Let's see 'em!
Having slimmed down the fleet and really enjoying my cheap drop barred Marin my thoughts are turning to an upgrade (obviously).
The Marin is a lovely ride but is no looker and casting my eye over various threads and manufactures websites it seems gravel bikes tend to be functional rather than beautiful.
Any material, any cost, any geometry, show us what a bonny bike should look like.
I think mine looks rather lovely.
Maybe I'm biased, don't care!
Open UPPER
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Carbonda
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Litespeed T5G
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I'm rather taken by this currently:
Loving my Tripster ATR V3...
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[url= https://i.ibb.co/rcJ2fj4/IMG-20200418-153943.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.ibb.co/rcJ2fj4/IMG-20200418-153943.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
I can't post pics but the Moots Routt always looks stunning.
Ooooooo, that Nordest is what we're talking about!
Daffy's squad are very nice too. The Specialized is utterly ruined by the top tube bending the wrong way IMO. Nice otherwise.
Biased (this one isn’t mine but this is a much better pic than I have taken) but I like the skinny steel combined with more chunky forks and wheels.
Specialized Sequoia.
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/QCRVYC88/1056-D047-5-A8-E-4061-999-C-93-E5-D8426-C9-E.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/QCRVYC88/1056-D047-5-A8-E-4061-999-C-93-E5-D8426-C9-E.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
My Seven Evergreen SL
+1 on that Nordest.
I bloody love my Sour Purple Haze. It's so capable off road but quick on. It looks a hell of a lot better now it has 42s on, the 35s were way too skinny.
My Raleigh Roker Pro. Not sure how pretty it is but it does the job and is very comfy with flat carbon stays.
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If it is pretty you are looking for though, how about a brace of Twmpa GR 1.0s made by my mate from local ash.
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New to this gravel business but loving it
Lovely stuff, keep them coming!
This one of cause.
Fairlight Secan .(unfortunately with necessary mudguard!)
Thanks,
Max.
Mine. I bought it cos I loved the colour and it was super comfy, everyone says how nice it looks.
P7eaven has saved this thread.
The Nordest and the Sour are rare gems in a pile of mediocre looking bikes.
Not sure if I ever thought this was pretty but it looked a lot better before I bolted guards and a rack to it!
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/g0zzz8Vz/IMG-3673.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/g0zzz8Vz/IMG-3673.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/vZMgn1rj/IMG-1707.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/vZMgn1rj/IMG-1707.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
P7eaven has saved this thread.
The Nordest and the Sour are rare gems in a pile of mediocre looking bikes.
Agree. The others are at best dull and at worst ugly. Just that one picture of the head tube and fork beats all the others.
Came here to post Singlebe, got beaten to it.
Consolation prize is my personal favourite - Heretic
Perhaps minus the horrible big cassette though, needs a nice compact 2x setup I reckon
Sour Purple Haze
Takes the win, my Diverge is butt ugly but we at least match!!
That Heretic looks very nice.
Mine is a pretty colour, but maybe not a pretty bike. Big bikes never are.
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My Evergreen is pretty (to me) but used as a winter bike more than for gravel. Nevertheless, with no guards it will take a 45mm knobbly and before I got the Stigmata it used to double up well.
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And the detailing is lovely - the closer you look, the better it gets.
I think my Fearless is pretty, even covered in mud
Perhaps a little bad road, and less gravel road...takes a 38c tyre... maybe too pedestrian for the majority on here...
The Singlebe is a very pretty paintjob and detailing, but in terms of frame design, it’s pretty interchangeable with any number of ‘steel is real’ clones all vying to be the essence of hipster.
Most of these just look like road bikes with very slightly bigger tyres on.
More than I can afford sadly, but for an off the peg bike I'm smitten with the Kona Rove Ltd.
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I think there is somewhat of a theme here - skinny steel frame, nice understated parts, slightly sloping geo = pretty bike!
@honourablegeorge - me too!
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/7899/40373763473_f73149787f_h.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/7899/40373763473_f73149787f_h.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/24vG6he ]_20190310_153856[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/simonholehan/ ]simonholehan[/url], on Flickr
Thanks all, enjoying the line up.
P7eaven has saved this thread. The Nordest and the Sour are rare gems in a pile of mediocre looking bikes.
Agree. The others are at best dull and at worst ugly. Just that one picture of the head tube and fork beats all the others.
I wouldn't be quite so harsh but that's kind of why I started the thread, there are plenty of nice gravel bikes but not that many that get it just right. I'm in love with the Nordest though.
I assumed I'd go down the Ti route due to retro memories but it seems, to my eye at least that most of them are great but it's hard to lift them above that position. Guess I'm a sucker for a nice paint job!
Seems to be a lack of aluminium too. Must admit I thought there would be some hidden alu gems. When thinking about this the Santa Cruz was kind of what I had in mind although in this company it doesn't shine. Funny old game.
Most of these just look like road bikes with very slightly bigger tyres on.
Isn't that the point? 😉
I think there is somewhat of a theme here – skinny steel frame, nice understated parts, slightly sloping geo = pretty bike!
Yup!
I’m loving that sunset paint job on that singlebe
Hmmm wonder how much they’d charge to do my Fargo like that
I was looking through here, thinking about slopping top tube thing. Sloping looks good, but not if it's too slopping. Or, is it how far away the seat stays are from a slopping top tube?
Although the Santa Cruz manages to look good with a design feature I don't like by doing just that.
Most of these just look like road bikes with very slightly bigger tyres on.
Can we have a quote of the day thread?
