Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

In case anyone was interested, sister in law got a new 2021 Checkpoint ALR5 and it is fucking rad.

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Very smart. Trek may be an obvious choice, but they make a damn good bike.

What do people reckon to the Surly Midnight Special build that Spa Cycles are offering currently? At £1785 it's cheaper than most other places.

literally buy that trek instead ^^^

I'm still in the 'steel is real' etc etc camp

Real funny lookin' in the case of the Surly unfortunately.

I'm already sold on the frame - especially after seeing Snoops' a couple pages back. Seems they always look a bit better in situ.

Fishing expedition - Have about £800 to £900 to spend on a gravel bike, for the girlfriend. Size wise she's 5'4 so 53cm effective top tube or even smaller. Is anyone thinking about selling?

Not to Internet bike fit her but at 5'4 I would say you would want effective TT 52 max and probably less as women can often need shorter reach, right?

There's someone on Facebook selling a 52cm Kinsesis Tripster frame (brand new) in the luminous yellow variety for £250. With a bit of forum hunting for parts you could build something up around that budget...

That's a bargain at 250

Internet bike fit is perfect to be honest, I was just going off what Evans quote for a small womens Arkose.

@Saffronspokes thanks for that. It looks great.

Edit: It's still available and is the 51cm version which has a 54cm effective TT so unfortunately probably a bit big

No worries, I've been trying to get various friends to get it for their partners. But none of them wanted to build a frame up, and I wasn't bothered enough to do it for them.

Internet bike fit: I am 5'8" and my top tube is 52.5cm. But that's only half the picture due to seat and headtube angles which obviously vary wildly across frame geometry. But still - it shows that height is only one metric. I have a short torso.

This is where your LBS is your friend - if anyone even has any bikes that is.

Plus carbon forks, address that hood situation, take a decent photo of it and jobs a good’n.

They ride really well. If the Trek, etc, are slack HTA then you decide if you want ‘endurance’ or ‘responsive’ handling.

Kinesis rate 5ft 4 as the smallest height for the 51cm.

Her last bike had a 53cm ETT, 375mm reach, 536mm stack, with a 70mm stem. Comfortable on it but I think in an ideal world would have had one size smaller.

wish I knew that a week a go :(

sorry m8 - I was surprised to see them at that price. Has yours arrived already?

Spa are an odd shop. Fairly set in their ways and awful website but almost always the cheapest place for things (especially wheel builds) and they're normally happy to change spec tweaks things if you contact them in advance. I always check them before buying stuff elsewhere.

Serious geometry on this gravel bike.

Bought a pickenflick on eBay last week. Not gonna complain, bet it’ll be an awesome bike, it’s just that I’ve got such a sweet spot for surly’s.

"The Nordest designers said the geo of this frame ensures the rider can be confident the bike will handle like shit across even the smoothest terrain."

And make you wish you had a mountain bike on technical trails anyways.

It’s a Pashley Governor for dentists.