Best Bike for Gravel Racing and Fast Road Riding?

64 replies · 10,278 views

BhamGravel
6 posts
#1Feb 12, 2019, 11:57 PM
Hi Folks: I know the "quiver-of-one" conversation has gotten a lot of attention here. I've read through a number of threads related to it. But I didn't see one that quite fit my situation. Forgive me if I missed it.

I'm a relatively fast gravel and road rider. I'm generally toward the front of the pack in local gravel races, and fast club road rides. My road racing days are behind me, but I like to mix it up on group rides on the road.

I'm trying to figure out if there's a single bike that could satisfy my needs on gravel and road. My current gravel bike is a bit outdated (canti brakes). I'm hoping to get a fast, light setup that can handle both uses by swapping wheelsets. That way I could sell my road bike and current gravel bike to finance the purchase.

Here's my criteria:
- Can run 40mm tires.
- Disc brakes
- Light and responsive enough that I won't miss my Cannondale Supersix Hi-Mod road bike.
- Won't cost more than $3500 (I'm happy to buy used).
So far I'm considering the Kona Super Jake (set up with Ultegra), the Santa Cruz Stigmata CC, and the Open U.P. (if I find a screaming deal on a frame).

Does anyone have other suggestions?

Thanks.
1
ljsmith
762 posts
#2Feb 13, 2019, 5:08 AM
Other than price, the 3T Exploro sounds perfect for you.
0
Tallboy1959
14 posts
#3Feb 13, 2019, 10:20 AM
Giant Revolt0. I have one and I think it might be right up your alley. 3465.00 currently.
0
GHC
169 posts
#4Feb 13, 2019, 11:42 AMedited
RidleyXtrail Carbon Ultegra will fit your bill, except 38mm max tire.

https://www.backcountry.com/ridley-x-trail-carbon-ultegra-complete-bike-2018

If you are patient and wait for last model year sales, they can be had from USA online retailers for $2500-2700 ..... but the blowout stuff was about a month ago so you might have to wait a while.

Or, depending what your size is, frames get reduced too. Here is a large for under a grand.

https://www.backcountry.com/ridley-x-trail-carbon-frameset-2018?skid=RID006M-BLKGRY-L&INT_ID=REC_pdp|pdp_NA_NA_REC-RR_REC-RID006M_NA_20190213&ti=UkVDX3BkcHxwZHBfTkFfTkFfUkVDLVJSX1JFQy1SSUQwMDZNX05BXzIwMTkwMjEz

Again, 700 x 38 max on the rear, will handle 40's on the front .....I ride 700x36 tubeless that swell to 38 on mine for gravel.

If you do a lot of mudding, this isn't your bike.

I dig mine.
0
chunkylover53
39 posts
#5Feb 13, 2019, 7:19 PM▲ Top
Salsa Warbird Carbon Shimano 105 retails for 3400. Checks your boxes
5
s0ldats
84 posts
#6Feb 14, 2019, 12:44 AM
open UPPER or 3t exploro LTD
0
chas
1,305 posts
#7Feb 14, 2019, 1:54 PM
BhamGravel wrote:

Here's my criteria:
- Can run 40mm tires.
- Disc brakes
- Light and responsive enough that I won't miss my Cannondale Supersix Hi-Mod road bike.
- Won't cost more than $3500 (I'm happy to buy used).
I have the same general requirements as you do.
I liked the Open UP and 3T exploro, but the cost a lot and are not available for test rides. Salsa warbird was too sluggish for me. Its been a while, but I’ve ridden old Super Jakes, and enjoyed that ride.
I decided on a Canyon Inflite. It accelerates and climbs super fast. It is quite at home in a club ride with $5000 road bikes (i.e. its not the bike that holds me back). In road config I have some good wheels and 28mm Conti tires on it – weighs around 16lbs I think. No complaints. I did buy it 2x, and I’m not sure if they still sell it that way though.
For gravel, I use 40mm tires – sometimes 50mm on the front.
The bike is a race bike. Its light, fast, and very responsive. I love that. That agility that makes it fun on road (or on CX races) does demand more attention off road - agility and high speed gravel decents are not a beginner’s combination. I doubt you’ll have a problem though.
It’s been on sale for $1000 off this winter. That is an incredible bargain. It easily ticks all of your boxes.
0
BhamGravel
6 posts
#8Feb 14, 2019, 1:59 PM
That Canyon is an interesting option. I'll take a look. Yes, the Exploro and Open UPPER are a bit out of my range.

