Up to around 2k.

Something that feels nimble and fast (current one is 10.5kg and has been great, but doesn’t feel either of those things…)

Lots of road, lots of railway lines, and the occasional real off-roading, and probably some multi-day events.

On-One Free-ranger looks good, but as far as I can see doesn’t come with Tubeless tyres, which is off-putting.

Canyon Grail have goods specs, as you’d expect, but that floating bar… And the alu version appears heavy and ugly.

Vitus Substance looks a real contender with the carbon wheeled CRX (a good set of wheels out of the box is very attractive).

What else is worth looking at?

Ribble CGR ti?

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-cgr-ti-shimano-grx/

Planet X have one similar too.

I like my Diverge and I use it how you describe, its a great winter roady with slicks and mud guards and then a great summer gravel bike with knobblies. It is not monster cross type though and it is undeniably expensive.

Tubeless tyres will only be about £80, the free ranger would be top of my list, with the £1000 saved over the Substance you could buy a 2nd, carbon wheelset.

If you fancy building up a frame and fancy something Ti, kingdom beam. https://kingdombike.com/collections/cyclo-cross/products/2020-beam-gravel

causeway GR1

https://ukgravelco.com/fustle-causeway-gr1/

https://www.ridefustle.com/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-9hQBplJlO/

If your budget could stretch a little, these look amazing;

Aspero in Apex format. C.£2600

if your budget could stretch a little, these look amazing;

they do, but they do come from a very racy backround, perfect for the Dirty Kanza, a bit more twitchy for UK trails and if you want lots of mounting points for bike packing stuff they are sadly lacking there. flippin’ light though!

Lots of road, lots of railway lines, and the occasional real off-roading, and probably some multi-day events.

Kinesis G2 with enough change for a wheel upgrade.

If your budget could stretch a little, these look amazing;

Don’t think I could stomach spending £2.6k on a bike and only getting Apex.

Stif are knocking out the Stigmata frames for £1200 at the mo so could get close to 2k with a build.

Yep, very much the racier end of the gravel spectrum, I agree. The frames are luvverly…!

Canyon Grail CF SL 70?

Sub-9K (without pedals) and G-One tubeless

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road-bikes/gravel-bikes/grail/grail-cf-sl-7.0/2374.html?dwvar_2374_pv_rahmenfarbe=BU%2FBK&quantity=1

Bike Radar review here:

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/gravel-bikes/canyon-grail-cf-sl-7-0-review/

Cannondale Topstone Carbon 105?

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/cannondale-topstone/

Salsa Warbird or Bombtrack Hook. Both in Carbon, BT in metal as well.

See I find spending any more than the least possible a bit pointless, hence why I have a spacechicken.

Carbon frame and fork, mostly identical to every other carbon gravel frame out there, force 1 groupset and brakes, decent light 650b wheels. All for £1300-1400. 9.5kg without pedals. The only bits I sometimes think of changing are a carbon bar/seatpost and shorter stem.

You can buy 1500g alloy wheelsets for £250, alloy prime kanza – carbon ones are £550 so you’re still under £2k with 2 sets of wheels.

It’s not as if spending more gets you a better damper on a suspension fork, or a better shock etc.

But then my gravel bike will always be my 2nd/3rd bike and not my main one.

After much deliberation I went for the Substance CRX – just over £2k with platinum discount on Wiggle.
Seriously considered the Free Ranger but worked out would need to spend a fair bit more to get set up as wanted.
As a vertically challenged person I would have had to change the crankset (PX only ship with 172.5mm and ideally wanted 165mm). The stock wheel and tyre options were also limited and not great so by the time I changed those costs would not be too dissimilar.
Pleased with my choice. The Substance CRX is great on and off road and the only thing I’ve changed is the bar tape and set up tubeless.
Planning on some hunt 700c wheels or similar and narrower tyres for winter commuting duties later in the year.
Standard STW practice of recommend what you own!!!
In fairness so many great options but I was limited due to my (lack of) height.

^ That’s an interesting one.

As a fellow short-legger things like crank length are pertinent.

That Vitus looks hot

I love Space Chickens, but a friend’s has just developed a crack in the top tube. Lightly used, biggest drop off its had has been off he kerb outside his house. PX haven’t come back to him yet.

See I find spending any more than the least possible a bit pointless, hence why I have a spacechicken.

There is something in this. Assuming a certain basic level of frame and fork, is there more benefit in wheels and groupsets on a gravel bike than a road bike for example where frameset is considered to be the most important component?

It’s not as if spending more gets you a better damper on a suspension fork, or a better shock etc.

But then my gravel bike will always be my 2nd/3rd bike and not my main one.

Mine cost me £400 s/h (CAAD-X Rival), plus about £200 for some Stans Crest wheels which make most gravel options look portly. And is probably my main bike now because it’s the one that makes most sense for what I can ride to from my house!

Don’t think I could stomach spending £2.6k on a bike and only getting Apex.

I can see your point, but unlike a spotlessly clean road bike I don’t think I could really tell the difference between groupsets. I’d be thinking more “the rear mech will get ripped off by a stray twig, do I want the £40 rival one or the £80 force each time that happens”.

On-One Free-ranger looks good, but as far as I can see doesn’t come with Tubeless tyres, which is off-putting.

As mentioned above, spend the rest of the budget on tyres and wheels.

Or even just tyres.

Still at the racy/CX end of geometry, but TBH whilst I’m curious about these longer/slacker gravel bikes, I rarely feel like my cross bike is completely out of it’s depth.

