Gravel/Hybrid Bike on budget! Chepo new vs used + some new parts?

[Ming the Merciless]

A 90s mtn bike with tyres for semi dry trails if you want to go cheap.

 

[Gillstay]

A 90s mtn bike with tyres for semi dry trails if you want to go cheap.

I am informed they are about to become fashionable in Bristol !

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I am informed they are about to become fashionable in Bristol !

Seriously a 90s rigid mtn bike is perfect for the gravel bike use case.

 

[ms.hyde]

For £300 notes I built up an old Dawes hybrid for a chum in a fix. 700 wheels with good tyres. Then comfortable flat bars and a good saddle plus a very light weight rack as he needed that. He is so pleased and it does everything he needs well , so when he saw a 2k gravel bike he said `What more has he got than I have ?' Well there was a not a lot in it, bar a great deal of money and a flash paint job. Do your own !

That sounds amazing !
I think it make take a long time to build something though?
To get a frame/ frame + fork set I would have to pick it up so I'm limited to stuff in my area, and so far nothing interesting on ebay around manchester/ warrington area.

Look at Merlin they have a gravel bike in XS for £600. With Claris. I'm sure that would be alright for you unless your wanting to do a lot of muddy trails, then I'd say get a hardtail. Merlin Malt G2 Claris Gravel Bike - 2021 | Merlin Cycles

I think I might just get it! It's a really good price!
I came back home after driving around area and trying on bikes, and so far that road Cannondale was the nice, it was a 51cm frame, maybe a tad to long , it was fine when it comes to height. On Cannondales website it says 51 is for 165-170cm person - I'm 163. So I think with Merlin it would be safe to go with the 47cm frame.

I would love to build my own bike but I think withing this budget Merlin is a perfect choice. I'm really close to just order it

 

[ms.hyde]

Seriously a 90s rigid mtn bike is perfect for the gravel bike use case.

Yeah, but finiding a a nice frameset from the 90s in a good state might not be that easy

 

[Kingfisher101]

Just get the Merlin, saves faffing about.

 

[vickster]

Right. I spen over an hours. And decided I want this cannondale only because it’s a baragin and I’m missing a point here and 32mm tires won’t be good, and going over a budget…
This Merlin looks perfect! I will give them a call first thing tommorow morning thank You!

32mm tyres are fine for canal paths, I and many others have ridden them on 23s, you just have to slow down, which you should anyhow on shared paths. 32mm are fatter than any of my current bikes
But if want to ride on proper gravelly farm roads and the like then yes, a gravel bike would make sense

I’m not sure about a bike in prawn peach myself though!

 

[ms.hyde]

32mm tyres are fine for canal paths, I and many others have ridden them on 23s, you just have to slow down, which you should anyhow on shared paths. 32mm are fatter than any of my current bikes
But if want to ride on proper gravelly farm roads and the like then yes, a gravel bike would make sense

I’m not sure about a bike in prawn peach myself though!

Wow, I can't imagine that on 32! I'm used to a big & thick 2.1' on my old enduro bike, it's just twice wider

I'm thinking about this Merlin, but I still have thie Specialized Sirrus X in the back of my mind, but I'm not sure about the flat bars...
At this point I have to tabs open - one with that Specialized and one with Merlin.

So a battle between drop bars and flat bars.
Funny thing is I'm used to flat bars, and tried first drop bars only yesterday, and I'm kind of worried it might be hard to get used to?
Even though I know it doesn't make sense for long ride to have flat bars

 

[vickster]

Can you actually get the Specialized? My LBS says there are virtually no non electric Spcializeds anywhere.
You can always add secondary crosslever brakes on the handlebars to a drop bar bike (as long as it doesn’t have Hydraulic brakes, the Merlin doesn’t). I have on all my road bikes, asI prefer the position especially in
traffic. Example in photo.

how long are your long rides? Plenty of people do 50+ miles on flat bars

 

[ms.hyde]

Can you actually get the Specialized? My LBS says there are virtually no non electric Spcializeds anywhere.
You can always add secondary crosslever brakes on the handlebars to a drop bar bike (as long as it doesn’t have Hydraulic brakes, the Merlin doesn’t). I have on all my road bikes, asI prefer the position especially in
traffic. Example in photo.

how long are your long rides? Plenty of people do 50+ miles on flat bars

There's still few XXS and XS in stock in quite a few places online - but it took me a while to find them.
Oh that's cool ! Didn't know You can do that

Well that's changing my perspective. Long for me would me 30 miles! Probably more, but well, I need to get in shape, ha.
Now I'm unsure. I know that those Sirrus bikes won't be available soon, Evans said they got only a few left, but it might be just one

 

[PaulSB]

@ms.hyde whichever bike you chose may I add a word of caution re using cross levers on drop bars, I do appreciate it's each to their own. Something like 20 years ago I was knocked off my bike resulting in a broken hand and damage to the tendon which runs from the base of the thumb across the palm. I wasn't able to use the brakes on my drops for six months. My LBS fitted cross levers which worked well and I quickly got used to them. The difficulty came when we removed the levers. I had learned to reach for these brakes and it took me a considerable time to unlearn using them.

