UKC

I used to be a keen cyclist, both for fun & commuting but have cycled rarely for the last 20 odd years as I was living in Paris (cycling in Paris was awful & I found it too much hassle to take my bike on the train out to eg Fontainebleau). I always promised myself that when I retired & moved away from the city I’d start to cycle again & probably treat myself to a new bike. I retired in 2019 and now live in the French Alps but with Covid restrictions, then (non-Covid) illness last summer I didn’t really get out cycling.   Last week I got my old mountain bike (mid range model bought early 1990s) out of the cellar, pumped up the tyres, sprayed & bit of oil on the chain, etc & tried the quiet road which heads steeply uphill from the village (its a ski run in winter). Much to my surprise I managed to get to the top, no doubt helped by a lot of XC skiing this winter. Since then I’ve been out a few more times and have started to wonder about getting a new, lighter bike but a little browsing on line has left me confused.

My favourite bike, unfortunately stolen many years ago, was a touring bike based on a Mercian ‘king of Mercia’ frame, with a wide range of gears (triple chain set), sturdy hand-built  wheels with 700Cx 32 tyres, calliper brakes, plus pannier racks etc. Although not a mountain bike I used it off-road quite a bit on rough tracks, etc in & around the Cairngorms.  I suspect it wasn’t far from what  now seems to be marketed as a gravel bike.

Intended use of any new bike would be a mix of roads (often steep) & tracks, not  technical but sometimes quite rough. A new, lighter mountain bike would work but wouldn’t be much fun on the roads, I’m not interested in speed, more in comfort & lightness.

A few questions -

When I last bought a bike, good frames were built with steel, typically Reynolds 531. From the bikes I’ve looked at, it seems that Aluminium or Carbon are now more usual. What are they like to ride compared to steel ?

20 - 30 years ago triple chain sets were pretty standard on both mountain & touring bikes but I’ve seen several ‘gravel bikes’ with just a single chainring, usually with a wide range of cogs on the rear wheel - how does that compare with the more traditional set up ? (in practice I rarely use the large gear ratios, mostly the low to middle ratios).

I’m struggling to get the calliper brakes on my mountain bike adjusted correctly & given how steep many of the roads are round here would like something more powerful - are disc breaks a big improvement ? are they difficult to keep maintained ?

Next time I go to Gap (our local town) I’ll have a look at what’s on offer but my web browsing has suggested something like this as a possibility, its a make stocked by one local shop although no doubt not in stock. Any opinions ?

https://www.orbea.com/gb-en/bicycles/road/terra/cat/terra-h40

Due to brexit related issues, I’d rather buy in France than on line in the UK so getting another Mercian isn’t really an option

Thanks

Sounds like you're describing a gravel bike and that Orbea is exactly that.

You can still get steel bikes, but much less common that aluminium or carbon - whatever it is, you'll probably struggle to get anything other than disk brakes, but do try to get hydraulic ones and avoid mechanical. There's also titanium to consider, depending on your budget.

I'd personally try and stick with a compact double chainset (34/50), as the 1x systems with a wide range cassette have large jumps between the gears, which can be a pain on roads. And they're eye-watering to replace the cassettes! If you need a lighter gear for the Alps, then a CX chainset with 34/46-ish and an 11-34 cassette could be a good option, but not sure you'd find that off the peg, unless you buy an older CX bike or build something up yourself.

Cable discs are as easy/easier than caliper brakes to keep adjusted in my experience, and have the benefit of the rims never wearing out due to pad wear, and rain and grit and road debris don't have the same sand papering effect, too.

It might depend on how particular one is, but I still like a double/compact or triple for my gearing, it might be partly psychological, but I like to have the ability to find 'exactly the right gear' which a triple set up allows, in having smaller gaps between the gears, and more of them too. The idea of being able to keeps me happier, which is probably important as well as functionality is.

Depending on your budget and logistics, but I have in the back of my mind Mercian now expanding into disc frames, and with you having retired, and having posted before about the loss of your Mercian frame too, maybe you should decide 'Sod it' and travel to Derby for a nice new Mercian bike? I'm pretty good at self deception and justifying that kind of thing, along the lines of 'I'm only going to spend it once...and the more I ride it, the cheaper it'll be per ride', but it's kinda true.

