Gravel / occasional road bike £2k c2w

Eyup,

So my very well used (~8 years old) planet x pickenflick is showing signs of wear. It’s got to the point where I’m going to need to spend quite a bit of cash refreshing the drivetrain and various other bits.

I’m starting to wonder whether getting a new bike on the cycle to work scheme would be a wiser thing to do.

I will actually be using it to cycle to work I promise! (Amongst other things…)

I am pretty happy overall with the build on the pickenflick. I use it mainly for gravel but also commuting, and also the occasional road ride in the winter generally. It does all these things well but there are a few things I’d like to improve in (see below)

If I had more space then maybe I’d have a separate road bike….but I don’t have the space without selling something. else and so I want this to continue to cover both gravel and road, with a change of wheels

Pickenflick is running 2×11 105 which I think suits this use case best, as i am really not convinced by 1x for the road.

Requirements:

– £2k max. Halfords c2w scheme. (my work’s cycle to work scheme is stingy)

– Would really like proper mudguard, rack and luggage mounts (general lack of mounts is a big downside of the pickenflick)

– Dropper compatible (seems like this may be a struggle… Many gravel bikes now on 27.2 seat posts for some reason.)

– As above, would prefer 2x drivetrain.

Have been doing some browsing around and on paper, the following look interesting but all have various pros and cons and none of them quite meet all the above requirements.

+ Boardman ADV 9.0 (looks great other than missing rack mounts and 27.2 seatpost)

– Merida Silex 4000 (great looking bike but misses rack mounts. Also a budget group set. 27.2 seatpost again)

– Merida Silex 700 (1x. 27.2 seatpost)

– Planet X tempest (1x, 27.2 seatpost)

– On one free ranger (1x 27.2 seatpost)

– Ribble cgr 725 (the enthusiast model runs 2x 105 but it’s £99 over budget. Can’t find seatpost diameter)

Have I missed any that would meet my requirements?

Any views from anyone on the above bikes?

Do you challenge any of my requirements? Seems like not wanting 1x or a 27.2 setpost is creating a bit of a problem.

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There are 27.2mm seatposts available. Don’t let that be the one thing that cuts down your options.

Can you get a Camino on C2W?  It ticks your boxes at around £1500-1600.

Camino Al 105

Hmm. £2k on a new bike … Or £200 on a drivetrain refresh?

As you know, I love my PF, use case scenario much the same as yours.

I agree, lack of mounts is a ball-ache (ish) … But SKS speedrockers work just fine, they don’t look as nice as eg full Al mudguards but they’re quicker to remove/put on when the trails dry up/get muddy.

How often will you want a rack? Useful for commuting I agree, but I’m only in the office once, max 2x per week, don’t need to carry lots of gear, and just make do with a rucksack. Full time mudguards and a rack would irk me on the occasions I just want to go for a gravel ride. Also, when I commute, I tend to mix up the surfaces and go off-road where I can; I always used to find a pannier and rack very much more rattly than just using a rucksack. Would a Tailfin rack work on a bike with no mounts (I don’t know the answer to this)

My PF started as 2×11 … Last time I refreshed the drivetrain, I went 1x. No downsides for me. It’s better for gravel rides, fine for commuting, marginally inconvenient for road riding … But then I do only about 2 proper road rides a year.

Are your PX options available on the Halfords scheme?

Giving up Ti loveliness?

So .. it’s a ‘meh’ from me.

(But, shiny NBD temptation!)

Tailfin rack and drivetrain refresh + new wheels?

I saw my first Tailfin rack and panniers in the flesh earlier this week at a traffic light stop. It’s a quality bit of kit.

The Boardman would be an easy win for me, out of those.

Great geometry (I had the alu one), smart spec and lovely colour.

As above, you can get a 27.2mm dropper. I have a PNW Rainier one on my Ragley Trig.

I picked up a Dolan GXC on Halfords C2W recently with the 2x option

https://www.dolan-bikes.com/dolan-gxc-carbon-disc-gravel-bike-shimano-grx-rx610-1×12-hdr/

27.2 though.

boardmans are always a pretty safe bet but I went for a camino on my last C2W.
swap out the mad handle bars and its bloody brilliant

I’d just update the bike you have personally, and there’s plenty of gravel dropper options in 27.2. You might even find one with an under saddle lever so you don’t need any cable routing. As above, you can easily find workarounds for mudguards and racks if you lack the required mounts.

PNW do 27.2 droppers, it’s what the Fairlight Holt runs; they go up to 125mm drop, and they also do an externally routed 27.2 dropper. Not cheap, but an option.

Thanks for thoughts all. I’m by no means set on going for it, but just interested in what’s out there.

I think the Dolan with the 2x is probably the closest to what I am after (on paper at least). If good 27.2 droppers are out there then I don’t think it fails any requirements.

Hadn’t considered the sonder. Could also be a good option

Decathlon have a few clearance Vaast gravel bikes that are less than half the original price. They are all £999, with the same Mg alloy frame but various different wheel sizes and transmission specs (SRAM manual, SRAM wireless, GRX).

The Vaast fails your specifications with only 1x and 27.2mm seatpost. It doesn’t have seats stay mounts either, but it has an under bridge mudguard mount, so you could potentially fit a rack that uses a single top strut, like a Tubus Fly.

Dunno if Cotic let you pay a top up but you can get a 2×11 GRX Cotic Escapade for £2250 which would fit the bill.

Lyon have some very good deals on Salsa at the moment, 40-50% off.

Boardman and a ortlieb quick rack.

If it’s cycle 2 work can you also use Tredz which might give some other options? I’d also give the Camino a look as others have mentioned.

I got a salsa warbird through Lyon on c2w. first drop bar bike and I really like it.