New gravel bike for 85% road

The spirit of Grav-lo-cross. No but seriously, cyclocross and gravel go here!

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Brokenladder
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:24 pm

by Brokenladder

MarkoP wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 1:23 am
@Brokenladder Factor LS seems like a great option as do the Scott Addict Gravel 10 and 3T Exploro.

I have similar "needs" as you in wanting a very road inspired gravel bike as a back up to my road bike - mainly for light gravel and inclement weather road riding. I settled on the Colnago G3X GRX Di2) with 35mm tires but it's still being built up my LBS so can't comment on it yet.
Thanks. I think that I'm headed toward a road bike that can fit 30-32mm tires. I just need a little bit of volume for the offroad stuff. However, it's so difficult to find a road bike right now--in the mid-atlantic US, in smaller size (e.g., 53cm). I may be riding the OPEN for a while. That said the OPEN is great. I have a decent ENVE wheelset with ENVE 29s for pure road use. For me, I think that it just comes down to the wheelbase on most gravel bikes--feeling just a bit too long....

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MikeD
Posts: 1000
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2014 9:55 pm

by MikeD

Trek Domane. Relatively light and can take up to 38 mm tires.

Beancouter
Posts: 1069
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2012 9:04 pm

by Beancouter

MikeD wrote:Trek Domane. Relatively light and can take up to 38 mm tires.
One of my best friends has a Domane and I wouldn’t put it in the ‘relatively light’ bucket! That said, he rides it 1x and can still beat me up any kind of hill...

He is using 32mm gp5000 as his is dedicated to road (winter) use - you are right though plenty of space for something a bit wider


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MikeD
Posts: 1000
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2014 9:55 pm

by MikeD

Beancouter wrote:
MikeD wrote:Trek Domane. Relatively light and can take up to 38 mm tires.
One of my best friends has a Domane and I wouldn’t put it in the ‘relatively light’ bucket! That said, he rides it 1x and can still beat me up any kind of hill...

He is using 32mm gp5000 as his is dedicated to road (winter) use - you are right though plenty of space for something a bit wider


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It's lighter than most bikes being sold as gravel bikes. Trek lists the weight at 17.1 lbs. If I were in the market for a new bike, it would be on my short list.
Last edited by MikeD on Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Singular
Posts: 537
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 8:59 am

by Singular

Cervelo Caledonia...?

hannawald
Posts: 1706
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2016 7:28 pm
Location: Czech Republic

by hannawald

Hi, do you feel any difference on the road between a typical road bike and a racy gravel bike (Factor LS, Aspero, 3T Exploro) if you put there road wheels and tires? Are the differences noticable for mere mortals riding 25-30 km/h AVG? If so, what to expect? The idea is having one bike for 99 percent road but put there wide tires for commuting/winter/family rides and be able to put there mudguards. Having one bike you can also make it light as you spend bigger cash on equipment..
For me hard to imagine what to expect, I am used to racy bikes and appreciate their lightness and acceleration. When I read about endurance bikes, they are meant to be more comfortable, made for long rides and Belgian cobbles...and then almost no pros ride them on those cobbles and rather use two layer of tapes on normal race bikes..I have read many reviews on endurance bikes stating they are not that lively and fun (Bianchi Infinito for example, Trek Domane.. but also many others), heavy...while Open Upper for example was as good as a road bike in a review...hard for me to take these contradictions and make a conclusion.. Thanks!

Brokenladder
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:24 pm

by Brokenladder

@hannawald I think that mere mortals can tell a difference. For reference I'm in my 50s. I've pretty much owned every type of bike by now--road and mountain. My OPEN UP with GRX and ENVE 3.4 rims/29c road tires is a fantastic bike. I swap in a set of alloy HED Ardennes to ride dedicated gravel roads/non-paved bike paths. That said I feel the longer wheelbase; it doesn't feel as snappy as I would like. Admittedly, though, I'm splitting hairs. My most recent purely road bike was a customer Eriksen ti frame with rim brakes. Is it worth having a racy gravel and a road bike? Beats me. I suppose there are worse crimes. But I'm with you, I like the idea of one bike that I use for everything. I fear in my case that I just miss the feel of a dedicated road bike because that's what I'm used to. Sorry to ramble....

