Gravel/Hybrid Bike on budget! Chepo new vs used + some new parts?

[ms.hyde]

Hi! I'm new here
I come from a downhill/enduro background and haven't got a bike in many years.
I just spent whooole day looking for a gravel bike online and going around Manchester.

I'm looking for something for commuting and long weekend rides. Probably 40/40/20 road/gravel/trail
It seems like price starts at £800 and no sign of small bikes (I'm 5'3).
Even if I stretch my budget it's max £650 , maybe £700.

So I was wondering if maybe buying a used bike cheaper and maybe modifying it a bit? Or looking for a road bike that can be fit with a wider tire?
The only Gravel I found in my price range is Triban RC 120 Disc Road (+ getting gravel tyres?) but I never heard about this company before, so I'm not sure.
I was also looking at Specialized Sirrus X 2.0 - but it comes with drop bars and I'm worried about it not being good for longer ride?

Any help appreciated, I'm really stuck at this point and I'm not sure what to do at this point.

 

[vickster]

Hi! I'm new here
I come from a downhill/enduro background and haven't got a bike in many years.
I just spent whooole day looking for a gravel bike online and going around Manchester.

I'm looking for something for commuting and long weekend rides. Probably 40/40/20 road/gravel/trail
It seems like price starts at £800 and no sign of small bikes (I'm 5'3).
Even if I stretch my budget it's max £650 , maybe £700.

So I was wondering if maybe buying a used bike cheaper and maybe modifying it a bit? Or looking for a road bike that can be fit with a wider tire?
The only Gravel I found in my price range is Triban RC 120 Disc Road (+ getting gravel tyres?) but I never heard about this company before, so I'm not sure.
I was also looking at Specialized Sirrus X 2.0 - but it comes with drop bars and I'm worried about it not being good for longer ride?

Any help appreciated, I'm really stuck at this point and I'm not sure what to do at this point.

Sirrus has flat bars not drops.
Triban is Decathlon’s in house brand, a massive French sporting goods brand, all over the world.
Have a look at the reviews of the RC Tribans there are lots of reports around the wheels and taking the tyres off to fix punctures.
Many roadbikes won’t take gravel wide tyres so that may be a non starter, there’s often not clearance in the frame especially if you want mudguards.
There’s a global shortage of bikes, small ladies gravel bikes are rare beasts anyhow, used prices are high so you’re going to be very short on choice unless you can find some more cash.
Planet X make a bike called the London Road, the alu option is around £800 and might be available in an XS frame. Pinnacle at Evans can be good value too and worth a look.
At £650 max though, you’re going to struggle. You might have more luck with a flatbar option, the parts are cheaper

 

[ms.hyde]

Sirrus has flat bars not drops.

Mixed it up! Ofc it's flats!

I'll go to local decathlon tomorrow to see the Triban then. I'm just worried if it's strong enough.
Atm I'm just looking for some nice used road or hybrid online for conversion on ebay, but even used it's hard finding a xs/s frame

 

[Cycleops]

Triban is a brand name of Decathlon, the largest cycle retailer in the world, they even have two shops here in Accra. It’s a french company. They have huge buying power so can offer bikes at a great price so therefore are good VfM. They offer a very good warranty, lifetime on the frame and one year on parts I think. So you can buy with confidence. I take it you’re talking about new?
Rather than going around you’ll be better off going online to see who has what. There’s a shortage of new bikes and components at the moment so if you do see something that suits jump on it, it won’t hand around. Similar situation with used, values have increased.
Fitting bigger tyres on a road bike is a bit of a non starter, they’ll be severely restricted by frame clearance, the most you might use is about 30c.
No reason you can’t use a flat bar hybrid for longer rides, plenty do, and you’ll find many come with fatter tyres. Just depends what you’re comfortable with.

Good luck and to the forum.

