'Adventure road' bike build thoughts
Discussion
My preferred cycling is such that a hardtail MTB isn't what I need for the when the weather turns bad. I predominantly ride the roads but would like to be able to use a trail or bridlepath occasionally. I live within reach of the North and South Downs and the Downs Link but won't be riding trails that much. I want a go anywhere road bike.
The concept of the Genesis Datum is interesting. The frame is not too expensive, large clearances for tyres and guards and disc compatible. Having made some enquiries it may not be available until December which isn't great if its going to be used as the winter bike and I would prefer to have it in early autumn rather than into winter. So I am now, impatiently, looking at alternatives.
Desired features I'm seeking are good tyre clearance and disc brakes
I've found the Genesis Croix de Fer Stainless frame which has very similar reach & stack to my existing bike and would build this up with:
The concept of the Genesis Datum is interesting. The frame is not too expensive, large clearances for tyres and guards and disc compatible. Having made some enquiries it may not be available until December which isn't great if its going to be used as the winter bike and I would prefer to have it in early autumn rather than into winter. So I am now, impatiently, looking at alternatives.
Desired features I'm seeking are good tyre clearance and disc brakes
I've found the Genesis Croix de Fer Stainless frame which has very similar reach & stack to my existing bike and would build this up with:
- Ultegra 11spd Hydraulic Disc groupset (via Merlin cycles)
- Hope Pro 2 Evo on Stans Grail 32h road disc wheels (via Moonglu)
It sounds like a good idea to have a does-it-all bike.
Correct me if I am wrong, but there are loads of tourers and cyclocross inspired frames out there. People have been riding bikes like this years, haven't they? Disc brake compatible frames are widely available. I doubt that you'll need to wait for a new type of bike.
Correct me if I am wrong, but there are loads of tourers and cyclocross inspired frames out there. People have been riding bikes like this years, haven't they? Disc brake compatible frames are widely available. I doubt that you'll need to wait for a new type of bike.
I'm seriously considering the GT Grade Tiagra disc road bike.
It's available for the equivalent of £510 here (DE) mail order....
http://road.cc/content/news/152195-just-gt-grade-a...
10-speed
TRP Spyre dual piston disc brakes, which are nearly as good as hydro discs wi
Carbon fork
Hmm... It all depends on whether I can get it past the wife.
It's available for the equivalent of £510 here (DE) mail order....
http://road.cc/content/news/152195-just-gt-grade-a...
10-speed
TRP Spyre dual piston disc brakes, which are nearly as good as hydro discs wi
Carbon fork
Hmm... It all depends on whether I can get it past the wife.
Edited by Barchettaman on Sunday 9th August 11:45
Croix de fer has been around for a few years, although the amendments to the frame this year, for larger tyre/mudguard clearances give it more flexibility akin Surly Straggler.
Obviously discs on mountain bikes have been around for a while, and rolled out to road based bikes in past few years. I can't see sizes or bracket mount changes cause any issue as things develop. I picked up a cdf 20 the other week to use for commuting, initial thoughts I find it better suited for my commute as I ride with panniers due to a back condition, weight sits 3cm more inboard over my defy so more stable, larger tyres help though. I've swapped the saddle and added a pair of 105 levers I had in my parts bin. I think a pair of Gilles mudguards will be next, heavy but durable.
Obviously discs on mountain bikes have been around for a while, and rolled out to road based bikes in past few years. I can't see sizes or bracket mount changes cause any issue as things develop. I picked up a cdf 20 the other week to use for commuting, initial thoughts I find it better suited for my commute as I ride with panniers due to a back condition, weight sits 3cm more inboard over my defy so more stable, larger tyres help though. I've swapped the saddle and added a pair of 105 levers I had in my parts bin. I think a pair of Gilles mudguards will be next, heavy but durable.
Edited by bigdom on Sunday 9th August 15:24
Barchettaman said:
I'm seriously considering the GT Grade Tiagra disc road bike.
It's available for the equivalent of £510 here (DE) mail order....
http://road.cc/content/news/152195-just-gt-grade-a...
