Rock71

Even though I am predominately a road biker the thought of a gravel bike keeps drawing me closer and closer. I live in a small rural town in southern Iowa where we have 3 times the amount of gravel and low maintenance dirt roads than paved highways. I grew up on these type of roads and feel the itch to get back to them. Plus I have it in my mind that it has to be safer than riding down the shoulder of a main highway. Don't get me wrong, the road bike and the hybrid are staying but think its time to add another to the stable.
I have been looking at the Fuji Jaris and the Trek Checkpoint thus far. Any opinions on either?

shoota 

They're both great bikes and would serve your purpose wonderfully. Where exactly are you? We have several Iowans here, and I lived in Carroll for a Summer. Iowa's gravel is primo, when it's not 4F and snowing

Rock71

I am south central and about 7 miles from the Missouri border. I travel for work so I drag my road bike with me and ride MUP's and Highways. The weekends though the gravel has started calling my name. Not any local MUP's around home unless I drive 90 miles to Des Moines, but tons of gravel and low maintenance dirt roads plus places like Stephens State Forest and Rathbun. Plus we all know what Northern Missouri's roads are like.

practical

How about using your hybrid? Your hybrid would accommodate gravel-friendly tires. (Your road bike might but you really don't want to have to switch tires or wheels.) I think flat bars are a good choice on surfaces that may be unpredictable and rough as they provide better stability. And when riding gravel, you probably don't care that much about aerodynamics. Have you used your hybrid on dirt roads? It would be worth a try.

3speedslow

Rock71

I actually considered this as the bike came with 700x35 tires, but I also would like tubeless and a 105 or Tiagra grouping and the hybrid is a mixture of Acera and Alivio. There's also the practicality of just swapping some gravel tires on and riding a month or two to see if it is appealing as I think it is, but there's also the fact of it's feel like a nice time to buy a new bike and add to the arsenal.

shoota 

THIS is the practical move. Hybrids suck.

Rock71

LOL... It has it place. Pulling the grandson/grocery getter around and Currently it is hooked up to my trainer because it has a steel skewer.
​​​​​​I had flat bars on my Fuji for a few months because of a back issue and once I switched them back out for the drops I felt reborn and didn't take but a few minutes to remember how much I loved riding the hoods.

Rock71

Lets add something else to this mix, alum. or carbon frame?

Hiro11

Ah, the age old question.

• Material is not independently responsible for ride quality. The idea that carbon inherently "soaks up vibration" or that aluminum is inherently "harsh" is silly. I offer the incredibly harsh carbon Scott Foil and the incredibly plush aluminum Vitus 979 as counter-examples respectively.
• Carbon's main drawbacks are high cost and *possibly* poor impact resistance. However, quality carbon is getting cheaper every day and Santa Cruz has proven that carbon can be extremely tough.
• Aluminum supposedly has a finite fatigue life, but you're likely to get sick of the bike long before you encounter it.
• Carbon can be a bit lighter, which is good for entirely pointless bragging rights and not much else.
• Aluminum has some issues with galvanic corrosion which can cause nightmares with trying to remove seatposts and bottom brackets. These issues are easily remedied with a little anti-seize or grease, though.
• Carbon can be molded into cool shapes. Which is really what people are after. Hydroformed aluminum looks just like carbon, so this is also not really a good point.

For me personally, there's NO strictly practical reason to go with carbon on a gravel bike.The tires make the ride much more compliant anyway and I want the toughest material. I prefer steel (there's nothing tougher and it's cheap) or (the ultimate, IMO) Ti on a gravel bike. This is just my biased, uninformed, possibly offensive opinion.

biketampa

covpride

I just picked up a Fuji Jari a few weeks ago. Love it so far, I mainly ride road, but wanted something with the option for gravel as some trails we want to visit are gravel. I got the Jari 1.7, the one that comes with tiagra components for $1040 at a local shop.