I’m trying to help my 65 year old father figure out what sort of gravel bike to purchase for his first “true” gravel bike, and would be keen to hear some suggestions and/or advice from the knowledgeable and experienced folks on here.
My father is a long time cyclist, and regularly rides on the road (on an old steel road bike with down tube shifters and 25 mm tires!) and on mountain/trails (on a 2018 Rocky Mountain Altitude). He’s looking for a gravel bike that largely fits these criteria, if possible:
Mostly for gravel (not too rough dirt road) and some road riding, not necessarily trail-worth
Suitable for bike touring/bikepacking
Carbon
Fork vibration dampening or front suspension
VERY low gear range for climbing with weight, but reasonable higher gear for speed when unloaded
Electronic gear shifting
Here’s a list of some the bikes he’s looked at through his own research or I’ve suggested through my own:
Trek Checkpoint SL
Cannondale Topstone Carbon 2 AXS SmartSense
Specialized Diverge Comp
Santa Cruz Stigmata
Salsa Flyway
Ari Shafer
Canyon Grizl
Trek Checkout (I gifted him the link to the recent review done by Dave Rome, thank you kindly Dave). My dad’s thoughts on this bike: if a really significant percentage of total riding was on rough roads, especially with on-board weight, this could be the go-to bike. But since 90% of his riding will be gravel road and pavement, it might be suspension overkill
Does anyone have any thoughts on these bikes and your experience with them, and/or have any alternative suggestions to look at? There’s so many bike options, so it’s a bit daunting to try and narrow it down - I’d take any and all feedback!
Additionally/lastly, here’s some questions he has that I’m not totally comfortable answering, that I’d love any input on:
Does his criteria for a wide range of gears (very low to reasonably high) mean 2x, or would 1x with 10x52 rear and a pretty small chainring probably be enough? In all fairness to my dad, he’s not exactly a speed demon anymore.
Are kingpin triangles something to consider (weight v comfort, etc)?
If there’s other things to consider as well, I’m all ears. Thanks!
I suggested the Marin Headlands 3 the other day on another thread and believe it’s worhy of considering for your dad’s needs, too. It’s reasonably light, 1x with a good range of gearing, wireless, and includes rack and fender mounts. And it’s competitively priced.
I’m 60, previously only a road rider on a Giant TCR. I took the plunge and got a Specialized Diverge 4 about 3 months ago and I love it. My one has Shimano GRX manual and came with DT Swiss aluminum wheels with 45mm tyres. It’s covered in mounting points for luggage and bottles, and so far has been bulletproof. The future shock front suspension definitely helps on rougher tracks, and the bike is fine for some road riding I do to join up the trails.
Gearing: I’ve got a 2x setup with a 46-11 top gear(roughly equivalent to a 42-10), and the only time I’ve spun out was on a fast group ride. I’d think a wide-range 1x setup would be fine for his intended use.
As an aging rider with no interest in racing, 2x offers more options on days when my joints are creakier than normal. 1x is fine on a commuter, but for longer rides I want lots of steps.
Carbon as a frame material is overrated for non-racing bikes these days. With carbon wheels, wider tires with lower pressures, and more compliant seats and posts, you can tune for comfort very easily in other ways.
As someone who has bought a Cannondale in the past decade, I urge caution when recommending any Cannondale bikes, except the most recent models, because of their foray into the Ai crankset nightmare we’re all living with. That said, I now love riding my 2020 Topstone carbon in a way I couldn’t imagine a year ago since I swapped the gearing to 43/30 - 10/36 and built 650b wheels with 2.2 and 2.0 tyres front and back. I now understand how tyres can offer suspension.
I think the kingpin system helps, but I am mostly convinced it’s the seatpost that does the work. A Redshift seatpost would be an easier, more tunable option (though these have become quite expensive in the last few years). You can also take the seatpost to a future bike. The Redshift stem was great when I purchased it. Takes a while to get used to what it does, but it certainly ‘works’ and requires no maintenance. I would go with the stem/seatpost/wider tyres for comfort. Make sure they’re at least 2.2. For reference, my 2020 Topstone came with 700x37mm tyres (which I think was the maximum for the bike), and I’ve managed to fit 650x2.2 and 650x2.0 (just).
Not to make the choices even broader, but depending on you and your father’s comfort in wrenching your own bikes, there are some nice open mold frames that could enable a bike to be put together exactly the way you’d like and want. As an example, just before COVID, I had seen that the exact frame which companies like Ridley and Ocoee (now Obed) used for their gravel bikes could be ordered direct from the manufacturer in Shenzhen. I actually ended up rounding up 12 of my riding friends to go in on a group purchase, and our original group was happy enough with the result that I helped another 6 guys a year or so later do another group buy. While the cost of the frame direct from China was probably about a third the price of what the brands wanted, I didn’t necessarily save a ton of money - the benefit was more getting the exact bike you want - groupset, contact points, wheels, etc. - rather than what some big brand product manager spec’ed to hit a price point in a lineup. As an example, we all ended up with a range of colorways on our frames - some guys wanted to go stealth with just the clearcoat on the carbon, while others went all out with fancy fades and/or unique branding (one of my friends used the same font as the big S but spelled out “GENERALIZED”).
A subset of the finished bikes from our original group, and my bike below that:
As an aging 64? (I think) year old I’m trying not to be offended by all this “older” discussion.
I spent the last 5 years convinced that we need 2x gearing to get a good range on a drop bar bike.
That was one reason it took me an entire month to commit to buying my new Crux with Force 1x13 - because I really thought it wasn’t going to have enough gear range.
