Gravel bike and cycle 2 work

[jimmy156]

I’m looking to get a gravel bike and potentially can use the cycle to work scheme (even though I don’t think I would actually be able to ride to work!) but it limits me to actual shops and £1000.

So the bike I really wanted was this canyon at £1200

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road-bikes/gravel-bik...

Or I could potentially get something like this can of law at £950, but pay about £650’ for it.

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

Is the cycle to work a no brainier? Or is the canyon enough of a better bike to make it worthwhile (I have some cash burning a hole in my pocket!)

[hman]

I still fail to see the purpose of a gravel bike - why not buy a mountain bike and then put maxxis cross marks on it so you can whizz along on the paved sections and have decent traction/handling on the looser stuff - plus you’ll have a comfy ride if you choose full sus, and a decent ish ride on a hard tail..

I ride a Scott spark in exactly this setup with cleats to work as there’s a mix of surfaces and keep up with the road bikes because it’s riding on the centre band of the tyre so vastly reduced rolling resistance when compared to a full off road tyre

[wobert]

jimmy156 said:

I’m looking to get a gravel bike and potentially can use the cycle to work scheme (even though I don’t think I would actually be able to ride to work!) but it limits me to actual shops and £1000.

So the bike I really wanted was this canyon at £1200

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road-bikes/gravel-bik...

Or I could potentially get something like this can of law at £950, but pay about £650’ for it.

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

Is the cycle to work a no brainier? Or is the canyon enough of a better bike to make it worthwhile (I have some cash burning a hole in my pocket!)

Both the Grail and the Topstone are great bikes which both get good reviews.

As a Canyon Endurace owner I would err towards the Grail.

Gravel bikes do have their purpose, esp If you want to mix some road with some off-road routes.

Having the drop bars gives a variety of hand positions so you remain comfy and the wider tyres provide a bit more comfort compared to pure road orientated tyres.

Using a HT MTB on road may also work, but I think you may run out of gears (my Whyte 529) tops out at c18-20 mph, whereas my GT Grade will get to 30-35 mph (gravity assisted of course )

[jimmy156]

Thanks both.

I have thought about a hardtail XC bike, but this is a bit of a "heart" purchase and i just want a gravel bike. Its going to be mainly road stuff anyway.

With regards to Cannondale Vs Canyon...

The Canyon is the one i want. But is it worth payuing £1200 for it, when the cannondale can be had for about £650 through cycle to work. Is it nearly twice the bike?

I have no idea on componentry for this kind of bike, I have been out of the scene for a long while!

[some bloke]

I went for a Giant Tough Road SLR1 on the CTW scheme. It's a straight bar, faster than my old drop bar cross bike and has huge smooth tyres. 20 speed, hydraulic discs, panier racks, was £1100 in the shops. I like the ruggedness and the speed.

[wobert]

jimmy156 said:

Thanks both.

I have thought about a hardtail XC bike, but this is a bit of a "heart" purchase and i just want a gravel bike. Its going to be mainly road stuff anyway.

With regards to Cannondale Vs Canyon...

The Canyon is the one i want. But is it worth payuing £1200 for it, when the cannondale can be had for about £650 through cycle to work. Is it nearly twice the bike?

I have no idea on componentry for this kind of bike, I have been out of the scene for a long while!

Canyon don’t tend to mess around with their specs, they go OE and are usually VFM.

From a quick look at the specs the Grail has full hydraulic disc brakes and uses mainly Shimano GRX groupset which is “gravel” specific including the crankset.

It also has DT Swiss wheels. Plus the finishing kit is all OE brands.

The Topstone uses Sora (a lower level groupset) FSA crankset and has mechanically operates disc brakes.

The finishing kit is largely Cannondale own-brand.

At list price I think the Grail offers a better value package.

If you chop the price of the Topstone down due to CTW then the differential becomes larger and offsets the reduction in the groupset and kit.

Only you can decide which works for your pocket.....

[Captain Raymond Holt]

Personally I’d go for the Grail, but fk me... those welds

[wobert]

Captain Raymond Holt said:

Personally I’d go for the Grail, but fk me... those welds

Better reason to go for basic carbon frame, then you get the “hover bar” too...

The welds look worse due to the additional frame gussets and the light colour.

[Blink982]

I have a Topstone 105 and love it. I went with it for the hydraulic brakes as mechanic discs are a faff to adjust. I believe Cannondale offer a Tiagra model now, as do Specialized with the 2020 Diverge which is a lovely bike. If the aluminium 2019 Diverge had hydraulics, I would have went for it but the spec was stingy in comparison to the Topstone. The Canyon wasn't ever really on my radar as I couldn't try it for size, the geometry is pretty stretched if I remember rightly and also the welds.....The welds are hideous. Oh, and it was sold out for months. I couldn't be happier with the Topstone but TBH, I am a complete beginner on a drop bar bike but love the fact I can just jump on it and take it off-road should I see fit. My use is probably 90% road and 10% light trail use. I swapped out the tyres for G-Ones which are a good all-rounder.

