Help me choose my first road (or maybe gravel) bike. I know nowt!

Same age as you and bought a (cheap) gravel bike a few years ago.

Enjoyed it, so after a couple of years I bought a nicer one – Planet X Free Ranger.

Both the above were mainly used for off-road with the odd bit of tarmac in-between – I live in the Scottish Borders, so plenty around.

This year I bought some slicks and put them on a spare set of wheels – lots & lots of battered tarmac here.

Enjoyed it so much I ended up entering and doing a 200k, then 300k Audax while in-between I took it bikepacking across the Highlands (200 miles mainly offroad) and then last month across Southern Scotland (200 miles on tarmac).

I ran 50mm gravel tyres for the first couple of years, now on 42mm gravel and 34mm slicks using two wheelsets, both tubeless.

Now I’m looking to get a Cotic Cascade for the bikepacking, and keep the Free Ranger for tarmac and (fast/local) gravel.

It’s very comfy and I can ride it all day, but it’s still fun just to go out for an hour or two – on either wheelset.

^^Thanks, that’s useful info and inspiring stuff for another sexagenarian! I’m leaning towards a gravel bike with 2 sets of wheels.

Maybe this is the answer

I actually had one of them, briefly. I thought it was exactly what I wanted but when it arrived I rayised that it is *this* close to just being a rigid mountain bike, which is not what I wanted. I sent it back and got the Giant Fastroad.

I got a Camino a couple of years ago & love it.
It’s a bit slower than my road bike, but not by a great margin & it is way more comfortable to ride. The roads near me are in a terrible state (as they are in most of the country) and I have a lot more confidence riding it, than my road bike where I find myself constantly looking for potholes to avoid.

It has those large flared Bomber handlebars that come as standard on the Camino. I like them; a lot of people don’t.

@blokeuptheroad two wheel sets is what I did with the secan. 2.2 inch tyres on 650b and 32mm on 700c.

Same hubs, cassette and discs so swapping is dead easy.

Very very pleased with both sets.

I’ve got gravel and road bikes. Gravel bike is not as fun to ride on road. Get a road bike!

The Wiltshire roads around me are also shocking, but you quickly get used to avoiding the worst potholes.

My road bike runs 32mm though, which is a big differnce to the old days of 23/25mm. When you do hit a bump/hole on 32mm, there’s a lot more air to cushion it.

Get a bike fit before you buy, this will give you an idea to what size bike and component sizes you need.

I have a crux on 42mm pathfinders, for big winter miles, have a set of 35mm winter slicks (its not as comfy, but a lot less drag)

I went for a slightly larger size (I could ride 56 or a 58), went 58 for less toe overlap.

^^Thanks, that’s useful info and inspiring stuff for another sexagenarian! I’m leaning towards a gravel bike with 2 sets of wheels.

Forgot to say, both wheelsets have their own rotors and cassette – makes swapping a 2-min (cleanish) job.

Drops are faster, especially when actually using the drop part of the bar.

The drop part will make you more aero, sure, but aero advantages only really kick in at 20mph-ish, which is not something most people maintain for that long (if at all).

They are more comfortable over longer distances because hands/wrists are at a more natural angle and can change positions.

Last month we did a bike tour, ten days straight of 4/5 hours a day at ‘normal riding along’ pace, on flat-barred bikes (Giant Rove if I remember right, they were hired). They were perfectly comfortable And it’s not like your hands are glued in place on a flat bar, you can still move them around.

A comfortable position is a comfortable position, regardless of the shape of the bars (and there are enough “here’s how you stop neck/wrist/shoulder/hand pain on your road bike” videos on YouTube to suggest that a significant number of people are not finding their drops comfortable).

I prefer a flat bar for general riding around. Others prefer a drop bar. That’s lovely, but it is just that, a preference. The ‘absolutes’ that are often quoted about drops or flats are just not the case.