Anyone ridden or have any knowledge on the Polygon Bend gravel bikes. Particularly the R6 or R7 versions.
Looking for some around $AUD2000. These are in the ballpark and come up on sale regularly. Seem to have decent tyre clearance (50mm).
Anything else in that range worth looking at?
I bought a Polygon Bend RV Rival back in maybe 2017/2018 as a first foray into Gravel/Commuter style bikes. It was great value for money, and honestly I really enjoyed it. Stout alloy frame, reliable name-brand groupset (SRAM Rival at the time) and nothing upsetting spec-wise. Sold that bike onto a friend a couple of years ago as I knew it would be a great bike for them.
The only regret I had after a while was that I may have gone slightly small on the size selection. Ended up running a longer stem to compensate but that’s the opposite of what you want on this type of bike. Also experimented with a Shockstop stem, but really the best setup was just standard stem and large tyres at lower pressure.