# Merckx Eeklo 70 'cross bike for gravel?



## octave

hey everyone!

sorry-- i am not sure where to put this... but, i am in the hunt for a gravel bike, and i found the Eddy Merckx Eeklo 70 cross 'bike at a good price online. i was wondering, as i have no experience with gravel riding nor with this specific bike, what people thought about using it as a gravel bike?

here is the full-spec:
Eeklo 70 Disc Black Orange (Gloss) - Eeklo 70 Carbon - Cross | Eddy Merckx Cycles

edit: since it is the 2016 model, the wheels are Shimano RS31X Disc, with Vittoria CG Pro tires.

thanks!

o


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## Jay Strongbow

I'm not exactly sure but that appears to be a pure cross racing bike. So it's handling and possibly fit would be a bit more aggressive then most people like out of a gravel bike. 
And not unique to this bike but with any bike make sure it will take tires as big as you'll want to use.


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## tangerineowl

Only yesterday, I was reading online an article about some unsealed road routes in Utah, who's riders were all riding that bike.

Can't think of where that article was at the moment, though.


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## octave

jay-- i am straying off the paved road onto gravel, so i am used to an aggressive bike (Scott Addict); do you think a 'cross geometry would be too much for a roadie going to gravel? or is it less a question of who is on it and more a question of the actual demands posed by gravel? it appears the bike can fit up to 38mm tires. and, the big thing i have been hearing about gravel bikes is a low BB (i.e. around 70mm)-- and the Eeklo apparently has a high one (58mm). will this truly have that big of an impact? also, the Eeklo appears to have QR front and rear, no thru-axles... this to me seems like a no-no on a disc bike... anyway, i can find literally no online reviews about the bike, not anywhere to confirm my observations (i actually am not sure it only has QR, as no spec list nor even the official site says one way or the other)! normally i am pretty good at sleuthing on the interwebs, but here i have nothing.

tangerine- yeah i read that too! it was bikeradar's 'Horse for the Course' but they were actually on the new carbon version of the Merckx gravel bike, the Strasbourg 71. i would love to have that one, but i hear the price is going to be $5k and i aint got change like that lying around... 

thank you both for your answers!


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## Jay Strongbow

octave said:


> jay-- i am straying off the paved road onto gravel, so i am used to an aggressive bike (Scott Addict); do you think a 'cross geometry would be too much for a roadie going to gravel? or is it less a question of who is on it and more a question of the actual demands posed by gravel? it appears the bike can fit up to 38mm tires. and, the big thing i have been hearing about gravel bikes is a low BB (i.e. around 70mm)-- and the Eeklo apparently has a high one (58mm). will this truly have that big of an impact?


I wouldn't want to try and predict what you'd think of riding a race cross bike on gravel roads but can tell you that I really appreciate the more relaxed handling of mine as compared to my aggressive road race bike (which I love for fast asphalt rides).
No question you'd get by fine with any bike that takes bigger tires and fits you......but for optimal gravel riding I don't think that would be a cross race bike.


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## octave

Jay Strongbow said:


> I wouldn't want to try and predict what you'd think of riding a race cross bike on gravel roads but can tell you that I really appreciate the more relaxed handling of mine as compared to my aggressive road race bike (which I love for fast asphalt rides).
> No question you'd get by fine with any bike that takes bigger tires and fits you......but for optimal gravel riding I don't think that would be a cross race bike.


all of the above is great advice... i kind of am trying to convince myself that it would work because it is such a good deal, but i think i need to keep looking. we are moving soon from a very urban place to a very non-urban place so i am rearing for a gravel bike!

the search continues.

but, as for thru-axles-- how important are those for disc-brake bikes? i have discs on my city bike with normal QR front and rear, but it is not at all the same idea. i imagine thru-axles just create a much more solid fixment of the wheel... and, what is your experience with different BB heights? i have never ridden anything with a 'high' BB...

thanks again!

o


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