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Carbon fiber and hydraulic discs for $2k?

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Cyclocross and Gravelbiking (Recreational) This has to be the most physically intense sport ever invented. It's high speed bicycle racing on a short off road course or riding the off pavement rides on gravel like : "Unbound Gravel". We also have a dedicated Racing forum for the Cyclocross Hard Core Racers.

Carbon fiber and hydraulic discs for $2k?

Old 03-26-19, 08:43 PM
  #76  
Chi_Z
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Originally Posted by dwmckee
I'd stay away from the Bikes Direct option. I have a buddy that bought two bikes fron them. The first, a Motobeane road bike with Ultega was not too bad, he had to do a lot of tuning and truing but wound up okay, but his second bike was a gravel bike that he could never get tuned up very well. He finally took it to a shop to see what they could do with it and they put the alignment gauges on it and showed him that the front and back wheels were 3 degrees out of parallel. It looked nice and had an Ultegra derailleur, but it was a piece of crap. Derailleur hanger was bent too. I guess at that price they have to save some mioney somewhere...
that pretty much summed up most $500 Chinese open mold frames, with QR and rim brake, frame tolerance is not too important. once you go thru axle and flat mount disk, 1-2mm off will screw up everything
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Old 03-26-19, 09:34 PM
  #77  
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Originally Posted by Rides4Beer
That's what I was thinking. Would the max 40mm tire be an issue tho? Was talking to one of the guys on the group ride tonight and he said he likes be able to run a 45 around here.
Depends on what kind of rider you are and what your riding conditions are. Most people around here run 40s and we have pretty tough gravel roads. But there’s a huge segment of riders here that like to go slower and run 45+ tires. Nothing wrong with either, just different strokes for different folks.
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Old 03-27-19, 07:25 AM
  #78  
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Originally Posted by Rides4Beer
That's what I was thinking. Would the max 40mm tire be an issue tho? Was talking to one of the guys on the group ride tonight and he said he likes be able to run a 45 around here.
My gravel frame can take up to 50mm, but I run 40mm as I really like how they roll(the specific tire) on pavement while still giving good comfort and confidence on gravel roads. Cant imagine wanting/needing a 50mm tire, but some people around here fat bike on gravel, so obviously a wider tire is appealing to some.
If I were to do something like an off pavement bike packing tour in North Dakota that included some segments of the Maah Daah Hey Trail, then a 50mm tire would probably be something I would want, considering the terrain for those segments and the overall comfort factor.

...but I dont ride in remote picturesque locations- I ride thru fields of corn and soy where 40mm tires work great.

All depends on perference and need.
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Old 03-27-19, 07:28 AM
  #79  
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Originally Posted by shoota
Depends on what kind of rider you are and what your riding conditions are. Most people around here run 40s and we have pretty tough gravel roads. But there’s a huge segment of riders here that like to go slower and run 45+ tires. Nothing wrong with either, just different strokes for different folks.
On the road I like to go fast, that's one of the appeals of gravel, is still being able to go (relatively) fast. I'll talk to some more of the local guys that are really into gravel and see what I'll need for the rides/races we have around here.
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Old 03-27-19, 07:33 AM
  #80  
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Originally Posted by Rides4Beer
On the road I like to go fast, that's one of the appeals of gravel, is still being able to go (relatively) fast. I'll talk to some more of the local guys that are really into gravel and see what I'll need for the rides/races we have around here.
good idea! I ride anything from 28mm to 54mm - but the tire size really changes the personaliy of hte bike. With 28mm, my bike rides like any good fast road bike, with 54, it feels like a '90s era mountain bike with drop bars (or a monster truck in comparison). Personally I usually go 32-40mm depending on the conditions.
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Old 03-27-19, 07:55 AM
  #81  
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
My gravel frame can take up to 50mm, but I run 40mm as I really like how they roll(the specific tire) on pavement while still giving good comfort and confidence on gravel roads. Cant imagine wanting/needing a 50mm tire, but some people around here fat bike on gravel, so obviously a wider tire is appealing to some.
If I were to do something like an off pavement bike packing tour in North Dakota that included some segments of the Maah Daah Hey Trail, then a 50mm tire would probably be something I would want, considering the terrain for those segments and the overall comfort factor.

...but I dont ride in remote picturesque locations- I ride thru fields of corn and soy where 40mm tires work great.

All depends on perference and need.
I won't be doing any bike packing or anything like that, just solo and group rides, prob 3-5 hours, maybe some races/events. I don't need to be able to add racks or bags, maybe a rear fender to keep some of the mud off of me if it's wet. So I think a CX bike would probably work for me, with the right tires. From what I understand, the routes people ride around here are gravel and hard pack.


Originally Posted by chas58
good idea! I ride anything from 28mm to 54mm - but the tire size really changes the personaliy of hte bike. With 28mm, my bike rides like any good fast road bike, with 54, it feels like a '90s era mountain bike with drop bars (or a monster truck in comparison). Personally I usually go 32-40mm depending on the conditions.
That's another thing I was thinking, have a set of road tires for it so I can use it when the weather is bad, or on rides where I want some more comfort.
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Old 03-27-19, 03:45 PM
  #82  
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Originally Posted by Rides4Beer
Right?? Hard to argue when she says go for it.
Just read your review of your Inflite, I've been looking over the geometry for the Grail and can't figure out if I would need a Medium or Large, I'm 6'. The stack and reach measurements from my road bike fit indicate that a medium would work, but if a large would work, they have leftover Grail 7.0s for $2000 (only L tho).
Their sizing is purely based off of height (irregardless of that silly calculator they have). That puts you in a medium, right? A medium in their bike seems to be more like a large in other bikes.
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Old 03-27-19, 03:58 PM
  #83  
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So what do you do if you order the Large but you need a shorter stem since its just one whole thing? Pay $500 for a a new cockpit that's 10mm shorter?
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Old 03-28-19, 07:32 AM
  #84  
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Originally Posted by gus6464
So what do you do if you order the Large but you need a shorter stem since its just one whole thing? Pay $500 for a a new cockpit that's 10mm shorter?
You got that exactly right.

