Gravel/winter bike/tourer with electronic gears

[jay clock]

I am in the process of rationalising, my excessively large bike fleet.

One possible plan is to replace my winter road bike, my two touring bikes, and my mountain bike all with one new road/gravel bike that will do that will do some off-road and could do a moderate touring load..

Requirements are

• Carbon, alloy or titanium frame
• Will take reasonable size off-road tires but will ride well on 28/32mm road tyres. Off-road will be occasional and limited and pretty much always dry
• Will take full mudguards (not Raceblades)
• Will take rear pannier rack
• Electronic gears, Shimano or SRAM.(due to Parkinson's, this is essential as I have weak hand strength)
• Hydraulic disc brakes (due to Parkinson's, this is essential as I have weak hand strength)

I look forward to any clever suggestions!

 

[PaulSB]

I ride a Kinesis Tripster ATRV3 for this very purpose. Electronic gearing apart you have described my bike.

You can purchase it as frame only and then build to your own spec.

 

[classic33]

You planning on taking it with you!

 

[StuAff]

+1 for the Tripster. 45mm tyre clearance (700C), 40mm with mudguards- don't bother with skinnier tyres if you've got the clearance, the advantages far outweigh the er, weight. In thousands of miles on this and the Litespeed before it on 35mm, have never once thought 'I'm far too comfortable, I need to save a fraction of my system weight so skinny tyres can give me a more jarring ride'. All the fixtures and fittings you're looking for, terrific ride, looks fantastic. If you're neither a midget nor a giant, most frame sizes are currently out of stock, but more stock is due in May.

Alternatives (I will assume your lottery numbers haven't come up and rule out Moots and Mosaic): Litespeed Watia (now direct sales only & you're looking at about £3.5k for a frameset), would have bought that if it hadn't been so much extra and/or insurance had paid up. Sonder Camino Ti is still an absolute bargain (and cheap enough you can get a complete build, swap out any parts you don't like/want and still be quids in). Planet X Tempest is even cheaper as a frameset, but allegedly not Di2 compatible (eTap would work just fine, obv). Reilly Gradient is well regarded & a decent price, though more than the Tripster ATR. See also Van Nicholas Rowtag, J. Guillem Atalaya, Lynskey…

At the risk of stating the obvious from these choices, titanium's the way to go IMHO. Carbon probably best suited to bikepacking gear rather than panniers, aluminium will save you money but…

 

[vickster]

Sabbath AR2 from Spa
https://spacycles.co.uk/m11b0s143p3141/SABBATH-September-AR-2-Disc-Frameset-12mm-TA-Flat-Mount

 

[T4tomo]

https://www.dolan-bikes.com/gravel-bikes/

Dolan GXC or GXT
They have new 105 Di2 builds and very customisable, including paint colour etc. And awesome value.

 

[jay clock]

You planning on taking it with you!
View attachment 686413

Ha! Good spot. Corrected it

 

[PaulSB]

https://www.dolan-bikes.com/gravel-bikes/

Dolan GXC or GXT
They have new 105 Di2 builds and very customisable, including paint colour etc. And awesome value.

Mentioning Dolan I have two friends who ride the GXT as a winter bike. Both intend to ride gravel but haven't yet. If the Dolan had been offered when I was buying it would have been a serious contender.

+1 to all that @StuAff has posted about the Tripster and Ti. I run mine on 35mm gravel tyres March >October and switch to 32mm road for winter. I have the full length Kinesis guards. Yes, it is a bit heavy and so slower. I struggle to accelerate with a group but once I've caught them can cruise at 18 and at a hard push 20/21mph. Climbing is slow. These are acknowledgements not complaints. For her main purpose of summer gravel (love this riding) and winter road (zone 2) she's perfect.

 

[jay clock]

Some great suggestions. Thanks. Although I don't think I am up for buying a frame and building up from scratch.

@PaulSB are you saying the ATR won't take electronic gears or that yours doesn't have them

the Dolan choices look interesting.
Sonder Camino
Planet X Tempest also
Ribble have some offerings

Not in a rush. Need a clearout first. One major issue I have is that we live in a terraced house with no rear access to the garden, where I have a couple of small sheds with bikes in. I also have a lock up garage with bikes in about a mile away.

So getting bikes in and out the house/garden/to and from lock up is a faff. As I get older and less mobile (Parkinsons) I am looking to simplify the fleet. For example, I bought a new lighter tourer in 2018 and didn't sell the old one! As it happens keeping it helped when my new one packed up big time doing LEJOG, and I came and collected it as back up. But unused since 2019!