In my view having both cross and standard levers on a drop bar has the potential to confuse the rider, especially in an emergency stop. Reaction time is important and the brain needs to know what to do automatically rather than deciding which levers to grab!!

I would agree with you re 32mm tyres, I ride 35mm on my gravel bike, though I regularly ride with a friend who comfortably uses 28s. The towpaths I know round Manchester are mainly wide and well surfaced and OK for 28s but there are cobbled sections, for example, which I think would be tricky.

Up here the towpaths are generally narrower, can be muddy and I know three people who've fallen in......all riding unsuitable 28mm tyres.

On my 35s I feel confident, I'm sure 32s would be the same but I'd be very wary of 28mm on many of our local towpaths.

 

[vickster]

@ms.hyde whichever bike you chose may I add a word of caution re using cross levers on drop bars, I do appreciate it's each to their own. Something like 20 years ago I was knocked off my bike resulting in a broken hand and damage to the tendon which runs from the base of the thumb across the palm. I wasn't able to use the brakes on my drops for six months. My LBS fitted cross levers which worked well and I quickly got used to them. The difficulty came when we removed the levers. I had learned to reach for these brakes and it took me a considerable time to unlearn using them.

In my view having both cross and standard levers on a drop bar has the potential to confuse the rider, especially in an emergency stop. Reaction time is important and the brain needs to know what to do automatically rather than deciding which levers to grab!!

I would agree with you re 32mm tyres, I ride 35mm on my gravel bike, though I regularly ride with a friend who comfortably uses 28s. The towpaths I know round Manchester are mainly wide and well surfaced and OK for 28s but there are cobbled sections, for example, which I think would be tricky.

Up here the towpaths are generally narrower, can be muddy and I know three people who've fallen in......all riding unsuitable 28mm tyres.

On my 35s I feel confident, I'm sure 32s would be the same but I'd be very wary of 28mm on many of our local towpaths.

I’ve never had an issue with crosslevers nor the two friends I ride with. With smaller hands, we all find them safer for braking and they are the default for us so no issue in an e. Even with shims, more small hand friendly Sram hoods it can be hard to get enough purchase and power. And I’m not a petite woman like the OP.

None of the manufacturers have yet bothered to design mainstream brifters for smaller hands. I think Microshift may offer something for kids but they’re not standard on adult models.

As a bloke ymmv, I was just giving the OP a suggestion.

 

[jowwy]

are you sure 32mm is the max tyre size?? i mean my trek has 32s fitted but i can get a 35 or even a 38 in there no problem, maybe you could get 650b wheelset and fit 40mm+ tyres instead

i mean cyclocross bikes are 32/35 max and they go over all sorts of terrain without many issues..........

 

[PaulSB]

As a bloke ymmv, I was just giving the OP a suggestion.

Exactly, and I was adding my experience as a word of caution.

As I said I appreciate it is each to their own. My experience is after +/-6 months of using cross levers when I went back to brifters I would sometimes try to use cross levers which weren't there.

Braking is an instinctive thing with experience, rather than a conscious decision, being a key part of the action. This is almost an automatic action for me and I found my brain took time to relearn what it previously knew.

The position of cross levers is not ideal for me. Riding on the hoods the hands have to be moved to the cross levers when braking. Riding with a hand position where the cross levers are easily reachable means my hands are more central on the bars with reduced control and my bike position is altered. Having two braking methods has the potential for confusion.

Six months of being unable to fully pull a brifter allows me to understand the difficulty. The cross lever was a solution but one which created difficulty for me. Simply an alternative view for the OP.

 

[T4tomo]

I’ve never had an issue with crosslevers nor the two friends I ride with. With smaller hands, we all find them safer for braking and they are the default for us so no issue in an e. Even with shims, more small hand friendly Sram hoods it can be hard to get enough purchase and power. And I’m not a petite woman like the OP.

None of the manufacturers have yet bothered to design mainstream brifters for smaller hands. I think Microshift may offer something for kids but they’re not standard on adult models.

As a bloke ymmv, I was just giving the OP a suggestion.

I'd echo this from my GF's experience of cross tops on her gravel bike and switching between that and a road bike with no cross tops, no issues. I also fitted microshift R10 short reach brifters to her gravel bike, which help for small hands.

The OP might well have a look Isla bike Luarth, that is their gravel bike designed for kids, so accommodate small hands etc. the largest kids size with 700c wheels is ideal for smaller adult ladies. 2nd hand market worth looking at too, they hold their value very well if you decide to sell on. plenty of clearance for 35 mm cx / gravel tyres too.