My impression is that Europe you can swap parts out when you buy the bike, but you can't do that in the US.
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Old 03-28-19, 08:16 AM
  #85  
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Originally Posted by gus6464
So what do you do if you order the Large but you need a shorter stem since its just one whole thing? Pay $500 for a a new cockpit that's 10mm shorter?
And that's why I don't do proprietary stuff. Good luck finding that one little part you need to finish a build 10 years down the road.
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Old 03-29-19, 07:48 AM
  #86  
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Why not this bike?

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/revolt-advanced-2
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Old 03-29-19, 09:16 AM
  #87  
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Originally Posted by prj71
Because it has a stupid triangle shaped seatpost and fake hydro brakes.
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Old 03-29-19, 12:13 PM
  #88  
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I'm seeing suggestions for bikes than can handle up to 40c tires. you may be limiting yourself, and missing out on the fun a 650b x 47c or bigger wheelset offers. and it doesn't mean going slow. I know enough who ride the 47 width size tires which are becoming more popular, who can drop me with nary any effort. even riding 650b x 2.1.

eric/fresno, ca.
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Old 03-29-19, 12:14 PM
  #89  
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It's actually a D shaped seat post and in my opinion is a great idea. Why you may ask? Because the seat it ALWAYS straight. It can't be crooked!!!

The brakes I kinda get what you are saying, but it isn't that bad.
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Old 04-01-19, 10:00 PM
  #90  
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Originally Posted by chas58
my bike (inflite) is currently $2000 - its on sale ;-), and the equivalent specialized I was shopping it against (Crux) was about $5000. OPEN UP is about $6000 (actually, to get the comparable fame, the Open frame costs $4500). Not many gravelish bikes in the 7.5kg weight range without spending some big bucks. Its probably more accurate to say the $3000 canyons compare to $5000 bikes. Their road and mountain bikes are pretty nice deals too.

You may not always save $2-3000, and not everyone needs a ~950g gravel frame, but they can be pretty price competitive.
That looks like a great bike. However, 90% of my riding is on pavement so I don't see the value in not having a 48/32 or preferably 50/34 chainring. Am I missing something? I currently ride a Giant Defy 3 CF with a 52/36. I can push a bigger gear but at age 70 I just don't have the cadence in my legs anymore.

Last edited by Rvav8r; 04-08-19 at 08:25 AM. Reason: Typing error
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Old 04-03-19, 04:31 PM
  #91  
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See if you can find a Jamis Renegade Expert on clearance.
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Old 04-05-19, 08:38 AM
  #92  
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Originally Posted by bigredgrad01
See if you can find a Jamis Renegade Expert on clearance.
This seller has taken considerably less than asking price on his others. I'm kinda wishing I had made an offer on the 56cm before it sold.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-Jamis-...frcectupt=true
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Old 04-10-19, 12:40 PM
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This bike is $2160 with corporate discount on diamondback (dbcorp.diamondback.com) :
https://www.diamondback.com/road-bik...-7c-carbon-d41
Very nice carbon frame (seen it in person) with huge tire clearances for 700c road / 650b mtb wheels, hydro Ultegra, 48/32 sub-compact crank and HED wheels/kit.
If your company is not a partner, you used to be able to sign up to corp discount easily using corporate code from Slickdeals, not sure if it's still the case.
Their prices fluctuate, so it might go lower, but even at that price it's pretty nice. All I would swap is the RD for RX-800 clutch based one, and maybe put an XT 11-40 cassette on it, if you have big hills.
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Old 04-13-19, 10:54 AM
  #94  
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So, bringing this thread to its logical conclusion:

Having taken my thinking to every corner of the gravel/adventure/cross bike spectrum, I came full-circle and got my carbon and hydraulics. Ended up on a Diverge Sport, taking advantage of the 2019 model clearance/rebate. I have a 2020 Roubaix Comp Sagan Edition on its way to me, so the Diverge-Roubaix tandem is nice, since the geo and fit of the bikes will be almost identical.

In the meantime, here it is, in its natural setting:
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Old 04-13-19, 04:11 PM
  #95  
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Congrats! I imagine it was a little more than the initial $2000 budget, even with clearance prices? Still, good work, and enjoy the heck out of it!

I grew up in Reno by the way, if your location is correct. May the Diverge bring you lots of joy on the trails around there.
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Old 04-15-19, 12:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Lava
Congrats! I imagine it was a little more than the initial $2000 budget, even with clearance prices? Still, good work, and enjoy the heck out of it!

I grew up in Reno by the way, if your location is correct. May the Diverge bring you lots of joy on the trails around there.
Yeah, I think I was around $2500 after discounts and rebates, so pretty close and a good deal for the package. It really is the ideal bike for what I was looking for. I have a Santa Cruz Bronson so didn't need anything too monster, don't need it to rip singletrack and don't need a dropper. Really was wanting something to rip fire roads and explore the endless gravel we have northwest of town, and still feel plenty fleet on the 15-30 mile approaches on road.
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