Until yesterday I didn't know what a gravel bike was. Now I want one. House move forces purchase 🙂
I have a budget of around 500-800 quid and I'd quite like to build one myself. Any tips on bargain frames and kit I should look out for? Second hand? China? New frame second hand bits... new off the peg bike?
I am clueless (in many things) but especially about Gravel bikes.
ta!
the Shark frame, fork, wheels, headset, seatpost on ebay for £300 from Velo Champion
Charge plug (if you can find one). Theres a dedicated thread on here.
Or a cyclo-cross frame - cheaper than a dedicated gravel frame as it's the in thing at the moment. These can be picked up for 100quid or so. Only down side will be tyre clearances.
Wheels/tyres are trickier as you'll need to decide on 650b or 700c. A set of qr 650b wheels can be picked up for about 100 again, but specific 'gravel tyres' can be around 40 each.
It's an achievable cost though. Mine was around 800 all in. Or 1000 with both 700c and 650b wheels.
What he said^^
and you get to say "I ride a SHARK" 😉
ta, the shark frame is, um, a little brash...
How do you mean the downside is tyre clearance? Too much/too little?
wheels I think I want 700c. want a flexible bike that I can use on the road and turbo trainer too.
any links to appropriate 100 quid frames?
ta so far!
I got one of the infamous London Road frame deals a couple of years ago... Don't buy a planet X.
But do raid your MTB spares bin, mine is half MTB really, SLX mech, old LX square taper cranks Superstar N/W ring, DMR hubs, M520s cranks, if it wasn't for the curly bars and narrow tyres you'd mistake it for a proper bike...
As others have noted there's a few bargain steel frames about right now, charge plug, personally I would go hunting for a 2nd hand salsa vaya.
But yeah, raid the spares bin and keep an eye out for "standards creep" I reckon they'll billow gravel with brake mounts soon...
steel F&F from PX for £125
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRHOLSTEL/holdsworth-stelvio-touring-adventure-disc-frameset
they have fulcrum red disc wheels for £125 to match
tiagra groupset from merlin for £250, and buy a set of avid road BB brakes.
finishing kit of choice.
Cheers stoner , Planet X puts me right off.... although its and interesting look! Is it gaspipe steel or something better? although for that price I cant expect much. thanks for the tips on the rest as well
cookeaa i'll give those a look too
Regards wheels - cx frames generally have clearances for 35c tyres on 700c wheels (not massive in gravel terms). If you go 650b you should be able to fit larger tyres, but it'll be trial and error. I've just bought some 25quid 27.5 x 1.95 to try to squeeze into my bike - if they don't fit I'll be left with a pair of tyres I can't use.
Unless you buy a dedicated gravel frame / bike with a guide in tyres It's a bit trial and error.
That shark frame for example takes 700x35c tyres max. So not exactly gravel and more cx bike.of course this is only an issue if your going to run the larger tyre sizes.
Save yourself the bother of self build - or buy one of these frames;
https://www.alpkit.com/sonder/sonder-camino-alloy
no idea of the provenance of the pipework, but double butted cromo is not out of the ordinary.
PX is marmitey as a Co. but if you play the game you can get something excellent for astonishing money. Ive just built up an Exocet 3 TT race bike - bang up to date construction, materials and design, with a carbon seat pin, base bar, aero bar and stem for...£900!
The Shark frame actually takes much wider tyres than 35mm stated in their blurb. Investigations suggest it is this repainted, which takes 2.1" up front, I think I recall 1.9" rear http://road.cc/content/tech-news/170201-bowman-cycles-footscray-cyclocross-frameset-first-look
As siwhite said ^^ why bother with self build when you can get a Camino under your budget.
https://www.alpkit.com/sonder/bikes/sonder-camino-al-sram-apex1-mechanical
Check the reviews!!
that camino is a cracking deal
there's also this Wilier at Wiggle for a little over budget. 1.5"+ tyre clearance
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/wilier-jareen-disc-sora-2018-adventure-road-bike/
That Camino looks cracking value - pity the V1 is only available in Small & XL.
Still, for the extra £50 the V2 is still a good buy.
And as a frame only for £300 possibly better than the Shark I looked at yesterday - although the Shark comes with wheels.
ok change of plan
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As siwhite said ^^ why bother with self build
Always a good question and if your budget is low then even more value in buying an off the shelf bike (unless you have some of the parts lying around already)
Unless you are like me where you would end up changing pretty much all the components to what I wanted in the first place and doubling the over cost...
My Foots Cray (the shark is apparently the same) takes Knards but I don't think you'd get any wider. I keep meaning to try a mtb front tyre but haven't got round to it.
There's a RAG+ in the classifieds that should do the job (not mine)
£545 for the frames of that fearless? Has your budget increased? Nice though.
£545 for the frames of that fearless? Has your budget increased? Nice though.
...and the Ultegra groupset and Hope carbon seatpost won't come cheap either 😉
Lovely looking bike though.
I got a s/h CAADX Rival Disc for £425, not fashionably 650b, but looks like it'll take a 40 or 42 700c which should be enough for most stuff.
If you're happy sitting in front of ebay you'll have loads of options. Quite a few Genesis Croix De Fer frame's come up for one.
