# Gravel Bikes: Entry Level



## slowleego

Got a taste of a gravel ride, (35 hilly miles) on my hardtail mountain bike, but looking to do something drop bar. Not thinking of something top shelf for now, but a bike to get going with and perhaps upgrade later. Saw a Kona NRB in a local shop and was wondering if anyone has played with this bike yet?

Lee


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## Lombard

There are lots of good options in the growing gravel bike category, most of them don't break the bank.

I just bought a Jamis Renegade Exploit which I love. For $900 less, the Expat is also a good option. Both are Reynolds steel.

renegadeexploit

renegadeexpat


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## Trek_5200

gravel bike is sort of a made up term in my view. keep your eye open for anything with disc and supports 28 mm tires and you got one. you may not even need disc, cantis are certainly a good option as well and maybe less expensive. and a far a gearing goes, just about any bike comes with compact gearing and a 32 pizza gear in the back.


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## Migen21

Trek_5200 said:


> gravel bike is sort of a made up term in my view. keep your eye open for anything with disc and supports 28 mm tires and you got one. you may not even need disc, cantis are certainly a good option as well and maybe less expensive. and a far a gearing goes, just about any bike comes with compact gearing and a 32 pizza gear in the back.


Everyone has their own idea of what a gravel bike is. For me, 28's won't cut it. Sure, there are some unpaved rail trails that 28's would work fine for, but having wider tires, 35, 38, even 42 and bigger opens up a lot more riding area for me. And I mean a *lot* - like the entire cascade mountain range is full rideable forest service and fire/logging roads. Many of them are washboarded and full of potholes, and have some really steep sections that require low pressures and lots of volume. 

To the OP, if you have a Norco dealer in your area, check out the Norco Search Aluminumn  (35mm tires). Starts at ~$750 and goes up to about $1500. The Search Carbon (35mm tires) starts at $2500 for the Shimano 105 version ($1500 for a frameset only). If you want wider tires (up to 45mm), the Search XR Steel starts at $900 and goes up to $2500. 

Norco makes great bikes, and are good value in terms of components for the various price points.


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## Srode

Any cyclocross bike can work for gravel, but a gravel bike generally has a longer wheel base, lower bottom bracket than a cross bike and can take tires that are in the 40mm range with room to spare.


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## Jay Strongbow

Trek_5200 said:


> gravel bike is sort of a made up term in my view. keep your eye open for anything with disc and supports 28 mm tires and you got one.


um, no. As addressed already 28 don't cut it. And plenty of super responsive (AKA twitchy) crit type bikes will accept 28mm tires. But that sort of handling would be a disaster on gravel. And plenty of weight weenie carbon frames, while generally fine for regular road, become a bad idea when rocks start to fly which they do riding gravel.

OP, I have no experience with Kona NRB but just googled it and generally that looks like a good option. I don't know anything about disc brakes though. Not sure if the ones that bike comes with are any good or not. From what I understand there's a big difference between good and bad disc brakes so look into that.


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## Teuthis

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bikes-frames-forks/yay-new-bike-362489.html

I just got a new gravel/crappy weather bike. So far, I'm lovin' it, and it was a good deal on sale at Performance.


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## Rashadabd

The Fuji Cross and the Fuji Jari are great options. Check out the Quiver Killer thread we have going. We covered a lot of ground on this topic. We started with endurance type bikes, but ended up discussing many of the gravel bikes that are out there at every level. There are lots of options out there at every price point like others have said. Check out gravelcyclist.com and cxmagazine.com/gravel as well.


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## DaveG

slowleego said:


> Got a taste of a gravel ride, (35 hilly miles) on my hardtail mountain bike, but looking to do something drop bar. Not thinking of something top shelf for now, but a bike to get going with and perhaps upgrade later. Saw a Kona NRB in a local shop and was wondering if anyone has played with this bike yet?
> 
> Lee


I know this is crazy talk, but what is wrong with using your hardtail on gravel roads?


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## Jay Strongbow

DaveG said:


> I know this is crazy talk, but what is wrong with using your hardtail on gravel roads?


Not having drop bars would suck and gearing would be inappropriate. Probably too upright of a fit also.


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## DaveG

Jay Strongbow said:


> Not having drop bars would suck and gearing would be inappropriate. Probably too upright of a fit also.


Pretty soon I'm going to need a caddy to tell me which bike to ride for every condition. "Well, this looks to be loose 1 inch gravel with occasional stretches of crashed shale. I think you should go with the #2 Crushed Rock bike with a 34.5mm high stiction tire with a herringbone pattern."


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## BCSaltchucker

DaveG said:


> Pretty soon I'm going to need a caddy to tell me which bike to ride for every condition. "Well, this looks to be loose 1 inch gravel with occasional stretches of crashed shale. I think you should go with the #2 Crushed Rock bike with a 34.5mm high stiction tire with a herringbone pattern."


i like quiver killers


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## Marc

DaveG said:


> I know this is crazy talk, but what is wrong with using your hardtail on gravel roads?


There are people who do that...and people who ride single-speed hardtail MTBs on gravel/dirt roads too.

OP wants dropbars...I know I would/do too-my back/shoulders can only tolerate flatbars for about 60-75 minutes.


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## Lombard

Trek_5200 said:


> gravel bike is sort of a made up term in my view. keep your eye open for anything with disc and *supports 28 mm tires* and you got one. you may not even need disc, cantis are certainly a good option as well and maybe less expensive. and a far a gearing goes, just about any bike comes with compact gearing and a 32 pizza gear in the back.


Most road bikes can take up to 28mm tires. 28mm tires would be a white knuckle ride on dirt fire roads.

A gravel bike usually has room for anywhere between 36mm and 42mm tires.


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