10-speed
TRP Spyre dual piston disc brakes, which are nearly as good as hydro discs wi
Carbon fork
Hmm... It all depends on whether I can get it past the wife.
Also my n+1 for when I find enough Pound coins behind the sofaIt's available for the equivalent of £510 here (DE) mail order....
http://road.cc/content/news/152195-just-gt-grade-a...
10-speed
TRP Spyre dual piston disc brakes, which are nearly as good as hydro discs wi
Carbon fork
Hmm... It all depends on whether I can get it past the wife.
Edited by Barchettaman on Sunday 9th August 11:45
Sorry did someone say go anywhere, do anything bike with stacks of clearance and disc brakes?
http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/decade/trip...
The ‘Tripster ATR’ is a brand new concept for the Kinesis UK range. ‘ATR’ stands for Adventure. Tour. Race.
The Tripster ATR is designed to meet the needs of a fast growing, new-breed of riders who require one bike that will perform across many disciplines and types of terrain.
Use it for adventure cycling, distance racing, touring, sportives or cyclocross.
This high quality, disc brake ready, Titanium frame is built in the same factory as our highly praised Racelight GF_Ti frame.
• Custom Drawn Ti3AL/2.5V tubeset.
• All new geometry gives a sporty feel alongside comfort and stability for long distance.
• Low, stable BB. Long HT. More relaxed HA. Designed for use with shorter stem lengths.
• Clearance for up to 40mm tyres and full 45mm mudguards.
• Beautiful taper head tube, machined from billet titanium.
• 530g, monocoque, UD carbon, taper-steerer fork with hose-clip. Huge clearance.
• Specially developed post disc-mount.
• Welded rack and ‘guard mounts, stainless bolt set and alloy adjusters.
• Ti clamp and Taper headset included.
• Our New ‘Crosslight CXd’ or ‘Maxlight IX’ 29er wheels are ideal for this frame.
Colours: Titanium with heat-cured frame decals.
Included in frameset price: Frame/Monocoque UD Carbon fork/Kuk seat clamp/headset.
Price: £1499.99
Had one for just over a year, use it as daily commute plus fast road plus long distance. Done some 'mountain biking' on it in the children's with some 35mm tyres and it is a true all rounder. If you go for s build then spec in full hydraulic system, not cable operated or the half half option that is doing the rounds, especially if you are going proper off road with downhill bits. Cable discs just not up to the job in my experience.
Good luck...
http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/decade/trip...
The ‘Tripster ATR’ is a brand new concept for the Kinesis UK range. ‘ATR’ stands for Adventure. Tour. Race.
The Tripster ATR is designed to meet the needs of a fast growing, new-breed of riders who require one bike that will perform across many disciplines and types of terrain.
Use it for adventure cycling, distance racing, touring, sportives or cyclocross.
This high quality, disc brake ready, Titanium frame is built in the same factory as our highly praised Racelight GF_Ti frame.
• Custom Drawn Ti3AL/2.5V tubeset.
• All new geometry gives a sporty feel alongside comfort and stability for long distance.
• Low, stable BB. Long HT. More relaxed HA. Designed for use with shorter stem lengths.
• Clearance for up to 40mm tyres and full 45mm mudguards.
• Beautiful taper head tube, machined from billet titanium.
• 530g, monocoque, UD carbon, taper-steerer fork with hose-clip. Huge clearance.
• Specially developed post disc-mount.
• Welded rack and ‘guard mounts, stainless bolt set and alloy adjusters.
• Ti clamp and Taper headset included.
• Our New ‘Crosslight CXd’ or ‘Maxlight IX’ 29er wheels are ideal for this frame.
Colours: Titanium with heat-cured frame decals.
Included in frameset price: Frame/Monocoque UD Carbon fork/Kuk seat clamp/headset.
Price: £1499.99
Had one for just over a year, use it as daily commute plus fast road plus long distance. Done some 'mountain biking' on it in the children's with some 35mm tyres and it is a true all rounder. If you go for s build then spec in full hydraulic system, not cable operated or the half half option that is doing the rounds, especially if you are going proper off road with downhill bits. Cable discs just not up to the job in my experience.
Good luck...
