Stigmata V4 - Anyone tried it yet?

[jm714]

I’m thinking of getting a gravel bike. My local terrain is a mix of fire road and some single track that is rocked up and rutted. I’m looking for a bike to link dirt and pavement and just mix up my riding. I have a Tallboy that serves it purpose for rides only on the dirt.

I’m 6’5” so I need something with some size and I want something that can handle bigger tires. Not interested in 650b wheels and tires.

Yesterday I parking lot tested a new Trek Checkpoint in a 61 and was surprised at how it felt size wise. The seatpost (330mm) was maxed out to its limit line and I was riding it in vans with flat pedals. The bars might have been a touch to close to me but it had a 100mm stem and the saddle was in the center of its rails.

I also stopped by and tried a Grizl at the Canyon shop. According to their algorithm I should be on XL, but it felt smaller and more cramped than the Trek. They didn’t have a XXL Grizl so they put me on a XXL Endurace and told me the geo was the same. Bike Insights says differently. I liked the XXL fit better than the XL though on the Endurace.

My local shop that I do most of my business with sells Santa Cruz and I never pay MSRP with them so even though there is a premium for a SC I can usually work around it. SC says my size is a XXL and based on my Tallboy XXL I suspect the Stigmata will fit me good too. My only hang up with the SC is that sub 70 degree HT angle. I can see where on some of my single track descents that will come in handy, but that is a small part of my riding. I just can’t work my head around that angle for a bike used on pavement too.

The SC with Apex mechanical will cost me $3200, the Checkpoint with Apex AXS has a MSRP of $3200 and the Grizl with Rival AXS is on sale for $3000.

All wheels are alloy so I would probably order a set of Hunts or BTLOS pre-built in that $800 range as a first upgrade.

The XXL Canyon was definitely a good fit. The Trek and the SC have similar seat tube lengths so I will be running a lot of seatpost with them. I would probably ditch the stock Trek seatpost for a 400mm Whisky I have sitting in my parts bin if the Trek dealer was unwilling to swap out their 330 post for their 400 post.

The Trek is kinda the safe bike to get. The SC would probably be the best fit, but the HT angle is the only thing holding me back.

The only other bike I might consider is a Crux, I have tooled around on a friends 61 for about 150 miles and it worked for me. The Trek has more stack and that actually felt better in the parking lot test. According to Bike Insights it is 19mm.

Thoughts?