Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

Would you say it's closer to one than the other?

I like the potential versatility of it.

650b's for gnarly(ish) stuff and switch over to 700c's for faster road riding, or is this wishful thinking?

the three extra cages will be useful I guess

Clearly a billion times better than an Arkose as it has the fork bottle cages. Shame they don't sell a frameset as it ticks most of my arbitrary boxes.

Isn't it a sequoia?

Put 38mm 650b for faster road riding, 700c just make it slower.

Citation needed

Shame they still use 9mm quick release at the rear end :-( .

10mm no?

Also Thru axle is better, and most wheels can be converted if that's your bag

@jammy yes you are right, rear qr is 10mm.
I hate qr on bikes with disks. Almost every time I put a wheel back in place, rotors are touching the pads. Even on hard cornering I hear disks rubbing on pads.

Change QR to Shimano one, job done.

Smaller wheel decrease trail, mean quicker handling.

Adding 38mm tyres on 650b will make any road bike design for 700c x 28mm handle quicker, however it may not be obvious.

10mm? I thought it’s a standard 9mm rear QR.

But you said slower, not handles slower. Skinnier 700c will roll faster

10mm rear and 9mm front hub axles. Skewers them selves are 5mm

Also worth considering headtube length and angle, gravel/ CX bikes usually being slacker in this department vs pure road. I was in same position when buying Merida CX bike to use for mixed terrain. Went smaller, ended up with 25 or 30mm of spacers under a 120 stem. Handling is 'planted' but bordering on 'boaty'. I'm sometimes surprised/ disappointed at how slow it is to react. Wonder if larger frame/ shorter stem would have been better in long run, but then the standover may have been an issue.

ended up with 25 or 30mm of spacers

Flip that stem. Less exposed steerer means a more direct ride. That's why you see pro track riders with huge flipped stems:

Soz for reader’s ride

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Yes, my thoughts so edging towards the larger frame. Standover is 15mm more than my biggest frame, and 35 more than my smallest.

I dont think I want that much seatpost showing, and i dont generally need any spacers

Hoods look wonky

Bar tape looks shit.
Sun looks fake. I'm looking out of my window now. NO SUN.
FAKE PIC!

FAKE NEWS.

Short stems are for worstcunts

Shit fucking bike mate, looked better in all black