Originally Posted by
sgtrobo
I have a Diverge and a SuperX. I legitimately have zero use for the Diverge, except for Commuting. The Diverge is just an endurance road bike with big(ger) tires. If I could get value for the Diverge, I'd sell it in a heartbeat.
It is slower steering, but impressively stable on high speed descents. The SuperX is faster in every kind of terrain, it steers much faster, is far more agile, and climbs better (due to geometry and it being about a kilo lighter)
That is a good way to put it. like mstategflr said "What is good for me in terms of geometry would annoy others. And vice versa." The people who want ride 100 miles without much turning may like the slower steering.
make is less jumpy and take less effort to keep in a straight line over 100 miles. GOOD gravel bikes also have lots of vertical compliance build into the frame while a cross bike designer would say "what the heck is vertical compliance?"
Compliance: not really so true these days - although that was true 5-10 years ago. My CX bike is so cush that the first couple of weeks I kept checking to see if it had a flat tire, lol
"
effort to keep straight" I hear this stated a lot.
In my personal experience, it doesn't matter much to me. I can ride any (production) bike with no hands - so riding in a straigh line all day isn't a problem. For me, the biggest drawback is stack height. If I'm sprinting, I'm down low. But if I'm doing a steady effort long ride, I'm gonna get a little tired of being in a lower position after 5+ hours.
Cargo: Couple of water bottles, frame bag, seat bag and I'm good.
CX bikes don't do great with panniers, if you are old school (and they would be hard to mount anyway). But they do slightly better with frame bags because they have more room in the rear triangle.
Anyway, food for thought.