syncro87

Any of those three would work for you, in my opinion. I'd check them all out and figure out which trim or spec level of each would be the minimum that would suit you and meet your requirements. Then, I'd look for a sweet deal on any of them.

In my case, I wanted 1x11 since I had never had a bike that was one by before. For the kind of riding I do, relatively flat terrain trail / gravel, the gearing works well for me, and I liked the small weight savings and less complexity. Plus, I was just curious. I will say that I probably prefer Shimano's shifting vs. the Sram style, but the Sram isn't bad. I also wanted thru axles, so that was one of my criteria.

I wasn't hot to trot for the Willard. I was looking at a variety of bikes. Then one day after I had signed up for the Raleigh corporate program, I checked the website and found you could get the upper level Willard (there used to be only a one and a two level) for under $800. I noticed that a guy up in Iowa who rides a lot of gravel, goes by Guitar Ted, rides a Willard as his own personal bike. That seemed like a decent endorsement to me, the bike spec was what I wanted, and the price was unbeatable, so I took the leap.

I probably have 2500 miles on my Willard now, and am totally satisfied with it. I have yet to find anything for $800 new that is competitive. Sure, if you spend $1500 or $2000, you can buy a better bike, probably.

The one thing I was iffy on was aluminum. I really wanted a steel bike. I thought aluminum bikes would be harsh on gravel. This turned out not to be the case at all.

The bottom line for you, I would think, would be what is the maximum bike I can get for my money. I wouldn't worry so much about brand at the price level you are looking at, under $1500. At the roughly thousand dollar price level, compromises are going to be made in some areas, and you have to decide what you care about and what you can live with not being 100% ideal. If you can get lucky, be in the right place at the right time, keep a sharp eye out, maybe you can score a Willard 3 or 4 (not as much of a fan of the new 1 and 2 trims personally) or a Jamis or whatever for under a grand and with good spec.

Raleigh and Diamondback ( sister company ) both usually have good deals once the riding season is over, online. November, December, January, etc. Most people aren't buying bikes then. The bike market is pretty seasonal. Lots of folks buy in the spring into summer. Fall into winter, the bike market dries up considerably. That is the time to be a buyer.

One other thing. Join REI Co-op. They have some bikes worth considering, and some under their house brand Co-op. Sometimes they clear out last year's bikes at good prices. They also have a liberal return policy and good customer support in general. Some of their bikes are on sale currently, not sure which models specifically or if anything there interests you, but worth joining REI at any rate.


edit. by the way, I am in the 200+ range weight wise. My bike had 700x40 originally and I am now running 700x38. My personal opinion, of course depending on your riding environment, is that 35-40 range is a sweet spot of comfort and performance. Lower than that, you are giving up more comfort than you are gaining back in performance. Fatter than that, you are giving up more performance than you are gaining in comfort. This is obviously not a hard fast rule but just a generalization based on my gravel and trail riding. Of course there are situations where a thinner or fatter tire would be optimal. General all purpose trail use, though, I'd say 700x 35-40 is ideal. A bike being limited to 42 tires would not be a big minus to me, as I don't see much constructive purpose in going larger than that on a gravel bike and for the kind of riding you've described you want to do.


LAST EDIT I PROMISE ------>

So, I just looked on the Raleigh Corp site and the price for a Willard 3, the '18 equivalent of my '17 Two, is $834.99. That is a great deal. MSRP is $1049. If you can find another bike of equivalent spec for eight hundred bucks shipped to your door, I'd be interested to see it.