I plan on purchasing a steel gravel bike this spring. Considering the Kona Rove LTD. Has anyone ridden one? My other choice would be a Co-motion Klatch, also a 853 steel frame. The big difference would be the 650b wheels and 1x on the Kona vs the 700c and 2x on the Co-motion (and about 1k in price). The Klatch can have a max 45mm tire. I was about to pull the trigger on a Klatch when I found the Rove LTD and started to second guess whether I would ever want to run bigger tires. Thoughts?
I got to ride the Sotra LTD a week back. Nice solid bike and liked the 1x11 gearing.
im a big guy, 6’4” 260#. The 58cm frame just felt a tiny bit small for me. Granted a stem extension and a better seat might have solved some of that.
i test rode a Jamis Renegade Renegade Expat 62cm and just felt it was better sized for me and was more comfortable a ride. Maybe due to the carbon fork. I liked it so much I ordered the Exploit with the hydraulic brakes and 1x11 drivetrain. SRAM Apex components, it’s very similar specd’ Bike. You can’t go with quite as wide with the tires however, I think 42mm max with 29” wheels.