hannawald
Posts: 1706
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2016 7:28 pm
Location: Czech Republic

by hannawald

Brokenladder wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 5:12 pm
@hannawald I think that mere mortals can tell a difference. For reference I'm in my 50s. I've pretty much owned every type of bike by now--road and mountain. My OPEN UP with GRX and ENVE 3.4 rims/29c road tires is a fantastic bike. I swap in a set of alloy HED Ardennes to ride dedicated gravel roads/non-paved bike paths. That said I feel the longer wheelbase; it doesn't feel as snappy as I would like. Admittedly, though, I'm splitting hairs. My most recent purely road bike was a customer Eriksen ti frame with rim brakes. Is it worth having a racy gravel and a road bike? Beats me. I suppose there are worse crimes. But I'm with you, I like the idea of one bike that I use for everything. I fear in my case that I just miss the feel of a dedicated road bike because that's what I'm used to. Sorry to ramble....
Well, honest answers are appreciated:) even though it is not what i wanted to hear. I have no direct comparison between high end bikes. I used to have Cannondale Supersix at 6,6 kgs. It was very lively even to the point that i needed to get used to it. At the beginning when I turned my head back the bike didn't hold the line...last second changes of the direction when trying to miss the road hole were really easy..and uphill it was great. Then I tried Columbus Spirit gravel bike the same wheels as on Supersix. Less racy geometry of course and 425mm chainstay. On the flats and downhill I was quite happy with it. But uphill it felt ok only sitting in the saddle..it was not that snappy. But was it because of steel vs carbon? Was it those additional 2kgs? Was it longer chainstays? I still was better uphill with this steel bike than trying my friends Bianchi Oltre, which was 3cm longer and lower than my bike..I have seen Open Upper reviews where it was praised as one bike to do it all incl. pure road riding..but hard to say how it would hold against Supersix..

gwerziou
Posts: 347
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2019 7:25 pm
Location: Ballard, WA

by gwerziou

Hopefully this is not too far off topic - I'm guessing that the Open UP and UPPER will be getting a refresh fairly soon, as it's been a while and the corresponding 3T bike got one a while ago and also added an extra size into the mix. Has anyone heard any news along those lines?
• A hi-zoot bike, pretty sweet
• An old bike, more fun than the new one actually
• Unicycle, no brand name visible

Brokenladder
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:24 pm

by Brokenladder

@hannawald I'll repeat: the OPEN UP that I have with the carbon wheels is excellent. It is plenty fast. I don't want to leave you with the wrong impression. My main contention is that it does feel different than a pure road bike. If your riding does take you over mixed terrain where you want a wider tire and/or you ride inclement weather where you want adequate clearance for road grime, the OPEN UP (or similar "racy" gravel design) excels. The timing didn't quite work out for me; I might have bought the M.I.N.D. as it can allegedly fit a 32mm tire. However, I'm not too excited about the integrated seat post thing. I will add that the OPEN UP as I have it configured is outrageously comfortable while still being fairly stiff....

I haven't heard anything about an OPEN UP refresh. Given the current range, I'm not sure where they could go given the existing UP/UPPER/WIDE/M.I.N.D. Perhaps combine the UP and UPPER into one racy 700c-only bike (since they have the WIDE for the 650b set)?

[img]<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/94kScVO" data-context="false" ><a href="//imgur.com/a/94kScVO"></a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>[img]

MarkoP
Posts: 218
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 7:48 pm

by MarkoP

Brought home a Colnago G3-X today. Haven't had a chance to ride it yet.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RuDHLJxTQYyx23f19
Current: 2021 Bianchi Specialissima I 2021 Tarmac SL6 S-Works (Sagan Edition) l 2023 Aethos S-Works

nequalsone
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:19 pm

by nequalsone

Hi,

I have pre-ordered this as a frameset: https://launch.faracycling.com/

But delivery has been pushed to August from May, so I am considering my options.

Huge fan of the Aspero 5 purple sunset color though, but would have preferred a 1.5"-1.5" head tube so one can choose headset from FSA or Deda for full integration.

Also considering a Diverge frameset, but it seems as if only the S-Works version is available as a frameset (although I haven't reached out to a Concept store yet)

twoangstroms
Posts: 463
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2005 6:49 am

by twoangstroms

Not to be a broken record (and I wonder if BrokenLadder's name is a reference to a Wim Wenders movie) but I still really like my Ibis Hakka MX and recently I've been riding mostly on the road with 32c Donnely tires+latex tubes. It's super responsive and comfy and performative. Recently did my first group ride post-pandemic and though I eventually lost time on the climbs, I was within spitting distance of PRs (and the people who gapped me ended up with top 10s on the Berkeley Hills Road Race segments, though we were going backwards from the race).

spartacus
Posts: 1049
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:53 pm

by spartacus

twoangstroms wrote:
Mon Apr 26, 2021 2:51 pm
Not to be a broken record (and I wonder if BrokenLadder's name is a reference to a Wim Wenders movie) but I still really like my Ibis Hakka MX and recently I've been riding mostly on the road with 32c Donnely tires+latex tubes. It's super responsive and comfy and performative. Recently did my first group ride post-pandemic and though I eventually lost time on the climbs, I was within spitting distance of PRs (and the people who gapped me ended up with top 10s on the Berkeley Hills Road Race segments, though we were going backwards from the race).
Yeah I don't know why the hakka isn't more popular TBH.

Brokenladder
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:24 pm

by Brokenladder

twoangstroms wrote:
Mon Apr 26, 2021 2:51 pm
(and I wonder if BrokenLadder's name is a reference to a Wim Wenders movie)

Yes. :)

by Weenie


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