 

[vickster]

Converting a flat bar to drops and vice versa often doesn’t work due the difference in geometry and reach

 

[Ridgeway]

2nd hand hardtail with some mods, be a fun project and done well would produce a nice bike

 

[ms.hyde]

Triban is a brand name of Decathlon, the largest cycle retailer in the world, they even have two shops here in Accra. It’s a french company. They have huge buying power so can offer bikes at a great price so therefore are good VfM. They offer a very good warranty, lifetime on the frame and one year on parts I think. So you can buy with confidence. I take it you’re talking about new?
Rather than going around you’ll be better off going online to see who has what. There’s a shortage of new bikes and components at the moment so if you do see something that suits jump on it, it won’t hand around. Similar situation with used, values have increased.
Fitting bigger tyres on a road bike is a bit of a non starter, they’ll be severely restricted by frame clearance, the most you might use is about 30c.
No reason you can’t use a flat bar hybrid for longer rides, plenty do, and you’ll find many come with fatter tyres. Just depends what you’re comfortable with.

Good luck and to the forum.

Thank You for explaining more about Triban
Well in that case I won't try to start of with a road bike!

Converting a flat bar to drops and vice versa often doesn’t work due the difference in geometry and reach

I would go with Sirrus X, but I'm still worried about handlebar being flat bar, and If converting might not be a good idea I might need to look for a used bike.


I don't think there's anything else in price range up to £700 that I might have missed?

 

[ms.hyde]

2nd hand hardtail with some mods, be a fun project and done well would produce a nice bike

That's what I will probably end up doing - I just need to educate myself about parts, what's good and stuff. I used to build my own dirt & downhill bike but it was7 or so years ago

 

[vickster]

This might be an option but even the smallest might be too big
https://www.halfords.com/bikes/adve...si-adventure-bike---s-m-l-frames-452974.html?

 

[ms.hyde]

This might be an option but even the smallest might be too big
https://www.halfords.com/bikes/adve...si-adventure-bike---s-m-l-frames-452974.html?

Thanks for that! I didn't think about checking halfords, I thought they only have those cheepo mtb everyone had when they were a kid, ha.
It's not in stock yet though, so I'm going to keep my ease on it


I'll be looking through ebay so far for something nice. Is there any gravel models in particular that might be good even used? Typing gravel not always finds all the bikes

 

[Kingfisher101]

Look at Merlin they have a gravel bike in XS for £600. With Claris. I'm sure that would be alright for you unless your wanting to do a lot of muddy trails, then I'd say get a hardtail. Merlin Malt G2 Claris Gravel Bike - 2021 | Merlin Cycles

 

[vickster]

Look at Merlin they have a gravel bike in XS for £600. With Claris. I'm sure that would be alright for you unless your wanting to do a lot of muddy trails, then I'd say get a hardtail. Merlin Malt G2 Claris Gravel Bike - 2021 | Merlin Cycles

A good shout and the station closest to their shop is about 45 mins from Manchester. Call before travelling to discuss what they may have in store or how long before can collect
https://www.merlincycles.com/shop.html

 

[ms.hyde]

Right! Im in evens in trafford park they got this beautiful cannondale on sale from 1100 to 800.
Its a womens cannondale synapse,
But it can only take 32mm wheels.
What do You guys think? It’s a proper bargain, but I’m not aure if it can handle canal paths and gravel

 

[ms.hyde]

Right. I spen over an hours. And decided I want this cannondale only because it’s a baragin and I’m missing a point here and 32mm tires won’t be good, and going over a budget…
This Merlin looks perfect! I will give them a call first thing tommorow morning thank You!

 

[Gillstay]

For £300 notes I built up an old Dawes hybrid for a chum in a fix. 700 wheels with good tyres. Then comfortable flat bars and a good saddle plus a very light weight rack as he needed that. He is so pleased and it does everything he needs well , so when he saw a 2k gravel bike he said `What more has he got than I have ?' Well there was a not a lot in it, bar a great deal of money and a flash paint job. Do your own !