It can depend on the frame, how alu and carbon ride compared to steel, I'm still a steel fan, and if I was buying a bike of a new frame material, I think I'd be wanting to ride it first to make sure I was spending my money well.

Hybrid disc brakes are an excellent solution I've found.

Cable from the handle down to the calliper makes it easy to adjust/retrofit/repair. Fully contained hydraulic calliper provides excellent stopping power.

It does sound like a gravel bike would fit the bill very well. No bike is going to be perfect for everything and a multi-terrain bike probably isn't perfect at anything, but if I could have one bike for the sort of thing you've described it'd be a gravel bike.

The Orbea you've linked to is a very decent bike for the money. My local bike shop deals with Orbea and I've had a good look at that bike in the flesh when a friend was in the market for something similar.

Discs, especially hydraulic discs are a massive improvement on caliper brakes in the wet. In dry conditions a well set up caliper with good brake blocks can be very powerful, but I'd still recommend discs. You won't really have a choice to be honest - all gravel bikes will have discs as standard now.

I've got steel (a Ribble CGR in Reynolds 725 https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-cgr-725) and a carbon framed gravel / CX bike. The carbon is quite a bit lighter which is nice to have on the hills. I love riding both, but I tend to take the steel bike out more...It really does have a lovely ride quality that the carbon frame doesn't. I've also had an aluminium framed CX bike which was lovely too. It basically comes down to the frame designer's choices in how to use the material, your own preferences and cost. If you're looking at a budget of say £1000-£1500 I'd go with aluminium. Cheap carbon frames are probably worth avoiding. Steel will be a bit more pricey, as will a decent carbon frame.

I'd probably go with a double chainset, personally. There will be plenty of others who prefer the simplicity of a single though. It depends how much you're likely to be on roads versus off road. Triple chainsets won't really be available  - They're kind of redundant now with 11 speed or 12 speed cassettes. As someone else has mentioned above a 46/34 tooth chainset would give you a useful range with either an 11-34 or 11-36 cassette. Chainrings on shimano chainsets are easily changed if you can't find quite the right gearing, though they've been hard to get hold of over the last 2 years. I'm not sure if things have improved yet?

Aluminium had a reputation for being stiff and harsh ride, but a departure from plain round tubes  using modern tube shaping technology (hydroforming,  check out the Specialized Allez)   makes them stiffer when applying power and more comfortable than a steel frame.

Carbon fibre likewise had a reputation for an uncompromising stiff and harsh ride, due to simple round tubes, but modern bikes are much better thanks to tube shapes that would be impossible in steel, and clever use of different layers of carbon fibre. Carbon fibre being a composite is wonderful for vibration damping, Carbon fibre bars on an MTB were a revelation, the amount of buzz they stop getting into my hands and arms greatly reduces fatigue. Conversely the added damping on a carbon frame can make some feel dull and leaden to ride.

Depsite the extra number of sprockets on the cassette the jumps between gears to give the same range on 1x10, 1x11 or 1x12 are still  bigger than I had on a 3x8 drivetrain. A double chainset is still essential in my opinion for giving low enough gears to ride up big hills and not be left spinning out on the flat.  If you aren't wanting to pedal at 30mph+ then fitting a MTB double chainset (38,28) rather than a road (50,34) or gravel one (48,31) to a gravel bike is a good option.

V brakes were a massive improvement on cantilever brakes, disc brakes allow 1 finger braking with ease. Disc brakes also work regardless of water and mud. I find cable discs, plenty powerful enough and easier to mantain than old fashioned cantilever brakes ( you don't need 3 hands). Hydraulic discs are slightly more powerful and more finnicky to bleed.

