A few thoughts..
Don't get too hung up on labels; "gravel", "adventure" and "all road" seem to be used interchangeably to cover a massive gamut of specs. Seems you want something closer to the "road" end of the spectrum so relatively "quicker" geometry with a more upright headset angle (71-72 deg), shortish chainstays (430-440mm) middling trail (60-70mm) and room for fairly modest tyres (perhaps 35-40mm in use).
Personally on a £2.5k budget I'd be looking at steel.
Consider tyre clearance - everything is getting bigger and people rarely want to go smaller. When I got my CdF six years ago 35-40mm was pretty much the defacto for most "gravel" bikes; now most road bikes are north of 32mm and many gravel bikes are pushing 45-50mm.
Coming from 25mm rubber on my road bike, 35mm seemed massive. Now I'm craving larger..
Give consideration to mudguards - IMO and absolute necessity on anything other than an MTB or fair weather road bike - a good set will keep both you and the bike clean; reducing the need to clean it, protecting the frame from stone chips and prolonging component like. Bear in mind that fitting guards will usually mean smaller tyres than the headline max quoted by the manufacturers. IIRC my CdF's stated max is 42mm; I can run 35mm rubber comfortably with 45mm mudguards.
Consider axle standard - 142x12mm TAs are becoming / have become the standard for higher-end road and most "gravel" bikes now, and carry tangible benefits over 135mm QR, so I'd be looking at bikes with these.
Consider the groupset - if coming from a road background and looking to ride fairly tame off-road you'll probably favour the closer ratios and familiarity of a 2x groupset over 1x.
The Genesis Croix de Fer is the default choice and I still love my 2020 CdF 30. The spec has changed an amount since (for both good and bad IMO) with the geometry getting a little more slack, tyre clearances increasing, a dropped seatstay (gah!) and internal cable routing (meh).
IMO the £2300 CdF 30 represents the sweet spot in the range - better frame material than those below as well sa through-axles and flat mount brakes; while offering better value than those above.
With all that being said in your position I'd be giving serious consideration to the Fairlight Faran 3.0; which, while similar to the Genesis in many ways it's also a bit more versatile and progressive in the areas that matter (tyre sizing and wheel choice for example).
It also appears on another level in terms of the sheer amount of thought, consideration and iterative improvements that have gone into its design.. while a few of the more questionable fashion-driven revisions to the latest CdF appear absent.
Finally if you fancy something capable with a bit of retro flair (and are happy to build it from a frameset / get it built for you), the Brother Kepler is a really appealing choice
Good luck
Don't get too hung up on labels; "gravel", "adventure" and "all road" seem to be used interchangeably to cover a massive gamut of specs. Seems you want something closer to the "road" end of the spectrum so relatively "quicker" geometry with a more upright headset angle (71-72 deg), shortish chainstays (430-440mm) middling trail (60-70mm) and room for fairly modest tyres (perhaps 35-40mm in use).
Personally on a £2.5k budget I'd be looking at steel.
Consider tyre clearance - everything is getting bigger and people rarely want to go smaller. When I got my CdF six years ago 35-40mm was pretty much the defacto for most "gravel" bikes; now most road bikes are north of 32mm and many gravel bikes are pushing 45-50mm.
Coming from 25mm rubber on my road bike, 35mm seemed massive. Now I'm craving larger..
Give consideration to mudguards - IMO and absolute necessity on anything other than an MTB or fair weather road bike - a good set will keep both you and the bike clean; reducing the need to clean it, protecting the frame from stone chips and prolonging component like. Bear in mind that fitting guards will usually mean smaller tyres than the headline max quoted by the manufacturers. IIRC my CdF's stated max is 42mm; I can run 35mm rubber comfortably with 45mm mudguards.
Consider axle standard - 142x12mm TAs are becoming / have become the standard for higher-end road and most "gravel" bikes now, and carry tangible benefits over 135mm QR, so I'd be looking at bikes with these.
Consider the groupset - if coming from a road background and looking to ride fairly tame off-road you'll probably favour the closer ratios and familiarity of a 2x groupset over 1x.
The Genesis Croix de Fer is the default choice and I still love my 2020 CdF 30. The spec has changed an amount since (for both good and bad IMO) with the geometry getting a little more slack, tyre clearances increasing, a dropped seatstay (gah!) and internal cable routing (meh).
IMO the £2300 CdF 30 represents the sweet spot in the range - better frame material than those below as well sa through-axles and flat mount brakes; while offering better value than those above.
With all that being said in your position I'd be giving serious consideration to the Fairlight Faran 3.0; which, while similar to the Genesis in many ways it's also a bit more versatile and progressive in the areas that matter (tyre sizing and wheel choice for example).
It also appears on another level in terms of the sheer amount of thought, consideration and iterative improvements that have gone into its design.. while a few of the more questionable fashion-driven revisions to the latest CdF appear absent.
Finally if you fancy something capable with a bit of retro flair (and are happy to build it from a frameset / get it built for you), the Brother Kepler is a really appealing choice
Good luck
