Looking for first Gravel/All Road bike

[slowpoke]

Originally Posted by akelman

I'd suggest that you consider getting something used, perhaps a Stigmata, and riding it hard for a few months to learn about its strengths and weaknesses. You'll then have a lot more information in hand—including whether you like riding gravel—and can decide if you want something high-end, custom, and also what material seems to makes the most sense to you.

Seconding this. My general rule is "if you don't want to get, go with the less expensive option". By the time you wear out/break that option, you would've learned enough what you like and dislike to make an educated choice the next time.

Another forum member here bought some bikes from Black Mountain Cycles and rode them around for a bit before springing for a custom DeSalvo. I thought that was a wise way of going about things.

[Kirk007]

[QUOTE=joevers;281220 ...I'd love to see yours if it's on the forum anywhere or if you've got pictures..[/QUOTE]

22 lbs was with fairly light tires - Rene Herse 660b x 38 loup loup pass extra lights and w/o fenders. Should be a thread somewhere in the gallery from when I first got it with the steel fork.

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[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

How much is a frame set from them?

With the discount likely sub $1600. Depends on which frameset, but they usually get cheaper toward the end of the year. A few years back I must have bought five frames from $500-$800 per frame/frameset


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[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

With the discount likely sub $1600. Depends on which frameset, but they usually get cheaper toward the end of the year. A few years back I must have bought five frames from $500-$800 per frame/frameset


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Wow that not bad

[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

Wow that not bad

Hard to beat for a made in the USA titanium frame with a lifetime warranty. They ride very nicely as well.


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[ridethecliche]

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

With the discount likely sub $1600. Depends on which frameset, but they usually get cheaper toward the end of the year. A few years back I must have bought five frames from $500-$800 per frame/frameset


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Woah. This is 100% the way I'm going if they do something like this over the winter! I wonder if it'll happen this year as well with the increased demand, though I guess their price range is a bit higher than the intro stuff folks are looking for!

[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by ridethecliche

Woah. This is 100% the way I'm going if they do something like this over the winter! I wonder if it'll happen this year as well with the increased demand, though I guess their price range is a bit higher than the intro stuff folks are looking for!

I haven’t seen anything quite like it since then. Sometimes in $1,000 range in the past couple of years, but they do almost always have a 20% discount going and up to 30% towards the end of the year.


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[mtechnica]

Anyone know of any Lynskey 30 or 35 off coupons?

[mistermo]

Lot's of good advice and opinions in this thread. Definitely agree with those who've said you can get a standard geometry bike that rides as well or better than custom geo. And until you've played around with geo on various other less expensive bikes, learning what you prefer, I wouldn't pay for custom geo. This comes from someone who's enjoyed playing with different frames and bikes (though not as much as Clean pal).

I had a custom ti bike made a few years ago from a respected builder. In less than a mile, I knew I hated it. Ever since, I'm wary of the custom bikes and geo (though I'm on waitlist for Firefly).

That Air Land Sea is so smokin'. And my size!!

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

Anyone know of any Lynskey 30 or 35 off coupons?

To my knowledge, Lynskey cycles their coupons and advertises them widely. It's not like there's a secret 30% coupon when they're only advertising 20%. Sometimes they up the discount, and if you sign up for their emails, you'll know.

[akelman]

Originally Posted by mistermo

I had a custom ti bike made a few years ago from a respected builder. In less than a mile, I knew I hated it.

I find this fascinating. Do you have a sense of what went wrong?

[ridethecliche]

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

I haven’t seen anything quite like it since then. Sometimes in $1,000 range in the past couple of years, but they do almost always have a 20% discount going and up to 30% towards the end of the year.


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1000 range isn't too bad though!

[mtechnica]

My only concern about the gr300 is that it will be a dog to climb with since it’s heavy and possibly flexy, compared to carbon.

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by akelman

I find this fascinating. Do you have a sense of what went wrong?

I don't want to name names, because others here have reported very good experiences and everyone should be allowed a bogey.

I'd ridden plenty of bikes and knew somewhat clearly what I wanted. Said ti builder was far away, I was on east coast, so I went to Signature Cycles, an uber high-end shop extraordinaire, for a fitting. Signature was exceptionally precise and provided Said builder with geometry around which to build dream bike. Builder called and said the geometry provided by Signature would result in a poor handling bike. Knowing contact points and other vital information, he asked permission to tweak. Permission granted. Months later, dream bike appears, I put parts on and go on highly anticipated maiden ride. I'm 6'3" and pulling out of the driveway, I noticed I had front wheel, toe overlap. Hadn't lived with that since my short wheelbase 3Rensho crit bike in the 80s. I lived at the top of a steep hill, 15% grade in parts. I pointed the bike downhill and shimmies immediately began. Anything exceeding 15-20mph would induce shimmy, and require two handed riding. By the time I was to the bottom of the hill, I knew this bike wouldn't be long in the stable. When going up hill, the front wheel would lift.

The bike could neither descend, climb nor be ridden shimmy free above 15-20, permitting me a drink, unless I bought (and used) a CamelBak, which I did not.

I measured the chainstays to see if they were too short, but they were fine, 42-42.5, iirc. Bike was designed for mid reach brakes and easily took 32mm road tire. Looking at geo sheet, nothing stood out as suspicious and out of ordinary. Maybe ti tubing was too light and thin for someone 6'3", 200lbs? Maybe Said builder didn't build to geo specs? No idea, but the bike didn't work (for me). I've found stock sizes work perfectly well.

My takeaway is that I recommend buying a bike from someone devoted to the niche. For a ti bike, get a builder who builds almost always with ti. For steel, get a steel builder. For road, get a guy known for his road bikes and for gravel, mountain, SS, whatever, the same. Really, this is good advice for life. If you need an appendectomy, go to a doctor who specializes in appendectomies, not just surgery. Following this analogy, Builder is thought to be a very good surgeon, and several on this site have reported happy and successful surgeries, though I'm not sure they've been appendectomies.

[bikinchris]

You should take a serious look at the Orbea line of gravel bikes. They have a great lineup.

https://www.orbea.com/us-en/bicycles/road/terra/