Hi

i am wanting to start riding to work which is about 20miles away and its mainly road however I don’t want a Roadbike, as i want a bike that will do the commute ok but can do some adventure/off roading.

im only looking at spending a grand and so far my heads blown apart as im hopeless with road/CX tech

so far i have seen and liked…

https://www.wheelbase.co.uk/product/bikes-frames/bikes-by-type/gravel-road-bikes/genesis-vagabond-2018-18genesisvagabond/

https://www.wheelbase.co.uk/product/bikes-frames/bikes-by-type/gravel-road-bikes/genesis-cda-20-2018-18genesiscda20/

i like the “headshock” idea on this:

https://www.wheelbase.co.uk/product/bikes-frames/bikes-by-brand/specialized-bikes-by-brand/2018-specialized-diverge-e5-sport-18divergee5sport/?nosto=nosto-category-page-top

and im intrigued by the tyre size on this:

https://www.wheelbase.co.uk/product/bikes-frames/bikes-by-type/gravel-road-bikes/2018-whyte-glencoe-2018_whyte_glencoe/?nosto=nosto-category-page-top

thanks and forgive my numptiness

i like the “headshock” idea on this:

The E5 Sport has a standard frame. It’s the elite upwards that gets the suspension.

The general consensus on here is the Akrose. Don’t have one personally I have a Vaya but the stwer’s like the Akrose based on the threads where it comes up. Bregante on here has a lovely Orange one

The NS RAG+ is a great all rounder and I just happen to know somebody that’s looking to sell one (cough)

Can’t go wrong with an Arkose.

I commute on a salsa Fargo which the vagabond closely resembles. It’s fine but slower than my arkose.

I tried road plus (like the Glencoe) for the first time yesterday on a 200k audax. Wasn’t at all sluggish like I thought it would and was very comfortable. Obviously not a whippet like a 25c carbon superbike but not like doing road work on an mtb.

Not sure I’d bother with 20mm of suspension that would need servicing when 47mm of tyre can do a decent enough job!

Arkose is Qr rear, cube nuroad is good & £1k

I have a large (too big for me) Kona Jake, Tiagra cable disc 2×10. Bought off here for £275 last year, I’d take £275!

It has a dent in the down tube but otherwise looks ace.

There’s clearance for 37’s so lots of options with tyres. I had vittoria voyager from PX £15 a pop 400g and quick.

Get an Arkose Dunc. I’m so impressed with mine. Mine’s too big for you but I’m sure Mr Moore will let you have a twiddle on his?

Are you sure you want a drop-bar bike? My personal experience when I briefly swapped to a drop-bar bike for commuting – I hated it! Even on the hoods I hated the position, much prefer sitting upright in traffic. And then when I took it on the trail, it just confirmed my bias.

You might love drop bars, however 🙂

https://m.h2gear.co.uk/125684/products/2017-specialized-sequoia-elite-disc-gravel-bike.aspx

Half price. Not ridden it but on paper looks ideal and they seem to get well reviewed.

^^that sequoia looks a great buy TBH

I saw one in the flesh for the first time last week and they are very very nice

To add to the list:

Norco Search

Saracen Hack

both have versions around £1000

That sequoia is so cheap I’d be asking questions about it’s legitimacy… (colour mentioned is the pro, the elite is ‘California sage’ and they only did one colour per model)

ive got one and it’s perfect for what you want, only reason I didn’t recommend it was out of budget.

Mango Point AR? i know Mango were in trouble last year but they are under new ownership…

matt lime green Arkose here, had it 3 years. I ride mine mainly on the road, I very very rarely use the drops – it has hydros and braking from the hoods with 1 or 2 fingers is plenty of power (I commute into Central London)

Rutland cycles has a sale on GT Grades for ~£950 you can get either the alloy version with 105 or the carbon one with Tiagra and Trp HYRD brakes.

That Sequoia looks lovely, steel is lovely to ride, here’s a little inspiration for you, out today on my Salsa Vaya weather was awesome

20 miles each way on that Vagabond will sap the soul. You don’t want a road bike, OK, but there are plenty of people on here that have bought “gravel” bikes, only to find that they have slow sluggish handling or heavy, and sold them on. You want a CX bike with race geometry – 72.5 to 73 degree head angle. Boardman has this geometry, so has the older Jake mentioned above. Gravel bikes seem to like 71.5 degree head angles. We used to call them tourers 😉

Cheers for the advice

I’d like some touring capabilities so I’ll bear the angles in mind with the mount options.

Raleigh Seem to have a nice bike in the mustang

I do about 2h/day on a carbon Grade, and it’s pretty good for my steep concrete climbs and descents – I take farm tracks and back roads where possible.  I use it off road too, just take the guards off and let some air out of the tyres (38mm).

Bad points:
Lack of proper rear mudguard mount.  Clip-on ‘brake’ bridge is a bodge.

Max 40mm tyre clearance at chainstay yoke (could run bigger on the front though).

As above, 70.5º HA isn’t great on the road, especially as I swap between bikes a lot.  Feels like the headset binding, until I remember.

I just bought a Kinesis Tripster AT and you could probably sneak a build in at under 1k but I think you could get the SRAM Rival 1 build kit and the frameset for probably 1400 quid.

there are plenty of people on here that have bought “gravel” bikes, only to find that they have slow sluggish handling or heavy, and sold them on.