Sorry did someone say go anywhere, do anything bike with stacks of clearance and disc brakes?
http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/decade/trip...
The ‘Tripster ATR’ is a brand new concept for the Kinesis UK range. ‘ATR’ stands for Adventure. Tour. Race.
The Tripster ATR is designed to meet the needs of a fast growing, new-breed of riders who require one bike that will perform across many disciplines and types of terrain.
Use it for adventure cycling, distance racing, touring, sportives or cyclocross.
This high quality, disc brake ready, Titanium frame is built in the same factory as our highly praised Racelight GF_Ti frame.
• Custom Drawn Ti3AL/2.5V tubeset.
• All new geometry gives a sporty feel alongside comfort and stability for long distance.
• Low, stable BB. Long HT. More relaxed HA. Designed for use with shorter stem lengths.
• Clearance for up to 40mm tyres and full 45mm mudguards.
• Beautiful taper head tube, machined from billet titanium.
• 530g, monocoque, UD carbon, taper-steerer fork with hose-clip. Huge clearance.
• Specially developed post disc-mount.
• Welded rack and ‘guard mounts, stainless bolt set and alloy adjusters.
• Ti clamp and Taper headset included.
• Our New ‘Crosslight CXd’ or ‘Maxlight IX’ 29er wheels are ideal for this frame.
Colours: Titanium with heat-cured frame decals.
Included in frameset price: Frame/Monocoque UD Carbon fork/Kuk seat clamp/headset.
Price: £1499.99
Had one for just over a year, use it as daily commute plus fast road plus long distance. Done some 'mountain biking' on it in the children's with some 35mm tyres and it is a true all rounder. If you go for s build then spec in full hydraulic system, not cable operated or the half half option that is doing the rounds, especially if you are going proper off road with downhill bits. Cable discs just not up to the job in my experience.
Good luck...
http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/decade/trip...
The ‘Tripster ATR’ is a brand new concept for the Kinesis UK range. ‘ATR’ stands for Adventure. Tour. Race.
The Tripster ATR is designed to meet the needs of a fast growing, new-breed of riders who require one bike that will perform across many disciplines and types of terrain.
Use it for adventure cycling, distance racing, touring, sportives or cyclocross.
This high quality, disc brake ready, Titanium frame is built in the same factory as our highly praised Racelight GF_Ti frame.
• Custom Drawn Ti3AL/2.5V tubeset.
• All new geometry gives a sporty feel alongside comfort and stability for long distance.
• Low, stable BB. Long HT. More relaxed HA. Designed for use with shorter stem lengths.
• Clearance for up to 40mm tyres and full 45mm mudguards.
• Beautiful taper head tube, machined from billet titanium.
• 530g, monocoque, UD carbon, taper-steerer fork with hose-clip. Huge clearance.
• Specially developed post disc-mount.
• Welded rack and ‘guard mounts, stainless bolt set and alloy adjusters.
• Ti clamp and Taper headset included.
• Our New ‘Crosslight CXd’ or ‘Maxlight IX’ 29er wheels are ideal for this frame.
Colours: Titanium with heat-cured frame decals.
Included in frameset price: Frame/Monocoque UD Carbon fork/Kuk seat clamp/headset.
Price: £1499.99
Had one for just over a year, use it as daily commute plus fast road plus long distance. Done some 'mountain biking' on it in the children's with some 35mm tyres and it is a true all rounder. If you go for s build then spec in full hydraulic system, not cable operated or the half half option that is doing the rounds, especially if you are going proper off road with downhill bits. Cable discs just not up to the job in my experience.
Good luck...
There's a few of us with a Diverge on here and all positive so far I believe...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Personally I think its a massive marketing con along the lines of "well they bought the road bike, they bought the CX bike, they bought the 29er, what can we get them to buy next....." and they came up with this. Bring a US solution over to a UK "problem". The fact is we dont have enough of the gravel road terrain in the UK to pitch it as a gravel bike so they call it an adventure bike (see below) or as a more capable commuter.