I'm seriously learning toward a Santa Cruz Stigmata CC. It looks like I can get one well equipped for around $3K. Anyone have experience with bike on road and gravel?
0
BhamGravel
6 posts
#9Feb 14, 2019, 2:05 PM
The Canyon looks great, but I don't see them selling it set up with 2X. That could be a deal breaker.
0
windanimal
7 posts
#10Feb 15, 2019, 4:36 PMedited
My Cannondale SuperX SE is light , responsive, disc brakes, and I'm running 42 mm Resolutes. It's 16.9 lb after upgrading the cassette, hubs, going tubeless, and moving the seat, stem, and bars from my steel gravel bike. It was $3600 with a10% discount. There's also a slightly cheaper 2X Ultegra version.
0
BhamGravel
6 posts
#11Feb 15, 2019, 4:45 PM
I do like my Cannondale SuperSix. How is the SuperX on fast, rocky descents? Not too skittish?
0
windanimal
7 posts
#12Feb 15, 2019, 5:03 PM
Stable and maneuverable. A lot of my rides out here in Southern California are long winding rocky dirt roads in the mountains and this bike descends much better than my steel bike. I put 44 cm wide flared Easton bars on it which made a noticeable improvement.
0
SWGraveler
247 posts
#13Feb 15, 2019, 9:44 PM
I am a long time roadie and have been riding gravel for less than a year so my fast road bike reference is pretty solid. My gravel bike is an Allied All Road and I love it everywhere I've ridden it. With road tubeless tires it is hard to tell apart from my dedicated road bikes. For gravel it does have a bit of tire size limitation; the rear has a 38 Gravel King and there is just a tiny bit of clearance. I'm in Az so mud is not an issue. The fork will take a bigger tire but I haven't experimented beyond the 38 GK but I'm confident a 43-45mm tire will fit.. Allied's are impressive in my book and used they are a lot cheaper; still kind of rare but they are out there.
0
owly
328 posts
#14Feb 16, 2019, 1:01 AM
You could possibly find a real nice spec secondhand bike with that budget. Main thing coming from your background is the frame geo in my view; something which leans toward a race bike, like the Allied mentioned above.

Possibly even a ti frame leaning toward the lighter end of the spectrum like the T-Lab X3 (they have a couple of demo framesets for sale at the moment), with some nice wheels.
0
ColoradoDiscman
7 posts
#15Feb 16, 2019, 10:05 AM
I was trying to make the same decision a couple of months ago. It came down to the Open, Stigmata, and Ibis Hakka. All 3 were bikes I could test for a weekend.

It came down to the Open and the Hakka. I ruled out the Stigmata because handling wise it felt more CX than road and I was wanting a road handling bike with a lot of clearence. In the end I went with the Hakka because it was about 2k less than the Open with di2 and carbon hoops. I love this bike.
0
BhamGravel
6 posts
#16Feb 16, 2019, 10:18 AM
Thanks ColoradoDiscman, that's very helpful. The Hakka MX does look sweet. I'll have to keep an eye out for a used one on Ebay.
0
Bullrun
20 posts
#17Feb 17, 2019, 8:33 PM
All the bikes listed are great, here a couple more suggestions..I still love my Salsa Vaya (Ti or steel with Carbon fork). The steel version will be inexpensive enough to afford nice wheel-set, and drivetrain..
1
BhamGravel
6 posts
#18Feb 17, 2019, 8:45 PM
Anyone had experience with the Diamondback Haanjo 7C? It sounds like a great setup for the price. The only thing that sounds odd is that the reach/top tube is on the short side. I'd have to run a 120mm stem to match my current fit.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has ridden one about the fit and ride.
0
windanimal
7 posts
#19Feb 17, 2019, 11:30 PMedited
BhamGravel wrote:
- Light and responsive enough that I won't miss my Cannondale Supersix Hi-Mod road bike.
- Won't cost more than $3500 (I'm happy to buy used).
Gravel specific bikes including many already mentioned seem to me to be either reasonably priced and heavy (20+ lb) or light and expensive.

Also according to reviews I've studied gravel bikes tend toward stability so thus aren't very nimble.

I also have a sub-15 lb Super Six Evo (and also a 20.5 lb steel gravel bike) and when I went shopping for a new gravel bike my criteria was virtually identical to yours.

For light, nimble, and reasonably priced I recommend a carbon cyclocross race bike from any of the manufacturers currently racing such as Canyon, Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, etc. that has sufficient tire clearance. All you'll likely need to change is the gears and tires.
0
SeattleGrinder
2 posts
#20Feb 18, 2019, 1:04 PM
I recommend checking out the Ibis Hakka MX.

I test rode the Haanjo 7C and didn't like it. Not that it rode badly, I was just looking for something that felt more nimble. Felt more like touring geometry.

I went with the Ibis Hakka MX Rival 1x build, instead. $3,300 base, +$800 for Ibis carbon 650 or 700c wheels w/7 year warranty. The stock build w/2.1s comes in at about 18lbs without pedals.

All in all, it's a riot to ride. I've got the carbon 650s with 47 byways and the bike goes as fast as my old Madone. It doesn't feel as fast, because the rubber soaks up more high-frequency vibrations, but the data shows me going as quickly on-road as I did on an aero road bike with 700x25s.
0

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