Casual gravel riders?

[Cruisertrash]

I recently built a bike for $600 with:

Center pull rim brakes
Friction shifters
Derailleurs that use *gasp* cables
Tires with tubes
Quill stem
Steel frame

And it’s pretty close to the nicest bike I’ve ever ridden. I feel like I splurged. The pedigree-brand Reynolds 531 frame is a good balance between supple, stiff, and light. I’m never desiring more gears or more accurate shifts. The brakes can lock up and throw me over the bars. The Japanese-made tires are 700x38C, very supple, and are great on pavement and light dirt. The saddle and cockpit are comfy on longer rides. It’s plenty fast when I want it to be but is comfortable doing laid back cruising around the neighborhood. I don’t know that I’m left wanting for anything. Like what would another $7400 buy me???

I’ve built a new bike for ~$2k and that was a lot, it was also everything I wanted albeit for a different purpose. The idea of “needing” to spend $8k to me is patently absurd - it really just sounds like a shady sales tactic.

 

[KC Masterpiece]

My thoughts exactly. I splurged on this one a bit with a carbon frame but dont really think I would notice the difference if it was 3x the price. Im very happy with cable shifting. I dont need my bike to have a battery. This is a huge upgrade over the 2005 Cannondale I have been training on. Should now be able to keep up with some friends on their big weekend rides.

Guessing when I drove up in the 60 the sales guy thought I was ready to just open my wallet. It also seemed like they only had super high end inventory left in the shop and were trying to clear it out before the season ends.

 

[Corbet]

The bike world is a unique place it seems. I applaud the amount of tech and the folks that are willing to pay for it. That makes bikes better for everyone in the end as tech trickles down. Electronic shifting is a solution looking for a problem IMHO. I sat in on a tech clinic last week with SRAM and their transmission drivetrain system in Whistler. Its cool and comes either electronic or cable pull. Much more than the average person needs. But I'm sure my next bike will have it, I'm admittedly a bike snob. I currently have the electronic shifting on my MTB and it works great. It has not made my riding experience any better or worse.

I wish we would get some rain and knock down the fires. I'd like to go ride but don't want to suck in the smoke.

 

[Cruisertrash]

I consider myself a bike snob too, but bike snobbery can take many forms…





I do have a friend in the bike industry who is a very vintage-minded guy, yet rides mostly modern bikes with wireless derailleurs and the whole bit. That was sort of eye opening to me. I guess I “get it”, but it’s just not for me. I like bringing four simple tools on a ride and knowing I can make it home no matter what happens. I’m too dumb to fix modern stuff by the side of the road haha.

For me maybe it boils down to the fact that Craigslist is full of extremely high quality bikes from years gone by that cost about $100 and would serve 95% of people very well. They might weigh 1-2lbs more. They might take an older size or format for some parts (all of which are still available). But there’s so much nice stuff out there that just doesn’t have “this year’s tech”. And I hate to see all that stuff get scrapped.

 

[Corbet]

I consider myself a bike snob too, but bike snobbery can take many forms…

Agreed and my old steel Colnago road bike is a perfect example. No plans to replace but should probably order a couple compatible chains now to insure I can continue to ride it.

 

[Telly]

I've been thinking hard about getting into the gravel bike scene and selling my roadie. My son recently built a gravel bike from parts sourced from FB Marketplace...Cervelo frame, SRAM wireless shifting, disc brakes, the whole bit. He told me he has about $2k into it. I took it for a spin last week and it was a sweet comfortable ride. However, I took my roadie out yesterday and had a great ride around the Garden of the Gods area. Maybe I should just be happy with what I got.

 

[Corbet]

like cruisers, just get more

 

[Cruisertrash]

I swear a "gravel bike" is anything you can put 32-40mm wide tires on and go fast. If you're using an older frame, it all comes down to the frame clearance for the tires. Time to take some calipers to the roadie from Doug!

I actually went to 650B wheels on that Bob Jackson above and my tire clearance went from 28mm to 38mm. The frame was maybe 1cm too tall for me with 700C wheels on it, and the 650Bs lowered it by that exact amount. Wins all around.

 

[LARGEONE]

I pretty much ONLY gravel ride now. I hope to get back into MTB now that my hip is replaced and healing. Casual is what I would call most of my rides. 20-30 miles is perfect. I just hate riding on the road with cars so started doing gravel a few years ago. My wife and I both have bikes that are beyond our abilities. Rodeo Labs Trail Donkeys. Hot deals on both of them.

 

[KC Masterpiece]

@Cruisertrash Here is what I upgraded from. 2005 Cannondale Adventure 600. A great bike, but slow and much heavier. I thought about upgrading it but didn't know where to start.

Definitely a fine bike.

The Revel definitely motivates me to cross trainin more. Just under 100 miles in the saddle this week. I only missed the front shock on one descent where I almost got bucked off a few times. Gotta work on my handling skills. My body is so used to running climbing on the bike is hard work! Did an 1800 ft climb on a 20 mile ride on Saturday was feeling pretty cooked, and I can run 3k per hr pretty sustainably. Respect to all you bike guys!

Very happy I had the disk brakes on the descent.

 

[Cruisertrash]

@Cruisertrash Here is what I upgraded from. 2005 Cannondale Adventure 600. A great bike, but slow and much heavier. I thought about upgrading it but didn't no where to start.

Definitely a fine bike.

The Revel definitely motivates me to cross trainin more. Just under 100 miles in the saddle this week. I only missed the front shock on one descent where I almost got bucked off a few times. Gotta work on my handling skills. My body is so used to running climbing on the bike is hard work! Did an 1800 ft climb on a 20 mile ride on Saturday was feeling pretty cooked, and I can run 3k per hr pretty sustainably. Respect to all you bike guys!

Very happy I had the disk brakes on the descent.

If you enjoy it and it gets you out there that’s literally the only thing that counts. Glad you’re liking it! The Cannondale is serviceable for sure, but upgrades feel nice and can be motivating.

@LARGEONE A friend of mine is a designer at Rodeo Labs. They make great stuff.

 

[LARGEONE]

@LARGEONE A friend of mine is a designer at Rodeo Labs. They make great stuff.

I really like their frames. I need to see if I can trade my frame for a larger size that was not available when I purchased the Trail Donkey a few years ago. I really need a 60cm and they now make a 61cm. Mine is a 58. Just too small even though I love it.