# Lynskey PRO GR versus Trek Carbon gravel bike or any other brand. Pluses/minuses



## mtnbikerva1

Lynskey PRO GR bike? Tell me what the pluses and minuses are. What would you do differently?
What did you compare it to?
Other test rides or bikes you ride, or have ridden?
What is the difference in weight and ride quality vs the 3.2 Ti version? Or even a not fragile carbon gravel bike?
Vertical and lateral stiffness?
Acceleration and braking?
I watched the Lynskey video on finish choices, anything to add?
Would it be better or worse with the Chris King t47 BB? Too stiff?
I am 6’1” 168 pounds.
I hate aluminum for its ride quality: too stiff, wears too easy, denting…
I do not like feeling like I am riding a jack hammer.
I have a Litespeed Vortex from about 25 yrs ago also have a too small for me Obed.
Maybe trade in the Obed, for a gravel 6/4 or 2/3.
Or just buy a Trek with their proprietary front and rear in frame suspension like their Domane? Not crazy about the press fit B.B. though.
What tires do you guys really use and how easy is it to get them and cost?
Any clear winner or looser in tires?
Thank you


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## Srode

There's probably 2 or 3 lbs difference between the TI and Carbon bike - as far as aluminum ride, if you are running 40mm tires at 40-45psi I don't think there will be much difference in ride quality on gravel with similar frame style bikes. The Isospeed design from Trek is very functional though - whether or not you can notice it will depend on how rough the gravel is you are riding probably.


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## Finx

For me, the biggest downside of the Lynskey GR series is that the geometry is really.. long(?). This concerned me as it was substantially longer that the bikes I was comparing to.

I think if I could have found one to test ride, I might have been ok with it, but I couldn't justify the risk for the cost, and ended up going a different direction.

I know nothing about the Trek gravel bike, but the things you want to ask yourself is, will is accommodate the wheels, tires, and whatever kit (bags, fenders, etc...) that you might want to run (depending on how and where you ride it).


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## Rashadabd

mtnbikerva1 said:


> Lynskey PRO GR bike? Tell me what the pluses and minuses are. What would you do differently?
> What did you compare it to?
> Other test rides or bikes you ride, or have ridden?
> What is the difference in weight and ride quality vs the 3.2 Ti version? Or even a not fragile carbon gravel bike?
> Vertical and lateral stiffness?
> Acceleration and braking?
> I watched the Lynskey video on finish choices, anything to add?
> Would it be better or worse with the Chris King t47 BB? Too stiff?
> I am 6’1” 168 pounds.
> I hate aluminum for its ride quality: too stiff, wears too easy, denting…
> I do not like feeling like I am riding a jack hammer.
> I have a Litespeed Vortex from about 25 yrs ago also have a too small for me Obed.
> Maybe trade in the Obed, for a gravel 6/4 or 2/3.
> Or just buy a Trek with their proprietary front and rear in frame suspension like their Domane? Not crazy about the press fit B.B. though.
> What tires do you guys really use and how easy is it to get them and cost?
> Any clear winner or looser in tires?
> Thank you


Trek's "gravel bike" really isn't a gravel bike to be honest. It's a Domane with the widest tires they could fit on the thing and a new paint job. My guess is that they will release a pretty awesome one in the next year or so. You can definitely use the new 2018 Trek Crockett as a gravel bike though since it has clearance for 40mm+ tires. 

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/.../domane-sl/domane-sl-5-gravel/p/1492000-2018/


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## Alaska Mike

You know what I really like about semi-polished ti? It cleans up extremely easily. My commuter/rain/travel bike is ti, and it performs reasonable well, doesn't have any over-complicated cable routing, has an English bottom bracket, and just plain works.

I picked up a Lynsky Urbano frameset that I'll eventually build up for gravel and off-season riding. It isn't as light as a carbon frame, but it's durable and reliable. I'll push away from the table if I want to drop a couple pounds.


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## Trek_5200

This is just me, but my view a gravel bike is more likely to get banged up, have rocks hit it etc. Off road they're going to be ridden at a slower pace than an on-road bike. I'd go with the titanium bike in a second, i prefer carbon for road bike applications. Others may differ but that's my view.


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## mtnbikerva1

Trek_5200 said:


> This is just me, but my view a gravel bike is more likely to get banged up, have rocks hit it etc. Off road they're going to be ridden at a slower pace than an on-road bike. I'd go with the titanium bike in a second, i prefer carbon for road bike applications. Others may differ but that's my view.


Yes stuff flying up and smashing against a carbon frame is a consideration.
Thank you.


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## bradkay

Trek just released a new model, the Checkpoint, that has the rear IsoSpeed decoupler and can handle up to 45mm tires. It has a lower BB and an adjustable rear dropout to allow you to run single speed if you wish or just to adjust the ride (via wheelbase). The headtube is taller than the Boone but it is not quite the Domane riding position. It also comes with full rack mounts and a ton of water bottle mounts. For those worried about rocks damaging carbon fiber, they are using their "carbon armor" on the downtube to protect from just that issue.


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