Thinking of buying a Gravel/Adventure bike, any experiences?

[grenpayne]

I'm currently riding my mountain bike 3 to 4 times per week and as I live in a quite a rural area, each ride is a mixture of roads, bridleways and gravelly tracks. I tend to ride for around 2 hours a time so I can go a reasonable distance and I'm not always riding the same routes.

However, I'm become a bit frustrated with the on road bits as I'd like to go further afield and I'm obviously limited in the speed I can get to on the MTB. So, after some research a CX or more specifically a Gravel/Adventure bike would seem to work for me. I particularly like the look of the Giant Anyroad Comax or the Specialized Diverge. Anyone have experiences with these types of bike and whether they would work for me?

[Don1]

I'd also look at the Cannondale Slate.

Just.... because.

[CubanPete]

My mate has a breadwinner.

It is pretty cool and he loves it.

[anonymous-user]

I have a Kinesis Tripster ATR Titanium and generally use it for a bit of mixed surface commuting, 20 miles, 70% road 30% gravel, I'm running disc wheels with 33mm cyclocross tyres, and I absolutely love it. I reckon I'm not too much slower than my roadie on the tarmac, but it really comes into its own on the towpaths, forest trails and loose surfaces. It's the most fun bike I own.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

I have an On-One Pickenflick with SRAM Force 1 which I absolutely love. Its is great for riding round the New Forest where there is very little that irequires a full mountain bike...

My mate has a GT Grade Carbon 105 (2015 model) which he is very pleased with. The GT Grade has had a lot of good reviews.

The 2016 Ultegra model is currently being discounted by Wiggle:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-grade-carbon-ultegra-20...

The 2016 105 Model is currently being discounted by Chain Reaction
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/gt-grade-carbon...

[tuffer]

I have a Felt CX4 Cross Bike that I use for just messing about on, as has been said I find it more fun than my MTN Bike or Road bike on mixed terrain. It does get a bit tiresome on longer rides due to the lack of suspension, vibration and the seat smacking you in the ass gets boring after 2 hours. Mine is 1 x 11 setup and for an hour or so for a thrash on gravel tracks it is a fantastic workout, worth at least two hours of road riding. Looking to move mine on and get something more suited to adventure biking as I fancy a few nights under the stars so Titanium or Steel rather than the current Carbon set up.

[Matt_N]

I like the idea of another bike for the n+1, Willier have just brought out a lovely steel gravel bike, but I don't like riding on loose surfaces at all, as shown by my recent experience on the White Roads classic a few weeks ago!

That ti gravel bike is proper

[neenaw]

I quite liked the idea of a gravel type bike as I'm not really a fan of proper road riding and my CX bike wasn't the most comfortable for longer rides.

Initially I opted for an aluminium Diverge using the cycle 2 work scheme we have. It soon had the wheels upgraded then it was followed by an Ultegra hydraulic groupset which collectively transformed the bike. The one major issue with it was that it had pretty poor clearance for wider tyres so I ended up getting rid of it.

After that I bought myself a Singular Kite frameset and built it up with the parts from the Diverge. The difference from the Diverge to the Kite was like night and day. The Kite was much more capable off-road on bridleways and bits of singletrack and was also pretty fast on the road. As much as I loved the Kite I couldn't get a size that was really comfortable for me as I was between sizes so I was struggling a bit on longer rides (saying that, I did manage a 135 miler on it 50:50 on and off road!)

After much looking about and comparing different gravel/adventure bikes I eventually settled on a Kinesis Tripster ATR.
The Tripster is fantastic so far, loads of room for wider tyres, currently running 42c knobblies, very comfortable, rides well and much lighter than it looks. I was first looking at a Tripster about 2 years ago but always convinced myself that I didn't need a bike like this. Now after a couple of weeks of ownership I'm starting to think that I probably only need a bike like this!

[tuffer]

How about a 6.7KG Gravel Bike..... http://road.cc/content/tech-news/201896-ax-lightne...

