Looking for first Gravel/All Road bike

[bob heinatz]

Having two excellent road bikes (steel & Ti) I am looking for that bike I can take off the pavement with big tires. Since I already have a steel and ti bike I was possibly looking at my first carbon all road bike. Is carbon a good choice for a gravel bike or is ti & steel a better choice. Could buy new or used. Custom or production bike is fine. I noticed that Crumpton now offers a all road bike looks very nice. Budget $3k - $10k. I look forward to your opinions.

[dbnm]

I had an Alchemy Chiron made for me this summer and love it.
https://alchemybicycles.com/product/chiron-carbon/

It is american made titanium and is a seriously fun bike. I am currently running 38c gravel kings and can basically go anywhere. Riding gravel and some single track will certainly through road and twigs and whatever else at the bike and that is why I went with titanium.

I also have a Moots Vamoots RSL that I have not ridden since getting the Chiron.

Happy to answer any questions.

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by bob heinatz

Having two excellent road bikes (steel & Ti) I am looking for that bike I can take off the pavement with big tires. Since I already have a steel and ti bike I was possibly looking at my first carbon all road bike. Is carbon a good choice for a gravel bike ....I look forward to your opinions.

Yes.

Get a Santa Cruz Stigmata.

It is available, light and durable. It rides super nice and has moderate geometry. Clearance for large tires is generous.

[Ken Robb]

I'd want a sturdy bike that I wouldn't worry too much about scrapes/dings on when they happen. Since I would ride a gravel bike off roads a little away from facilities I'd want it to have at least two bottle mounts and provisions for easily mounting racks/bags but I don't mean panniers. Plenty of my rides would be too short to NEED all those things but I'd hate to have to pass on a longer ride due to a lack of carrying capacity. Weight would not be very important.

[bob heinatz]

Thanks for the replies. Sparky I know you have had various gravel type bikes over the past few years so I appreciate your Santa Cruz recommendation. Ken durability certainly makes alot of sense dealing with off road riding.

[joevers]

Originally Posted by bob heinatz

Having two excellent road bikes (steel & Ti) I am looking for that bike I can take off the pavement with big tires. Since I already have a steel and ti bike I was possibly looking at my first carbon all road bike. Is carbon a good choice for a gravel bike or is ti & steel a better choice. Could buy new or used. Custom or production bike is fine. I noticed that Crumpton now offers a all road bike looks very nice. Budget $3k - $10k. I look forward to your opinions.

That's a really wide budget with not a lot of restraints.

Crumpton makes wonderful bikes but if I'm going carbon, I'm doing it for the things you can't or wouldn't get with metal bikes. The tube shapes, the aerodynamics, the layups, and the quirks most modern carbon bikes have are the highlight of carbon for me. If you like the classic look and workmanship but can't stomach the weight of a metal bike, Crumpton is great. Otherwise, go metal or go for a more mainstream carbon gravel bike.

I guess I'll share some bikes I'm excited about to give you some ideas, I think you've gotta figure out what's important to you because more so than modern road bikes there's just so much variation. Some of them are for sure road handling bikes with big tires, some are much like cross country bikes with drop bars, some are cross bikes with a double and rebranded as gravel.

https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-US/bikes/stigmata

Kind of the benchmark for durable carbon gravel bikes. It's not the nicest but it's been around for quite some time. People race cross on it but the update they did last year put it solidly as a high end gravel bike. Huge clearances, stable off road handling.

https://opencycle.com/UP

These are tremendously popular and well reviewed. The shop I worked at built a few of these. If you're used to road bikes this is a ridiculously high performance gravel bike.

https://standert.de/collections/pfad...ald-rush-frame

Personally, I find frames like this really exciting. You could go for ultegra di2 or grx and stay in the middle of your budget. High end steel, great paint, few color options, definitely on the more road side but has great clearance and will likely be a bike I buy in the next year or two. It seems like a great balance of comfort and weight with modern, large diameter steel tubes and really nice integration. Really, I love this bike and hope I end up on one. Their branding and marketing is fantastic. Probably the most likely to end up in a Rapha ad.

https://www.cannondale.com/en-us/bik...carbon-lefty-1

Plenty of price points, absurd colors, huge gear range. Wireless shifting. Truly as modern and futuristic as you can go with the lefty. Maintenance might be a headache years down the road but they sure ride nice.

https://breadwinnercycles.com/product/b-road/#frame

On the "cheaper" side of made in the states frames. Custom geo, custom build, a dozen paint options, on the lighter and more road oriented side of steel gravel bikes.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/sh...erge/c/diverge

If you've heard of Lael Wilcox you probably know about this one. It got updated this year and has about a million build options, price points, and colors. Specialized is decent at standing behind their products and the one weird feature on it, the future shock, is so far standing the test of time pretty well.

