410001661JW

My wife and I are looking at picking up a couple of gravel bikes (we are both 50). My wife is new to cycling and I am a 'has been' - LOL. Rode a lot in my 20's and was racing (Sr 3) until work and kids started competing for my time. For the next 20 years I was mountain biking here and there and at one point had a kiddie trailer attached to my Cyclops crit bike for about 3-4 years (always good for a laugh). Fast forward 25 years and my Cyclops is still going strong but it is not comfortable for rides longer than 1.5hrs and we are now looking at a couple of endurance or gravel bikes.

I am looking at trying to keep it under $5k for both bikes (before tax) but it is not a rigid budget. I have been looking at Cannondale Topstone, Giant Contend, or Trek Checkpoint but they are all starting to look the same to me as I have not bought a bike for myself in over 30 years. I struggle with the components in this price range as I am weary of anything under 105/GRX600 - I am not sure if I would be disappointed with Tiagra GRX400 as I have only rode on DuraAce and Superbe Pro on my road bikes in the past. Am I being a component snob or should I not look at anything less than 105?

Is there any models I am missing? I am located in Burlington, Ontario and with the COVID bike shortage I am not sure if I can get what I want or should I settle for what I can get?

Thanks - John

tangerineowl

Giant will possibly give you best spec for price.

Argon18 Dark Matter could be worth a look if you require a shorter reach frame with a decent stack height.

Have a look up other Canadian brands like Norco or Jamis for carbon.

Steve B.

I love my Topstone 105. I'm no stranger to aluminum, had 2 Kleins a few decades ago, miss them (FU Trek). My Topstone is a very comfortable bike, I added a 2nd set of wheels that I run with Conti Grand Prix 4 Season tires in a 28mm, which on the typical wide gravel rim ends up at near 32mm, perfect for asphalt. I often take both wheelsets on vacation with this bike for flexibility. The 1st wheel set has Gravel King tires in a 43mm, plus the 11-34 cassette, it'll go up anything with a 30/46 crank. I only swapped the h-bar to a 44cm as the stock 42 is too narrow for me, Really very happy with this bike, just good luck finding one.

mstateglfr 

Welcome back to the hobby!

You aren't being a component snob. Instead, call it 'overly discerning'. Tiagra is fine. Sora is fine. My wife's road bike is a sora dricetrain and I havent touched the shifting in a few years(she puts 800mi on it a year, to be clear).

I would rather have tiagra shifting and hydraulic brakes than 105 shofting and cable disc brakes.

Looking at bikes can get super confusing.
it sounds like thr best thing to do is find bikes in person and try them out. See what geometry feels good and what you dislike. Then take the geometry that felt good and compare it to bikes you are considering.
For example, for me a Giant Contend will never be a consideration since the largest size only has 615mm of stack height. My saddle to bar drop will be way too much with that stack height, or I would need a goofy stem option. So it's easy to cross the Contend and Revolt off for me.


In general, Specialized has a lot of stack height for its endurance and gravel bikes. Giant has the least stack height, and Cannondale plus Trek are in the middle.
That's just the 4 largest brands.

Find any bike that is a size that is supposed to fit and ride it for long enough to experience the bike(longer than in the parking lot). Then compare those numbers to other bikes. The bike you ride doesnt even need to be one you are considering.

As for other brands- Kona, Jamis, Marin, Felt, Fuji, Norco are all brands with well established gravel/endurance options.

There is no downside to buying a gravel bike instead of an endurance bike. You can fit wider tires for more comfort and if you really want, you can put thinner tires on.
The same can't be said for an endurance bike.

shelbyfv

You probably should start by checking with local shops. If you want something to ride this year you may have few choices.

Steve B.

Check the weights though. A buddy had a Kona steel framed gravel bike, it weighed near 27 lbs and road like a slug. He sold it and got a Topstone which weighs about 22 lbs. He much prefers the Cannondale.

bonsai171

You may also want to take a look at the Salsa Warbird. Bought mine on the recommendation of someone on this forum, and its been great from gravel, to road, to singletrack, to steep mountains. It feels fast, but can handle rough terrain too. Having bosses for 5 bottles is amazing when you are on a long ride and don't know where your next drink is coming from. I'm running the Apex version. If you find a good deal, you may be able to get 2 for around 5k.

Dave

410001661JW

Well I found these in stock at local bike stores
- A couple of Giant Contend AR2's for sale (Tiagra) but they do not have my size in the AR1.
- Cannondale Topstone 1
- Trek Domane 4

mstateglfr 

Yeah, those certainly cover the common overall range of geometry.

scubaman

The most important thing to me would be fit, especially for your wife since she’s new to cycling. I think that argues very strongly for only considering bikes you’re able to try before you buy.

I’m a big fan of the simplicity of 1x drivetrains, especially (but definitely not only) for new riders.

