it on some quite techy trails this morning as well as some XC and it was an absolute blast. I'm in the drops at every opportunity and am getting used to the geometry, cornering faster and hopping/pumping/unweighting more and more.
So much fun!!