As Genesis say in their blurb, "washboard gravel is instead replaced with potholes, cracks, those cop-out loose chippings used for ‘resurfacing’ and sunken drain covers, generous clearances provide useful room to mount full-length ‘guards , etc. Alas, without doubt the best thing to come out of the mainstream popularity of gravel bikes is the widespread acceptance of larger volume tyres. And, herein lies the key to the new Datum – its’ 33c rubber boots"
.... So the gravel roads are replaced with um, tarmac roads, albeit not that well maintained ones and the bike features new tech like hyd brakes and elastomer inserts in the frame compared to the aforementioned traditional audax bike with a triple, rack and guard mounts?. I guess it depends what terrain is local to you and how brave you are at exploring without knowing if the trail you are following is going to get steeper, rooty, bigger drops, bigger rocks etc etc.
I think there is this marketing push that your regular road bike will crush underneath you the first time you venture off tarmac (or in this case, just those cop-out loose bloody chippings!) and onto an unsealed surface bridleway, RUPPs etc but its just not ture. If you think you NEED a gravel bike to ride terrain like this, then you really dont, thats 25s on Zondas and part of my fairly frequent commuter route diversion. Now I appreciate thats fairly fine gravel but you get the point. If I cared more, I'd run 32h wheels and something like Gatorskins.
So adventure bikes, dont get me wrong, I love the idea of buying one, I picture me packing it up with kit and heading off for a weekend wild camping or on some long distance epic like Paris-Brest-Paris but in reality I'd do that once, maybe twice a year at best and then the bike would only get used for commuting and some "off road" like towpaths when I fancy a change of scenary which I do on occasion with the Cervelo anyway. Hell that was designed for Roubaix and even the roads of Bristol arent Carrefour de l'abre. As I said, I'd love one but I know I'd only use 5% of its potential 95% of the time...
As Genesis say in their blurb, "washboard gravel is instead replaced with potholes, cracks, those cop-out loose chippings used for ‘resurfacing’ and sunken drain covers, generous clearances provide useful room to mount full-length ‘guards , etc. Alas, without doubt the best thing to come out of the mainstream popularity of gravel bikes is the widespread acceptance of larger volume tyres. And, herein lies the key to the new Datum – its’ 33c rubber boots"
.... So the gravel roads are replaced with um, tarmac roads, albeit not that well maintained ones and the bike features new tech like hyd brakes and elastomer inserts in the frame compared to the aforementioned traditional audax bike with a triple, rack and guard mounts?. I guess it depends what terrain is local to you and how brave you are at exploring without knowing if the trail you are following is going to get steeper, rooty, bigger drops, bigger rocks etc etc.
I think there is this marketing push that your regular road bike will crush underneath you the first time you venture off tarmac (or in this case, just those cop-out loose bloody chippings!) and onto an unsealed surface bridleway, RUPPs etc but its just not ture. If you think you NEED a gravel bike to ride terrain like this, then you really dont, thats 25s on Zondas and part of my fairly frequent commuter route diversion. Now I appreciate thats fairly fine gravel but you get the point. If I cared more, I'd run 32h wheels and something like Gatorskins.
So adventure bikes, dont get me wrong, I love the idea of buying one, I picture me packing it up with kit and heading off for a weekend wild camping or on some long distance epic like Paris-Brest-Paris but in reality I'd do that once, maybe twice a year at best and then the bike would only get used for commuting and some "off road" like towpaths when I fancy a change of scenary which I do on occasion with the Cervelo anyway. Hell that was designed for Roubaix and even the roads of Bristol arent Carrefour de l'abre. As I said, I'd love one but I know I'd only use 5% of its potential 95% of the time...
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 9th August 21:55
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 9th August 21:58
It depends what sort of riding you do. For my regular on/off road mix there is absolutely nothing that would do the job better than my Diverge. There is nothing demanding enough that requires a mountain bike but my road bike would be uncomfortable after more than 20mins and would soon flounder once the weather turned. My rides are a mix of road, NCN paths, tow paths, bridelways etc.
pablo said:
Personally I think its a massive marketing con along the lines of "well they bought the road bike, they bought the CX bike, they bought the 29er, what can we get them to buy next....." and they came up with this. Bring a US solution over to a UK "problem". The fact is we dont have enough of the gravel road terrain in the UK to pitch it as a gravel bike so they call it an adventure bike (see below) or as a more capable commuter.
