I’m riding my Arkose with 45C Riddlers on. The 38s are great for gravel, but struggle a bit when it gets more uneven.
The thing I like is the fact that I can pretty much go anywhere on this bike. I’ve got a rack and panniers on and it pretty much goads me to go for long rides think about adventures on it. I’ve also taken it out for some fairly gentle mountain biking with friends. It’s transformed my commute which is now off road for a significant part, cutting out a nasty main road.
The things I’m not so pleased about are:
The overly long stem it came with (90mm on a L) – now swapped out for a 70mm.
The fragile rear rim which already need truing after 6 weeks.
The Evans own-brand mudguards which rattled incessantly and didn’t have enough clearance for 45C tyres despite stating so on the pack.
Things that would make it a perfect bike for me:
A 650B OEM option with OEM wide guards
A bolt thru rear axle. I’ve already had the QR twist out of the dropouts down a slightly gnarly descent.
Possibly a titanium framed version?
Overall I’m very pleased and would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun do-it-all bike.