Talk to me about gravel bikes (especially London Rd owners)

[Celtic Dragon]

Having had the confirmation that the roadie frame is scrap (the rack fell over and hit the corner of a wall, so cracked the carbon frame) I'm going to stick with the knoblie tyre theme and go for a gravel bike instead of a roadie.

The thinking behing this is I can put slicks on it of I ever want to do a 100% road ride again like a sportive, or I can keep it as a bridleway basher, as there isn't alot around where I live that can't be done on a gravel / CX bike, and I have a hardtail mtb in the stable.

The plan it to strip the now defunct bike down and reuse all the components except for the wheels (will sell these 2 sets of Fulcrum 7's) and built up on a new frame, but the question is which.

Firstly we have the Planet X London road which for frame and forks is dirt cheap at the moment, and I know a few of you have them, so to owners I ask what are your views on them? What are the widest tyres you can fit (I'm looking up to say 44mm)

The other frame is the Kenisis Tripster AT, which given their reputation and the design influcences from Mike Hall, I know it would do exactly what I want.

I have come to the conclusion, that whilst I love carbon, I can't justify the cost (new anyway) and they don't come up 2nd hand very often.

So what have you got, and what would you recomend. Budget is 700 for frame and forks.

[Usget]

Pinnacle Arkose seems to be the default alternative to the LR...

[Roman]

The London Road I tried felt very similar to an Arkose and my Boardman CX.

There are also plenty of other CX & Gravel framesets from On-One / Planet X including full carbon from £500 or Titanium from £800

You could also check out Paul Milnes, Ridley and Cinelli framesets but for your budget you could have a full carbon Viner Super Prestige DCX from Planet X and a set of Kinesis Crosslight wheels.

Get them in a sale and you could even have change for a pair of decent tyres like Vittoria XN Pro (excellent on gravel and not draggy on tarmac).

That would build up into a fast light bike adept at road or gravel..

[JustinF]

for racing or training?

[richardxjr]

Simon, I've 2. Comfy, strong, good clearance, mounts. Done some proper bikepacking on both. Not too posh to scratch up a bit for those public transport segments, ideal steeds tbh.

Clears Nano 40s even with guards (just).

[Celtic Dragon]

JustinF said:

for racing or training?

General riding, it seems I don't know what training is, let alone racing!

[Celtic Dragon]

richardxjr said:

Simon, I've 2. Comfy, strong, good clearance, mounts. Done some proper bikepacking on both. Not too posh to scratch up a bit for those public transport segments, ideal steeds tbh.

Clears Nano 40s even with guards (just).

Thanks! Thought you'd done the TNR on one.

[gazza285]

Kinesis Pro6 here, I've done sportives on it before, just prepping it for the Three Peaks Cyclocross next.

[JustinF]

Usget said:

Pinnacle Arkose seems to be the default alternative to the LR...

I refer to mine as my tonka toy, it'll go anywhere and doesn't mind being bashed about, TNR with knobblies, yup, a week loaded with panniers touring and slicks, yup. guards and racktop bag for work commute coming soon.

[uncinqsix]

I was in a fairly similar situation, with the front STI on my road bike giving up the ghost and making the whole thing uneconomical to repair (it's a 22 year old carbon fibre tube/aluminium lugged frame with a bunch of mismatched random bits hanging off it. A set of claris shifters would cost me well over half what the bike's worth). I'd been thinking about replacing it for ages, so today I bought a 2017 CAADX 105 for a very good price in the end-of-season sale.

I only took it for a quick pootle around the carpark, but I was frankly astonished at how much nicer it was to ride than my road bike - the handling is brilliant

I'm not a hard-core road rider and don't do group rides or anything like that, so the CAADX should be perfect for exploring places I wouldn't otherwise be able to.

[scrw.]

Have 2 London Road bikes, one is a flat bar bike with 35mm G-Ones, the other is a drop bar with 28mm GP4S's (currently unridden as only just built) Really like the flat bar bike as it is now, the 35's make it very comfy on crappy roads. It was on 28's then 35's as I moved bits around and onto the new 2nd frame. 35's didn't lose any time over the 28's, they inspire much more confidence in the bends. Both are on 11 speed 105
These are my only road bikes in 25 years so can't compare against other frames, however I am 6ft4 with size 14 feet and the XL fits me fine, hence I bought a second one.

TBH, would need to try anything over a 35mm tyre before changing, think 35's are very good for all round use

XL frame with 35mm tyres
IMG_20170610_114002575 by Old_Chad, on Flickr


IMG_20170610_092541592 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

[numtumfutunch]

Phase 1 Spesh Diverge here built up as a tank with guards, racks and 32mm slicks

Its ace on the commute and flies over towpaths and bridleways from the wussier end of the spectrum too

It hides it weight well and I am OK on summer club runs until the gradient gets above 5% when it starts to become a liability if your mates are on their best carbon bikes

Having said that I rode it through last winter with the club and as long as everybody else is on a winter bike too its fine, plus you get envious comments about comfort and the fact that you have brakes which actually work

If you're out on your own for a training ride - or whatever you call 2-4h spinning around the lanes - its lovely, very comfortable and I ride it without cadence or HR sensors which adds to its laid back charm

Cheers

[Celtic Dragon]

I've pulled the trigger, on a medium, hope I've made the right call. The medium is the closest in terms on geometry to my current bike.

If I'd have gone for the large I wouldn't have been able to stand over it! Yet I'm 6 feet tall, damned "ducks disease"!!