Semi-Compact Frame Question
 

Hello,

About me: Casual recreational rider biking ~500 miles per year. 6'3" tall w/ 36" inseam - currently riding a 24" Fuji Traverse and the fit feels fine.

The idea of a Gravel bike intrigues me, but there is no way I am going to justify spending $700+ on a bike.

BD has a Liberty Gravel bike by Gravity (in house brand, I presume?) and noticed they say the 58.5cm frame fits people up to 6'5" tall. Can this figure be trusted?

Having no experience with Semi-Compact frames - are there any taller riders with longer inseams comfortably riding 58.5cm Gravel bikes?

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

Look at the Geo Dims they publish... The 58.5 bike has quite a looong TT, super loooong/tall HT, combined on what shows a very tall/long crown height (fork length). So long reach, tall stack.
comparing to old school diamond frame, this would be a very tall 60 cm or more 'in the middle' 62 cm frame...
... don;t have too high expectations... and recommend you go easy until you get some miles on those wheels with schraeder valves... 52/42 x 28 means don;t expect to climb like a goat... expect a bike weight in the low/mid 30s lbs.
basically a Big Box City bike, with drop handlebar
Ride On
Yuri
You already have all this in your Fuji Traverse... double the maintenance, but not double the fun...

Thank you for your insight, Yuri.

Re-reading my previous post, I realize I may need to clarify: FWIW - 90% of my riding will be on flat, straight, crushed limestone - nothing technical. Maintenance on the trail is fair to poor, hence the desire for wider tires to soften the ride. I was reserving the Fuji for fair-weather riding. This would be an all-weather beater. Being on the taller side, my primary concern is if the bike will be big enough for me. I've never purchased a big box store bike before. My intent was to re-grease the hubs, re-torque all the bolts, and get a new freewheel with a larger bailout gear.

To your point about the wheels and mx: from your experience, where would you see the most troublesome and recurring mx issues most likely to occur?

Given I have no specific experience with any of the stuff on this bike; I would expect the shimano stuff to be very serviceable, and reliable in reasonable use.
Things which would bug me - stem shifters, no only inconvenient, but also gets in the way of anything else mounted there, like bar bags, electronics, etc.
52/42 chainrings w/12/28 cassette - on a bike for non-race environment - just very limiting, but then I do have hills, climbing, steep pitches, etc.
Mostly, I would expect very little attention put to the components when they were put on, expect no 'chasing' of important threaded areas, like the BB. Expect wheels with poorly tensioned construction. Cheap Square taper cranks are notorious for having poor alignment with the best possible adjustment...
Will it get down the road? most likely. It's a question of what level of 'acceptance' you might have... and how much you're willing to deal with to keep it running within expectations.
Ride On
Yuri

Rather than relying on guesswork from those of us who have no first-hand knowledge: .

Short version: he doesn't love the stem shifters, but they do the job; also, he guessed wrong on the size, and it's a bit bigger than he'd have preferred. Otherwise, he's been enjoying the bike..

you forgot - he doesn't know why he flatted on his first ride... he doesn;t know bikes, but he does know what he likes...
and a big thanks to whomever 'invented' the scroll function...

Thank you for taking the time to help educate a stranger. These do seem like rather important points for consideration.

Thank you for the link!



These are all good points that are having me re-consider my choices.