I’m looking to buy my first gravel bike. I live in Northern California so I’ll be riding more hilly terrain than pan flat gravel. Does anyone have recommendations on any entry level gravel bikes?

I’d recommend a used cyclocross bike, either 2x or 1x if you’re willing to spend some more money on the drivetrain to make it more gravel oriented. Should be able to get a really nice carbon bike with disc brakes for under $2k. The geometry won’t be modern gravel, but it’ll be a lot nicer of a bike …

Cyclocross vs. gravel is about what kind of riding you’ll be doing. Bikepacking, touring, commuting, single-track, long and leisurely picnics? A gravel bike is a better bet: the geometry will be more comfortable, it’ll have a bunch of frame mounts for storage, the tire clearance will be wider, and t…

Totally valid answer here, and I agree to a large extent. I’m a gear head who always wants the “best” components, but @ellotheth is right that comfort and geometry trump all. I’ll just say that riding roads on cyclocross geometry isn’t as bad as the current industry would like you to believe!

At that price point, I’d take a hard look at the alloy Topstone. Three was an extensive (and positive) review over at RidingGravel , as well as a sporadic set of updates on how the author is making targeted upgrades to it. The biggest knock on the stock setup that I see is the crankset.

This is a fantastic bike! I swapped out the crank on mine for a GRX one so I could get a Stages left side power meter and I’ve been thrilled with the bike. For $2k, you can’t go wrong but most manufacturers should have something comparable in aluminum with 105/GRX components.

The Canyon aluminum one I believe is under 2k.

Check out the Giant Revolt 2. Got ours last year for $1,650. List is higher, but sure you can get it for $2k easily. Great bike, carbon, modern Geo, nice wheel size capability. Rides awesome on gravel - I am amazed how well it soaks up the chatter…

With the trend to wider tyres I’d be careful of older frames. I happened to be talking about this today with a mate who runs a bike mechanic business - another customer came in who had been having “wheel” problems. It turned out he’d bought a set of wide carbon wheels but with the narrowest tyres po…

I definitely like the used option for your first bike. Three years ago I bought a used S-Works Crux for $3500. It was a $9,000 build with like new Force 1 parts and Zipp tubular race wheels. I sold those wheels for $1000 and was all-in for $3000 on a really nice bike. The frame alone on an S-Works i…

Sub $2k Gravel bikes

Equipment

mcneese.chad March 13, 2020, 6:13pm 7

I’m tempted to merge these threads, but the $1000-$1500 range on the prior one is different than the $2000 state here. But I suggest a review of the other one at the very least, since there is likely some useful overlap.

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Sub $2k Gravel bikes

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