As Genesis say in their blurb, "washboard gravel is instead replaced with potholes, cracks, those cop-out loose chippings used for ‘resurfacing’ and sunken drain covers, generous clearances provide useful room to mount full-length ‘guards , etc. Alas, without doubt the best thing to come out of the mainstream popularity of gravel bikes is the widespread acceptance of larger volume tyres. And, herein lies the key to the new Datum – its’ 33c rubber boots"
.... So the gravel roads are replaced with um, tarmac roads, albeit not that well maintained ones and the bike features new tech like hyd brakes and elastomer inserts in the frame compared to the aforementioned traditional audax bike with a triple, rack and guard mounts?. I guess it depends what terrain is local to you and how brave you are at exploring without knowing if the trail you are following is going to get steeper, rooty, bigger drops, bigger rocks etc etc.
I think there is this marketing push that your regular road bike will crush underneath you the first time you venture off tarmac (or in this case, just those cop-out loose bloody chippings!) and onto an unsealed surface bridleway, RUPPs etc but its just not ture. If you think you NEED a gravel bike to ride terrain like this, then you really dont, thats 25s on Zondas and part of my fairly frequent commuter route diversion. Now I appreciate thats fairly fine gravel but you get the point. If I cared more, I'd run 32h wheels and something like Gatorskins.
So adventure bikes, dont get me wrong, I love the idea of buying one, I picture me packing it up with kit and heading off for a weekend wild camping or on some long distance epic like Paris-Brest-Paris but in reality I'd do that once, maybe twice a year at best and then the bike would only get used for commuting and some "off road" like towpaths when I fancy a change of scenary which I do on occasion with the Cervelo anyway. Hell that was designed for Roubaix and even the roads of Bristol arent Carrefour de l'abre. As I said, I'd love one but I know I'd only use 5% of its potential 95% of the time...
Yeah I kind of agree but....As Genesis say in their blurb, "washboard gravel is instead replaced with potholes, cracks, those cop-out loose chippings used for ‘resurfacing’ and sunken drain covers, generous clearances provide useful room to mount full-length ‘guards , etc. Alas, without doubt the best thing to come out of the mainstream popularity of gravel bikes is the widespread acceptance of larger volume tyres. And, herein lies the key to the new Datum – its’ 33c rubber boots"
.... So the gravel roads are replaced with um, tarmac roads, albeit not that well maintained ones and the bike features new tech like hyd brakes and elastomer inserts in the frame compared to the aforementioned traditional audax bike with a triple, rack and guard mounts?. I guess it depends what terrain is local to you and how brave you are at exploring without knowing if the trail you are following is going to get steeper, rooty, bigger drops, bigger rocks etc etc.
I think there is this marketing push that your regular road bike will crush underneath you the first time you venture off tarmac (or in this case, just those cop-out loose bloody chippings!) and onto an unsealed surface bridleway, RUPPs etc but its just not ture. If you think you NEED a gravel bike to ride terrain like this, then you really dont, thats 25s on Zondas and part of my fairly frequent commuter route diversion. Now I appreciate thats fairly fine gravel but you get the point. If I cared more, I'd run 32h wheels and something like Gatorskins.
So adventure bikes, dont get me wrong, I love the idea of buying one, I picture me packing it up with kit and heading off for a weekend wild camping or on some long distance epic like Paris-Brest-Paris but in reality I'd do that once, maybe twice a year at best and then the bike would only get used for commuting and some "off road" like towpaths when I fancy a change of scenary which I do on occasion with the Cervelo anyway. Hell that was designed for Roubaix and even the roads of Bristol arent Carrefour de l'abre. As I said, I'd love one but I know I'd only use 5% of its potential 95% of the time...
