So, I've noticed a few endurance road bikes come out with some interesting specs: - clearance for 35-38c tires - 71 to 72 head degree angle - some tech features to soften the ride a bit
Some of these new new endurance road bikes look quite similar to gravel bikes released about 5 years ago. I view this as a good thing, because I'm actually looking for a bike that is more 50/50 road and relatively tame gravel (chunky on occasion). Gravel bikes released today seem a bit overkill for this purpose: GRX components, clearance for 50c tires, all the mounts that I probably won't use (except bento box maybe), single chainring or 46/30 double (not ideal for road).
Thoughts? Anyone else like me in the market for more of an "allroad" bike rather than today's gravel bike?
I was in your place a few months back, and after looking at different options picked up the last Norco Section A1 in my size. I like mid-priced alloy (other bikes are Felt Breed, Specialized Allez) and this one sits nicely in between - in tire size, fit and geometry, and handling. I made a few changes to the stock build (most important probably being Panaracer Gravelking 35c, which are about 37mm on these wheels).
The best thing about the bike is that it doesn't care where I ride - the Breed begs for dirt, and the Allez is really pavement only. This one just goes wherever - I could do a 90% paved ride one day and 20% paved the next, and neither be better or worse. It's lively on the road, smooth and stable for most dirt (a Strava segment called "A Good Bone Rattling" was a bit much...but quickly over!), and if I had to keep only one bike this would definitely be it.
I was such a fan that I decided to surprise my girlfriend with a similar bike - a Liv Avail AR. She is riding 40c Donnellys since she wants a little more traction (I could not fit those on the Section). Hers is a little longer in the chainstay and a bit more endurance fit, but another great option. I saw Trek also came out with the Domane AL disc recently. And then there's Allied All Road, Salsa Warroad, and more if you get into carbon. I give the all road segment 2 thumbs up!
Good point. But really, gravel is all over the place, with some being more drop bar mountain bikes and some being fat tire road bikes.
I ended up with a CX bike, as it works well with aggressive riding and does anything from fast group rides to single track that doesn't requires suspension. CX, until recently, were stiff, tall, and had limited tire clearance, but newer ones are fast gravel bikes. Its all a blur between road/endurance/CX/gravel...
My first question to myself (or you) is what is the maximum tire size I want. If its 32ish, endurance bikes can work. 40ish can be any CX/gravel bikes, 45-50mm is a different category all together.
chas wrote: My first question to myself (or you) is what is the maximum tire size I want. If its 32ish, endurance bikes can work. 40ish can be any CX/gravel bikes, 45-50mm is a different category all together.
I'm good with 38 max tire size. Full disclosure, I currently use my Raleigh Roker the way I'm describing. I have two wheelsets, one with 28's for 100% road rides and one with 38's for gravel or mixed surface rides. Generally I'm fine with the Roker, but I've come to desire something snappier for the road. My medium Roker is 440mm chainstay with 1030mm wheelbase... sometimes feels a bit sluggish.
Trek Domane fits a 38c tire. I believe a few other endurance road bikes publish max tire size of 35c (which could mean that a 38c will fit). Not necessarily ruling out cross bikes, but I much prefer a 2x drivetrain. I'd like to see the trend of wider tires in endurance road bikes continue. Agree the lines are blurred here, just happy to see more options for what I'm looking for.
I was also interested in an endurance road bike (Domane and Endurace), but chose a gravel bike for two reasons. First, a gravel bike can always be set up with a road tire and, unless it's very slack, be lively like a road bike (?). The second reason is gearing. A 34-34 or 34-32 low gear means lots of power needed for climbing a steep grade at a high cadence. I was actually able to try, and really liked the new Domane. I found it very comfortable, and I was ok with the tire size limitation (or at least I thought). But I ended up opting for a Grade to have the subcompact gearing (30-34 low gear). It was a good call for my riding, and interestingly, I think the Grade feels a bit livelier than the Domane did. It's not 'better,' and certainly not prettier, but it's more versatile for me. I actually now ride my Grade with 42c. So, in the end I'd have probably been unhappy with the tire width limitation of the Domane too...
ATLien wrote:So, I've noticed a few endurance road bikes come out with some interesting specs: - clearance for 35-38c tires - 71 to 72 head degree angle - some tech features to soften the ride a bit
Some of these new new endurance road bikes look quite similar to gravel bikes released about 5 years ago. I view this as a good thing, because I'm actually looking for a bike that is more 50/50 road and relatively tame gravel (chunky on occasion). Gravel bikes released today seem a bit overkill for this purpose: GRX components, clearance for 50c tires, all the mounts that I probably won't use (except bento box maybe), single chainring or 46/30 double (not ideal for road).
Thoughts? Anyone else like me in the market for more of an "allroad" bike rather than today's gravel bike?
