Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

Thank you for saying this I've been feeling very insecure about my gap

SFAB trails in winter aren't much fun on slicks.

Lies, it's just extremely slow going fun of a specific kind.

If anyone want a ticket to the via gravel ride tomorrow I can’t use mine

Think I need a new bike, just one bike so can do off and road duties fast

Currently have a Stayer OG+ but a little drop bar trail, ok on road but just feel like I am missing something

Unless you think I am being daft, just my don’t see the new for a road bike too now as hardly used them

Happy with have different sets of wheels etc

Specialized Crux

Money no object, if I was looking for one bike to combine on and off road, it would 100% be a crux

What kinda budget? The Cannondale topstone fits everything you want. Carbon or Alu

topstone has a poorly designed rear thru axle dropout, seen countless problems with them

Checkpoint

Do decent, easily removable full mudguards exist?

No fucker has invented them yet. All you need is some sort of quick release attachment point that works with an M5 threaded hole, for the stays and bridges. It should be a piece of piss but it doesn't seem to exist

New crux looks very nice. Presumably no fender mounts though

Checkpoint

That and the Crux will handle like an endurance bike with 32mm tyres (if not snappier).

The new Checkpoint will have ages 2x12 soon.

Can’t see that it mentions it has them

No gravel in the New Forest, SFAB only

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Crux is fine, but expensive. I'd have a look at any of the many endurance-all road bikes that everybody seems to be releasing. Giant defy, Ridley, vitus comes to mind but surely there's lots more.

Go for an alu like Checkpoint AL or Diverge.

Defy are excellent, it suffers from poor componentry thoughts.

2.3k for a 2nd hand bike with 105 and alu wheels...jesus

This has guard mounts https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155464782449 though that one looks a bit shagged

I'd love something like this as well, has to be possible

Would strongly recommend not buying one of these, it's a false bargain, esp. with the price increase (bought mine when it was 850€ - actually paid 999€ because I wanted the better paint, but the bike is more or less the same).
You're better off spending 500€ more to buy a bike with full hydraulic and modern standards, and not worry about having to replace things in the following months. I bought mine in 2021, so there might have been some improvements since, but, in no specific order :

• Broke 3 spokes on the rear wheel after less than 2000 km. I am 65 kg and was only using the bike to commute, on standard roads. It is apparently a known fact by Decathlon mechanics that the wheels are badly built, but some people have had a hard time getting the repair to be covered by warranty, apparently. I didn't even try, as they wanted me to bring back the whole bike to have the spokes changed, as well as having to wait at least 3 weeks (without a bike).
  
• On top of that, wheels suck. They're not just heavy, fitting or removing a tyre is a nightmare (or just random). It took me 1 hour, at home, to remove the Pirelli Cinturato Velo I had fitted on there. Same ordeal with the Overide it came with. I couldn't mount GP5000 on them. These are all fairly supple tyres that I can mount and unmount mostly by hand on my Hunt Superdura.
  
• TRP Hy-Rd are very likely to give up the ghost for no specific reason. One of mine did that after 3000 km. Went full hydraulic, but that required me to file down the ends of the cable stops so I could run the hose cleanly to the back (this wouldn't be necessary with the grvl 520 model which has full length cable outers). There's no space to use these little screw-on hose adapters. PM on the back meant I had to buy a BR-RS785 on top of the second-hand FM brake and levers I found.
  
• QR is not a problem in itself, but it means you'll have to buy adapters were you to replace the shitty OEM wheels with more modern ones.
  
• They're fairly hefty. In size L, mine weighs 12 kg. Admittedly it's equipped for rando (mudguards, aerobars and dynamo lights), but it's fitted with decent (albeit not super lightweight) components : 105 hydraulic, Thomson seatpost, 3T stem, non-padded SMP, GP5000, Hunt Superduras. I reckon it'd still weigh around 10.5 kg were I to remove the mudguards, the aerobars, and go tubeless.
  
• If you wanna actually do muddy rides, tyre clearance is very limited in the 700c model : you'll fit non-knobbly 38s with no space for mud (nor mudguards, of course), maximum.
  

Thanks will take a look think I am spoilt or just being an idiot.

Been thinking about it and am I really going to do a long day in the saddle, I do have mudguards for my Stayer already….

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Maybe they changed things?

Edit: We're talking about different feamesets, hence the discrepancies

Mine came with 40c knobbly tyres fitted for 700c. I currently have a semi-slick 40c with mudguards fitting just fine.

Anecdotally I've had much fewer issues with my TRP HyRds on my commuter bike than I have on my Shimano full Hydros ¯\(ツ)/¯, and I personally much prefer using them since I am much more comfortable adjusting cable brakes.

Did you buy one of the models with the painted fork (either dark red or grey)?

Friend is putting on a gravel event / ride / suffer fest in the peak District. Will be mostly rocks with bits of gravel. Thought might be of interest to those local.

https://tordivide.co.uk/

A mate lent me (top spec) Crux last Winter, while he fettled my Boardman.
I'm old slow and heavy (+/-90kg), and I was no slower on my regular routes, (typically 25m to and from Windsor).
Advantages: slightly articulating stem removed much of the demerits of cycling on undermaintained bituminous surfaces,
Seat post also had a bit of suspension to it so doubling above effect.
Disc brakes > rim brakes,
I soon adjusted to the 1x drive train.
If you can afford a Crux get one.

Awesome paintjob with the colour matched guards! Maybe tweak the stem and bars à la BDHU for more road feelz. My money no object roadie/gravel hybrid of choice would be a Time ADHX. Limited clearance but pretty aggressive geo and I’m a fan of their construction method