Advice on Cheap Allroad Build

[CDollarsign]

I am thinking on dipping my toes in the gravel/allroad trend. I don't want to spend a ton of cash because I'm not sure I will have a ton of time to dedicate.

Ideally I'd be looking at a steel frame - I am a big dude and don't want / need carbon. Also thinking of going 1X and discs.

Any advice for a basic set up?

[prototoast]

What's your budget? What type of terrain do you imagine riding?

[pinkshogun]

old school mountain bike. not much money at all

[HTupolev]

Originally Posted by CDollarsign

I am thinking on dipping my toes in the gravel/allroad trend. I don't want to spend a ton of cash because I'm not sure I will have a ton of time to dedicate.

Ideally I'd be looking at a steel frame - I am a big dude and don't want / need carbon. Also thinking of going 1X and discs.

Any advice for a basic set up?

What would your "allroad/gravel" riding be like? Are you planning to stick to quality hardpack, or will things get rough? Will there be mountainous climbs? Will the riding include technical trail stuff? How much do you care about the bike's attitude toward paved roads?

What kind of budget are we talking about?

[CDollarsign]

I will most likely be riding it on the road and then some hard pack gravel. Not planning on going into anything super rough.

I would like to keep the budget around $1500 - so used stuff works.

[CDollarsign]

Actually - this is kind of a silly thread. There are all kind of low end builds from trek, spec, ect that would probably work.

Comments of riding gravel on Al?

[CMiller]

Originally Posted by CDollarsign

Actually - this is kind of a silly thread. There are all kind of low end builds from trek, spec, ect that would probably work.

Comments of riding gravel on Al?

With fat enough tires I doubt you'd tell!

[Ttx1]

Originally Posted by CMiller

With fat enough tires I doubt you'd tell!

Exactly.

[jtbadge]

My take:
-You're going to want 2x if you're riding the road a lot, or else you're spending a lot of time spinning in the little cogs.
-Also, unless you just want a new bike (I get it), nothing around St. Louis is really steep or rugged enough to require discs in my experience.
-Something like a Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross/Lemond Poprad/All-City Macho Man, Space Horse is perfect for this kind of riding - lowish BB for great road manners and descending, 2x compact drivetrain, decent sized cassette, cantis or mini-Vs, or even a Black Mountain Cycles Road or All-City Mr. Pink with 32s.

[CDollarsign]

Originally Posted by jtbadge

My take:
-You're going to want 2x if you're riding the road a lot, or else you're spending a lot of time spinning in the little cogs.
-Also, unless you just want a new bike (I get it), nothing around St. Louis is really steep or rugged enough to require discs in my experience.
-Something like a Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross/Lemond Poprad/All-City Macho Man, Space Horse is perfect for this kind of riding - lowish BB for great road manners and descending, 2x compact drivetrain, decent sized cassette, cantis or mini-Vs, or even a Black Mountain Cycles Road or All-City Mr. Pink with 32s.

Any suggestions on where to do some of this riding in STL?

[weisan]

Katy Trail

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showt...highlight=Katy

[cuda]

what jtbadge said.
if you are going to be on the road more than 50% 2x is the way to go. Maybe set it up 48/32 or 47/32 you find plenty of opportunity to use the bigger ring and if you go 11-32 rear you should have pretty much all bases covered.

[pbarry]

Going to list a medium frame set here pretty soon, inexpensive. It’s alloy so should be stout enuf. I really enjoyed the ride and geo is pretty neutral. Have the stock wheels, bars, mechanical discs and rotors too. Takes post mount discs.
https://www.jensonusa.com/Charge-Bikes-Plug-3-Bike-2016

[stephenmarklay]

I recently saw, and thought, the Raliegh Tamland (2018) was a nice place to start for the money.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-Raleig...k4q00M210R0vGg

[tylercheung]

Originally Posted by jtbadge

My take:
-You're going to want 2x if you're riding the road a lot, or else you're spending a lot of time spinning in the little cogs.
-Also, unless you just want a new bike (I get it), nothing around St. Louis is really steep or rugged enough to require discs in my experience.
-Something like a Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross/Lemond Poprad/All-City Macho Man, Space Horse is perfect for this kind of riding - lowish BB for great road manners and descending, 2x compact drivetrain, decent sized cassette, cantis or mini-Vs, or even a Black Mountain Cycles Road or All-City Mr. Pink with 32s.

Just out of curiosity, are the BMC monster cross/road+ and the Space Horse relatively similar?