In the hopes of moving to another company which would be about 4 miles from the house, I have been entertaining the idea of a gravel bike to commute a couple days per week.

I've been mainly focusing on a Specialized Diverge ALR-5 because they come in a 64 cm and therein lies the limitation, my 38" inseam and arm length.

So some questions:

Does anyone here ride a gravel bike and what model doe you ride, what type road/paths do you ride, and would you buy that bike again?

Can someone with my dimensions comfortably ride a 61 cm frame?

What brand/ model would you recommend (dealers please come in)?

TIA

My idea of a gravel bike is my road bike with 28mm tires!

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
My idea of a gravel bike is my road bike with 28mm tires!

I have a Trek 750 Multitrack which I've tried to make into today's gravel bike however, the frame is just too small as I've gotten older.

This is an incomplete answer. but get a frame that works and move on. Everything else is easy to fix for this use (tires etc.). I've used both a mountain bike and a converted road bike and there is no meaningful difference.

As I've gotten older, my biggest mistake was buying a mountain bike (for streets) rather than a hybrid with a more comfortable upright seating position. You can always put whatever tires you want on it. But definitely get a bike that fits you.

I have a Surly Crosscheck. It's a laid back cyclo-cross bike that takes wider tires up to 41 mm (good on gravel). Nothing flashy but a good solid bike for my casual riding. Mine has cantilever brakes, this is a variant with disk brakes. If I were purchasing today I would go with disk, too many white knuckle moments in the rain. Frames up to 64 cm.

https://surlybikes.com/bikes/midnight_special

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
I have a Surly Crosscheck. It's a laid back cyclo-cross bike that takes wider tires up to 41 mm (good on gravel). Nothing flashy but a good solid bike for my casual riding. Mine has cantilever brakes, this is a variant with disk brakes. If I were purchasing today I would go with disk, too many white knuckle moments in the rain. Frames up to 64 cm.

https://surlybikes.com/bikes/midnight_special

Outstanding - thank you for the input.

Where/ how did you find a dealer (or am I being blind)?
NVM, figured it out.

I bought a Giant Anyroad 3 years ago. Aluminum w/carbon fork, disk brakes. With the triple rings in front it was a good trade off. Many years of road riding on aluminum, 700x23, and I could not adjust to the inefficiency of the whole mountain bike thing. Then I had a knee replaced. Just getting back in to it and my other knee is scheduled for December. But I still feel like I made the right choice. And after I rehab this second knee I plan on making some noise in the Masters bracket in my area

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
I have a Surly Crosscheck. It's a laid back cyclo-cross bike that takes wider tires up to 41 mm (good on gravel). Nothing flashy but a good solid bike for my casual riding. Mine has cantilever brakes, this is a variant with disk brakes. If I were purchasing today I would go with disk, too many white knuckle moments in the rain. Frames up to 64 cm.

https://surlybikes.com/bikes/midnight_special

Outstanding - thank you for the input.

Where/ how did you find a dealer (or am I being blind)?
NVM, figured it out.

By now you've probably got what you got, but I'm curious what you ended up with.

I've got a Surly Midnight Special and would recommend that all day, every day.

quote:

Originally posted by MaThGr82:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
I have a Surly Crosscheck. It's a laid back cyclo-cross bike that takes wider tires up to 41 mm (good on gravel). Nothing flashy but a good solid bike for my casual riding. Mine has cantilever brakes, this is a variant with disk brakes. If I were purchasing today I would go with disk, too many white knuckle moments in the rain. Frames up to 64 cm.

https://surlybikes.com/bikes/midnight_special

Outstanding - thank you for the input.

Where/ how did you find a dealer (or am I being blind)?
NVM, figured it out.

By now you've probably got what you got, but I'm curious what you ended up with.

I've got a Surly Midnight Special and would recommend that all day, every day.

Not yet. Was provided the opportunity just this last Thursday. Should get a response tomorrow.

With that, I'll likely go with the Diverge.

I have the Giant Toughroad great bike for the gravel.

Toughroad

quote:

Originally posted by Ozarkwoods:
I have the Giant Toughroad great bike for the gravel.

Toughroad

My Trek has straight bars to which I added a set of Aero bars. Looking for a set of drop bars this time (might move the Aero bars over).

Plus, with a 38" inseam, I need at least a 61cm frame (the one I'm likely to buy is 64cm). Challenge here is finding one in stock which I can sit on to verify the fitment. (Maybe a road bike to test fit on?)

I've been looking at gravel bikes, I owned a Specialized Tri-Cross for 7 or 8 years.

I like the Salsa Warbird, Trek Checkpoint, or Ibis Hakka MX.

quote:

Originally posted by roberth:
I've been looking at gravel bikes, I owned a Specialized Tri-Cross for 7 or 8 years.

I like the Salsa Warbird, Trek Checkpoint, or Ibis Hakka MX.

Reading the reviews online seem to place the Diverge just ahead of the Checkpoint

Just picked up the Specialized Diverge ALR-5. A quick ride around the block and it feels to fit better than the Trek 750. Maybe a combination of drop-handles vs straight bars and size/overall dimensions of the frame(?).

The ride was much shorter than expected as I thought downshifting was going to be rather straight forward - it's not. Up-shifting (easy to figure out) are the tabs behind the brake lever, downshifting is the whole dang brake lever - who'd a thunk it??!!!

So, now that I've changed companies, and measured out the ride, it looks like my bicycling commute will be ~2.5 miles (the additional 0.5 mile is what defines bicyclist - damnit!!) Wife and I will ride at the beach (read - FLAT!) before I take on the [uphill - BOTH directions] commute.

Goal now is to convince SWMBO (thinking of you TMATS ) I am ready to sell the GTO and get a Hellcat.

Nice choice!

I find it difficult to stay stressed or pissed off for more than a mile or two while riding, so it's the perfect option for commuting (especially the return trip.)

What the heck is a gravel bike? The one you purchased just looks like a regular road bike to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
What the heck is a gravel bike? The one you purchased just looks like a regular road bike to me.

Road bike turned cyclocross bike turned somewhere-between-the-two less-aggressive-geometry for riding mixed surfaces.

quote:

Originally posted by DennisM:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
What the heck is a gravel bike? The one you purchased just looks like a regular road bike to me.

Road bike turned cyclocross bike turned somewhere-between-the-two less-aggressive-geometry for riding mixed surfaces.

And with the ability to accept a wider tire if desired.

I like to think of them as a road bike which can also do dirt roads and light trails. If dirt and trails are the more common paths, wider tires can be fitted.

I have a Soma ES that I built up and really like it.

For Gravel, I would go with Disc brakes, easier to put on bigger tires.

the Soma Wolverine comes in 62 and 66cm so might fit you really well. You'll have to build it or get your local shop to do so. As they are frames only not a complete bike. You can source all the parts individually or buy a model from Bikes Direct and strip it for the parts.

My first attempt at a recommendation was bike direct but hard to find your size there.