Gravel Bikes (again!)

So after a brief break with biking and selling the e bikes, I’m now back on a normal trail bike (Canyon Neuron).  I’m looking at gravel bikes for weekday blasts to aid getting fitness back and basically I enjoy it 🙂

Been looking in the region of 1.5 – 2k, Shimano GRX with hydro brakes. Tried to message a few on Pinkbike to see if second hand is an option, but it seems no one actually wants to sell despite advertising…

Here’s a short list so far, but just seeing if I’ve missed any obvious options or better alternatives.

• Cotic Escapade
• Genesis Fugio 30
• Cannondale Topstone carbon 3
• Dolan GXC Carbon
• Giant Revolt 0
• Various Orro models

I’m usually in between large and x large on most models (6’2″ with 34″ inseam).  I’ve been prioritising tyre clearance, more relaxed, upright geometry and any sort of GRX groupset with hydro brakes.

I’ve seen more, but I think these are the main contenders at the moment. Anything else I should be looking at?

Sonder Camino (Alpkit)

Camino Al GRX2

Tripster AT plus?

Kinesis Tripster AT Plus

Brother Mehteh. Fairlight Secan. (Secan also comes in two different geometries, Regular and Tall, the latter being even more upright/relaxed). You’re probably looking at around £2400 for either of those in GRX-600-ish trim.

(Oops – just saw your price range and these are a little bit out of it, but in a similar price range to some of the carbon bikes you’ve mentioned).

Oh yeah, the Camino was supposed to be on that list too. They’re an option.

I’ve had a look a some of the Kinesis too, some nice bikes there. All the bikes in that list are 2k or under when I’ve done a bit of digging, but £2000 is really max budget at the moment.

It’s a nice problem to have, but I’m having difficulty deciding!

The Camino is lovely. My daughter has one and it’s almost as nice to ride as my much more expensive Gradient.

Had a look at the Fairlight Secan and it’s lovely, just out of my price range 🙁

I keep circling back to the Camino, you seem to get a lot more for your money but I’m not convinced I like the look of the frame (a bit tarty I know!).

I think the problem is no matter how good the pics are, they never seem to do any bike justice.

I’ve found a 2023 Scott Speedster in my size with Rival AXS for £1899, that might be a contender!

I’ve got a Dolan GXC – I like it. I use mine for road / commuting rather than gravel – but it’s light, stiff under power, comfortable etc. loads of clearance and can run 650b or 700c.

It’s broadly the same frame as the Carbonda 696, On One Freeranger, Bombtrack Hook etc.

The £1799 build looks like it meets your requirements with a bit of cash spare. You could see if you could do a couple of uk grades if you want to – Dolan let you make some spec changes. Or you could get pretty paint – I paid extra for the sparkly purple.

Put Fustle cascade on your list

https://www.ridefustle.com/

https://www.lyonequipment.com/bikes/bikes-frames/salsa-warbird-carbon-grx-600__3319

I flipping love my warbird. Annoyingly they’ve knocked some more money off them all compared to last year!

Cheers for the info on the Dolan, sounds like a cracking bike!

I like the look of those Fustle and they sell framesets so a self build is an option too.

That Warbird isn’t a bad price! I think the 57.5cm might be a tad too small though 🙁

Their sizing chart puts you right on the top of the 57.5.

That said, I’ve just checked which one I bought and I’m also on a 57.5 at 5’10 and 32” inseam. I definitely bought against recommendation though as I was looking for a particular fit matching my previous bike. Arguably i should probably be on the 56. Bump the stem up, put another 10mm on and slide the saddle back and you’d end up with a more classic fit bike for a taller person than me!

Vitus Substance. XL should do you, probably a 2nd-hand buy

Choice of CF, steel or alu frames

Gravel covers a lot of bases these days, I have a Fargo as a touring tank and a Ridley clone of the Dolan as a lighter faster option. Mine has SRAM Apex and it’s been excellent and totally reliable. The Fargo doesn’t get out much now.

If the Warbird isn’t big enough, they have a Cutthroat in every size. Carbon too and the bike of choice for ultras like the Tour Divide.

Well after far too much thought, dithering and changing my mind… I’ve decided to self build a Fustle Causeway!

Merlin have the 1×12 GRX groupset in at a very reasonable price too.  I’ve just gone with some cheap Fulcrum wheels for now as I can just upgrade them further down the line.

