Dedicated road bike vs gravel grinder/cross bike

Dairyman

Dairyman

Active Member
Going to pick up my first road bike but cannot decide between a dedicate road bike or a gravel/cross bike. Contenders right now are the cannondale caad 12 vs the niner rlt carbon vs the Santa Cruz stigmata.

I will be riding in Monmouth county around hartshorne sandy hook 99.9% of the time. Are there any decent gravel roads in the area that justify a gravel or cross style bike?

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it doesn't look like you're going to miss out on a straight road bike. a cross bike most certainly isnt a road bike, but you can do just about everything you'd imagine on the cross bike with the right tires. the new school gearing may be something you'd miss out on a road bike. if you aren't looking to do super fast A group road rides or road racing, i think you'd be happy on the crosser!
 
Cross/gravel bike with double chain rings should fit the bill. Something with Hydro 105 should be relatively inexpensive and get you the most utility. Pick up a second wheelset so you can switch between offroad and road tires quickly.
 
After totalling my Pinarello wth a roof rack accident, sigh, I picked up a BMC GF02, grandfondo, and love it. I got a great deal used, but it's like new. Rides great on the road rides with nice disc carbon road wheels. When I want to gravel or cross, I put on the tubeless wheelset, and have a low end foul weather set. The old tcx may be new foul weather bike.
 
I used to own a CX bike but ended up selling it cause:

1) A road bike is better on the road because it's a road bike and not a gravel bike.

2) Most people who live in NJ who ride roads ride on tarmac 90%+ of the time, not gravel. I would estimate my gravel riding to be 1% of all my road riding, however much I try to ride gravel.

3) Any gravel roads I could ride on my CX bike, I could also ride on my road bike even with 23c tires.

In short, it was not worth the 1% of gravel I do ride.
 
I ride my "gravel" bike on road more often than my SuperSix Evo. But I would not take it for group rides.
 

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Have you taken a look at the GT Grade? I was in Halter's a while back having one of my bikes cared for and @jdog had me take one out for a quick spin, it was the Grade Carbon 105 IIRC. So, I'm riding a bike I've never ridden, with a cockpit not set up for me, with flat pedals and Shimano groupo (I've been SRAM ever since I graduated from down tube shifters). Never in a million years did I think I'd like this. Didn't matter, the friggen bike was fun! The ride was super smooth, nimble, can take wide tires and the bike just wanted to ridden. Stupid bike STILL haunts me.

Can't speak for the 2017's but the 2016 was awsome multi-tasker.

http://www.gtbicycles.com/usa_en/gorogue/
 
Are you interested in road racing? If not then I don't think the caad would be the best choice. It's a great bike, but along with the allez sprint, it's essentially a crit bike. Super stiff, made for short hard efforts.
I think I would want a dedicated road bike that has room for 28c tires, as there is something to road geometry if your mostly riding pavement.
You have a tough choice, there's so many options with so much overlap these days.
 
You can still get the Diverge w/out the front suspension. That would probably be my choice for road/gravel/drop bar trail bike. I would get a second wheelset though. One for the road with 25's on it and 0ne for gravel with 33's. I would set both up tubeless and just switch wheelsets. Thats way faster and easier than switching tires all the time.
 
Personally I would go with cross bike over road unless you want to race cat 1-2 crits. I use my cross bike on fast A rides without a problem even with cross gearing and 30c+ tires, sure it's a little harder but you have the choice of putting on road tires and then it's not much of a difference. Go with the one that fit's you best.
 
szymon said:
Personally I would go with cross bike over road unless you want to race cat 1-2 crits. I use my cross bike on fast A rides without a problem even with cross gearing and 30c+ tires, sure it's a little harder but you have the choice of putting on road tires and then it's not much of a difference. Go with the one that fit's you best.
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Good stuff here!
 
@szymon is a dood that knows how to go fast on any surface. good advice there.

I can't think of a good reason to own a just a dedicated road bike over a cross/gravel/adventure/whatever bike. 28's are about the smallest tire I run on any of my road bikes and I have 40c's on my cx bike unless I have a number pinned on. Get something that'll clear 40c tires and have fun blasting around Hartshorne & Allaire.

I am not a fan of 1x for riding on the road.
 
szymon said:
Personally I would go with cross bike over road unless you want to race cat 1-2 crits. I use my cross bike on fast A rides without a problem even with cross gearing and 30c+ tires, sure it's a little harder but you have the choice of putting on road tires and then it's not much of a difference. Go with the one that fit's you best.
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Good point my only concern with a cross bike is that it will feel slow for a road bike. I'd like to have the option of not getting dropped on group a fast paced rides. Not sure if it is the engine or bike in those type of scenarios though.
 
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