Adventure bike decisions…
People complain about the constant changes in cycling. Not me, I love it. Keep the choices coming.
If conditions allow, I’m on my mountain bike. No question. I do a handful, to a dozen, of singletrack endurance races each season. Throwing down some road miles is a good idea and allows you to build a great base for long days in the saddle. So I do hit the road.
I’ve had my current road bike for ~8 years, the Tommaso Monza, purchased from Amazon. It’s a decent rig and definitely got the job done. I think I got it for around $800. It’s been a good steed but our time together is coming to an end. No idea how many miles I have on it, many thousands for sure.
What’s next?
I love the direction adventure/gravel bikes are heading. I have no interest in ‘racing’ road or cyclocross. These adventure bikes have relaxed geometry, disc brakes, and room for wide wheels and tires. They have a lot in common with the modern mountain bike. Many even run mountain bike groupsets. Nice for sharing components between rigs should it be needed.
To cush or not to cush…
This is probably the biggest question. We’re going to see more front suspension on road bikes. In ‘modern’ times Cannondale led the way with the Slate and their Lefty Oliver fork with 30mm of travel. It’s been out for several years, but I still revisit this bike weekly during my bike-porn binges. The geometry is more race than endurance oriented which gives me a bit of pause personally. But, looks like an absolutely blast!
Now Fox has launched their AX fork with ~40mm of travel. Fox has stated this is an ‘early adopter’ version of sorts to judge overall interest. Looks at home on the Niner RLT 9 RDO below.
We have the Lauf Grit also at 30mm of travel and offering a different look with the no hassle ‘leaf’ suspension. No question Rockshox has something in the field already.
Why not have a little extra cush if your primary objective is gobbling up miles vs. crushing crit races? I’ve never had suspension and wished I didn’t. Even on the smoothest singletrack, my butt and back are always happy to have a soft rear end. As someone used to climbing with suspension, I don’t think I’d mind it on the road.
The most recent iteration is Specialized “Future Shock”. They launched it first on the Roubaix and most recently the Diverge. It delivers 20mm of cush.
Everyday it seems like there’s another amazing option featuring front suspension. I think I want it.
Let me count the amazing adventure rigs…
Diverge, Sequoia, RTL 9, Open U.P., Cutthroat, Warbird, GT Grade, Stigmata, Slate, etc. etc. etc. All kinds of price points, tons of tire clearance, relatively relaxed geometries, low bottom brackets for the most part, disc brakes, etc. Some come with suspension but it could be added to any of them. Some are more cross, Stigmata, while others take monster gravel to another level, Cutthroat, and we have some tilted towards touring, the Sequoia. Lots to love about all the directions one could take.
At the end of the day, my favorite LBS carries a lot of Specialized so right now that’s the direction things are headed. But how can you go wrong? 99% of road riders would probably be better off with these endurance options vs a race bike. It’s a good time to be hitting the tarmac, or gravel, or jeep road, or smooth singletrack. Drop bar rigs are getting much more interesting and I love it!