Edited by pablo on Sunday 9th August 21:55
Edited by pablo on Sunday 9th August 21:58
My commute at the end has the option of 2 miles of gravel or 2 miles of nasty A road
I have a variety of bikes and with the road bikes the gravel option is fine occasionally but using it every day would wreck most road based tyres quickly and whilst the gravel itself is fine, the large rocks and holes in places really stress the wheels if on anything under 28c. The trouble is most road bikes cant accommodate anything bigger than 25s. Then the gravel forms a grim paste on the drivetrain so you need guards, but most road bikes can't accommodate proper guards and the clip on ones wont last on there! I guess it varies where you live and city pathways will be better, this is just the gravel path I use daily . If I use 32c road tyres on my hybrid/MTb with high 32-36 spoke count wheels then all is fine .
I really agree about the versatile bike though, especially with different sets of wheels. I have a steel road bike , a 2 yr old Raleigh clubman, it has full guard and rack mounts and clearance for 32c tyres (just) or 25cs with guards. I've used it for fast club runs on low spoke count 25c wheels where it is slower than my carbon road bike, but not by much . The next week I put a rack and some bigger tyres on with tread and toured round canal paths and forest tracks with a mate for a few days. The same frame could be marketed as a "heritage racer" "winter bike "ultimate commuter" "weekend tourer" etc
Least once you get past the marketing bulls
t there are loads of options out thereIt's suprizing what a road bike of 23mm tyres will handle. Did about 10 miles of cinder/gravel old railway line cycle path last week in order to miss out a long stretch of dual carriageway as was in an area I didn't know. The bike felt completely stable in the drops and the only issues I had were dodging the OAPs meandering along at 6mph on their shopping bikes. No flats and the wheels are still straight 
If you look ahead, pick your lines and unweight the bike over the rough bits (even bunny hopped a few holes) you can take a lot of stress off the bike. Marketing has a lot to answer for.
If you look ahead, pick your lines and unweight the bike over the rough bits (even bunny hopped a few holes) you can take a lot of stress off the bike. Marketing has a lot to answer for.Edited by lufbramatt on Monday 10th August 10:09
lufbramatt said:
It's surprising what a road bike of 23mm tyres will handle. Did about 10 miles of cinder/gravel old railway line cycle path last week in order to miss out a long stretch of dual carriageway as was in an area I didn't know. The bike felt completely stable in the drops and the only issues I had were dodging the OAPs meandering along at 6mph on their shopping bikes. No flats and the wheels are still straight If you look ahead, pick your lines and unweight the bike over the rough bits (even bunny hopped a few holes) you can take a lot of stress off the bike. Marketing has a lot to answer for.
Exactly the same opinion here. If you look ahead, pick your lines and unweight the bike over the rough bits (even bunny hopped a few holes) you can take a lot of stress off the bike. Marketing has a lot to answer for.
These are the pictures I took of my Trek Emonda SL 6 at the top of a (fairly) local byway/bridleway climb. All is still well with the bike, tyre, and wheels. All you need is a degree of sympathy for the bike, and to use the 4-way fully independent suspension system nature gave you. Unweighting the bike, picking lines carefully, and lifting (at least) the front wheel over bigger rocks and potholes. Tyres on the bike in the photos are the bog-standard Bontrager R2 slicks that shipped with the bike new.
Having said that, it doesn't always go to plan...
This is my old 1997 Falcon Pro-Line roadie, on 700 x 25c Conti GP 4Season tyres, after I failed to steer around this massive puddle in the dark. My own fault, going too fast on another bridleway, front wheel just stopped in the thick mud and over the bars I went. I narrowly avoided going face first into the puddle, managing somehow to get my 'landing' biased to the left.
'Pure' road bikes used off road?
Massive amounts of fun...
What we are talking about is the niche genre that my granddads would have known as "a bike".
I have a Kinesis Crosslight that has been through various incarnations (and a frame, having snapped the original one descending gritstone trails on a mountain bike ride in the Pennines). It can take 35mm touring or offroad tyres or 23mm slicks. It can do everything I can do.
As others have said, why would we need a "gravel bike"? We have had this sort of bike forever, and we don't have many gravel roads in the UK.
I have a Kinesis Crosslight that has been through various incarnations (and a frame, having snapped the original one descending gritstone trails on a mountain bike ride in the Pennines). It can take 35mm touring or offroad tyres or 23mm slicks. It can do everything I can do.