I would like to add to that:
trousers - they are just like shorts with longer legs
t-shirts - they are just like sweatshirts with shorter arms
What is a gravel bike if it isn't a drop handlebar bike with clearance for off road tyres?
@Houns don’t we have an STW go-to these days? Maybe he’s up for a challenge?
As much as I like the paint jobs and clean lines/welds of the Singlebes I’m more of a sucker for old-school Rando-looking gravel bikes with them there purposeful forks, ie
Brian Hollingsworth
(Royal H)
Or ideally somewhere in-between then and now, ie
(Vagabonde)
Do we? If so, they can slide in to my DMs with a price
Lots of alloy and carbon bikes look great, fast, racy, etc. But they don't look 'pretty'.
Hmmmm.
I have a Sonder Camino Ti frameset on order. Build will be 100% black components and 1x drivechain.
Not in the slightest bit original but very high in the pretty bike stakes.
Seems to be a lack of aluminium too.
This was the best I could manage, let down by suspension seat post, high bars (both necessities for me unfortunately) and the fact that the skinwall WTBs were too fat for the frame so it's now running skinnier Vittorias.
...but I think I'm just guilty of the same crime as a lot of posters above, e.g. confusing how much fun a bike is to ride with how pretty it is. I'll award my Kinesis 'functional looking' at best 😀
Getting on a bit now, but my Tripster still looks great and is used pretty much every day.
I don't have pics, but I've got an Orange RX9 from when it came with orange paint and pale blue bar tape. Not really a pretty bike, but that colourscheme makes me feel like I'm riding a can of Irn Bru, which i can live with.
Yeah, that Orange was a nice looking bike. Agree with Kinesis too, they look functional but I had a spin on a work mates road bike and it was the best fitting road bike I've ever ridden.
My cinelli zydeco at pilot house cycles. Must have been to the shops hence saddle bag
I always wanted a Zydeco, just couldn't afford it as a custom build built the way I wanted 🙁
I happen to own the prettiest gravel bike there is, best paint job as well. You're welcome.
https://theradavist.com/2019/10/the-2020-cervelo-aspero-disc-grx-1-comes-with-a-27-5-wheel-option/
Didn't think i needed a new bike until I saw that Nordest!
50 posts and no Bokeh yet?
My Genesis Fugio 30 in sunset fade is very pretty. Only have bad photos taken by me though
I give up. User failure. In the link above there is a pretty Genesis CDF that I'm very proud of!
Singlebe do have a good eye for bike lines.
I'm really taken by Tom Sturdy's output at the moment. Not so much the 1x or bar drop of this one but it's not so important.
no Bokeh yet?
Good rep, nice details, but not particularly pretty bikes imho. I think it's the proportions overall and the the stay bends from the side profile.
I will never love a dropped chainstay, although appreciate the functional benefits. Think I'd almost prefer the looks of an elevated stay!
Absolutely love my Secan
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50624624692_66621a2a29_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50624624692_66621a2a29_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
I will never love a dropped chainstay,
Same here. I'd have a slightly longer back end, smaller chainrings (2x) and straight stays.
My 'gravel' bike....
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50576881846_852de23712.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50576881846_852de23712.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2k4iJUf ]Muddy Orbea Orca[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr
Yeah, an Orbea was my 'one that got away' as I couldn't afford to buy a complete bike then swap all the bits I didn't like 😀
Shame, was partial to the harlequin paint job, and had a lot of fun with the customiser on the Terra website...
His and hers
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50624702532_ca700ae266_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50624702532_ca700ae266_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2k8wQjQ ]IMG_20200602_103225_0[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/94046237@N02/ ]N HERCBERG[/url], on Flickr
What was that US Titanium one with all the etching on it? That was gorge
Santa Cruz bikes always have a nice look about them. Wheres that photo taken?
Dezb Firefly?
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At the more budget end I like how my Tempest looks.
I'm biased but I like my RLT9.
It's all about grey for the Mason Bokeh in my opinion...
Got my eye on one of these:
Dezb Firefly?
Nope. That is nice, but it was all Ti coloured
Still love my Giant Revolt after two years but seriously tempted by the new Secan for my significant birthday present to myself next year.
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/TL0dCKK0/IMG-20190328-110711493-HDR-2.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/TL0dCKK0/IMG-20190328-110711493-HDR-2.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
I think it was the Why Cycles...
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https://www.bikeradar.com/features/why-cycles-r-first-look/?image=4&type=gallery&gallery=1&embedded_slideshow=1
I'm sure the etching was more... erm, classy though
Brake cables and bar tape to add tonight and it's almost there (bar drive train). But really loving the look of the incarnation of the Spot.
Gorilla Monsoon in Root Beer
Hmmmmm, the longer this thread goes on the more it seems my initial thoughts were correct. There are plenty of nice/very nice gravel bikes but very few absolute belters.
Anyway, off back to work out how to afford a Nordest.
One thing I like with a disc bike is bridgeless stays, much more practical and pretty.
Rob Quirk
Pretty is in the eye of the beholder.
Black flag, the picture of his and hers was taken on the Duddon Estuary, Cumbria. Borwick Rails, near Million.
Royale H.
Now to my eye, that is a pretty bike, with function too. I do so like the double crown top on the fork.
On another look, its got couplings to split the frame up for travelling by air to far flung places (remember that activity?)
My 1940s Rudge out on a 150km day ride, mainly on gravel. (HT550 riders may recognise the location)
It's got very pretty stainless steel rims. 🙂
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Now to my eye, that is a pretty bike, with function too. I do so like the double crown top on the fork.
Likewise. Which reminds me...the Elephant NFE. Phwoar.
