I’ve got a Canyon Endurace and a Jamis Renegade Carbon in the garage - love both bikes but could do with a dedicated gravel rig. Being tall with long legs and arms the Canyon is an XL and the Renegade a 61cm. So I was looking at bikes with stack around 630mm plus to get the right kind of fit for my old not very stretchy body.
So far within my price range I have:
Topstone Carbon 3 in Orange Slice
Grizl CF7
Fairlight Secan 61T
The Fairlight is pushing the budget but it’s not Carbon and appeals to a sense of recyclability. I can get any of them to fit and like the colour of them.
So has anyone got any experiences of these three and which would you go for - want to bikepack next year and had a set of deep section Carbon gravel wheels to put on whichever bike I do get. I also played around with the Gloria All Gravel but think its too small stack wise to not look really goofy once set up for me.
Or are there similar priced alternatives up to £2500 max that I haven’t considered?
Must have min 50mm tyre clearance, Stack 635mm plus and maybe have threaded BB and internal down tube storage..
I need saving from too many rabbit holes and youtube test videos…
My vote is Secan, having a soft spot for metal bikes. No internal routing is nice. As is more customized fit if you’re looking for tall stack. You’ll have less concern about bag straps wearing carbon, too. I came close to ordering one, but was looking for longer and lower at the time.
Unlike the above poster, I would never buy an externally plumbed frame in 2025. It just feels unfinished and lazy on the part of the manufacturer. If companies are able sell integrated routing bikes under $1k, there’s no reason that any $2500+ bike should have external routing IMO.
I might get a bit of hate for this but I’d avoid Canyon. Too many proprietary parts and can be a big wait to get parts if needed, even at an authorized service center. They look cool, have a good price point, clear big tires but I’ve seen too many issues.
Re Canyon - I felt a bit the same even though I already own one. But to be fair on this bike they now have an external seat post clamp which stops the squeaky seat post that many reported and the steerer tube is now 1 and 1/8 so easier to change out.
Good points about internal routing which can be a pain if you’re working on your own bikes and bags wearing carbon is a real thing .
I’m most tempted by the Topstone carbon 3 1x at this point. It’s within £200 of the canyon on sale. Though I have heard of issues with the King pin bearings but nit sure if that’s older models only.
