Best racey-geometry gravel bike for a roadie?

[req110]

Eucalyptus, that’s a beautiful bike! I love the colour too—I’ve been eyeing the same one. From what I’ve read the Palta II is still solid on the road but not quite as racey or aggressive as the Palta I. It looks like the Palta I in size XL would have roughly equal or possibly even shorter stack than my aggressive road bike (!) as well as a super short 160mm head tube, although reach is about 15mm shorter. Nevertheless, if the geometry would work for me with little to no spacers I’m definitely keen to go this route.

Here is a photo of a typical road in my area. Yes that’s a turtle on the side of the road:


Admittedly, this is pretty smooth. Other roads are not quite so pristine. Even then, no crazy giant rock fields or anything like that, just your average town-maintained New England dirt road. But still not something I’d ride my road frame on.

We have some pretty steep grades here, so I’ll read up more about ratios and 1x. Currently trying to get in touch with Factor to discuss some options but time difference has been a challenge. Basso remains high on my list!


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i wouldn't buy cx/gravel bikes for roads like this or one level more dirt.

i would buy 30mm tires if you want to be more safer or have plush ride.
my continental gp5000 s tr 28 are running on 4 bar, so 30s would be even less.

[Roadbiker10]

Yeah, I'm not actually going to be racing on cobbles at 45kph, I am just using that as a reference for a robust frame, i.e., I would expect that a racing frame that can withstand the Paris-Roubaix could certainly handle local gravel/dirt roads. Pinarello Dogma F and Factor Ostro VAM come to mind here: both featured in Paris-Roubaix despite being UCI road bikes.

Paris-Roubaix was won a Reacto as well. I'm guessing road bikes should be able to handle quite a bit of abuse. But aren't all the bikes used at Paris-Roubaix road bikes anyway?

[pb85]

Trek Boone, especially new generation. Very racey geometry, great for CX, fast on the road, comfy on cobbles. I'm using boone on the way you are going to and I love it

Limited tire size on the Trek Boone. Most buying gravel bikes would like ability to fit at least a size 40mm tire.

The new generation takes 40-42mm. Much wider tyre clearence as the last one

[pb85]

I’ve read good reviews about the Boone and glad hear your real world feedback. I wouldn’t mind being limited to 40mm tires or under (UCI limits cycle cross to 33mm after all) as this would primarily see a mix of riding on dirt and paved roads.


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https://www.cxmagazine.com/ridden-revie ... cross-bike
See the review. The new generation of boone has much more space as the last one. I ride Getaway 40 and still lot of space. If you're going to race cyclocross, Boone is great.

[kgcx]

I would look at building a crux frameset up with Di2 and a 34-52 chainset, I wasn't a big fan of Sram so I went with Shimano. I wanted a pretty aggressive gravel bike, so I downsized and put on a 20mm longer stem. By doing that, the geometry is pretty spot on with the Sl7 or Aethos. Only issue is a little bit of toe overlap with wider gravel tires on super tight turns, but that is rare with the gravel in my area.

[MiddMan]

Thank you all for your valuable input. I won't reveal it yet, but I've just put in an order. By way of a hint, I will say that it happens to be one of the bikes from my original list. My decision was primarily dicated by what I could get quickly, which is no easy feat these days. But I really wanted something to ride ASAP and train on into the fall before ski season. (As much as I love bikes, I'm not one to ride outside in -10 degree weather!!)

[eucalyptus]

Thank you all for your valuable input. I won't reveal it yet, but I've just put in an order. By way of a hint, I will say that it happens to be one of the bikes from my original list. My decision was primarily dicated by what I could get quickly, which is no easy feat these days. But I really wanted something to ride ASAP and train on into the fall before ski season. (As much as I love bikes, I'm not one to ride outside in -10 degree weather!!)

Congrats on your new Palta

[MiddMan]

Haha! Actually I really wanted the Palta. It's a classy ride! Sadly the lead times 120-180+ days for the US (and still no guarantee to be delivered on time).
Also I think maybe the Basso prices are more reasonable in Europe than in the US...

[MiddMan]

I guess I ought to ask you all what you recommend for pedals and shoes for your CX/Gravel bikes? I only have road shoes so I'll need to find something that can handle a bit of sand and mud.

[blaugrana]

The easy option for pedals is to simply get the Shimano SPD ones that fit your budget and call it a day, all work well. The XTR supposedly have slightly better mud clearance, but it's probably a very small difference (though the price is reasonable enough for something high end in the 2022 bike industry). For shoes it's a really personal choice depending on what fits best, but I would check that it has threads to install toe spikes.

[MiddMan]

End of the road. For now…




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[Erwin]

I am eyeing on winterbike again.

And my primary options are:

1) specialized crux
2) cervelo aspero

and secondary options

3) trek checkpoint

That's it

Why do you have sold your Factor LS? Cause of missing fender mounts?

[req110]

There was not much a rational reason for it. It was on the beginning of spring and i wanted to reduce three mediocre bikes to two ultimate bikes. But now i am again eyeing for winterbike, not to hurt my bikes

[kevinw]

I would suggest 3T Exploro. Got Exploro Ultra and Ridley Kanzo Fast. The 3T is much more racier/roadlike and you can run double chainrings easily.

Thats interesting - assumed it would be the other way around.

The Kanzo Fast was my first choice but couln't get hold of one so ended up with my second choice which is the 3T exploro racemax - which I do love to be fair.

[tarmackev]

I have the Basso Palta gen 1, size 53

Extremely racy and very aggressive. It is a pure race bike and no bike-packing adventure bike for sloppy laid back riding.

Here with a 100mm -17 stem and 40mm Pirelli Cinturato H (measures 42mm which is max what the rear triangle can take).

48T Oval garbaruk, as I am mostly doing road but 46 would be the sweet spot if it was leaned towards more gravel and hilly sections.

Not sure about the 2x setup, it came with a front derailleur mount IIRC which I removed, I would never run 2x anyway

The Gen2 palta is not at all the same, higher headtube etc. If you have the cash and want a slightly lighter frame then the Factor LS is really nice! Mine came in at 1250g including rear derailleur hanger

That's a seriously cool bike.