daanbr78

I am new to gravel bikes.
my intent with the new bike:
- road rides with friends and being able to keep up
- hitting the trails (not too technical)
- bike packing (2000km ride this spring)
- road rides in less nice weather conditions (I don’t want to take out my tt bike in too bad weather)

I started looking at bikes around 1500,- and before I knew what happened was looking at bikes up to 3500......

back to the initial intent: a bike to enjoy without too much fear of stretches etc and to use as a trusty steed on bike packing rides. So back to 1500-ish bikes.


I narrowed it down to these two. Which would you prefer and why? Please give me any objective and subjective advice. My brain is starting to hurt 😅


Scott Speedster Gravel 30 2021
Rear derailleur
Shimano GRX RD-RX400, 20 Speed

Front derailleur
Shimano GRX FD-RX400-F

Shifters
Shimano GRX ST-RX400 Disc, 20 Speed

Crank
Shimano GRX FC-RX600-10, 46x30T

Bottombracket
Shimano BB-RS500

Chain
KMC X10

Cassette
Shimano CS-HG500 10 Speed / 11-34


Cube Nuroad Race 2021
Rear derailleur
Shimano GRX RD-RX810, Direct Mount, 11-speed

Front derailleur
Shimano GRX FD-R810

Shifters
Shimano GRX ST-RX600

Breaks
Shimano BR-RX400, Hydr. Disc Brake, Flat Mount (160/160)

Crank
Shimano GRX FC-RX600, 46x30T, 170mm (50/53cm), 172.5mm (56/58cm), 175mm (61cm)

Cassette
Shimano 105 CS-HG700, 11-34T

Chain
Shimano CN-HG601-1

Rides4Beer

Assuming size/fit is similar, I'd go with the Cube, just for the fact that it's 11spd and has the 810 clutched RD. My new Revolt has the same groupset, it's great. I leave the clutch on all the time, even on the road.

Get a second wheelset with road tires and you'll be covered. I road bike my Revolt and have no issues on fast road rides.

daanbr78

Thanks! See I did not really think to look at the group that they carried, blinded by GRX thinking GRX is GRX

is it so that you could compair GRX 400 to Tiagra and GRX 800 to Ultegra?

in that case my road bike mind would make that an easy choice for the 800

Rides4Beer

Correct, 400 is Tiagra level, 600 is 105 and 800 is Ultegra. But the 600 shifters are better than r7020 shifters, imo, lil thinner and the lever is redesigned for GRX. The only difference in brake calipers is the finish, I'm seeing a lot of bikes spec'd with 400 level brakes, but performance is the same, so no worries there.

msu2001la

I have GRX 600 shifters w/ 800 derailleur on my bike and it's a great drivetrain. I'd second the recommendation to go with the Cube based on that, assuming all other things are roughly equal.

tangerineowl

I'd check into the max tyre width of the Cube.

The 2020 alu Scott I looked at seemed it would max out around a 37mm rear, 40mm or so front, in 700c.

Rides4Beer

Couldn't find a max size for the Cube, but it comes with 40mm G-Ones, so can prob handle a lil bigger. Depends on the roads the OP will be riding, but 40mm is plenty for around here.

dwmckee

You narrowed your search to two fairly uncommon gravel bikes that you almost never see out there anywhere. At this price range some of the mainstream gravel bikes offer great value and are well proven. The Giant Revolt, Jamis Renegade, Salsa Journeyman, Fuji Jari and others might be worthwhile to look at as well. All of these offer great bikes in your price range and are well proven.

daanbr78

Thanks. today I looked at tiara brakes at local bike shop and did not like the mechanical disc breaks. Felt really fihmpsy

daanbr78

Thanks all for the advise. the search got narrowed down also based on estimated delivery times. Delivery times are crazy for gravel bikes!

utoner34

Good luck with your search. I ended up buying Nuroad Pro https://www.cube.eu/en/2021/bikes/ro...-desertnblack/ . I am satisfied with Tiagra, dont really have the need for better like on my previous Diverge. Hydr brakes would be handy but I couldnt pay 40% more for Race model.