Adventure/Gravel Bike Help!

[Les84]

Good Evening all,

I am looking at purchasing a new commute bike where I have a choice of some road and canal paths to take. I have narrowed it down to 3 choices and would like some opinions, ie spec etc.

Now i am not very well educated on what’s good spec for money so advice on if these are good value that would be really helpful.

https://www.evanscycles.com/cannondale-topstone-al...

https://www.evanscycles.com/norco-search-xr-a1-105...

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-arkose-d3-202...

Thanks

[milu]

They look good. But have a look on Planet X. The space chicken or mystique are good.
I have a Mystique and love it

[PomBstard]

I’ve had a Norco Search C105 for about 3 years. Apart from the wheelset which suffered from the bashing I’ve given the bike, it’s been hard to fault. Should be fine for what you want.

As with all these though, do try a few for size.

[Tall_Paul]

milu said:

They look good. But have a look on Planet X. The space chicken or mystique are good.
I have a Mystique and love it

Seconded - so long as the OP doesn't need C2W then the Space Chicken is awesome value.

I paid £1400 for this:



Full carbon frame and forks, 650b FSA Afterburner wheels, SRAM Force 1 HRD groupset (carbon cranks, hydraulic discs), all in with pedals it weighs 9.6KG.

[Les84]

milu said:

They look good. But have a look on Planet X. The space chicken or mystique are good.
I have a Mystique and love it

Thank you for that site, having a look they sure do have some nice looking bikes. For me a store seems easier so I can try before I buy as I am new to this type of bike.

SRAM seem very popular, are they a 105 competitor?

[Les84]

PomBstard said:

I’ve had a Norco Search C105 for about 3 years. Apart from the wheelset which suffered from the bashing I’ve given the bike, it’s been hard to fault. Should be fine for what you want.

As with all these though, do try a few for size.

I am going to a event hosted by Evans on the weekend, I hope they have the ones I have listed in the OP. As the try for size, I did try well sat on a M in one brand and a M in another and it sure did fell different. Did you find the groupset good quality also?

When looking at this type of bike are the wheels pretty much the same, strength etc.

Thanks

[Les84]

Tall_Paul said:

milu said:

They look good. But have a look on Planet X. The space chicken or mystique are good.
I have a Mystique and love it

Seconded - so long as the OP doesn't need C2W then the Space Chicken is awesome value.

I paid £1400 for this:



Full carbon frame and forks, 650b FSA Afterburner wheels, SRAM Force 1 HRD groupset (carbon cranks, hydraulic discs), all in with pedals it weighs 9.6KG.

Thank you for your information. The chicken does look good value for money, but as I have said a couple up I really need to try before I buy.

Full carbon frame for £1400 sure does look excellent value for money to me.

[Ilovejapcrap]

OP I’m guessing your like me and know very little so I’ll tell you bike stuff I have learnt of late [someone will pick me up if wrong]

Group set is what they call your gears, chain, sprockets etc. Basically mechanical bits. They can be all different makes, but most new bikes unless super expensive come with one brand /model groupset if you will


So for example the cannondale topstone you are looking at is Shimano 105 groupset.

This is a perfectly good set, the range goes something like:
Shimano Claris
Shimano Sora
Shimano Tiara
Shimano 105
Shimano Ultegra
Shimano dura_ace.

Basically 105 is the first of the performance sets and on most stuff around £1000 mark. The margins in how much better the ones above it are are to do with weight / smoothies etc. Something joe bloggs like you and me would never notice.

Most bikes you’ll look at will be 2 gears at front sprocket and 10 or 11 at the back. This will give you a nice range of gearing.

Obviously the type of bike you go for will define what gear ratios it has, for example peddling flat out on a mountain bike is normally slower than on a road bike as they are designed for climbing mountains, so don’t have as big a big gear.


The 3 big names are Shimano , SRAM and campagnolo. It’s just knowing what one in that companies range you are looking at.

I’d get on YouTube and start watching some GCN videos. They have some great tech stuff on what’s what.

Out of your 3 I personally like the pinnacle

Edited by Ilovejapcrap on Wednesday 18th September 07:49

[Les84]

Thanks for your detailed reply, you are correct, very new to this type of bike and the info I have gathered is very similar to what you posted.

I have been looking for a while now and ready to hit the button as such and treat myself. The 10yr old Halfords Apollo mountain bike is well past it and very uncomfortable riding to work now.

[PomBstard]

Les84 said:

PomBstard said:

I’ve had a Norco Search C105 for about 3 years. Apart from the wheelset which suffered from the bashing I’ve given the bike, it’s been hard to fault. Should be fine for what you want.

As with all these though, do try a few for size.

I am going to a event hosted by Evans on the weekend, I hope they have the ones I have listed in the OP. As the try for size, I did try well sat on a M in one brand and a M in another and it sure did fell different. Did you find the groupset good quality also?

When looking at this type of bike are the wheels pretty much the same, strength etc.

Thanks

Once you know the type of bike you want and an approx budget, getting a bike that fits should be the top priority. I tried a few and the Norco seemed to fit best. It was also a better fit for the type of riding I use it for than others in my budget - anything from smooth tarmac to rough singletrack. Thru-axles and hydraulic discs were standard on mine but not all that I tried - I think there is more choice now, so try a few.