Mate of mine just bought a Free Ranger kitted out in Sram Force while they were in the “Easter Sale” He seems pleased with it so far, bought some Vee tyres in the “sale” to tubeless it up.
I do find Planet X a bit rough with their builds, he had some paint chips, some down to carbon, but he was happy with a £40 voucher.
Price for the spec I think they are hard beaten.

Yeah I paid £1400 for my force 1 space chicken nearly a year ago, I’ve added a set of WTB Byway and Sendero tyres, and a Fabric scoop saddle, and that’s it. I’ve done nearly 800km on it so far.

I can see your point, but unlike a spotlessly clean road bike I don’t think I could really tell the difference between groupsets. I’d be thinking more “the rear mech will get ripped off by a stray twig, do I want the £40 rival one or the £80 force each time that happens”.

You will defiantly tell the difference after a few months with Apex. I wont touch it now I have used GRX.

Something that feels nimble and fast (current one is 10.5kg and has been great, but doesn’t feel either of those things…)

All depends what is making your current bike not feel nimble or fast. While 10.5 kg is not light, nor is the 9.3kg of the Vitus Substance and it could be very difficult to tell the difference in than 1kg depending on where the weight is.
If you want it to feel nimble then you need closer to road bike geometry but then that wouldn’t be ideal for off road parts of the ride.

For my scenario (and someone who only rides light and nimble bikes) I would be going for a £2K cross bike as it will be lighter than a gravel bike and feel more nimble and more fun to ride. In fact I would probably go for a £1200 cross bike and spend £800 on the best wheels and tyres.

For a similar sort of usage, I’ve just bought a Kinesis G2 from Epic Cycles, who are doing a Hunt wheel upgrade for not much more, if that is of interest – would be well under budget I’d have thought.

I like the look of the FreeRanger. Its USP is its ability to take a 2″ tyre.

The more tyre the better IMO.

Unfortunately it is derailleur only, or I would have bought one.

depends what type of gravel riding you intend doing. At the more ‘rad’ end of the spectrum Nukeproof Digger, more in the middle Whyte Gisburn, at the ‘road bike’ end Canyon Grail, all around the £2k mark.

for whats its worth my gravel bike has been one of my best bike purchases ever!

Whydot, have you gotten out on the G2 much yet? It looks like a really good bike but reviews and info is sparse. And the Kinesis website is horrid!! Mostly curious as to how actually gravel / offroad capable it is. Seems to be some crossover with the Tripster AT frames.

No yet, I’m still waiting for delivery!

I had a Planet X Full Monty beforehand, and that was very good for all those sort of things, but a little sluggish. And a CAADX prior to that, that was a little twitchy.

The Kinesis is a bit of a gamble. Looks ideal, but like you say, not a great deal of information about. Seems to have plenty of clearance and be a bit more ‘fast and light’. There’s been a few murmurings in the other various gravel threads that have popped up about it, and Kinesis seem to know what they’re doing? I’ll update accordingly!

Dolan GXC

Just built up from a frameset but they do full bikes at super value direct prices. Not seen many reviews or much feedback.

Into my MTBing and road riding but wanted a ‘do anything’ and winter bike.

Nice balance of steering, not too sharp and not too slow. Stiff and direct feeling when climbing and stomping on the pedals with a good turn of speed ‘feel’ helped by the red colourway of course.

Think we’re going to have some excellent ride adventures together as an alternative to road/off road choices.

Whydot, have you gotten out on the G2 much yet? It looks like a really good bike but reviews and info is sparse.

Heres my review of it if you fancy a read.

Kinesis G2 – 1 Year Review

.

The Dolan and Free Ranger both appear to be the Carbonda 696 frameset. You can buy them direct from China for a bit less money of you’re willing to go down that route. I’ve had communication with Carbonda in the past and found them to be pretty decent in dealing with queries.

I’ve just got an Orro Terra C which is a very tidy bike. Carbon frame, hydro 105. A 1x GRX model is also available. Got mine from Mike Ashley’s TriUK who were selling them at a great price – had to wait a few weeks for delivery but it turned up in the end.

@trailwagger That’s great, think I’d come across it before, but really useful! Good pictures as well!

You will defiantly tell the difference after a few months with Apex. I wont touch it now I have used GRX.

TBH apart from ripping the mech off it’s been as good as could be expected. No slop in anything, even the jockey wheels survived winter! (This is Rival, can’t comment on apex).

Only quirks have been the brakes pump up when the pad wears. Dunno if that’s a feature of the brakes or an indication the pistons are worn, new pads and bled it and it’s been fine. And the rear mech got bent by a stick jamming between the spokes and cassette, wasn’t visibly bent but wouldn’t shift into the top gear anymore. Apart from that it’s been faultless for me, and I’m it’s 2nd owner, although this was my first winter of using it for CX/Gravel rather than just as a 2nd road bike with a bit of gravel.

Aesthetics aside, I’m liking the SRAM levers too.

It’s not as nice as the Dura Ace on the road bike, but then I’d not expect that to be nice after the winter we’ve just had off road!

Want to try it with a shimano chain and cassette as I’m sure the shifting rams are inconsistent, there’s a few gears where ti does it completely silently, and others it’s got a definite click-CLICK as it shifts.

On the subject of GRX. Is it any better than Force 1?

I have old Apex cable actuated discs, and there are aspects of the double tap I like (and some I don’t) but that aside they take a lot more effort to shift in comparison to say 105 or Ultegra. The sure mechanical feel of Sram is something I like on MTB, but an easier shift from the double tap levers would be desirable and I’ve no experience of Rival or Force whatsoever.

And the Kinesis website is horrid!!

Jeezo you are not wrong there, a truly bad site I gave up.