Andry_13

Hello everyone!

I am searching for a gravel/touring bike for my daily commute.

For the last month, I have been using a used bike I purchased for 20 euros on my local marketplace to ride to work (a 10km ride). I have fallen in love with the freedom of biking, and I would like to buy an all-purpose bike that I can use for everyday commutes and overnight weekend trips.
My budget for this purchase is around 1200/1300 euros (although I am open to spending less if possible).
My dream is to bike from Germany, where I currently live, to my hometown in Italy (around 1100km away). This bike will help me achieve that goal in the next year or two.

Some of the folks on the gravel forum have recommended a few bikes to me, such as the

• Cannondale Topstone 3 (with Shimano Sora 2x9),
• NS BIKES RAG+ (with SRAM APEX 1x11)
• Fuji Jari 2.5 (with Shimano Claris 2x8).

However, I am concerned that the gear ratios on these bikes may not be wide enough for steep inclines in more mountainous regions. ( I would have to cross a part of the Alps to go to Italy)
I would like some advice on which model of gravel bike I should purchase to serve as both a reliable commuting bike and a touring bike with a high enough gearing ratio.

I am a complete noob to bikes, and I am overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information I learned in the past month and from the massive amount of bike models out there. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

pdlamb

Questions like this almost always devolve into "drinking from a firehose" (too much information, too fast), followed shortly by analysis paralysis. So let me give you three bits of advice.

1. Find a gearing calculator like Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Gear Calculator and learn to use it. Look up the specs for the bikes you're interested in, plug the crank and cassette sizes in, and calculate the gear inches. For touring a good rule of thumb is to aim for a low gear of 20 gear inches. Don't worry about the high gear, if you find a big steep downhill you can always coast.

2. If you're thinking about using panniers, look on the interesting bikes for racks or places to mount racks.

3. Find one or more bike shops with the model(s) you're interested in in your size. The bike shops should help you figure out what size you need; remember, you want to fit the bike to you rather than the other way around. Test ride the bikes. Aim for 9 km (5 miles) or more for each bike; flat, downhill, uphill, starting, and stopping. If you're just starting out, you may need to do test rides on different days to rest a bit in between. Buy the bike you like the best. Start riding it, around town, out into the country for a picnic, commute to work.

One more bit of advice. I always budget $100-150 to "equip" a bike, for bottle cages, saddle bag, spare tube, patch kit, pump, etc.

RB1-luvr

a Trek 520 or 920 or similar by other manufacturers will be a good commuter, and since fitted with racks, will get you home to Italy too.

mstateglfr 

Of the 3 you list, I would pick the Topstone. It has the widest range of useful gears while having smaller steps between gears too. And you could easily put an 11-26 9sp cassette on the bike to give yourself a little bit wider range to help up steep climbs.

https://www.ridgeback.co.uk/ridgeback-voyage-varrb22510 - 1528 euro
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribbl...ku=BBCGRABL010 - 1358 euro
https://www.fujibikes.com/collection...1-touring-disc - 1366 euro

The ribble bike could easily have an 11-36 cassette on it too. It has hydraulic disc brakes instead of cheap mechanical disc brakes like the Jari.

Honestly, I would either look for a very good condition used touring bike that fits, or save a bit and buy something like the Fuji Touring. It has proper fork and rear mounts for racks, has wide range gearing, and comes with a quality rear rack(despite fuji not leveling it for the pictures).

Yan 

https://www.cyclingabout.com/
Lots of good information in the above site.

Andry_13

I played around with this calculator, and I feel justified the need for the 20 gear inches 😅. I am also aiming for a reasonable high gear since I would like to commute at a reasonable medium speed (not that much, actually).
mstateglfr, for the Fuji Touring, the price is super accessible here in Germany, but I am not convinced by the flat bar. I'll look into it ( I apparently looked for the LTD model) Thank you for your detailed response and the specific bike models you suggested. Unfortunately, the first two are hard to find here in Germany though.

