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Teach me on gravelenture bikes

Ron

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I am looking to buy a cross/gravel bike for our hardpacked dirt and gravel roads. There are near endless miles of these up here. My question is what kind of geo is best, general use tire width, and just a better understanding of what makes a good bike. I am looking to spend $2,500 or less and was hoping to snag a leftover. some of the roads will include paved roads but some of the gravel/hardpack are fire roads. Scott also recommended the New Cannondale Slate but just not sure about the fork and the 650b config.

One bike that caught my eye was this Ridley on BC. With AJ rebate, it will come in under budget.
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/r...kbGV5IFgtVHJhaWwgQ29tcGxldGUgQmlrZXM6MToxOg==


EDIT- I should have used "adventure bike" in the title as I think that's probably more of what I want
 
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SBrown

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I am looking to buy a cross/gravel bike for our hardpacked dirt and gravel roads. There are near endless miles of these up here. My question is what kind of geo is best, general use tire width, and just a better understanding of what makes a good bike. I am looking to spend $2,500 or less and was hoping to snag a leftover. some of the roads will include paved roads but some of the gravel/hardpack are fire roads. Scott also recommended the New Cannondale Slate but just not sure about the fork and the 650b config.

One bike that caught my eye was this Ridley on BC. With AJ rebate, it will come in under budget.
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/r...kbGV5IFgtVHJhaWwgQ29tcGxldGUgQmlrZXM6MToxOg==


EDIT- I should have used "adventure bike" in the title as I think that's probably more of what I want

fixed.
 

SBrown

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Also, I am interested in this category, too; thread bookmarked.
 

michael

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I'm not an expert and won't offer up my idiocy on what makes a good bike, but I'm a big fan of Giant. I have an FCR 1 hybrid and a Trance mountain bike and love both of them.

Giant x-road bicycles can be found here
 
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Ron

Ron

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I did find some interesting Videos. Our own, made in Steamboat, Moots Route 45 would be awesome (for a 7K bike) :)


and here's on on the Ridley which turns out to be videoed in CO.

 
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michael

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@Ron - sorry. i assumed you could find bikes... where i used to live a lot of folks aren't aware of Giant and I wanted to throw the name out.
 
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Erik Timmerman

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The Ridley looks really sweet, it all depends on what your adventures entail, right? I mean I don't see any rack mounts, so they wouldn't be overnight adventures. Seems like the price is right on that puppy.
 
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Ron

Ron

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@epic there are "hidden" mounts on the frame and I do know there are some cool fire road to camping trails up here too. Good point. :thumb:

Does the ridleys geo seem OK? It appears to be a "happy medium" jack of all trades kinda bike. Probably at or just a touch under 20# and certainly a pair of Nox composites would be sweet. :)
 

Erik Timmerman

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Do you have a road bike? I'd compare geo/sizing to that. Then I'd decide how much pedal clearance I need (and what size tire you plan to run because bigger tires will give you more) and so on. Like how much do you want it to very from your roadie?
 
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Ron

Ron

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Good suggestions: Yes, I ride a BMC Granfondo and love the geo. I want this to be more like a 80/20 bike (adventure-gravel vs road) really. I ride a 58 so this would put me in their large, 57 frame. The heads more slack, (good) and the stack is 10mm higher (good). the ETT is a bit shorter but of course, that can be made up with a slightly longer Stem. BOth run 172.5 cranks and both run 11/32 cassettes so its geared the same too which i like for climbing. The Ridey's Seat tube is close, a touch steeper than the BMC. Tires: it comes with 38's. I think I would really need to ride it some to decide on best width. It max's at 40 -
 
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Erik Timmerman

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if the seattube is steeper, you might find that if you have the saddle adjusted the same on both you'll have the same reach anyway. I mean if knee is over pedal spindle, the Ridley's seat would be back on the rails more and you might have the exact same reach.
 

Tom K.

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I ride a lot of gravel roads during the off -- or ski -- season. Ours are steep, and often at least a bit washboardy.

Surprisingly, I end up grabbing my 10 year old mtb hardtail (with rigid fork) more often than my much fancier "gravel" bike.

Food for thought!
 
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Ron

Ron

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Good food!! Hmm i was also considering using my superfly 100 with some semi slicks as well. Things to ponder.
 

Josh Matta

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I can only speak to my bike. I may be the only person on here that owns a gravel bike.

http://www.raleighusa.com/roker-comp

I have one of these. I run 40-45c tires on it tubeless, and its pretty complaint and easy to control even on rough gravel road. I would probably not bomb steep fireroards on it simply due to the lack of tread on loose ground. I changed very little on it to get it fit me, some shallow drops, and 50x34 crank over the 44x32 that was just too low in gearing. I ride it mostly on 20-30 mile ride with between 1500-3000 feet of climbing, I have done a couple 40-60 milers on this and its been comfortable enough for me. Its basically rigid dropped bar 29er, and even can ride mellow single track fairily easily on it. On pavement it feel like a road bike, holding 20mph on a flat is not hard at all.

but I would say relaxed touring/gravel geometery is best.
more tire clearance is better.
tubeless all the way
Hydro disc brake.
shallow drop bars
carbon, steel or Ti frame and fork
 
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Ron

Ron

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Thanks josh! Can u take a look at that ridley biuld? Its pretty solid and i think the geo is pretty dialed as well. Its about a grand less too
 

Josh Matta

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Its basically my bike is spec, but already has a acceptable sized crank, The Ridley is a little more cross style geo compared to the Roker.....

The only thing that has me worried is the clearance looks tight with this 38c tire on there. Trust me on this the closer you can get to 2 inches the better.... I am at 1.8(45c) right now on my bike and very few of these gravel/adventure/all road bike can take bigger.
 

Tom K.

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Good food!! Hmm i was also considering using my superfly 100 with some semi slicks as well. Things to ponder.

Due to a hand injury years ago, I did my last training road century before a 100 mile mtb race on a Superfly 100 with slicks.

It's a century I'd done numerous times, and my time on course was only about 5 minutes longer than on my dedicated road bike.

Buy those tires and give it a try. It's a cheap experiment. For gravel, I either run a set of crazy xc tires like Bontrager XR1s in 2.0 or 2.1 or Clement MSO 40s.

I can only speak to my bike. I may be the only person on here that owns a gravel bike.

but I would say relaxed touring/gravel geometery is best.
more tire clearance is better.
tubeless all the way
Hydro disc brake.
shallow drop bars
carbon, steel or Ti frame and fork

Yup, all that works.
 

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