Adventure/gravel bike advice

I don’t like riding my mountain bike on the road and a trendy adventure bike ticks the boxes on paper

OP, a thought – forget the paper and ‘trends’ (for a moment) and figure out just why you don’t like riding yr mtb on the road?

Tyres?

Bars?

Wheel-size?

Geometry?

I say this because I’ve modified quite a few of my MTBs over the years and you can often with a tyre change, stem-swap and long bar-ends make an enormous difference to the way it rides on tracks, paths and roads.

Of course if you’ve got the N+1 new bike fever then just go demo ride some bikes. It would be silly not to.

On the other hand, I put fast tyres on my hardtail MTB, pretty long/low position already. Trying to keep up with my wife on her road bike was miserable. The extra 3-5mph she was getting meant I couldn’t keep up…it was almost as bad as doing a spinning session 🙂

^ +1 for that. I discovered recently that the Vagabond is far fitter than I am by a long shot. Case in point – Couple of days ago I took the (26er alu) hardtail around a local loop (50/50 road/trail. 50/50 rocky descents/tarmac climbs) and then the next day did the same route on the (29er steel) Vagabond (drops, 2.1 Nanos). On the monstercross I’d shaved about a third off the time. Was obv pushing a bit harder because of the 2×10 vs 3x, but the drops and 29″ hoops make a *lot* of difference IME. Nearly rattled my teeth out on the descents (tyre pressures critical here), and ground a millimetre or more off the Spyre pads. But it was (predictably) more ‘exciting and challenging’ than the MTB on rocky steep stuff, yet notably faster/smoother/more comfortable on the climbs and surfaced/gravel sections.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR – Member
Move somewhere more interesting and forget about all this skinny wheel, drop bar nonsense

What? Like this? 🙂

Spooky – was Kinesis AT one of your open tabs?

what, like this?

That’s pushing the definition of ‘skinny’. And the definition of ‘drops’. 😉

Compare that to a 90’s XC MTB and what you have up there is a sit-up-and-beg fat bike!

Yes it’s definitely an n+1 thing. I’ll be demoing some bikes before I buy.

On One- Bish Bash Bosh.
Ticks all my boxes.

Force 1x.
Hydro discs.
Internal cables.
Excellent colours (i’ve got green)
Not the norm.
Geo is just right for me, I use it on road, trails, cross and commuting.
For the price, it is excellent.
Mud clearance at the rear could be better but that is about it for the down sides.

Yeah yeah, people b1tch about PX/OO but I have had 3 of their bikes with no issues whatsoever. (jinxed it now) I visited the store in Sheffield to pick my BBB up. All my other frames have been 2/3/4th hand.

I upgraded the wheels for a set of Hunt and replaced the 11-42 cassette for a 11-34 (not hilly here), it is now a very light bike that should be a keeper for a long while yet.

Are you supposed to take kit in jersey pockets or a rucksack for a day out?

Roadie bias or off road bias? I’m guessing baggies are acceptable but lycra preferred?

Re my previous.
I missed your budget figure. Apologies.

Whatever you prefer

Roadie bias or off road bias? I’m guessing baggies are acceptable but lycra preferred?

Whatever you prefer

Re kit carrying, the code is strict:
kerchief in the left breast pocket, pipe and beard oil at the hip. Rackless soft luggage for the discerning

Boxelder…it wasn’t, thanks! Looks very nice, though over budget! I keep leaning towards the Arkose Alfine but some of these archaic derailleur bikes are lovely…

Found another ‘list’ of options, currently working through them all…I don’t think some are available in the UK, and some, well, I don’t know what to say…

fahrradmanufaktur.de – all fully racked expedition bikes

Tout Terrain – whattheheck?! Lots of beltdrives, pinion gearboxes and some mind-boggling designs…

…but the more traditional X-Over looks pretty interesting, Alfine’d but over £2k 🙁

englishcycles.com – individual?

Shand – very pricey. Rohloff.

Had the £510 Charge Grinduro been mentioned yet from Wiggle?

