Gravel bike for gravel racing/fast gravel ride

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

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Rough
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:21 am

by Rough

I am a roadie and own a reasonably nice aero road bike.

Recently I've been thinking quite a lot about owning a gravel bike as well. There is a lot of nice gravel where I live and recently also quite a lot of interesting gravel races/events (from long gravel grind epics types to shorter races and stage races). I have not been racing road yet (I plan to in near future) but I actually find gravel events more appealing and interesting.

I am therefore searching for a race oriented gravel bike. I don't know a ton about gravel bikes but I've noticed that a lot of them are focused/marketed towards more "adventure/bikepacking" crowd and are as such more upright and less racy. What I am looking for is the oposite of that.

For the reference I'm riding a road bike (size 56cm) with 564mm stack 391mm reach and 120mm stem. I wouldn't mind a bit more upright position on a gravel bike but most of them come with 600mm+ stack in my size.

What I'm searching for is long and low geometry with long wheelbase and low bottom bracket for stability. I would much prefer 2x gearing with large gear range (reasonably large top gear is important). I guess aero features would be nice but with thicker tires and slower speeds aero is not as important as it is on a road race bike. Weight is not that important. What I'm looking for is (I'll try to describe my use case scenario...): A bike that's going to allow me to get into aero/agressive position an rip it on flat, gravel roads at reasonably high speeds.. It's nice to have option to mount super wide tires but honestly I probably won't use anything thicker/wider than 40mm.

Mounts for bags, bottles and stuff like that are nice to have but not necesarry as the main purpose of the bike is fast riding/racing and not bikepacking/adventure riding. I might go bikepacking with it if the situation arises but probably not.

Cervelo Aspero or 3T Exploro Team would be ideal but it's far too expensive and hard to get where I live. Budget is: 2500€ max, preferably less.

I've found a few options but I'm open to some other suggestions.

1. Canyon Grizl (either AL or CF)
+ geometry actually makes sense for a racy gravel bike (402mm reach, 579mm stack, steep 73.5 STA in size M, would switch stem for 110mm)
+ budget friendly in readily available
+ versatile with option to mount thick tires and a lot of bottle/bag mounts
+ looks burly and sturdy, would probably survive a crash or two
+ available in 2x gearing
+ simple cable routing makes dialing the position easy anough
+ I like the shape of the frame, especially carbon version (ALU looks a bit less nice but still good)
+ Available in either AL or CF, good to have a choice

- seems quite heavy compared to other options
- no aero features

2. Scott Addict Gravel
+ looks very nice
+ light
+ nice paintjobs
+ aero features
+ cable integration looks nice
+ looks fast

- geometry actually doesn't seem as good as Grizl (more upright, shorter wheelbase and shorter reach, could theoretically size down but I think that would be a compromise as I'm on the size L limit already
- quite expensive and hard to get where I live
- cable integration makes servicing and dialing in the fit a pain in the ass
- less versatile regarding tires and mounts (though not that important)

3. Cube Nuroad (new)
+ seems good value
+ geometry seems racy but not as good as Grizl (for a gravel bike, but just for the CF models)
+ seems quite light

- I don't like the looks that much
- Geometry is not as good as Grizl IMO (higher bb) and AL models are more upright than CF
- Availability is questionable

These are just some of the oprions I've been thinking about. I am very open to advice and other options.
Right now seems like Grizl makes the most sense but wouldn't mind hearing some personal experience from people racing/riding gravel.

Thanks!
Last edited by Rough on Mon May 23, 2022 1:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Rough
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:21 am

by Rough

Admin please delete this post

Mistakenly replied to original post instead of editing it.

by Weenie


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bobrayner
Posts: 122
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2020 1:25 am
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by bobrayner

Would you consider a Ridley Kanzo? The Kanzo Fast might be above the budget limit, but there are other options.

Orro Venturi?

Gravel bikes are very fashionable, which means they're not cheap. If you want racy geometry like a road bike, and if you don't want adventure/bikepacking, perhaps a cyclocross bike could be a good option? Tyre clearance could be a limitation, but before I got a dedicated gravel bike I had a lot of fun with 35mm tyres on a cyclocross bike. Would you consider a Canyon Inflite, or something like that?
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Mockenrue
Posts: 591
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:32 am
Location: Brexshit Britain. Get me out!

by Mockenrue

Basso Palta?

DrimeOser
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:35 pm

by DrimeOser

Hey Rough,
forgive me, as a German, for my disliking of Canyon and Cube. I think of them as the ultimate crowd pleasers: every detail right in the middle of the road with highly competetive pricing of course. Terribly boring bikes – in my extremely underqualified opinion.

If you want a fast gravel bike, have a look at the Cannondale SuperX used. Ted King raced it with great success on the Dirty Kanza for years. The CaadX shares the same geo and also sports about 40mm of tire clearance and can be had for well under 2000 almost everywhere.

Also, a used Basso Palta might at least in good ol' Europe be a viable option.

