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?

[tootall]

I’ll follow along with your search and add my insights. I’m 6’4.5” with a 37” inseam looking for a gravel bike myself. I’m also considering a Grizl or a Crux. Canyon’s sizing recommended a XXL for me, that seems big compared to my 61CM Caledonia5 I’m riding on the road currently. I’m ok with the stack but the reach seems very long (31mm longer) but I assume an 80mm stem would put me in the right ballpark. As for the Crux, the stack is lower than my Cal which definitely worries me. I’d have to do some measuring to see if I could make up the difference with spacers. I’ve always been a Specialized guy before this Cervelo so I lean towards the Crux for that reason but I definitely would get more bike for my money with the Canyon. I briefly considered an Aspero, the fit is very close to my Caledonia (10mm longer and same stack) but at my price point I’m shopping previous versions on the used market and the tire clearance seems pretty limiting; 38mm officially I think even though some folks may have been able to run 42s in dry conditions. That’s hardly a gravel bike anymore and I can run 34s on my Caledonia which makes it a great all-road bike so I feel like the Aspero wouldn’t be much different.

[jm714]

My inseam as measured at canyon was only 35.5, but I’ve been measured at 36 by a bike fitter in the past. Interesting that canyon has you on a XXL and me on a XL. The XXL Grizl comes with 100mm stem, but you might be onto something with putting a 80 on it. I briefly looked at the Aspero, but like you said tire size was a no go for me too.

[prototoast]

There's a few threads in the galleries here with folks who have them.

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=310885

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=308726

[isaacneff]

Take a look at a Revel Rover. Larger size (XXL) fits tall riders well and they have some great sale prices right now. We've sold a bunch of Rovers and everyone loves them.
The SC is a great bike as well, but it is more off-road focused. But, depending on your riding, that could be a good thing?
Don't buy the Trek, a heavy, gimmicky bike in my eyes.

[tootall]

Originally Posted by jm714

My inseam as measured at canyon was only 35.5, but I’ve been measured at 36 by a bike fitter in the past. Interesting that canyon has you on a XXL and me on a XL. The XXL Grizl comes with 100mm stem, but you might be onto something with putting a 80 on it. I briefly looked at the Aspero, but like you said tire size was a no go for me too.

Canyon's online tool puts you on an XXL Grizl at 6'5" with a 36" inseam. But if you knock your inseam down to 35.5" it goes to XL, so that's what's driving it. I think you could go either way depending on what Stack/Reach you want. My Cal5 is 630 stack but I have 45mm of spacers under the stem; the XXL Grizl is 14mm higher so I could lose some spacers and run a shorter stem to account for the longer reach. The XL Grizl is 626mm stack so I'd need a similar amount of spacers to keep the bars high enough. I want to lean towards the Crux because I think that's the bike I really want that fits my use case the best, but the stack is 10mm lower than my Cal5 so that starts to worry me.

I broke my back a couple of years ago and have landed on 85mm drop from the saddle to the bar top as what works for me these days.

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by isaacneff

Take a look at a Revel Rover. Larger size (XXL) fits tall riders well and they have some great sale prices right now. We've sold a bunch of Rovers and everyone loves them.
The SC is a great bike as well, but it is more off-road focused. But, depending on your riding, that could be a good thing?
Don't buy the Trek, a heavy, gimmicky bike in my eyes.

I would’ve said similar about the revel
Heavy and from what I’ve read it is just a generic carbon mold.

[tootall]

Originally Posted by jm714

ISC 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.

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?

I know we've gotten off track a little but back to the Stig, it's definitely the longest reach and most off-road oriented of the bunch being discussed, but I assume it's still plenty fast on the road as evidenced by Keegan winning everything on it. (It's the rider, as they say.)

Overall though I think you should consider the XXL Grizl; sounds like it would be a great fit, it's not as off-road focused which seems to give you a little pause, and I think it's a lot of bike for your money.

[trener1]

Dave Rome over at Escape Collective reviewed the new Stigmata a couple of month's ago, long review with loads of details, but the Crux (pun intended) of it is that if he were buying a gravel bike today with his own money that would far and away be his top pick, though it slightly more off road focused with the Geo (which to me would be a plus, unless you are planing on doing fast road group rides with it)

[.RJ]

I dont have a Stigmata, but a few years ago I had Zukas build me a "gravel" bike around 55mm tires and the geometry landed awful close to what the Stigmata turned out to be. I also have an older Specialized Crux, so I could split the difference between being fast on regular roads and chunky fire roads/singletrack.

I'm really happy with how it turned out - I built it up with wide flared bars and a dropper post. It works awesome pretty much everywhere, its feels like an early 2000's 29er on mellow singletrack and I currently have 29x2.2" conti race kings on it. I can see the Stigmata being a great choice to expand your riding options.

Looking at the geo charts - the stigmata does have a bit more trail than I ended up with - slightly slacker HTA and a little less fork offset. The one handling characteristic about mine that I dont love is that on loose over hardpack gravel roads, with the dropper down, the front end feels like it wanders a bit. Could be the trail or less weight on the front end, or both, not sure - but I dont get that sensation at all on singletrack or the road.

[jm714]

Originally Posted by trener1

Dave Rome over at Escape Collective reviewed the new Stigmata a couple of month's ago, long review with loads of details, but the Crux (pun intended) of it is that if he were buying a gravel bike today with his own money that would far and away be his top pick, though it slightly more off road focused with the Geo (which to me would be a plus, unless you are planing on doing fast road group rides with it)

I ended up getting signed up and read the review. Good info there, thank you for pointing me in that direction.

I think the Canyon is the best bang for the buck, but I think after reading the review on the Escape Collective I’m inclined to give my money to local bike shop and know that I have their support with the bike.

Plus after reading some of the earlier posts that prototoast shared and the fact that one of the users is here in SoCal riding on similar terrain to me, it gives me some confidence that the Stigmata is the right bike for me.

[trener1]

Glad I was able to both turn you on to EC and help with your purchase.
That Stigmata sounds great, and yeah having a local shop to lend a hand is a plus in my book.

[tootall]

Cool deal, glad you were able to settle on a good decision for you! Maybe I was just trying to talk myself into the Grizl, but now you've got me looking at a V3 Stigmata! I think it would be a good companion to my Caledonia and the geometry is REALLY close if I can find one with enough steer tube. I do want good tire clearance but I don't need the slacker geo, my gravel is fairly tame and my gravel rides involve a good bit of road to and from so a tight all-road like frame with gravel clearance is really what I'm looking for. The Crux is also that but the geo isn't right. The Grizl has longer chainstays than the others.