I’d also strongly encourage focusing on bikes that can fit wider tires than you might expect to want/need. The Topstone Alloy spec says “tire size 37”, but some models come with 40mm tires; idk the max size that will fit. Domane max is 38mm. From your road racing history, 38 or 40mm may seem *huge*, and more than you’d ever need - but there are many high-quality gravel tires available in 42-48mm widths, and wider tires can be more comfortable, more versatile, just as fast and only very slightly heavier. Plus tubeless works better with wider tires (for me, I’d only use tubeless in tires >=38mm).

Regarding components, I think most everything works well these days - certainly night and day compared with the Dura Ace and Superbe you raced back in the day. Again, I recommend a 1x drivetrain, but 10 speed vs 11 or 12 does not seem essential to me (depending on how the bike is spec-ed, your wife and/or you might want to switch to a smaller 1x chainring, but that’s an easy swap). I’d also recommend hydraulic disc brakes, because they’re very effective and also very easy to modulate.

Steve B.

To re-open the 1X vs. 2X drivetrain discussion, I love my 1X system on my mt. bike, it offers great shifting over a very complete "range" of the gearing I need for my local conditions. I would not want it on a bike that might see a lot of asphalt use, as a gravel bike might. Thing with 1X is the hills local to me come quick and 1X means no thought about which chainring I need to be in, I have (most) of the gearing I need to go down or up. I do miss the in between gearing I like when riding flatter sections, there are pronounced gaps in any 1X system, it's the nature of you only get 11 or 12 gears, period. On the road and to an extent on a gravel road or bike trail, you might want the in-between gears on a 2X that are missing on a 1X, especially if riding rail trails, etc.... Thus the argument for 2X makes sense on a bike used in those conditions. And I don't buy into the argument that 1X is more reliable with no front derailer, of course it is, but it's not like front shifting suddenly got terrible with the introduction of 1X, if anything the 105 system on my Topstone is perfect, shifts great, better than any front system I've used for 30 years. Thus I would recommend a 2X for a gravel bike.

jonathanf2

I have a GRX400 10 speed bike and older 105 5800 bike. My newer GRX400 shifts crisper and smoother than 105 5800 bike, though my 105 5800 bike shifts faster. I have no problem going back-n-forth between either bike. Only issues I found is that 11 speed chains cost more than 10 speed chains, but there are more 11 speed cassette options available.

Chilepines

Go with what you can get that fits your budget. There is not really that much difference in quality or spec between one $2500 bike and the other. All the things that really matter - 1x or 2x, gearing range, 38c vs 47c tires, handlebar reach/drop - are really different for different riders in different conditions. Until you get out there and ride it on your terrain and do it for a while you're not really going to know what exactly works well and doesn't work well for you. Once you figure that out you can either do upgrades or sell and buy a different bike.

410001661JW

Thanks for all the help. It was a great learning experience and I discovered (i) we are not getting two similar gravel bikes in S and M - nothing available (ii) any gravel bikes I have seen are $1400 or less or over $3,000 the sweet spot in between have not been in stock for a long time, and most importantly (iii) we determined that we realistically ride 70% road and 30% hard packed trail (rail trail) so maybe an endurance bike is better suited for us.

So in saying that I found two Giant Contend AR2's in our size, and in our price point. We have the ability to put up to 38c tires on it (it comes with 32c).

prj71

An option you may want to consider. https://fezzari.com/products/shafer

You can also put 700 x 40 on the new Trek Domane.

ericzamora

From a fellow 50-something who also was used to 80s styled road bikes, who raced crits at times too back in my 20s, consider a gravel bike over an endurance bike. Gravel bikes have sub-compact cranksets, endurance bikes usually have a 50 tooth chainring. And you suspect 70/30 road/hard packed trail, but you may find you like the off-pavement stuff more than you thought. Gravel bikes usually can handle bigger tires than endurance bikes.

Keep in mind the trickle down tech. Many say this year's Tiagra was last year's 105.

I currently ride a 2018/2019 Norco Search steel gravel bike and it's been fantastic. I have the 700 stock wheels with 40c tires, but also built up a set of 650b wheels, with both 47c and 2.1 inch tires, opening up new worlds of riding. Look at Norco's current Search models. There's an AL version too. Of course, stock may be limited, but they're worth a bit of a drive if you can find them. And it's a Canadian company. The Shimano GRX hydro brakes will be so much nicer on the 11-speed Norco than the 10-speed Giant's Tektro mech brakes.

eric/fresno, ca.

Big Dave Crowe

Rei co-op gravel bike. I have one, it's awesome with great components

mstateglfr 

Which? They dont have a bike simply named 'gravel bike'.

$1300 for a Claris shifting bike with low end cable brakes and a square taper crank- https://www.rei.com/product/159858/c...es-adv-21-bike
$1600 for a Tiagra shifting bike with cable brakes- https://www.rei.com/product/159859/c...es-adv-22-bike

Hondo Gravel

Aftermarket custom gravel wheelset a few other nic nacks under 2K over 10K trouble free miles minus basic wear items like chains and brake pads.