I thought that about the Boardman CX to be fair, but then it did make me realise that I actually needed a winter road bike instead.

20 miles is a long way, I’d want as fast a road bike as I could get. Maybe what you really need is two new bikes?

I have the old Boardman CX Pro as a winter bike. Apart from the slightly higher bottom bracket, the 73 degrees parallel frame makes it a joy to ride. Just upgraded it to a full 10 speed Dura Ace 7800 groupset.

And here me off the front of an E123 race at Hillingdon on it (not my usual race bike btw)

There’s a new cheaper Salsa on the way too, alloy frame, carbon fork, clearance for 50mm tyres at 700c and room to switch to 27.5 for mtb rubber, enough mounting points for all sorts of guards, racks and bikepacking bags.

https://salsacycles.com/bikes/journeyman/journeyman_sora_700

Like others here, I wasn’t quite willing to load up the pounds on the bike to save a few quid and end up with a sturdy shopping bike to ride around on. I’d previously tried a Ridley X-Trail Carbon and absolutely loved it, so picked up a previous year’s model at more or less half price and am delighted with it. It’s not quite as light as my road bike, but it’s still pretty light, and a great bike to ride into the mix. In my case, I wasn’t after something to replace the road bike, but something to replace the MTB on rides where 80% of the riding is on tarmac.

It’s a bit more expensive than other stuff listed here (I paid £1700 for the full Ultegra version), but they do other, cheaper models and I love the bike.

Not much use… but I’m a big fan of the Planet X Uncle John.

I bought my frame and forks for £99.

I’ve done the 3 peaks on it 3 times. I’ve done the 1st edition of the Torino Nice Rally on it . It serves as my winter roadbike. I did Chilkoot’s Born to Ride 1200km across the alps last year on it

It’s survived smashing into a bollard (my femur didn’t). It takes 40mm tyres. It takes racks and mudguards. Handling is way better than the MK2 Kaffenback I had (pre-disc version). Brakes great with the Avid Ultimate cantilevers, but the frame can take a disc.

It’s almost a comical bike because it was so cheap, but it has done some pretty big adventures riding alongside  some very blingy bikes. It was created before the ‘Gravel’ label came to be known in the UK but it serves the purpose fantastically.

Planet X London Road here, my favourite bike. Year round commuter with 32c light treaded tyres and guards over the winter, then 40c nanos and no guards in the summer it becomes my go anywhere bike. It’s also my winter road bike and i’m happy doing 60+ mile rides on it.

there’s always..

My friend has just bought an Arkose, it’s a lovely looking bike! The only downside is that it has a 12×100 thru axle at the front, which throws a bit of a spanner in the works if you want a hub dynamo or a pitlock security skewer.

urgh, that was a bit uncalled for rocketdog

I was trying to eat

OP

I would choose the one with the best wheelset.

Some of the CTW priced bikes used to come with cheapish hubs and heavy rims.

A big commute could kill them pretty quick.

I’d stick to a road bike for a commute. 25c tyres is plenty and would be fine on some light gravel duties. 20 miles is a decent hog and I’d want to know I wasn’t wasting energy as when you start factoring in headwinds, bags, shit weather ect.. you just want to get home asap. I’ve got a cannondale caad9 which I’ve just upgraded to ultegra and its still cost me less than £700… second hand you can get some bargains!

The only downside is that it has a 12×100 thru axle at the front, which throws a bit of a spanner in the works if you want a hub dynamo

SON make a 12mm bolt-thru dynamo hub. or you could take a 15mm and add a 1.5mm reducer, like SP supply a 15mm – QR adaptor.

I would choose the one with the best wheelset.

Some of the CTW priced bikes used to come with cheapish hubs and heavy rims.

A big commute could kill them pretty quick.

On the flipside, a cheap set of wheels can be run into the ground and cheaply and easily replaced (either with another cheap wheelset, or something posher if you want), whereas a cheap frame with a cheap groupset is probably always going to be a cheap frame with a cheap groupset…

My friend has just bought an Arkose, it’s a lovely looking bike! The only downside is that it has a 12×100 thru axle at the front, which throws a bit of a spanner in the works if you want a hub dynamo or a pitlock security skewer.

SON Delux 12?

Most disc road bikes seem to be 12×100 and 12×142 now.

SP hubs also available with 12mm TA.

Love my Sonder Camino for commuting and weekend road rides – riding position and 38c tubeless tyres just make those unseen potholes and poor road surfaces much more manageable and opens up off road options too.

Previous bike was a carbon planet-x which was great on a nice day on good surfaces but the Camino is just way more comfortable and fun and only marginally slower for the type of rides I do.

@daern

I get what you say,but I always feel that cheap wheelsets run me into the ground first.

Marginal gain and all that 😉

Most disc road bikes seem to be 12×100 and 12×142 now.

This does indeed seem to be the case. Ridley (being a CX specialist) were earlier to discs and bolt-through axles than a lot of the mainstream manufacturers. They switched from 15mm front axles to 12mm last year, recognising that this standard was emerging and wanting to remain in line with it.

Of course, next year someone will release a half-inch axle and declare it to be “the future of all cycling” 🙂

25c tyres is plenty and would be fine on some light gravel duties

It certainly is.  My only bike has 25c road tyres and over 50% of my riding is on fire roads and easy single track with a couple of % of more challenging single track now and again.  It is very quick on everything but the more challenging single track which just keeps you on your toes!