Originally Posted by Junkbeast

But I'll probably have to buy something more mainstream. I prefer to get products that are of good quality but generally aren't well known. I might not be able to this time.

I've been wanting to get a new bike for a few years now but had too many other priorities. We've spent a hard couple years becoming debt free and foregoing a lot of things we've wanted to do or buy. Now we're in a position to do a lot more. My wife told me to figure out what I wanted in a bike and then make my plan to get it. She didn't specify how much I could spend and she has no idea about bikes or their components and costs.

Naturally I started looking at builds around $5K. I figured that since this is my first "really good" bike then I might as well go big and just do it right even if it's overkill for what I ride (400-500 miles per month March-ish to October-ish). I was looking at things like the Rodeo Labs Flaanimal, Open U.P., Canyon Grail, Di2, carbon wheels, custom paint, all of that and more!

When I started to casually mention these prices along with paint jobs and new accessories, she balked pretty hard since she really didn't know things cost that much and she thinks other things like home upgrades could be neglected if I buy a bike like that. Soooo, I could probably push and push and get my way but I'm not going to do that to her. She's probably right anyway, I don't need a $5K bike and a lot of bikes will be a huge upgrade over my current bike anyway (2006 Trek FX 3.1). I'm going to have to come down quite a bit but I can still probably spend a few thousand total for a bike and accessories (pedals, shoes, gloves, GPS, etc.).

It's possible that I could still buy a frameset and then slowly collect the parts to build it up over the next year but that's not ideal for me. I'd like to get something this summer and be able to ride it a few months before it gets too cold.

I really need some ideas and insight into bikes that I can get fully built from LBSs. I ride mostly road but want to spend more time on gravel if I can (think like 75/25 road/gravel). I'm like 6'-2" and range from 220-250 lbs. (always gain weight in winter then drop in summer...aiming to get down to 200 this summer) so I'll never be on super skinny tires. I'm interested in steel but I have CDO and I do worry about rust; carbon is great but not a deal breaker. I'd prefer internal cabling. I'm pretty sure I want a 2x crankset.

Really the best ones I can think of now are some kind of Jamis Renegade or a Fuji Jari. I'm just not that interested in stuff from Specialized or Trek or Giant for some reason.

Please provide some opinions and options. Thanks!