[PomBstard]

Recently bought a Norco Search C105. Full carbon, decent kit, hydraulic brakes, thru axles, room for 40c tyres (currently on 35c). Have taken it around some of my local singletrack and am impressed - need a certain level of care when switching from a Yeti 5, but perfectly capable until the drops/steps.

Have also tried it on gravel/firetrails and feels immediately confident. The only thing I haven't really done yet is give it some stick on tarmac, but I'm sure it'll match my ability...

I tried a Diverge, but didn't fit as good for me, and didn't seem as good value. Couldn't get a GT Grade to try, nor a Giant somethingorother.

The Search is what I would call a road bike for mountain bikers.

[AlasdairMc]

I've got a Salsa Warbird and really like it - it's the comfiest alloy frame I've ridden. It's good offroad to a point, but once back on road it feels almost as fast as a roadie.

[grenpayne]

Thanks all, really interesting stuff and this type of bike really appeals.

I absolutely LOVE the look of that Ti Kinesis Tripster ATR, but my budget is £1500 so unfortunately that's out for now. However, I don't really want an ali frame so a carbon frame with the new 105 group set is where I'm aiming for.

Thanks for the suggestions of the GT Grade 105 and the Norco Search, they look great. I'm not sure about the Diverge now though, it seems expensive for what you get and like neenaw I can see me upgrading it, then wanting something else. Anyone got any experience of the Giant Anyroad Comax? For the money, it looks well equipped and seems well reviewed.

[Minemapper]

It's a bit 'off the rack', but I got a Pinnacle Arkose 3 from Evans under the C2W scheme a couple of months ago for exactly the same reasons, and it has been brilliant. Pure road rides, single track at Whinlatter, gravel roads at Grizedale, family rides with a trailer bike attached...it just takes it all in it's stride and just works.

[SoliD]

Pinnacle Arkose 4 here, bought to do CX and a bit of a back up road bike, it is primarily now the commuter with full guards, but will be used again for mild CX action this winter. It is a bit heavy, but just got some new wheels to help with that, but it is indestructable so far so ideal for winter bike. Probably going to do a mini tour in northern france on it next year as it has full on mounts for everything.

[PorkRind]

I've got a kona jake the snake. Whilst being a bit tubby compared to my carbon bianchi(surprise surprise), its well spec'd, had really nice range of gears and when up to speed, with 28mm slicks will pelt along like the bianchi.. Its well made, looks nice and has strong wheels - I like to play about on my bikes and have done some rather large hops / drops on it and theyre fine. I thought the cable disks were the devils spawn but these work quite well ! 105 Shimano does the trick !

[neenaw]

If you're planning on building something up rather than buying a complete bike I've got a nice Singular Kite I'm selling after switching to the Tripster

[SixPotBelly]

Back in January I bought a used, cheap-as-chips Pinnacle Arkose as an n+1 bike. I was out on it today, as it happens, on exactly the sort of ride you envisage, OP. A nice 2 (and a bit) hour blast along a loop of local bridleways. Some hardpack, some loose, some muddy, some rocky, some deepish gravel. I love it. In fact I haven't used my MTB since I got it.

With 40mm tyres (1.5") and rigid forks it's not as impervious to the surface as an MTB with 2.2" tyres and suspension, and I can't stop myself chickening out and checking my speed in rocky descents where I would have let the MTB roll, but it's lighter and faster pretty much everywhere else. Although speed's not the point, fun is, and I just find it more fun on those sort of rides.

Edited by SixPotBelly on Wednesday 24th August 19:20

[SixPotBelly]

On the road it is a bit slower than my road bike. It's a couple of kg heavier but mostly I think it's down to the low 30-35psi tyre pressures I run for off-road grip. If I increase them it rolls along really rather nicely. Certainly a 100km road ride wouldn't be out of the question. You could even have second wheelset with slicks on, if you wanted to make it a real Jekyll and Hyde bike..

[grenpayne]

Thanks SixPotBelly, exactly the sort of thing I wanted to hear!

[neenaw]

If you're anywhere near the Surrey area and about 5'11" or so you're welcome to try my Tripster if you fancy a go on a gravel bike.
Might be worth trying a couple off road first to see how you like them?