My wife is in the market for a new gravel bike after hers was wrecked in a crash with a car in the fall. She is somewhere between a beginner and intermediate. She previously had an Ibis Hakka MX which she liked which was a friends former pro-deal, so not something she chose in particular. Riding preference mostly is type 1 or type 2 gravel, probably not looking for something with suspension.
She is 5’4”, longerish in the torso. Budget is probably between $5k and $7k, but flexible. Probably looking for something that has an eye on sizing and touch points with women in mind.
There’s so many good gravel bikes. Would a smaller tire clearance option be good for the riding or would she want the big mtb clearance? If you’re worried about contact points, shop some last year frame clearances and build exactly what she wants.
I can’t imagine big tire clearance being a must have,. I generally put something like 38 or 40mm on her bike and that seems great. Doing a custom build is definitely and option.
Trek Checkpoint or Cervelo Aspero (not A5) would be good shouts. The Checkpoint has downtube storage and a pretty long but forgiving geo and quoted 50mm tire clearance (I’ve fit 2.2s in comfortably). The Aspero is a little racier feeling but they slacked the front out a little from the first generation, it’s pretty snappy and responsive. I think both hit a very solid price point for a carbon bike.
Thinking on this further, a Fairlight Secan might be a good call, with a 51R maybe offering the right fit if paired with a short stem. I’m 5’ 6” (male, short leg), and run a 54R with 70mm stem and it’s brilliant. It looks very traditional, both in terms of being steel and the high top tube/short seatpost in order to accommodate my proportions. Ride is fantastic.
Otherwise, the Giant Revolt (or Liv equivalent) are great bikes, and go down to small sizes.
My wife has a Santa Cruz Stigmata and loves it. The big advantage for her was that there is no toe overlap on the small size. She rides anything up to grade 3 gravel, and the stable handling make it very confidence inspiring. I was so impressd by the build quality I got an XL size for myself, with the suspension fork. The mix of components seems very good value for money. We travel in our motorhome to Spain for a couple of months in winter and these bikes get used for everything from long road rides to single track. Two sets of wheels, with 50mm G-One RX Pro on one and 40mm Hutchison Cracal Race on the other.
Hope your wife came out okay from the crash with the car!
Lots of good suggestions above already, I’d certainly look at the Aspero and Checkpoint, and as Paul pointed said above, the Stigmata is an excellent choice. None of the brands really think of women specifically with sizing, but the Checkpoint and Aspero, for example, do come with shorter cranks and not too wide handlebars. I’d say that if the intention is to do more relaxed riding, then the aspero and Liv Devote are on the lower and longer side, whereas the checkpoint and stigmata are more upright.
Another couple I’d throw in for you both to consider are the Orbea Terra and Argon18 Dark Matter. Orbea offers good customisation from the point of purchase, which means you can tailor the fit already there at no extra cost, and Argon18 does good small-fitting bikes with matching component specs (even 160 mm cranks on the xxs) and also lots of room to play with the fit.
Add that Orbea lets yo customise the paint at no extra cost, and that it’s an employee-owned business, and there’s really a lot to like (see @Suvi_Loponen‘s great factory tour). If only they stopped with PF386 BBs…
It was the bike she got because it was a great deal we bought from a friend. She was happy with it, but since we are buying her something new and not just a deal from a friend, considering other options as well!
Thanks, Suvi! She is ok now, though it took some recovery!
I had not considered the Orbea or Argon. I know that I we have a local Orbea dealer here in Boulder so that is definitely another one we will consider. While I’m pretty comfortable buying a bike based on geometry and online measurements, she wants to test ride everything. I think the Cervelo, Trek, Orbea, Liv/Giant, Stigmata at least are all options that we can find locally.
I had a Diverge (and a Canyon road bike) for a couple of years before the Stigmata. I replaced them with the Stigmata for more MTB type gravel and got a Crux for easy gravel and road. I’ve ridden the Crux with 50mm tyres over a 25km local rough and smooth trail, and whilst it copes with it OK I feel much more beaten up than after ridding the same trail on my Stig. The Crux is more lively and responsive (and makes a good road bike on 32mm tyres), but anything more than an hour or so on rougher surfaces is much more draining on both physical (shaken to bits) and mental (more concentration needed to pick good lines).
I think the Diverge may suffer from toe overlap, depending on the size of your feet. This is an important consideration if you do much technical twisty slow speed riding.
+1 for the Revolt. Have had mine for three years. In addition to job one, gravel, it is great on paved transition segments and occasionally on flowy single track.
Both also good options, I’m yet to try the Diverge, but the Crux is a lovely riding bike. That said, I’d maybe recommend the Diverge to someone who rides less because of the extra plush and stability, and a little more relaxed position.
The Crux is a snappy, fast bike. Not as comfy as most of the others listed. The Cervelo also isn’t the most comfortable. I think the Stigmata, Revolt, Checkpoint and Diverge are all great options. I’d also have her take a look at the Salsa Warbird. The best thing to do is test ride them all. Each fits and rides a bit differently. As a mechanic, I get to repair and test ride most of these models and they all have very specific ride feels. Give them all a look. Don’t be in a hurry.