One thing to note about carbon is you are much, much more likely to chip paint or cause surface damage from rocks kicked up or crashing than you are on the road. If you're nice to you bikes, check them fairly often, and aren't often hitting trees head on, don't be concerned. It's not that uncommon to put something rubber or vinyl on the underside of your downtube if you're spooked about that. A new carbon bike is not going to fall apart out from under you.

[bob heinatz]

Joevers thanks for your lengthy reply. I will check on all your recommendations.

[charliedid]

I'd consider this: https://konaworld.com/libre_cr_dl.cfm

Updated geo from past years and looks rather nice to my eye. I have not been on this one but it's more in line geo wise with the Rove series now and those bikes are a pleasure to ride.

So many choice right now stock and if $10k is doable boy you can get a sweet bike.

I'm also smitten with this but certainly have no experience with it https://www.cervelo.com/en_US/aspero

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by bob heinatz

Sparky I know you have had various gravel type bikes over the past few years so I appreciate your Santa Cruz recommendation.

You're welcome.
Yeah, I've probably done a dozen different ~gravel bikes in the past several years, carbon, aluminum, steel, ti, some custom some production. Pros and cons. Take aways are:
1. better production bikes are just as nice to ride as customs
2. stated tire clearance is sometimes generous and some times not, and real-life tire clearance is a big a deal on gravel.
3. there are some super cool gravel bikes on the fringes (e.g. Lauf, french/rando, etc), but probably something middle of the spectrum or normal is a good place to start.
4. frame material is a matter of opinion, sort of.

[charliedid]

I'd also look at the Allied Able: https://alliedcycleworks.com/collect...BoCvccQAvD_BwE

[merlinmurph]

Couple of questions...

What type of riding would you like to do with this bike? Maintained dirt roads? Fire roads? Off-the-beaten-track roads? Trails? Singletrack?

Related to above, what kind of tire clearance? A common thought is that clearance for 40mm tires is a must.

Do you think that you can narrow your budget down a little? Otherwise, you're going to get so many recommendations that it won't be helpful.

I have a Seven Evergreen and love it, but that's just me.

Good luck!

[bob heinatz]

Merlinmurphy,
All good questions. I live in Oregon and there are lots of gravel fire roads around where I live but there are also dirt and heavy forested routes near by. Tire clearance 38 - 40 minimum. I would love to stay in the $4k - $6k range if possible but be tempted to spend more for a pedigreed brand.

[adamhell]

hit up Slug CX ! much more affordable and you get custom ti. i just finished mine and have been riding it quite a bit:
https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=254425

[Hilltopperny]

I am very pleased with my Parlee Chebacco for an all around go fast gravel bike. It’s clearance tops out in the 43mm range though. It is lightweight, fast and very smooth.

The Santa Cruz Stigmata is also an excellent choice and has more generous tire clearance. I had the last generation and found it to be a great overall bike!

I just picked up a 2020 Warbird from Sparky33 and it is also a very good choice with lots of tire clearance, super stable and smooth ride. It is like riding on a cloud over all kinds of terrain.

I will go on record as saying that these production carbon gravel bikes are every bit as good as their hand built metal alternatives. They can do everything quite well and are surprisingly light for disk brake equipped fat tire bikes! I love titanium as well, but it will build into a heavier and more expensive bike with everything else being equal!



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[R3awak3n]

my advice is that if you are going 2x, I would stay away from any drop stay bike.

And I wouldn't buy an OPEN, get a stigmata for $1000 less, or a ibbis hakka.

I am done with carbon for gravel, I think Alum and TI is where its at.