I always fancied the idea of a road bike with really wide gearing and fat tyres and – lo and behold – there’s suddenly loads of them around. So many in fact that I’d welcome suggestions…

I’d like at least 28mm tyres – with room for full mud guards. Disc brakes, hopefully hydraulic. Wide gearing (something like a 50/34 up front with a 11-34 rear). Preferably a nice carbon fork.

I’m pretty relaxed about frame material, but it’ll probably be aluminium.

Budget about £1,500 – 2,000.

Whaddya reckon?

If you can get one of the previous years Salsa Warbirds at discount I would. Sadly, I currently don’t need another bike…unless my UJC got a crack in it….hmmm

I like the look of the niner RLT9, the shimano 105 version would be on budget.

http://www.jungleproducts.co.uk/niner/rlt9

Whyte Suffolk or Cornwall would be worth a look

GT Grades look great in the flesh, you’d get carbon for the price of an alloy miner.

Hmmm, lovely paint job on that Niner…

I like the look of the Planet X London road in green. Dunno if it suits your needs, but I’ve been having a tough time explaining to myself why it doesn’t suit mine…

GT Grades look great in the flesh

Sorry, don’t agree. A friend has one. Rides nicely, looks like a bucket of cold sick, IMHO. Then again, beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

Not eyelets for guards on the warbird iirc

Ti?
[url=https://flic.kr/p/oWxSFc]P1010509[/url] by ScotRoutes, on Flickr

Don’t rule out a triple if you’re offered it, I went 50/34 and 11-30 at the back on my Salsa Vaya, have kind of regretted it since but have almsot now sourced all the bits to go triple (whilst saving weight over the existing Tiagra kit, win win! 😀 )

Oh, Salsa Vaya is my shout, probably quite poor value for basic steel and cable brakes but I’m very happy with mine, looking forward to trying it out with 28mm GP4000s…

11 posts and no mention of the Tripster? what’s the place coming to? Google tripster singletrackworld, should be on the 1st page!

lot of love for the Gryphon, bit more on the dirt end of things.

which brings me to: how much clearance do you want? enough for 2″ knobblies, or is 35mm plenty? In which case, there’s an eff load of cx bikes to choose from!

11 posts and no mention of the Tripster? what’s the place coming to? Google tripster singletrackworld, should be on the 1st page!

Erm…

Budget about £1500-2,000

Yup, price has gone up since I last checked, when it started with £1,8–, but if rhayter’s £2K ceiling is more like a suspended ceiling with a working space above, it’s still on the cards.

Specialized Diverge? CFH of this parish is blessed with the premium carbon version, but there’s one on budget at a £2k RRP.

Genesis CdF 30 or Pinnacle Arkose 5?

That was the choice I had but at the bottom end of the spectrum not the top.

The Salsa Vaya has been my fave bike ever. Done touring (big french Alps fully loaded), Monster Miles in’t Lakes (Adventure Cross Sportif??), recently the Townsend Challenge kitted out with slicks and stacks of easyish offroad in North Lakes. And they’re making it again in ti next year 🙂 With your gearing tho, I’d be looking at the Warbird.

Have a look on here http://theradavist.com/2015/04/reminder-next-week-is-the-speedvagen-fit-tour/ for lots of ideas and look at trinton cycles for frames or bikes the choice now is fantastic. Quite a few are heavy, but get spendy if you want light. But what I would call day tour bikes are great. All city rider here.

Cotic Escapade? Looks lovely.

Link

[url=https://flic.kr/p/sfLFY2]IMG_5499_2[/url] by CoticLtd, on Flickr

The GT Grade looks all kinds of wrong

Looks like 3 or 4 bikes thrown together

The Cotic and Niner look lovely

Hmmm. Thanks for the suggestions so far. The Niner RLT looks best, the Whytes look great value and reviews of the GT are very positive (though in pictures, it looks a bit… homely). Keep them coming!

I have a CDF 30 which pretty much matches your requirements straight out the box

If you go onto the stif cycles site, the 2014 rlt9 105 option is just a tad over 1800

And they’re making it again in ti next year

Oh reeeeeally? Any pics or links?

Just about the time our company CTW limit gets raised (according to the rumour mill, plus our boss is a bike whore).

Problem is pretty much 50% of my buying decision was for the paint job, Ti might seem boring in comparison…

13fm, Salsa have taken to painting their Ti frames recently. Expect to pay around £2k for frame and forks if the El Mariachi is a guide. For that money you could go full custom. Brant would probably knock you up a frame for £1.2k?

Yeah, I see that now, not liking it at all to be honest, and the geometry looks different…

Will prob just spend the money on a Whisky/Spot fork and a Ti post, keep my lovely blue paintjob 8)

I’ve had a last year’s model Salsa Warbird for around a month now. It’s excellent. Rides beautifully.

+1 for the Vaya. I use mine for commuting and road rides mainly but have a spare set of wheels with 41c tyres for off roading. It’s a proper “turn it to whatever purpose you need” kind of bike

If you’re thinking of the Vaya, also consider the Specialized AWOL – £1400 for the top “Comp” model (what I done got) and it’s a really capable bike. Currently got 38mm slicks and guards on mine, will take up to 2.1″ mtb tyres as well.

Depending on your size requirements Charlie the bikemonger has a couple of Vayas on offer at the moment
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/salsa-vaya-2-complete-2015-3116-p.asp
Great bargain at £1300, the leftover budget can go towards a carbon fork and a few upgrades depending on your needs

I quite like how the GT Grade looks. It does get odder with the larger sizes though (and the press shots seemed to be of an XL for some reason).

Building from scratch I’d probably pick up one of these though – http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/frames-forks-c6/road-touring-frames-c47/salsa-warbird-2-alloy-road-gravel-disc-brake-frameset-2014-p1421

Having just picked up an Arkose 2, I’d recommend an Arkose 4 – in your budget and meets your spec mostly

But the colour isn’t brilliant…!

@solidair

what kind of tyres (and size) are you running? especially those schwalbe on 2nd picture?

Im waiting right now for my white Vaya which I bought on ebay 😉

Another vote for the Vaya.
Love mine.

A small thread highjack: my work have just announced C2W is open again via cyclesolutions (therefore budget unto £1000). I’m looking at an “adventure bike” mainly for commuting the 20-odd miles to work via a mix of B-roads and country lanes. I’m also considering some longer distance overnight trips. Must be comfortable, mudguard ready and have disc brakes.

Suggestions please…..

for Fandango, look up Pinnacle Arkose 3 on Evans website, then look at alternative suggestions along the bottom.

Saw another Giant Revolt through the shop today. Very much under-rated.

A small thread highjack: my work have just announced C2W is open again via cyclesolutions (therefore budget unto £1000). I’m looking at an “adventure bike” mainly for commuting the 20-odd miles to work via a mix of B-roads and country lanes. I’m also considering some longer distance overnight trips. Must be comfortable, mudguard ready and have disc brakes.

fandango – hijack of a hijack. I have a Genesis CdF size 56 which would probably suite you if you are the right size. It will be going for a lot less than £1000. I appear to have bought a Vaya 🙂