The Shimano 105 kit has lasted well. Still on the original chainrings, cranks and f/r mechs. Cassette was changed to a Sun Race about 18 months ago - that lasted around 5000km. A new Sun Race was the obvious answer.

Wheels - these were the weak point for me as the 29"/700c rims were only 17mm wide and with only a 35mm tyre, there wasn't much cushioning. Bashing around singletrack meant the rear wheel was rebuilt after only 1000km or so, and when a couple of spokes went pop again about 8 months later, a new wheel was built to match the riding. The front has now also, just, been replaced to a similar slightly beefier spec. But for canal paths and roads, my original wheels were fine.

The frame has now done around 8000km - not much compared to many, but it still has a nimble yet sturdy feel that I like.

[Les84]

PomBstard said:

Once you know the type of bike you want and an approx budget, getting a bike that fits should be the top priority. I tried a few and the Norco seemed to fit best. It was also a better fit for the type of riding I use it for than others in my budget - anything from smooth tarmac to rough singletrack. Thru-axles and hydraulic discs were standard on mine but not all that I tried - I think there is more choice now, so try a few.

The Shimano 105 kit has lasted well. Still on the original chainrings, cranks and f/r mechs. Cassette was changed to a Sun Race about 18 months ago - that lasted around 5000km. A new Sun Race was the obvious answer.

Wheels - these were the weak point for me as the 29"/700c rims were only 17mm wide and with only a 35mm tyre, there wasn't much cushioning. Bashing around singletrack meant the rear wheel was rebuilt after only 1000km or so, and when a couple of spokes went pop again about 8 months later, a new wheel was built to match the riding. The front has now also, just, been replaced to a similar slightly beefier spec. But for canal paths and roads, my original wheels were fine.

The frame has now done around 8000km - not much compared to many, but it still has a nimble yet sturdy feel that I like.

Hi,
I think the Adventure bike that I purchase is going to have a easy life, it will just be purely used for riding to work via canal paths and some road sections.

I am looking at the brands hopefully on the weekend, with my budget hopefully I can get a good range gearset and a nice comfortable bike.

The information is interesting regarding the wheels, sounds like you got some good use from them and on occasions put them through their paces.

[Blink982]

I researched the st out of my bike purchase. Initially I was going to get a Specialized Diverge but the meagre spec. put me off. I haven't seen the 2020 Spesh models so if they have managed to squeeze hydraulic brakes on the lower aluminium models w/ 105, I would look at them. Every time I thought I'd found 'the' bike for me, they were sold out. Eventually the Cannondale Topstone 105 (2019) came into stock and I went for it. It ticked all the boxes, internal cable routing, through axles and hydraulic 105. I couldn't be happier. It's such a versatile bike, I've used it on road and through some very easy going trails and woodland near me. I also looked at the likes of Kinesis Tripster AL, Trek Checkpoint and Sonder Camino. The Sonder was tempting at it's original price but then (presumably Brexit related) the prices went up (a lot).

[Les84]

So I have decided to go for standard type but lightweight and strong pedals, what shoes would people recommend.

Thanks

EDIT: changed my mind, gone for some clip pedals.

Edited by Les84 on Sunday 22 September 14:54

[Ilovejapcrap]

Les84 said:

So I have decided to go for standard type but lightweight and strong pedals, what shoes would people recommend.

Thanks

EDIT: changed my mind, gone for some clip pedals.

Edited by Les84 on Sunday 22 September 14:54

I use sod, it’s more of a mountain bike peddle. You can get them double sided so best of both worlds

[Les84]

Ilovejapcrap said:

I use sod, it’s more of a mountain bike peddle. You can get them double sided so best of both worlds

That’s what I got, the SPD double sided. Flat one side and clips the other.

[Les84]

Evening everyone,

Ok so I have another question. I have a tyre size of 38, for mixture of gravel and road what tyre pressures would people recommend.

Regards

[wobert]

Les84 said:

Evening everyone,

Ok so I have another question. I have a tyre size of 38, for mixture of gravel and road what tyre pressures would people recommend.

Regards

How much do you weigh?

[Les84]

wobert said:

How much do you weigh?

145 ish.

[wobert]

I’m 100 kg and have run my Gravel Kings SKs at 40F/ 45R psi.

I did suffer a puncture (tubeless) which didn’t seal.

Back on tubes now, 45F / 50R, still compliant.

At 65kgs (I’m presuming you mean 145 lbs weight) you should be ok around 35 psi, but I would suggest experimenting and always run a higher pressure in the rear tyre...

[Les84]

wobert said:

I’m 100 kg and have run my Gravel Kings SKs at 40F/ 45R psi.

I did suffer a puncture (tubeless) which didn’t seal.

Back on tubes now, 45F / 50R, still compliant.

At 65kgs (I’m presuming you mean 145 lbs weight) you should be ok around 35 psi, but I would suggest experimenting and always run a higher pressure in the rear tyre...

Would those pressures be good for mixture of canal trails and road? I wont be doing anything hard with the bike, just commuting.