That Grinduro looks amazing…but I’m a little sceptical if it will match up the others as its apparently a Charge Grater under the paint job, which is sold as a commuter/city bike. (well suited to a hub gear with the eccentric BB, the Grater has one as an option)

want

Any mentions of Mango Point AR full 105, that’s under a grand and gets good reviews, not ridden but seen in the flesh. Also like the look of this new Cannondale due next month Caadx 105 SE. http://www.cannondale.com/Great%20Britain/bike/Productdetail?Id=ff1e7d7a-0041-408f-8973-e1bb40ef1373

its apparently a Charge Grater under the paint job

Its not, its a Charge Plug, which with a change of Mech hanger can be geared.

It looks as though Plug and Grater frames are in fact identical! I keep coming back to it…I’m sure its the colour…

Fortyfour look lovely but no price. If you have to ask…

https://grit.cx/news/2017/07/chargeplug_2018

Oh if only it was available before 2018…

My five pence. Pinnacle arkose 3 . Hydro discs. Hated the hoods and sure it would make my hands hurt after a while.

Caadx felt perfect but no rack options.35mm tyres max probably?

1000-1500 quid maybe hydro with good hoods with mudguard and rack….must visit aaaaaaall the shops.

https://grit.cx/news/2017/07/chargeplug_2018

Oh if only it was available before 2018…

that Plug is indeed an lovely looking machine

That charge is lovely, the game is being upped.

Not sure about the seatpost…

I found the Arkose to be dull and harsh on a test ride

OK I’m biased, but I wouldn’t call it harsh – if anything possibly more flexible in places than a few other CX/adventure frames I’ve ridden. You went for a Slate, a very stiff (harsh? maybe, to some, I’d just say it’s stiffer than I like ideally) frame ime of a few hours on one – still a total blast to ride, but there’s little give in that frame. Maybe a set-up / 1st impression thing.

Someone mentioned the weight – the Arkose frame is ~1650g, same as the quoted weight for the Mason.

Caadx felt perfect but no rack options.35mm tyres max probably?

I was looking at the tyre clearance the other day on my Caddx – it looked like 40mm tyres would fit. Has anyone actually tried it and found 40mm don’t fit?

Don’t the CAADX and SuperX SE models come with 37c WTB Riddlers for 2018?

The CAADX has room to run full 35mm wide tires, even with its super short chainstays.

Tyres
WTB Riddler 700x37c Tubeless, gumwall

https://www.evanscycles.com/cannondale-caadx-se-105-2018-cyclocross-bike-EV308158

🙄

The new Merida Silex 2018 looks the business , I must admit.

If shameless self plugging doesn’t offend you and a nice used example appeals then see here http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/titanium-salsa-fargo-frameset
It was 8.9kg fully built without pedals.

My 2017 CAADX will take 40mm tyres and also a rack

Fudge:. Interesting, I may need to revisit caadx then. Is this just standard ? They talked about changing the seat post clamp to manage seat posts (Evans).

Saw a ridley x trail today, looked awesome. The whyte 650b graveller looked damn good too with those skinwall WTBs

New bike day 😀

Typically I went for none of the suggestions, stopped in at a local-ish bike shop to have a look around and ended up with this:

So far it’s exactly what I was hoping. I was absolutely flying along some rolling road and bridleway I usually struggle to maintain speed on. Had some traction issues on a steep gravelly climb but the tyres were rock solid, hopefully letting some air out will help. The same hill was terrifying-in-a-good-way going back down in the dark.

The drops are going to take some getting used to but riding on the hoods feels natural straight away (time to bring back MTB bar ends?). My wrists hurt and I’m missing the front suspension a little bit, but again lower tyre pressures should take the edge off.

Sweet looking bike, congratulations. It was top of my list until the NS rag caught my eye. Hope you get lots of enjoyment out of it 🙂

Lovely looking bike, congrats.

Just picked up a Kona Rove ST on friday. It’s good, very good.

I’ve taken the 700c wheels off my Saracen Hack and put 650b stans arches on with 42c wtb resolutes, left the mudguards where they were. Had a filthy ride yesterday and it sailed through the worst bits whilst the guards kept me dry and didn’t clog at all.

Had a test ride on a Spesh Diverge E5 comp yesterday, lovely bike deposit paid!! The Carbon version for 2.5k they let me try was **** amazing but the offer of a kidney in payment wasnt enough!