Torn 4 ways on which bike to choose

Have you ridden both? Which do you prefer? Seems like the Norco leans a little more towards an all rounder and the Jake a little more towards cross. I've read Spyres are good mechanical brakes, I think they're better than Hayes.

Probably won't be able to for a couple of weeks. No idea when konas arrive and norco isn't due until October at the latest. \n \nI leaning more towards norco at the moment. Dealer network isn't the widest but that's ok. I just want a quality product. \n \nI haven't strayed off the path of the big three manufacturers, and just want to make sure I am getting a good product.

There's always the CAADX, C'dale hasn't posted the 2016s yet

EagleGrinder wrote:Felt v85 is out of my price range officially. Felt raised the price from 1399 to 1499. Down to norco and kona. Unless someone else can think of one I haven't already. No GT grades nearby to try or in my size.

The focus mares AX Tiagra is $1,400.  Cross bike - but very relaxed head tube and 65mm of bb drop.  My dealer is getting the 2016s in this week.

Kona's are available in FL. according to my LBS. They tried to sell me a 16 Sutra which I am not ready to buy yet. Good luck finding a dealer with them on the floor, I had to order. Kona is a small company still run by the original 2 founders. I always thought the big three are Trek, Spesh, Giant...Cdale.

Interesting they are both Canadian companies. 
DO you have a geo preference or you starting from scratch? The Norco is aggressively priced which is usually the case for a newish line but will probably go up next year just like many others did. 

Either gravel or cross riding geo is fine. I rode a crux. Not bad. Liked the rove al too. The norco threshold has some better specs for a couple more Benjamin's. Wtb rims and other items on the threshold. Gearing is 11-28 on the threshold in the rear compared to 11-34 on the search. Crux was 11-30 and on steep hills I was dying for a tap out gear. Up front the threshold is 46-36 and search is 50-32. I had thought about taking that down after I rode it for a while

Tap out gear that's funny.. Yeah The  shimano 105 50-34 cranks are nice. See how it goes I went to 36-46  11-34 and it suits me just fine and the in between gears makes a huge difference sometimes. I do miss the big 50 on long paved rides though. The Search has a shorter wheelbase and chain stays if that's important to you. My next bike will be steel.

I think you must be mistaken about the crank set on the Norco, sb 50 34, not 50 32, right? \nI searched shamino 105 and could not find a 50 32, as desireable as that might be.

Have you tried any of the Raleigh bikes?  If you are considering both gravel and cross that's a brand to look at since they have lots of options for both.  

Fuji also has a nice new model called the Tread.  The 105 is a little over your price range because it includes hydraulic brakes.  The Tiagra though with mechanical disc brakes is on $1,050.  I haven't seen this bike in person, unlike the Raleighs which I've tried, but it definitely sounds interesting.

@bandit  yeah typo thanks corrected have to many gears in my head lately lol

Raleigh seems to be overpriced for what you get compared to what I have been looking at. My only concern is where the compromises are made on the Norco Search. Since its 1295 and it has 105 and top components, is the compromise the quality of the frame? Just me spinning my wheels since I cant spin anything else. 

EagleGrinder wrote:
I have looked at those Specialized and I will admit I feel the "zertz" inserts look a bit ahem... "silly" just my .02, but I am not sure a small piece of rubber is going to soften the ride for my fat rear. 

just wanted to poke my nose in here.  I'm 245#, and ride a Specy Roubaix on road, and those Zertz inserts DO seem to work.  Surprisingly so, in fact.  I did a pretty detailed direct test ride comparison between the Roubaix and the CDale Synapse, and the quality of ride and compliance was notable between the 2, with the Roubaix eating up road chatter much more readily.

