Which Gravel Bike?

The Giant Revolt range night be worth a look also

The reality is, though, you might be limited by what's available, rather than what you want

Fustle - that's a new one for me. Had never heard of them.

I have a Giant Revolt 0. Top end of the aluminium framed Revolts.

I love it. Spec wise it would be quite similar to the Trek above (with the Trek having, arguably, a better wheelset)

I have a Genesis fugio which is close to hardtail territory, heavy as fcuk but very composed on the rugged stuff and great on gravel.

It's pretty sluggish on the hilly roads, but I'm not racing with it. I kitted it with dynamo lighting, full mudguards.

I would have been slow to buy a giant with their proprietary dfuse tech but they allow for normal seat posts in their latest model, and that change would make them a strong contender. Although it looks like internal routing and that might kill it for me!

Gravel bikes get a rough time in Ireland and I'd be going with the lowest end groupset you are happy with. Hydraulic brakes and 2 by 10 makes sense to me, I'd put up with Sora before I'd be putting ultegra priced gear into the mud.

I'd try go for one of the gravel specific groupsets if possible - i have grx on mine and it's been great. Have previously had road groupset on cross & gravel bikes and they are a bit more fragile.

Never heard of that brand drag but the fact they didn't even bother to try and blend the welds on the steerer tube I'd go with the trek.

There's also a nice cervelo aspero on done deal which might be worth an offer. Based on the marks on the chain stay and down tube along with the rusty chain I'd say its seen a lot of use.

I'd probably take this over any of them 🤷‍♂️ a shame its not a 1x

https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/gravel-bikes/bike-packing/grizl/cf-sl/grizl-cf-sl-6/3243.html?dwvar_3243_pv_rahmenfarbe=GY%2FBK

I'd go with mtb type pedals if you are planning any off road at all. I tried using the same pedals and shoes on my gravel bike and changed after two rides. Unless you know your routes very well, there's a good chance of walking from time to time

A good bike shop will be the best place to answer that for you. As a general rule, if you are between two sizes you will be advised to go for the smaller of the two (mainly because it is possible to make a smaller bike slightly bigger but not vice versa).

I'd say it depends where you are on the scale too (which is just an indication). You don't want a bike that is way too small for you, might feel more lively but after 3 or 4 hours you might start to feel it

You are not doing gravel right if you are in road shoes 🙂.

Before anyone buys a gravel bike they should do it with eyes wide open as to what Irish gravel is.

It's often like above rutted tracks, with plenty puddles and muck.

With that in mind any purchase should bear that in mind; for me that means threaded bottom bracket, mudguards and a cheap drivetrain.

She's not light but close to unbreakable.

It surely is and nice to see another Genesis getting the dancing shoes muddy :) I can see those mudguards being an issue in mud though.

The auld work horse doesn't fair much better at times either 🙈

Mid ride baths aren't uncommon either

For both of us 😂

and as above seeing this is fun the first few times but they can break you when it's been a long day out. 😭

Gravel's great craic though 😂😂

Sorry for the spam post OP

I've never ridden a gravel event, but most seem to be up the west;either Ballinrobe/Westport maybe Moycullen?

Where I'm based, north Waterford/South tipp gravel means primarily Coillte forest with a little private/abandoned public roads/tiny amount of bord na mona. The best spins tend to be somewhere in the 80/20 - 50/50 backroads/gravel mix. It'll depend where you live (there might be lots of BNM if you live near midlands).

A sense of adventure and not getting lost will matter more than whatever spec of bike you have. I had as much fun with a rim braked Ridley as the current bike, just wearing a rim in less than 3k km gets annoying pretty quick!

Any more than 2 hours looking at Sitka Spruce and I'm ready for a change.

Typically routes below; they are mostly really hard to ride but rewarding

@iwillhtfu I've never had a bother in two years with mud/twigs or anything else with the mudguards. I'd never be without guards again on a bike like it. HAve had it out in the middle on wettest weather and heavy snow and its a gift. Might even put road tyres on for a few road spins over xmas period.

BTW I can't view your photos; its probably my browser

Ah mudguards are great for everything except thick mud the pics would give a better idea but I've had occasions where the wheels wouldn't turn for the mud between the frame and tyre without mudguards let alone with they'd have been torn off. 🙈

Also OP it's a toss up but for me 650b wheelset and plenty of clearance is a must on a gravel bike. 650b allows you to get in bigger tyres which are much more comfortable and offer more grip.

Regarding gravel just look for wind turbines and you'll usually find plenty and along with some hike a bike you can usually stitch some good routes together, the joy of a gravel bike is that you can just saunter down a lane and see where it takes you.

If you do decide to return that frame to the boards community, drop me a pm first 😜

My Croix de Fer is going to metamorphose towards something more gravel like over the next while, I can get away with a 36 tooth cassette out back with the current RD and will migrate to GRX up front when I need to. I've had a lot of fun with it on hard-pack stuff over the years, moving to something more suitable for Irish conditions would be the intention

I have a giant revolt advanced, picked up around March /April this year. Has driven me mad with creaking noises since I got it. Brought it back after a few weeks to complain and whatever they did, it reduced the creaking noise for about 60k! Anyway, after reading your post I've checked and bike carefully and there's what looks like a possible hairline crack in the frame at the seatpost. I can't say for sure it's a crack but it's definitely concerning and fits with what you have described. ll go back to the shop and see what happens. Bike had had really minimal use. Thanks for the heads.

The more mundane but equally likely possibility - particularly as the shop was able to silence the creaking for a while - is that it's the bloody press-fit bottom bracket making the noise. The cheaper aluminium Revolt has the arguably better threaded BB.

Worth getting that hairline crack checked out though.

No its definitely the seat post (I suppose can't exclude seat post AND bottom bracket). I can hear the seat post make awful cracking noises in response to movement etc, eg if I'm descending and hit a slight bump or something it'll make a pop noise, if I shift my position around on the saddle etc it'll creak terribly.

Have left the bike in now. They seem to think it's likely paint but are going to send photos to giant. Not exactly scientific but not sure what else I can do. Lifetime warranty on the frame so at least if something happens down the road I can hopefully get it fixed then. I'll be swapping out the d fuse seatpost either way for a regular round post.

Sorry to derail and thanks for the heads up to person who originally mentioned the issue

Pity , but Sounds like what’s been reported everywhere on the 2022 model . Here’s the wedge and crack . Seems nearly all cases are the frame has cracked not just paint . Be interested to hear the outcome . Best of luck anyway.

That is exactly what mine looks like but due to the colour of my frame it's much less noticeable, I can feel the "crack" with my nail. Shop seemed sure enough it was just paint. There's also some mild bulging in the seat tube where the wedge is.... Very, very mild now, but all together I'm less than delighted with it.

That does not look like fun. Mountain bike job

It wasn't me but this was one of the threads. No goats were harmed in the provision of this information 😃

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2057826950/irish-gravel-compendium/p1

Excellent outcome

Not sure, some sort of brown that isn't available to buy here