If you were looking at full bikes then you'd probably find a bunch of Pinnacle Arkrose's and many more Genesis's, which you could probably pick up cheap leaving a bit of budget to upgrade.
I built a weird single speed, flat bar (very sweepy Jones loop like thing) Genesis Croix De Fer to commute and play on and I swear its one of the most fun bikes I've owned
Halfords have 10% off all bikes today, with BC discount on "click and collect" you could buy...
Boardman CX Team for ~£730
Boardman ADV 8.9 for ~£810
Medium Charge Grinduro SS for £700 at Wiggle, maybe upgrade to carbon fork and/or multi gears.
Or build a PX Full Monty frame and fork up for ~£200
Cheers lots to look at. Just fancy building one up I guess. eBay is definitely an option. Evans have a pinnacle arkose 2016 frame and fork for around 250
I think the 2017 onward arkose got more tyre clearance than the 2016s if I remember correctly.
There's some tasty bikes in the gravel category now, but not in your budget. Particulary nice are the Kinesis Tripster and the Whyte gravel bike.
Get the bike that takes the widest tyres.
Eventually bikes intended for gravel roads will take 2.35" tyres, and the earlier versions will become as desirable as a 26" mtb that can only take 2".
With wider tyres the bike is more capable and more fun.
On your budget, I'd modify an older 29er for the purpose. (Older because the head angles are better). Just add a rigid fork and the appropriate components.
The larger tyres can be run at lower pressures, so you'll find you can get off with using tyres with minimal or no lugs because the tyre gets its grip from conforming to the surface rather than digging in, and this means it is far more pleasant to do big mileages on the road as well. I use Big Apples. I notice the new Whyte uses fat slicks in the 650b size, so that may be the start of a trend.
If you can find a decent Scandal frame, you're set. They are light and nimble.
Of course, the pedant semanticists will tell you that's not a gravel bike, but while they are arguing over how many angels fit on a pinhead, you can be out enjoying a bike with incredible versatility on gravel. 🙂
Here's a pic of one of my earlier attempts using shallow dropbars.
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These days you can get disk brake levers for dropbars so there is more choice in the bars available than I had.
Of course, the pedant semanticists will tell you that’s not a gravel bike
It isn't, it is a rigid MTB with funny handlebars. If it works for you and is fun that is great. My fixed gear track bike works on gravel for me and I find it fun. What they have in common is that they are the result of us knowing what we want/enjoy for the type of riding we do.
Neither would be held up as 'gravel' bikes though to someone who is asking for one.
i think, although i could be wrong, that I am leaning more towards a road bike that i can use on gravel tracks occasionally. I want to use it on the turbo trainer in the winter and then march april ish for longer training road rides, then commute to work on it mainly by road but occasionally lengthening my commute taking gravel roads . 700c and a double chainring possibly
Ive costed the Shark and will be building it for >£550 with some careful shopping Admittedly I already have a parts bin Sram Rival front and rear mechs
shark is an option indeed. In terms of size, does one go slightly smaller on a gravel bike than road bike? you know for shredding the gravel gnar? I'm 185cm
Not sure on the sizing of the shark. They claim they have a longer top tube, but it seems comparable to the Boardman or Nukeproof in terms of TT an reach .
Based on the way I tend to ride my CX/gravel bikes, I prefer a slightly smaller frame as I tend to move a bit more around on the bike on technical terrain e.g. off the back of the saddle on steep descents / drop-offs. Likewise, I run a slightly shorter stem and more layback / weight over the saddle to help with backwheel grip on looser ground. Those with a more bike-packing bent might prefer to size-up on the frame to accommodate frame bags.
Aye, I go slightly shorter on CX too, and a shorter stem. The Shark (and Bowman Cycles Foots Cray frame) sizing recommends both of these things
I'm trying hard to resist this at the moment :
kerley
...Neither would be held up as ‘gravel’ bikes though to someone who is asking for one.
It depends if he wants something called a "gravelbike' or something that performs better on gravel, ie a bike for gravel riding.
Mine is a bike built for gravel, and it rides better on it than my other bikes with narrower tyres, including my CX bike. The only difference is the TT is lower.
Large tyres are going to be the defining point of gravel bikes soon, all those quasi CX and dropbar hybrids will be obsolete.
The Whyte Glencoe is leading the charge with a bike designed for mountain gravel roads IMO.
It depends if he wants something called a “gravelbike’ or something that performs better on gravel, ie a bike for gravel riding.
From the OP earlier - I am leaning more towards a road bike that i can use on gravel tracks occasionally.
That to me says something called a gravel bike. In fact as most of the use would be on road I would just get a road bike that can take 28c tyres and ride that as gravel is occasional rather than half the time.
50% of my riding is on gravel and I use 25c road tyres. Maybe I am not as fussy about comfort but grip is not an issue and I only know I have the wrong tyres when riding through rough or very muddy single track.
Sizing is really confusing me on road/gravel/adventure/drop bar bikes.
Comparing the Shark to the Camino the medium in each sizes up similar apart from seat tube & stand over. TT & reach are fairly close - only a few mm between them at the most. Can't find stand over for the Shark .