Now, I'm not saying Specialized is the way to go for you, but I am saying that those little Zertz thingees do seem to work for my big ole' butt

I've ridden the Search and the Threshold and they are VERY different feeling bikes.  The Search I felt like I could ride from today until tomorrow, rapidly, without issue.  It was a great feeling bike and with the bigger tire clearance for 2016, it really has me intrigued. The Threshold is a far 'racier' bike, obviously, and it felt like I could ride from here to there EXTREMELY fast, but then it'd be time to take a break, as the ride was, well, it's a true CX racing bike, so the geometry and feel is obviously more twitchy and tight.  

That said, the Norco's I rode were the 2015 carbon models, so your mileage may vary.  I'm not a fan of alloy on the road bikes, but I wish I was.

Thanks for your insight. I am leaning more and more towards Norco the more I think about it. After doing about 5 months of research on these types of bikes, I have learned that I think the big three (Specialized, Trek, and Giant) overprice their bikes. More Specialized and Trek IMHO. Paying $1,500 and getting Sora components with a square taper BB seems a bit off. I rode Sora on my last bike and it was good for my needs, but I want to buy a bit nicer bike that checks off a lot of boxes on my requirements now that I have some money saved up. For example, I really like the Specialized AWOL to an extent, but its not worth the coin for Sora Components and other lower  specced items. Many others on reddit have said its overpriced for what is on the bike. Its a steel frame and I get thats a big deal, but their jumps between bikes and components are extreme. I did take a look at the Diverge this morning in church (I know, bad Christian), but just didnt appeal to me. 

Steel would be ideal, but in most regards its about  250-300 out of my price range. I would spring for the Specialized AWOL, but would like to have nicer components. 

I think Norco is going to see the effects of discontinuing the steel version of their S1 Search. The guys at the bike shop cannot understand why they did that. Im down to 265 from 295 and trying to get lower, and Carbon is just too much for me and it doesn't appeal to me a lot in 

Most of my rides would be on Atlanta Bike PATH, and some gravel roads at the nature preserve, and local state parks. I was thinking about doing some CX racing, but I am not really competitive at those types of things. Would rather do charity rides. 

Also here is something new I found out today that might have negated the Kona Jake: I was really into the Kona Jake because it was 10 speed and I was thinking "hey, when I wear out the FD and RD, I will just upgrade to 105 and that will be great." Found out today via reddit that they wont be compatible since the pull ratios will be different since the old and new 10 speeds will not be the same. Why oh why shimano?

I am curious if when you were looking at the Giant Revolt - you checked out the Anyroad models.  I'm thinking of getting one of those for the wife when I sell her road bike.  There's a 10 speed Tiagra version in your price range.  

I think they look pretty cool and our LBS sells every alloy one he gets quickly.

I had. The revolt had more for 25 more bucks. It even said thru axles on the front acc to the site, and the brakes were better acc to reviews. BB5s don't get the best reviews. Problem is no one sells those types of bikes in Atlanta. You have to order and put a down payment for the order. Don't want to go through the hassle and make a shop go thru it if it doesn't work out.

EagleGrinder, \nWhich Diverge did you try? The ones made of the A1 aluminum are not that impressive and it's my understanding they're really the older Sectuer frame with larger tires. There's a $1500 Smartweld made of E5 aluminum with Tiagra that I'm seriously considering. I think it's the lightest and possibly fastest of the alloy adventure bikes. The carbon version was by far the best bike I've ridden. I hope this comes $1500 comes close.

I didnt try one. I was surfing the web during the sermon this morning. 1500 is just too much for me for the components and the frame. One of my pet peeves with Specialized. I feel they overprice their stuff by 200-300. Im starting to look at the Specialized Awol since I would really like steel, but at the point of blowing my budget to get sora triple cranks and old STI technology is making me think twice. 

I hear you, there's a few bikes with better components. I think the frame is much better. I'm guessing the bikes around 20-21lbs. The 105 version is around 2300 with hydraulic brakes. Id rather invest in the frame, I can upgrade the components to 105 later, once the Tiagra ware out. However, I think the new Tiagra will work quite well for awhile. My Specialized LBS had one on order but not sure the arrival date.

EagleGrinder, \nDo you know how much the Norco weighs?