The Gravel Bike Buyer's Guide | How to Choose Your Next Gravel Bike | Contender Bicycles

[@eagerbob]

Pretty high- end bike selection you have there. If I HAVE to choose I'll have the Time ADHX please. In blue with slick tires and a 2x setup.

[@ContenderBicycles]

We're fortunate to have a good selection, what can we say! That's a great idea for a build, too.

[@wescheslak9408]

Just found your channel. Nice line up of bikes.

[@bestofthebest3821]

beatiful gravel bikes.. they looked awesome on those detailed shots o. the steps

[@ContenderBicycles]

They are!

[@albertlee9238]

Thourough and detailed, thank you ！

[@Ryan-xr8hb]

The 3T didn’t have enough of what I needed but the Trek Project One did.

[@MrSzwarz]

I see that TIME ADHX bike has been treated very vaguely, it is the best bike frame you can buy for your monet. Technilogy, quality, tolerances and materials used to buil theses frames is far ahead any other brand. Comfort, lifetime warranty, and detail is mind blowing. Worth every penny.

[@ivandjordevic696]

I would go with LOOK 765 Gravel

[@ContenderBicycles]

Not a bad choice!

[@Anon.User.602]

OPEN U.P. all the way. Thanks for the great video.

[@ContenderBicycles]

We love our OPENs!

[@ivanboesky1520]

Sorry, but when the owner of Open claimed his company follows their own BB386EVO bottom bracket standard regarding the tolerances of their BB shells I can’t take that bike seriously and would not pay $1 for one.

[@Anon.User.602]

@@ivanboesky1520 Hi, not so much informed about the BB issues. What do you mean? Is the BB part of the bike weak? I have one, no issues so far although I have been quite hard on her on the trails.

[@AceMBP]

I will take the Moots :-)

[@philippm2356]

nice video and nice bikes. in that price range i prefer used cars.

[@TakeOnMe5]

Unfortunately it's not a choice of Gravel bike these days anymore, but a matter of availability of popular bikes on the world bike market.

[@ContenderBicycles]

Covid definitely slowed down the industry for a while, but its mostly recovered and in our experience most brands have their frames available without having a stupid lead time.

[@TakeOnMe5]

@@ContenderBicycles That might be true but in my case where I'm interested in Canyon and Rose Bikes, some popular models are not just sold out, but both companies could not even tell me when these models are going to be available again.

[@cheronoliver6508]

Wow good stuff❤

[@MrAndrew2509]

Hmm 🤔 all these bikes are born from either a road bike or CX bike. I wish more brands would look at producing a gravel bike born from a mountain bike. Like the Chamois hagar, in my opinion, its the best Gravel bike out there. But that's a view from a mountain biker and not a roadie.

[@ContenderBicycles]

That's a good point. A bike we could've included here would be the BMC URS, as that has geometry - and frame features - that come from their XC hardtail mountain bike. There are also a few other options from Salsa that would fit in neatly with the "adventure" or "mtb-inspired" moniker. We don't carry Evil, but I have had a chance to roll around on a Chamois Hagar for a bit. Definitely a different experience from these bikes, both in handling, ride quality, and overall feel. But if people want that MTB feel, the Evil would be a good choice.

[@dhpug3014]

Honestly I’m a mountain biker and there’s no reason to have a mountain bike like gravel bike. They aren’t as fast as race bikes and if the rod gets chunky they don’t do that great either. Your better off getting a hardtail for chunky gravel. The BMC kaius is very racy but you can find other fast gravel bikes that have a more endurance focus

[@MrAndrew2509]

@Contender Bicycles I agree the salsa gravel bikes are pretty awesome bikes, I've been a Salsa owner in the past, someone decided they wanted it more though and stole it. 😫

[@MrAndrew2509]

@DHPUG The reason I love the Chamois Hagar is that it can keep up with road bikes if required, I just fit my spare wheels and gravel king sl tyres. It's great for adventures general gravel riding racing Technical trails the lot. Salsa are a close second to Evil Imo. 👌🏻

[@jonpoon3896]

YT might have something up your alley

[@borisbadinoff1291]

Excellent video. Can't afford any of these bikes though. ;)

[@anielyantra1]

I'm old school, no carbon and no disc for me. I still don't understand why current bikes think that a straight carbon fork is better than a steel raked fork.

[@ContenderBicycles]

It's because you're old school, Steve. Nothing wrong with that!

[@Ryan-xr8hb]

Trying to figure out why TREK’s Project One AXS wireless eTap SLR. Light and strapless bag mounting. Seems like it’s what this guy like maybe ?

[@ContenderBicycles]

All of these bikes have great options for top tube bags if that's what you're looking for. Glad you were able to find the bike that fits for you!