Rough
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:21 am

by Rough

bobrayner wrote:
Mon May 23, 2022 1:28 pm
Would you consider a Ridley Kanzo? The Kanzo Fast might be above the budget limit, but there are other options.

Orro Venturi?

Gravel bikes are very fashionable, which means they're not cheap. If you want racy geometry like a road bike, and if you don't want adventure/bikepacking, perhaps a cyclocross bike could be a good option? Tyre clearance could be a limitation, but before I got a dedicated gravel bike I had a lot of fun with 35mm tyres on a cyclocross bike. Would you consider a Canyon Inflite, or something like that?
Mockenrue wrote:
Mon May 23, 2022 1:32 pm
Basso Palta?
Cyclocross bikes tend to be less available and more expensive where I live. Also there are some compromises like gearing, tire clearance and geometry. Canyon Inflite is offered in 1x gearing, has high BB and compact wheelbase which I think is less than ideal for gravel races, particulary descents.

Basso Palta is quite hard to come by and expensive where I live. Other than that I think it is more of a mixture between CX bike and Gravel bike. In any case it's out of my budget and probably I can't even get it.
DrimeOser wrote:
Mon May 23, 2022 1:51 pm
Hey Rough,
forgive me, as a German, for my disliking of Canyon and Cube. I think of them as the ultimate crowd pleasers: every detail right in the middle of the road with highly competetive pricing of course. Terribly boring bikes – in my extremely underqualified opinion.

If you want a fast gravel bike, have a look at the Cannondale SuperX used. Ted King raced it with great success on the Dirty Kanza for years. The CaadX shares the same geo and also sports about 40mm of tire clearance and can be had for well under 2000 almost everywhere.

Also, a used Basso Palta might at least in good ol' Europe be a viable option.
I also dislike some things Canyon is doing (khm khm Aeroad...) but I think some of their bikes are good. For example I think with Grizl they focused on important things like geometry and simplicity. Cube is a value brand where I live but recently their bikes are straight up impossible to get. I know since I wanted to buy their Litening aero bike.

SuperX looks good. Geometry looks very similar to a road bike. But used market where I live is relatively small especially for a bike like that. Probably impossible to get or I'd have to wait for it for a while.

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

by spartacus

Why not look what peopl are using in the big gravel races?

fizzaz
Posts: 274
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 5:02 pm

by fizzaz

New cross bikes fit this. CX bikes have relaxed their geometry in recent years but not enough to make them lazy like how I feel some of the new gravel bikes are. Go for a middling bb-drop and head angle and you'll get what you are looking for, plus you won't have to fight everyone for a bike labeled GrAvEl. I race both CX and gravel on one bike in the road offseason and it's great. Tbh, I do most of my recovery days on the gravel bike in the summer because *pillow tires*.

jemima
Posts: 270
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:36 am
Location: Perth

by jemima

2022 Rondo Ruut Al 1. 700x45. 1x.

Large is a little tall, but you could fit a slammed stem+minimal spacers to suit.
Hi Axle position:-
582mm stack. 400mm reach.
74mm bbdrop.
72.3hta.
420mm chainstay.

Mentioning where you live would help with suggestions.
You may have to ship the bike from elsewhere in Europe.
Curve Grovel ti.

calleking
Posts: 386
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2015 3:20 pm

by calleking

Another vote for the old SuperX.
2022 Wilier Filante SLR Dura-Ace/Ultegra Di2 12sp
2021 Cannondale Scalpel Carbon 2

Retired:
2018 S-Works Tarmac SL6 Sagan Superstar DA 9150
2016 Aeroad CF SLX UDi2
2016 CAAD12 - SRAM Red 22 - Hyper 50mm

kervelo
Posts: 866
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:58 am
Location: Finland

by kervelo

This review contains some options for gravel racing too:
https://granfondo-cycling.com/the-best- ... ke-review/

robeambro
Posts: 1829
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:21 pm

by robeambro

spartacus wrote:
Mon May 23, 2022 3:33 pm
Why not look what peopl are using in the big gravel races?
Because a few years ago the top dogs in the big races would have used the bike they thought was the best, today they use the bike they are paid to ride. I don't think there's anyone at the top tier of gravel racing without any sort of sponsorship contract.

Pyotrump
Posts: 133
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:01 pm

by Pyotrump

one another vote for old super X. I love mine.

CampagYOLO
Posts: 706
Joined: Thu May 06, 2021 3:58 pm

by CampagYOLO

Vitus Energie Evo? Comes under budget and is 8.4kg in the full Rival 1 build which has plenty of scope for making lighter. Stack measures up with what you're looking for:

https://vitusbikes.com/collections/road ... rival-2022

Despite being a CX bike it's tyre clearence is rated to 45mm so plenty of room there.

Only issue really is that it's not a very sexy brand if that matters to you.

by Weenie


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warthog101
Posts: 872
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:05 am

by warthog101

I have a Giant revolt. The D fuse seat post on mine has carbon paste applied and has never slipped.
Just replaced with a zero setback goer.
Fast gravel and racing here too.
Does the job. I'm happy with it.

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