Looking forward to building a bike now as it’s been a while since I did a full build from scratch.

I ended up with one of these :

On-One Free Ranger Shimano GRX RX810 Gravel Bike

Very pleased with it but did swap out the tyres.

I’ve always been a fan of the Freeranger. I remember when they first released the colour that looked like a Creme Egg, loved that one 🙂

Put Fustle cascade on your list

Fustle Causeway or Cotic Cascade?  or both?

Mine’s in the post. The Fustle, that is. Already got 2 Cotics. Now to see how seamless NI to EEA delivery is.

My Fustle is also on it’s way.  I think the thing for me is I used the live chat function on the website around 8:30pm and got a prompt, accurate and friendly reply from Alistair!

I was already 90% decided (was also looking at Kinesis on Merlin), but I appreciate the little things.

Grizl

I got a Camino when they sold the frames for £300 each and I like it but they aren’t the best finished things in the world, not sure it is worth the £550 they ask for the frame at the moment IMO.

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That looks really nice with the aero wheels though!

Tried to buy a second hand Grizl and the guy didn’t even open my message 🙂

Yeah, not always the most practical mind ?. Picked up a set of cheap wheels in the superstar sale last year which I throw on if it is crap weather.

Looks just as nice in that one too. This is why I always say that the photos on the websites never do the bikes justice. They look much better in the wild 🙂

One of the reasons I had such a hard time trying to decide!

The majority of the bikes the OP listed cost way more than the £1500-2000 range they mentioned, or if they’re referring to s/h then they’ll also need to price in new drivetrains etc.

I’ve an On One Free Ranger, with Force 1 – can be bought for less than £2k

Use it for both gravel & road – 50c gravel tyres on alloy wheels and 30mm road tyres on shallow drop carbon wheels.

Planet X usually do interest free deals too – save the cash 🙂

The alloy Topstone’s look pretty decent to me, and the Topstone 1 is GRX and about £1500

In true STW ‘recommend what you have’ fashion, the Giant Revolt’s a lovely bike. I have the carbon version and while I’m still getting used to riding a road bike in mud, I’ve been having a lot of fun on it.

Tyres were crap though, changed them inside a week.

OP has ordered now but I spotted this which looks a bargain. Carbon, GRX 12

https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/orro-terra-c-grx610-2024-bike

Good choice OP!

More on Fustle and Alistair here

Due to the new cutthroat being released yesterday you can pick up a grx600 cutthroat for 1900 quid in the UK right now.

That’s a bloody bargain.

for 1900 quid in the UK right now.

Where?

Lyon equipment & biketart

Just for clarification all the bikes I originally mentioned were found for less than 2K, that’s why I listed them.

I’d literally spent days scouring the net looking at sub 2k bikes after the budget crept up from the early £1000 plus 🙂

That Orro was a decent price but I think I passed it by due to wanting more tyre clearance for wider wheels/tyres later on.

Was pretty swift processing, given that the website said they were on holiday.

DHL “Express” delivered. 3 days to get from Belfast to Eindhoven, then next day delivery in Frankfurt. No import issues. Just arrived like any other EU delivery, which is what I expected, given NI special relationship.

It’s shiny. That’s my weekend sorted. Already had all the other bits to go on it.

Due to the new cutthroat being released yesterday you can pick up a grx600 cutthroat for 1900 quid in the UK right now.

That’s a bloody bargain.

That… is exceptionally tempting…

Aye it sure is. I paid 1500 last year for frame/forks and thought that was a deal.  Won’t hang around long at that price.

(Picture will offend I’m sure)

I have a Pinnacle Arkose di2 that I used as a winter training bike.  I like it a lot and a couple of months ago you could pick on up for 2.2K.  Though it is not light even with Hunt Mason X wheels (which are lightish) and di2 (which is Ultegra weight).

The wife has a GXC in custom pink.  Nice looking frame, light with Force AXS and Hunt Mason X wheels.  The paint comes off easily but that’s because my wife parks it like a teenager ie leans the frame against the bike rail…

Parcelforce tried to delivery my Fustle today while I was at work 🙁

I had banked on the 12 working days it said on the website as I’d have been home by then. Hopefully they get the redelivery notification and it comes tomorrow!