[@erlendsteren9466]

Where do the full suspension gravel bikes fit in? BMC URS and Cannondale Topstone Lefty? I think they go in the "gravel" category. The Topstone Lefty is something between xc mountainbike and cyclocross. Comfort before speed.

[@ContenderBicycles]

Good question. From a glance, I'd say both fall into 'gravel' as you said. Both the Topstone Carbon and URS LT as bikes are fairly sporty feeling, and while both have suspension to tame more wild trails, I don't think that was what the brands were going for. While plenty think gravel is about getting beat up, we think there's space for gravel bikes like these two to take the edge off of the bumps.

[@erlendsteren9466]

@@ContenderBicycles Thanks, I got the Topstone Lefty for forest-gravel commuting and excersice. And for travel to work.I really like it, and it also looks like more brands are coming with small travel fullsuspensiongravelbikes now and in near future.

[@Mas421]

Better to wait with buying a gravel-bike. There is a very very fast development in gravelbikes at the moment. Up to date is a suspension-fork, and maybe there will be some other new and important innovation like full-suspension in this genre. There are some of the newest gravelbikes with a straight handlebar (as you can see on KZbin). Dropbar is an relict of yesterday.

[@demgerdansnephew3018]

Drop handlebars give the rider more riding positions for their hands which lowers hand and elbow fatigue on long gravel rides. Riding my MTB on a long (40 mile) gravel ride was very hard on my hands and elbows and I was wishing I had drop bars at the 25 mile mark. Drop handlebars are not going away but I imagine we will see advancements in their design.

[@Mas421]

@@demgerdansnephew3018 there were sarcasm in my post….

[@jamesb9820]

Looking to getting into gravel racing.Want to be competitive but not ultra serious.I had my heart set on a Terra would this work as you said it falls into the gravel but not race gravel.

[@ContenderBicycles]

Hey James, The Terra is a great bike for a lot of gravel racing. It was designed to be a gravel bike with a wide range of applications, it is even the CX bike of choice for the Orbea racers. The stack height is just a little higher than some other Gravel Race bikes, which just means it will be more comfortable. I have personally ridden one and they are super responsive and quick. I would recommend the Terra for your interest, because this bike will still have all the capabilities of a Gravel race bike with just some added comfort. Give us a call too at our shop and we are happy to help talk you through the pros and cons of any bike you may be interested in.

[@fisharefriends598]

If you need a buyers guide… your probably not after a high end bike

[@viewitnow3539]

Guys did you read your own TOPIC? Topic is "GRaevl Bike guide" Then you repeatedly show bikes and say that the one you're showing is NOT a Gravel bike! I don't need to see NON-Gravel bikes! I'm looking for a GRAVEL bike

[@ContenderBicycles]

Hey Viewitnow, We appreciate the comment. The point being made wasn't necessarily that they aren't gravel bikes, just that there is a lot of variation inside the gravel bike bubble. We were just trying to highlight the value in finding a bike that suits your needs rather then just googling gravel bike a picking the first option.

[@acearnethquiambao1346]

Give away

[@Carrierbuilder406]

This guys just tried to sell you 2 frames sets each over 4000 dollars (time and open) and Bmc bike for 9000, Moots for 11000. Really you are trying to give a guide to a new gravel rider and this is what you come up with? The majority of new gravel riders will never need a bike this capable. Shame on you. Shame, shame. By they way did you ever work at road bike action because they pull this same kind of bull crap.

[@gren509]

"Titanium doesn't wear out or crack" That shows just how little you know Sonny ! Go away !!

[@ContenderBicycles]

Sounds like you'd make a great wear tester! And Joseph will stick around, we like him quite a bit.

[@84imreplica]

take your hands out of your pockets!

[@ContenderBicycles]

Hands in the pocket means staying in the pocket! But we'll make sure hands are out of pocket for the next one. Thanks for watching!

[@pedromedina1802]

Don’t worry about his hand inside his pockets …they are holding his tools …😅without tools can’t fix bikes … 😘

[@moxnix]

Ron O'Black "Hans out of pockets" sounds like you were in the military = nothing wrong with that = been there 🙂

[@84imreplica]

@@moxnix Nope, teacher. Old habits die hard. 😉

[@noesse4736]

@@moxnix Rah

[@brennansquad]

That $ram stuff is junk

[@ContenderBicycles]

We think it's pretty good stuff, but good thing there are options out there for folks who want something besides SRAM!

[@Tarmaccyclocross]

Don’t bother buy a mountain bike

[@ContenderBicycles]

thank you tarmac basher! We would agree that a gravel bike isn't the right choice in every region of the world, but there are plenty of places where a gravel bike is the right choice.

[@Tarmaccyclocross]

@@ContenderBicycles it's all just marketing

[@rcdogmanduh4440]

Marking,,, that's life. Remember before bikes you walked!