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Steel do-it-all, wich to choose ...

by Nicolas De Roeck
Thu, May 07, 2020 13:16
14

Who can point me in the right direction?
I'm looking for a steel frame wich can do:
- (bad) road commute
- gravel
- handle some bikepackingbags for the weekend
- hydraulic disc
- carbon fork
- 105 is fine
- preferably internal cabeling

At the moment my favorite bike is an old steel road bike with 30mm tires.
Only limitation is that I would like even wider tires for the gravel en smoothing things out.

I'm looking at the following bikes:
- Cotic Escapade
- Ribble CGR 725

But there are a bunch of other bikes out there that maybe thick the boxes.
Price range is about €2250 (2000 pound) for the complete build.

Who can give me some tips for other bikes?

Thx for the tips

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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14 comments

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jacknorell | 4 years ago
0 likes

The Escapade would be a great choice.

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bawjaws replied to jacknorell | 4 years ago
0 likes

jacknorell wrote:

The Escapade would be a great choice.

Annoyingly it looks as if the "new season" Escapade isn't out until the summer and the old season models have pretty much sold out (unless you're after an XS frame). Shame, as I had my eye on one recently. 

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kil0ran | 4 years ago
1 like

Condor Fratello

I would usually also recommend a Fairlight (I have a Faran, the Secan fits your use case) but the Secan is over budget and there's a long waiting list

My neighbour has a Fratello, it's a lovely thing, well built and a proven design - https://www.condorcycles.com/collections/audax-commute-touring-bikes/pro...

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Richbeck | 4 years ago
0 likes

Get yourself a Longstaff built! Jason Rourke is building them now.

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mike the bike | 4 years ago
0 likes

Just bought a Ribble CGR 725 frameset to build up into a new 'everyday' bike and it's a sweet frame. The welds are good, the paint is thick and it's got more mounts than I'll ever need. It's not cheap, at least not to my jaundiced eye, but I'm very pleased with my new toy.

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Rod Marton | 4 years ago
0 likes

I little while ago I was looking for a bike with similar requirements and eventually went for a Fairlight. A couple of others I looked at might be suitable for you: the Light Blue Robinson (disc version) and Temple Adventure Disc.

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fukawitribe | 4 years ago
0 likes

Agree with Joe, Bombtrack Hook might be worth a gander too (love the EXT...)

https://bombtrack.com/2020-hook-1/

https://bombtrack.com/2020-hook-2/

https://bombtrack.com/2020-hook-ext/

..seem to be some deals on those around as well, e.g.

https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/bombtrack_hook_2_all_road_bike_2019-ID_7654...

 

Avatar
Joe Totale | 4 years ago
3 likes

Two good options I'd consider are either the Fairlight Secan which is admittedly just over budget at £2,200 for the 105 build but is very highly thought of on this site:

https://road.cc/content/review/248008-fairlight-cycles-secan

Otherwise I'd get a Titanium (OK it's not steel) Gravel bike from Planet X, all of the groupset options for this one fall within your budget including a 2x GRX groupset that'd probably be ideal:

https://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/gravel-adventure-bikes/tempest

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Nicolas De Roeck replied to Joe Totale | 4 years ago
0 likes

Looked at the fairlight also, I don't know why but it didn't stick to my mind.
The PlanetX I also looked at, I already have a PlanetX Ec130 and like it. But somehow those PlanetX bikes aren't "special" I'm looking for something with a little more sex-appeal 😁

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Blackthorne replied to Nicolas De Roeck | 4 years ago
0 likes

Check out the Rondo Ruut ST1. Needs a better wheelset but it's got road geometry, room for huge gravel tyres, and all the requisite mudguard and rack mounts. 

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Cargobike replied to Blackthorne | 4 years ago
0 likes

Blackthorne wrote:

Check out the Rondo Ruut ST1. Needs a better wheelset but it's got road geometry, room for huge gravel tyres, and all the requisite mudguard and rack mounts. 

+1 for the Rondo Ruut. SRAM groupset rather than 105, but ticks all the boxes.

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Joe Totale replied to Cargobike | 4 years ago
0 likes

Cargobike wrote:

Blackthorne wrote:

Check out the Rondo Ruut ST1. Needs a better wheelset but it's got road geometry, room for huge gravel tyres, and all the requisite mudguard and rack mounts. 

+1 for the Rondo Ruut. SRAM groupset rather than 105, but ticks all the boxes.

I've own a bike with SRAM Apex and frankly it's rubbish compared to a hydraulic Shimano groupset such as 105 which I also own, haven't personally used GRX so cannot comment.
When I got my Apex bike, GRX didn't exist so I had no other option for an off road, 1x groupset. 

The braking is definitely not as good with SRAM and it's trickier to set up. The gears are a lot harder to get shifting well which is also an issue with Rival.

I'm not anti SRAM, my race bike had rim brake Red 22 in the past which was fantastic but Apex and Rival are nowhere near as good.    

I'd definitely pay a bit more in the future to have a Shimano groupset on an off road bike. 

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Joe Totale replied to Nicolas De Roeck | 4 years ago
0 likes

Nicolas De Roeck wrote:

Looked at the fairlight also, I don't know why but it didn't stick to my mind. The PlanetX I also looked at, I already have a PlanetX Ec130 and like it. But somehow those PlanetX bikes aren't "special" I'm looking for something with a little more sex-appeal 😁

To me, getting a Titanium bike for the price of a steel one is all the special sex appeal I'd need!
I'm fairly sure as well that the Planet X titanium frames are designed by Mark Reilly whose own bikes sell for a hell of a lot more money. 

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Nicolas De Roeck replied to Joe Totale | 4 years ago
0 likes

I've never riden a titanium bike so I can't tell wich I would like more.

I do love my steel one though. 

The biggest problem is that there ar way to much bikes that I would like to own. But my garage and budget is to tight :-s 

I also need to get devorced if I want them all 1 and that aint cheap either ... smiley

At the moment the Fairlight Secan and a Bombtrack Audax are my favorites I think. 

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