 

[StuAff]

Some great suggestions. Thanks. Although I don't think I am up for buying a frame and building up from scratch.

@PaulSB are you saying the ATR won't take electronic gears or that yours doesn't have them

the Dolan choices look interesting.
Sonder Camino
Planet X Tempest also
Ribble have some offerings

Not in a rush. Need a clearout first. One major issue I have is that we live in a terraced house with no rear access to the garden, where I have a couple of small sheds with bikes in. I also have a lock up garage with bikes in about a mile away.

So getting bikes in and out the house/garden/to and from lock up is a faff. As I get older and less mobile (Parkinsons) I am looking to simplify the fleet. For example, I bought a new lighter tourer in 2018 and didn't sell the old one! As it happens keeping it helped when my new one packed up big time doing LEJOG, and I came and collected it as back up. But unused since 2019!

ATR is fully set up for internal cabling & ready for all electronic groupsets.

 

[PaulSB]

@jay clock I wouldn't attempt to build up from a frame either. For myself I discuss with my LBS the spec I want, they buy in the frame and we go from there. I was thinking you could do similar and spec an electronic group set. I haven't looked at the Kinesis website for over a year, then both full bikes and framesets were on offer , today it appears to be only framesets but I haven't investigated in any depth.

Friends and my son were able to spec exactly what they wanted from Dolan and receive the fully built bike.

 

[chriswoody]

Having a quick look at the bikes recommended, the titanium Planet x and Sonder Camino are pretty evenly matched, aside from the price tag being more on the Sonder.

However, looking deeper, personally I would be swayed more by the Aluminium Sonder, the geometry numbers suggest a more relaxed bike that would handle touring and off-road duties well. Sonder also make really nice bikes and have excellent customer service to boot.

There all good choices though and I can't think of any others to add to the list, good luck in your search.

 

[StuAff]

The R1, R2 and G2 are the only Kinesis models currently sold as complete bikes.

Further thoughts:
Albannach Torragar- made in Scotland from girders...no, titanium. Pricing on their website must be out of date (£1750 for a frameset...no chance now) but fully customisable ("geometry, bottom bracket and head tube standards, seat post diameter, tubing shape, wheel sizing, dropout type, brake mounting, cable routing, accessory fixing, frame finish and everything in between") and an excellent reputation. Will Vousden (whose Tripster ATR v1 died thanks to a collision with a motorcycle on the TCR) has just bought one on the recommendation of another Transcontinental rider. Would have been seriously tempted if I'd heard about them before buying the Tripster.

Mason Bokeh Ti- £3700 for a frameset, but really excellent. I know an owner not far from me, he's been very happy with it, and Mason have had many happy customers. Made in Italy.
All City Cosmic Stallion- £3.5k, but good reviews. My lovely LBS are a dealer.
Ribble CGR Ti £2199 for a frameset, complete builds from £2699.

Much is going to depend on your budget, particularly going with electronic, which will be ££££ for the complete build. Saving £1k (say) and it's not got all the features you want, or you don't like the colour/frame finish, or the looks…it'll still be the wrong bike. If you save £1k, it's the right bike, but needs a bit of snagging (my Tripster frameset somehow shipped without a crown race) or part changes, no bother. But you have multiple right bikes to choose from.

I'll say it again: if you go Di2, Planet X say the Tempest is not compatible. The Camino most definitely is.

My shortlist would be:
Budget option: The Camino Ti. Best bargain around, and if you want a fully custom frame (£1750..wow) their factory in Xiamen can do that. PX Tempest only if you go with eTap.

Midrange: The Tripster ATR. Ribble's cheaper as a complete bike, but I think I'd still have the Tripster overall.
EDIT: Orro Terra Ti runs the Tripster close, if not better in some respects. £2599 for a frameset, T47 BB, adjustable fork geometry. No 2x builds from Orro, though, it's 1x GRX or eTap only.
Midrange-but-more-custom-options: Reilly Gradient, Van Nic, J. Gillem, J. Laverack. All really, really good choices, more flexible on finish etc than Kinesis, Ribble or Orro.

High end: Litespeed, Mason.

No idea what their price is now but if it's right, just get one: Albannach.

 

[rivers]

The new Orro Terra titanium looks the business. As does the aluminium and steel. I have the terra c, and while it takes a pannier rack, it's limited to 5kg

 

[StuAff]

The new Orro Terra titanium looks the business. As does the aluminium and steel. I have the terra c, and while it takes a pannier rack, it's limited to 5kg

Oh yes, that too…it's a close match for the Tripster. Better if you want a T47 BB & adjustable fork geometry....