Thank Yan for the resource! I'll definitely check out the website you recommended for more information on touring bikes.

saddlesores

VSF has a good selection of touring/mountain/commuting/gravel/city bikes.

https://www.fahrradmanufaktur.de/en/

Xavier65

Have you checked out the Decathlon Riverside 900 or 920?

decathlon.fr/p/velo-de-voyage-riverside-touring-900/_/R-p-332461?mc=8643287&c=VERT

Pretty good value.

There's the lower priced 520 too.

Andry_13

Thanks Xavier, those seem really nice, but I would like a drop-bar/gravel-looking bike.

saddlesores, unfortunately their gravel model is over my budget.

I found a dealer with a cube nuroad pro. With the calculator, it seems to have enough low gear to pass a steep hill. Not sure about the mounting point for a solid rear rack. What do you guys think?

saddlesores

2x10 drive train. i'd prefer 3x9 for more gear options, but your choice.
28 spoke wheels. not for touring with more than minimal gear.
i'd rather have minimum 45mm tires with fenders.


The ability to utilize a rack on the bike allows riders to carry additional gear for commuting, touring and bikepacking.

• The bike comes with 35mm Schwalbe Tires.

• The bike has clearance for tires up to 40mm even with fenders in place.

https://www.bikeride.com/cube-nuroad/
https://99spokes.com/en/bikes/cube/2023/nuroad-pro

Andry_13

I didn't consider this at all! Their website states the bike's maximum load is 115kg. I am 70/75 with clothes, so I thought it will leave me with 40kg. But I guess it's not ideal to be close to the maximum load, right? Should I consider bikes with more spokes?
For the clearance, 45mm didn't seem bad to me. Most of the gravel in this price range doesn't seem to offer a lot of room ( most are under 45mm ).

saddlesores

Maximum system weight of 115kg

might wanna check if that "system weight" includes the bike weight, in which case you're down to max 20kg of gear. that gear would include racks and bags and bottles and tools and spares and 3-4 liters of water.

i'm 85kg nekkid, so with clothing and gear i'd be well over the max rated weight. and with heavier weight and more gear, i prefer wider tires for a cushier ride, and more spokes. always more spokes. 48 spokes for the expedition bike, 36 for the city/touring bike. i'd never go with 28. possibly 32 on the front in an emergency.


might question why you need a "gravel bike", which is mainly a marketing term to get latte drinkers excited.
cast your net beyond that arbitrary classification. look at hybrids and mountain bikes and trekking bikes and city bikes......and touring bikes even.

Andry_13

The truth is, I don't actually need a bike for my daily commute as the bike I currently use has enough gears (3x7) for the slight hills there are in my region. However, I don't feel that it's reliable for anything more than my commute, and it has some minor issues such as worn-out brake pads, a flimsy rear rack, and a basket that is held together with zip ties.

I'm interested in exploring new things with bikes, such as afternoon rides at a faster pace, weekend trips, and a big trip I'm planning a year from now. I was drawn to gravel bikes because of their versatility and saw that they can be used for almost anything I wanted to try. I'm looking for a bike with drop bars, tire clearance, and space for racks. If I find a bike that meets those criteria but is not classified as a gravel bike, that would work just as well for me.

PedalingWalrus

unless you plan to buy the bike as spec'ed from some kind of web site you can always just talk to the bicycle shop from which you will buy the bike and ask them to get a different drive train with lower gearing. This would probably result in slightly higher cost but at least you get what you want right away.

Xavier65

The Riverside 920 (11-42) has drop bars @ 1600€ - non-accessorised (to compare with gravel bikes) .

If you're careful/lucky, you can get better value on AliExpress. e.g.

DARKROCK Super Travel 700C touring bike TIAGRA M4700 groupset 1211€

QIANQIN 700c Gravel Bike 27 /30 Speed Hydraulic Disc 777€