As others have said, why would we need a "gravel bike"? We have had this sort of bike forever, and we don't have many gravel roads in the UK.
yellowjack said:
Having said that, it doesn't always go to plan...
This is my old 1997 Falcon Pro-Line roadie, on 700 x 25c Conti GP 4Season tyres, after I failed to steer around this massive puddle in the dark. My own fault, going too fast on another bridleway, front wheel just stopped in the thick mud and over the bars I went. I narrowly avoided going face first into the puddle, managing somehow to get my 'landing' biased to the left.
'Pure' road bikes used off road?
Massive amounts of fun...
Not an expert, but was the puddle actually to blame, or was it more that you forgot to put handlebars on your bike?This is my old 1997 Falcon Pro-Line roadie, on 700 x 25c Conti GP 4Season tyres, after I failed to steer around this massive puddle in the dark. My own fault, going too fast on another bridleway, front wheel just stopped in the thick mud and over the bars I went. I narrowly avoided going face first into the puddle, managing somehow to get my 'landing' biased to the left.
'Pure' road bikes used off road?
Massive amounts of fun...
Having tried a couple of CX bikes my conclusion is that they are a bit crap on the road. They are also crap off road in the mud, in fact all they are good for is riding around a field i.e. CX I guess the 'adventure' and 'gravel' go some way to making a tougher, solid road bike which can do a little bit of the other?
I like the look of this personally;
Proper BB, slightly raked out angles and from what everyone is saying it rides well. Hydraulic brakes and mounts for mudguard with 28's running tubeless. I have been using 28's on the Wilier for over a year now and love them, it has covered some bridleways and gravel is not a problem with GP4's. Not the cheapest option with Di2 but very tempting...
Otherwise there's the Bowman which has a few cool touches...
Or the Grade. The rear stays are apparently a bit trick with solid fibreglass cores. They seem good value overall.
I guess the 'adventure' and 'gravel' go some way to making a tougher, solid road bike which can do a little bit of the other?I like the look of this personally;
Proper BB, slightly raked out angles and from what everyone is saying it rides well. Hydraulic brakes and mounts for mudguard with 28's running tubeless. I have been using 28's on the Wilier for over a year now and love them, it has covered some bridleways and gravel is not a problem with GP4's. Not the cheapest option with Di2 but very tempting...
Otherwise there's the Bowman which has a few cool touches...
Or the Grade. The rear stays are apparently a bit trick with solid fibreglass cores. They seem good value overall.
Grade looks nice, seen some good feedback on here
Loads of people I ride with bought cx bikes for winter club rides , some had to change the cx ratios straight away for a compact, others got a bit disenchanted after a winter season, they hated how they were heavier and bulkier over their full road bikes. It wouldn't bother me, I can see though if you have a "bad" ride to blame the bike when its more a placebo. Others took them out once then never seen again! On the other side loads on here say their cx bike is the best they every got!
Trouble for me is being careful and picking a good line and being sympathetic with a normal road bike on a track/byway is all well and good, but if I'm running late it aint goanna cut it! I love the gravel bits on my tough old MTB with thick slicks as I can just hammer them flat out and avoid the very worst bits, it would be tiresome being careful every day
Plus riding down a 5 mile gravel road near me wrote off a brand new set of Gatorskins, the cock roach of tyres!!!
Loads of people I ride with bought cx bikes for winter club rides , some had to change the cx ratios straight away for a compact, others got a bit disenchanted after a winter season, they hated how they were heavier and bulkier over their full road bikes. It wouldn't bother me, I can see though if you have a "bad" ride to blame the bike when its more a placebo. Others took them out once then never seen again! On the other side loads on here say their cx bike is the best they every got!
Trouble for me is being careful and picking a good line and being sympathetic with a normal road bike on a track/byway is all well and good, but if I'm running late it aint goanna cut it! I love the gravel bits on my tough old MTB with thick slicks as I can just hammer them flat out and avoid the very worst bits, it would be tiresome being careful every day
Plus riding down a 5 mile gravel road near me wrote off a brand new set of Gatorskins, the cock roach of tyres!!!
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