Donnelly G//C Gravel Bike.

Hello Everyone,

Has anyone on here had a chance to ride one of the new Donnelly G//C gravel bikes?

I was looking into the SRAM Rival equipped version at my LBS. They had the large frame in the shop, but since I'm needing the extra small frame, I didn't test ride it.

The alternative bike I'm looking at is the new Salsa Warbird 700 Apex 1X model. The primary thing that gives me pause on the Warbird is for $300 more I can get a full Rival Hydro setup on the Donnelly, and it seems like the wheel set on the Donnelly may be better too. The Donnelly comes with a 2x 48/32 crank, but with the type of riding I do the gearing would work out really well for me. Honestly the 1x on the Warbird would work too  it just wouldn't be "as ideal" with how I'm currently riding. 

I currently ride on rough pavement with the anticipation of riding the local gravel trails once I get my new bike. I'd still expect an 80/20 pavement\\gravel split when it's all said and done.  

The Geometry between the XS Donnelly and the 52.5 Warbird are fairly similar. There's a few millimeters here and there that are different with the primary difference being the stand over height.

I know I threw a lot of information in there. Any thoughts or observations would be appreciated.




Link to the Donnelly Rival Version:
https://www.donnellycycling.com/collections/gravel-bikes/products/copy-of-g-c-rival

Link to the Salsa Warbird Apex 1 700:
https://salsacycles.com/bikes/warbird/2019_warbird_carbon_apex_1_700

I love 1x setups for a stictly gravel bike.  But on the road much higher speeds are possible and at least for me a 1x setup just doesn't cut it because you have to compromise too much.  You can have a large gear range with 1x  so you can go fast and climb steep hills, but then the jumps between gears make it hard to find a good cadence.  So for me 2x is the only way to go on pavement.  Since you are going to be riding mostly pavement (even broken pavement) I think you would be better off with 2x.  

I would agree with ljsmith on the 2x being better for the road. I have 1x and 2x and wish the 1x was a 2x even for gravel. Another thought is Donnley is a tire manufacture. I had somebody else tell me(a wheel builder) when I asked about a tire maker building a wheel set. Buy a wheel set off somebody that builds wheels not tires. I would say the same about a bike. Buy a bike off a bike builder not a tire manufacture. There are new at this and usually 1st series have some bugs that need worked out not so with bike builders. Good luck


Zman

Thanks for the responses.

@ljsmith - Yeah, that's one of the appealing things on the Donnelly for me. I wish they still offered a version of the Warbird in a SRAM 2x like they did with last years model. 

@Zurichman - That's the one thing that causes me to pause on the Donnelly bike. As you mentioned in your post. This is their first go around on a new product line.  The LBS owner owns the large version that I mentioned in my original post. He's had it for almost a month now and says he doesn't have any complaints about it.

The LBS is planning in getting the small frame cyclocross variant in house in a couple weeks. I think the geometry is close enough that I could get a pretty good feeling on how the gravel should feel. 

Hopefully some people that have had a chance to ride one will chime in with their experiences.