[jimmy156]

Can’t say I’d know a bad weld when if I saw it to me the canyon just looks awesome.

In terms of budget, I have about £1500 after my car was written off and I bought a slightly cheaper replacement, so have the money ready to go for the canyon, I am just struggling getting my head around missing out on the cycle to work saving!

It’s a shame the canyon can’t be bought from Evans and that the provider limit the purchase to sub £1000.

On the flip side I have an 70 mile a day commute, so I ain’t riding it! Is there any emphasis to actually show it will be used for that purpose? The Relevent person at work had no idea!

[Wonderman]

Any love for Ribble?
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/bikes/gravel-bikes/

They do cycle to work too:
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/cycle-schemes/

[jimmy156]

Ribble (along with canyon) was the other brand that was recommended to me by a family member who rides a lot.

Their bike that is the same price as the canyon grail has the spec below, which seems a bit less impressive:

Shimano Tiagra 2 x 10 speed.
Shimano 34-50T x 11-32T gearing.
Tektro mechanical disc brakeset.
Mavic Aksium Disc 700c wheelset.
Continental Ultra Sport tyres.
Level 1 Alloy finishing kit.
Prologo Kappa RS saddle.

I think my employer outsourced the cycle to work thing to a 3rd party or something (salaryplus.co.uk) which is where I got the 1k limit from. The HR person seemed to know very little about it anyway!

[DelicaL400]

jimmy156 said:

Is there any emphasis to actually show it will be used for that purpose? The Relevent person at work had no idea!

I've had two bikes under the C2W scheme, nobody has ever checked I actually use them for work.

[rossw46]

I bought a 2nd hand CX bike 3 years ago. I commute 26 miles a day, and my pride carbon bike just wasn't going to cut it in the winters, with the darkness and weather, so I got a boardman bike. Being dark in the winter months going to and from work, I wanted something that would be fine on the gravel towpaths, and take decent mudguards / tyres. The things I'd change now : Must have hydraulic disc brakes, and a decent drivetrain. My mechanical disc brakes are ste, and the FSA kit on it is alright, but even 105 would've been great.

[anonymous-user]

DelicaL400 said:

jimmy156 said:

Is there any emphasis to actually show it will be used for that purpose? The Relevent person at work had no idea!

I've had two bikes under the C2W scheme, nobody has ever checked I actually use them for work.

I’ve had say 5 & never checked...
You can buy more than 1 bike on scheme at same time, says it all really.
My companies limit just increased to 3k

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Have you considered Planet-X, they also do the cycle to work scheme.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/gravel-adventu...

The "Space Chicken" seams to have a lot of love on here, and they also offer Titanium gravel bikes but they are a bit more expensive...

[jimmy156]

The on-one space chicken at £1300 looks good! Full carbon too.

How does ”SRAM Rival1 groupset with hydraulic disc brakes” compare to the Shimano stuff on the canyon (which is lighter surprisingly as it’s not carbon!)

[Captain Raymond Holt]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

Have you considered Planet-X, they also do the cycle to work scheme.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/gravel-adventu...

The "Space Chicken" seams to have a lot of love on here, and they also offer Titanium gravel bikes but they are a bit more expensive...

They don’t do C2W anymore, used to tho.

Linky

[jimmy156]

Onto my next thought (no point starting a new thread for it) ... pedals...?

For a gravel bike that will probably be mostly road with occasional trails and bridleways etc, what would be the best bet?

The only riding I have knowledge of is downhill / dirt jumping that I did in my youth, but I am assuming big flat pedals with spikes is not the way forward here.

Am i right in thinking that a clipless pedal is a pedal that requires you to clip in (that's not confusing!)

And would i be best off going for a MTB pedal if I am doing trails and fire tracks etc?

Cheers!

[wobert]

jimmy156 said:

Onto my next thought (no point starting a new thread for it) ... pedals...?

For a gravel bike that will probably be mostly road with occasional trails and bridleways etc, what would be the best bet?

The only riding I have knowledge of is downhill / dirt jumping that I did in my youth, but I am assuming big flat pedals with spikes is not the way forward here.

Am i right in thinking that a clipless pedal is a pedal that requires you to clip in (that's not confusing!)

And would i be best off going for a MTB pedal if I am doing trails and fire tracks etc?

Cheers!

I use Shimano SPD pedals on my Grade (M530s) as they are cheap and have an extended platform compared to the cheaper M520s.

This enables me to use a pair of Northwave Celsius boots at this time of year, so toasty feet too