After 4-5 months riding a lot - I came to the conclusion I really like 1x gearing and I’m starting to struggle with 2x when I ride my other bikes! (Remember I’ve been riding 2x bikes since the 70s)
I’ve been riding my Crux since early April with a 38T chainring. I can pedal effectively up to 55kph and still spin to ~60k but that is almost never that I need to pedal that fast. The last time was chasing Chris Riekert on a long fast not steep descent during the summit in Takayama.
We’re touring in Japan now with panniers, and I’ve realised the bigger steps in gears is just fine while my bike is loaded. As evidence by my Garbaruk topic in this forum, I’m expecting I want the option of using a bigger range cassette if I do any off-road touring with luggage.
So far, the 38x46 first gear has been enough for the climbs we’ve done here in Japan.
Over the last few weeks I’ve come to the conclusion that bigger steps in gears really only matters if you’re riding hard in a bunch so you can’t choose the pace, whereas I find it really good with a loaded bike - so that changing gears actually makes a useful difference.
I chose my Crux because I wanted my gravel bike to do double duty as a road bike 90% of the time as well as a gravel bike and a touring bike that I can take off road. This is my 4th CX bike, since ~2011 - I used to race CX for fun and I wanted a sporty bike, not a monster off road bike, since I have multiple mountain bikes for that purpose.
I confess I’d quite like to be able to mount bags / things on my forks, but all the bikes that have that capability are also heavier so I chose the compromise of using Old Man Mtn racks on the forks if I ever want to carry more stuff.
I am the same age as your father and bought myself a gravel bike three years ago. My primary goal with the bike was to go bike packing or rather touring away from cars as much as possible. That means that I don’t seek the most challenging surfaces.
I went with a steel bike for several reasons. First and foremost because I didn’t want to take the risk of a fall at slower speed to ruin the frame. Secondly because I grew up with steel, and after having owned several carbon bikes, I fell in love with steel anew. That happened when I was so fortunate to buy an older Ritchey Road Logic and instantly felt at home. And from this my choice of gravel bike became a Ritchey Outback which I haven’t regretted. Whether it is the steel, geometry or Tom Ritchey’s magic I don’t know, but as I wrote, I feel at home.
It has all the mount possibilities I need, it is easy for me to maintain and since I haven’t bought into the bigger tire concept, 48mm is more than enough. I ride Schwalbe G-One R and RS in 40mm. I have a mechanical 1x group set and I like the more simple approach. For nostalgic reasons I bought the Ekar from Campagnolo, with 38 chainring and a 9-42. I am very satisfied with this too, but would most likely buy something with lighter gearing, should I choose again.
I just turned 67. Over the last seven years the majority of my riding has shifted to gravel and mtb. Where I live my rides consist of a wide mix of paved roads/trails, gravel roads/trails and some singletrack. I’ll often join group rides and sign up for a race or two (only racing myself). I can’t really compare any of the bikes listed but I have friends who love their Checkpoints and Stigmatas. Having friends and family in the bike biz I stay away from direct to consumer. Another loves his Enve MOG. Below I’ve described what I’ve been riding, why I’ve made my choices and how it relates to your criteria.
I have a three year old Giant Revolt Advanced. I selected the Revolt in a large part because of the long relationship I have with the bike shop. If not for that I might have looked at the Checkpoint and MOG. Because of the mix of surfaces and about 20%/30% of my time on the bike being on the road I opted for a 2x GRX set up. Buying today I’d do a deeper dive into 1x options. Gear range? On a l lot of climbs over 10% I’m always wishing one more gear : ) I didn’t pick electronic shifting for cost. I just installed Pirelli Cinturato M tires and love them.
Fork dampening, for the most part I’ve been okay with a ridged fork however on severe washboards I think about one and would love a comparison. I’m really intrigued by the Checkout. If I were planning a big adventure ride with long miles, a mix of road conditions and lots of unknowns I’d give it a good look. For my riding it might be a bit of overbiking.
I’ve recommended it on other threads so why not here…I’ve been very happy with my Trek Checkpoint. It’s relatively tall stack will help your father, I’ve upgraded to XO SRAM Transmission as it comes with UDH so 10-52 cassette with a 40T chainring for very hilly days that I can switch to a 44 or 46 when I’m riding local flatlands. It’s got plenty of mounts for bags over the frame and I run with a tailfin rack for bigger adventures and commuting
It’s suspension corrected for a gravel fork if needed but I run a 2.25 Rick XC front tyre on the stock fork for a great blend of off road capability and decent on road speed.
This is a great idea. I’m not sure he would want to go as in depth as you and your friends did ordering direct from the manufacturer, but I’ve certainly floated the idea to him about getting just a frame and filling in the remainder of the components to fit exactly what he is looking for. +1 for this idea, thanks William!
Thanks for the input! I mean no offense with the “older” comment - much respect for getting after it! Sounds like your experience very closely resembles what my dad is looking for, and if he’s serious about off-road touring with luggage, a larger cassette (perhaps a 10-52) is a sound option.
Thanks Brian! Good shout on the Giant Revolt. I’ll add that to the list for my dad to consider, and thanks for sharing your friends enjoy their Checkpoints and Stigmatas. I think the ENVE MOG may be more than the old boy is looking to spend, but I’ll mention it. I also appreciate the input on the choices you made for your bike - so many options!
Thanks Chris. All those reasons you mentioned are why the Checkpoint sits high on my dad’s preliminary list. I’d kind of neglected the tire size consideration as additional “suspension” so that’s a great reminder. Much obliged!
Thanks all for the comments! This is great info and context that I can share with my dad to help inform his decision. I appreciate the insight very much. Cheers!