I agree about the all road thing. I bought the Ridley x-trail about 2 years ago and it was already a two year old model. Gravel bikes are definitely on another level now. But I love it for exactly the kind of riding you're talking about. Don't have quite the same level of gravel in the UK, but some of our tarmac roads are pretty rough.
Quite tempted by a second bike but not even sure what I'd look at.
I ride a 2015 original-spec Diverge Expert. I hated the original rubber, so have learned to nicely squeeze in the 38c Panaracers (Compass or SOMA). Despite the OE 4-Axis wheels being fairly light and wide, they're sloppy, so upgrade to Roval CLX was a huge upgrade I'm glad I did. I wanted to try Scwalbe G-One 38 in the rear to prevent glass-shard flats, but the Deutch lie about width, and these 40c market tires (!) balloon to 41.5mm, so won't fit a first-gen Diverge. The 35c Scwalbe skidded out too much, so I went back to the supple Panaracers, now favoring the SOMA as they're cheaper and have a thicker tread cap than the Compass/Herse pricey variants..-plus they don't flat as often! But I digress.... The reason I write is that Spesh decided that complaints of unruly fast descents on gravel of Gen1 Diverges were enough (and maybe to separate further from road bikes?) to justify stretching the NEW Diverge's geometry. More understeer, better downhill stability. Yet what I REALLY like about my perfected (?) old Diverge is that on my 80% road riding it has nearly the snap and feel of my Roubaix (which I use only on smooth roads, clipped in, etc., more rarely). I'm not familiar with other better-handling "all-purpose" options in the market, but would suggest that an older Diverge is a fine choice, and clearly more "road"-worthy than the new one.
I think the increased availability of seriously fast wider road tires (GP5000 32mm, for example) has made an all-road road bike a lot more attractive. Unless you live where there is flawless pavement, a bike with wider tires and comfortable geometry makes a lot more sense than a purebred racer.
If the majority of the ride is going to be on the dirt roads around here, I'd rather be on a 40ish tire, but 32 is enough to greatly reduce the "oh, sh___" factor if your paved route unexpectedly turns to dirt. Look at what cyclocross folks do on 33s.
You are right in that the line between "gravel race bike" and "endurance road bike" is getting blurry. There's a lot of crossover. But the "gravel" category now goes from racebikes to hardcore bikepacking, so even there you have a huge range of choices.
I don't plan on bikepacking or loaded touring. If I was limited to one bike for the local paved and dirt roads, I'd look in the gravel race/endurance road/all-road segments for something light that could take a 40mm tire on a wide rim(40 gives you a huge range of choices), and have two sets of wheels -- one for a 40 gravel tire and one for a 32 road.
ATLien I bought a cross bike, because it has the "pop" on acceleration and agility of a road bike, but all the good stuff I needed from the gravel side of things (larger tires, compliant ride...). Bummer that 1x is taking over as I went out of my way to get 2x. That is a requirement for me. A lot of the more stable gravel bikes seemed too sluggish for me, and I like to be able to power out of a turn without hitting a pedal. :-O
Angstrom - yeah, I ride 32mm on gravel in the summer as our gravel roads are in better shape than our asphalt roads! I was doing a night ride last fall, and knew instantly when the dirt turned to asphalt - much rougher. It doesn't seem too long ago where on a drop bar bike I would have to pick out a smoothish road for my ride, where now (with 32mm tires) I just go on any road (and off road with larger tires).
The norco section a1 is my bike as well. With a crankset upgrade and carbon wheels it is one of the best bikes I have owned. I do 20 gravel, 80 roads on either gp5000 32c or gravel king slicks 32c for winter.
I finally gave up on my road bike that could only take a 25mm tire in the back. I ride a lot of mountains that start at 4,000 and go up to 10,000 and those roads are not awesome. Expansion cracks are the worst. I slowly gravitated to a 'road' bike that was built from an old XC mtb race frame. As such it will take pretty large tires and I am presently riding 45 to 55 mm tires. When you run those at 20-25psi they just eat up the poor pavement at 9,000 feet, especially on the downhills. I can't see why I will ever go back below 45mm tires unless I get another chance to ride in France again when the mountain roads are pristine. I started with 32-38mm tires and then just kept trying bigger and bigger tires. I just can't find a downside when you run a fast gravel/mtb tire. The G-One Speed (old) Furious Fred combo (sometimes use a 2.2 Speedking Racesport) is as fast as any road tire I would trust on rough pavement so the only real downside would be aerodynamics of a big tire, but going up and down mountains that does not matter much (or at all).
The side benefit of those big tires is that I can ride any gravel that I want. I prefer my dual-suspension all-road bike if I am primarily off-road but the rigid bike will handle it even if it deals out a beating to my poor old body.