One big innovation you've not mentioned is tubeless tyres with sealant, lighter, lower rolling resistance, punctures are now a thing of the past. They don't work so well at high pressures for narrow road tyres, but are great for any tyre wide enough to run at 60psi or less.

looks much nicer than I can afford. Happy shopping.

yes , 1x are much more common, but I am not sure that they really work amazingly if you want to do steep up AND road cycling. TBH, i've not tried a 1x setup, as all my current bikes are 2x or 3x (old MTB), I;d be tempted to do 2x on a gravel if i was going to do lots of road cycling. 

Many gravel bikes take 42mm tyres on 700c wheels and 48 on 650b wheels. I;d definitely look at one that took both and then go 30/32 on 700c for road and larger on 650b for more off-road rides. 

Look for a frame with some good attachments for bits like mudguards and panniers, but frame bags are much more popular now.. I;d go with a seat bag and a handlebar bag and stay in hostels etc nowadays rather than trying to camp... 

Disk brakes are both more and less of a faff... it depends what goes wrong. Whatever, i would say for what you suggest, the only major downside would be the potential overheating on long road downhills and hence brake fade/failure... I'd get them for sure and like them on my 'winter/commute' bike, even though I don;t on my race bike.  You'll need a brake bleed kit, or get them serviced a reasonable frequency... and if you get shimano ones (v good generally), get some copperslip and grease the head and thread end as soon as you get them, and maybe even replace the pad lock pins with aftermarket ones. This saves stress as they are prone to corroding in place. Pads - resin are quieter, bed in faster, are easier on the rotors... but wear out quickly in the wet... so semi-sintered or sintered ones are preferred if you do lots of off-road in all weathers. Bed the pads in before expecting great braking. Bigger rotors are better in terms of braking. minimum of 160mm I'd say for a gravel bike. Flat mount is normal on a gravel/road bike.  Also, I;d advise against hanging the bike up by the front wheel for long term storage - as it seems to lead to spongey brakes until the oil has restributed itself properly again.  I;m not sure SRAM are, as I won't buy their stuff... I;m too embedded in Shimano now to want to mix.

The Orbea looks good, but I'd be tempted to push the boat out for GRX 600 2x if I could to get the 11 speed.  Although in the last 3 years prices seem to have basically doubled on bikes - a combination of no 'bargains' on sale and all the covid shortages. France may still be slightly cheaper than the UK. You can still get steel, but it is less common, and I've gone aluminium and carbon after having used steel for all my bike previously. Titanium is another option... but more money again and not necessarily any more reliable. Alu can be harsher to ride, but I don;t notice it... just the bike is a lot lighter than my older ones. Carbon forks are good though...

Disk brakes are a huge improvement over the cantilevers which you probably had on your Mercian (at any rate they're what I have on my touring bike, which I rode round your old haunts this morning).

I have 1x gears on my newish mountain bike (which went a long way up Glen Feshie yesterday) and have got used to the big jumps between gears that Ian_C__ mentioned, but on the road a 46/30 or similar compact chainring does give you closer spacing. 

I was researching gravel bikes recently. Two possible alternatives to the Orbea you linked to are Merida Silex 400 (46/30 but slightly lower bottom gear than the Orbea) and Marin Gestalt X10 (single chainring, even lower bottom gear). I assume both brands are available in France?

Rob

A mate with triple on an old hardtail MTB can keep pedalling when I have to walk with my cyclocross bike so I suggest you work out your lowest/lower gear ratios on your current bike for comparison with what you might buy. Maybe even try one of your rides but not going lower gear than lowest gear of what you might buy.

Yes - TRP HY/RD calipers are one option, but they are bulky and heavy.

Also see the Hope V-Twin system - cable levers operate a dual master cylinder mounted under the stem and it's hydraulic from there.

Give a better choice of caliper and looks a lot neater.

Otherwise, look at the TRP Spyre calipers - mechanical ones, but operate both pads, rather than just one side.

Thanks for the replies, posted, went out for a short walk & back to see some useful comments.

I had meant to add a question about tubeless tyres but forgot to type it so thanks to Jon for answering before I posted.

Looks like a little more research & a visit to a couple of local bike shops in the near future.

Watch youtube before you do any maintenance, bikes are not the same as when you (or I) were a lad! 

The only other thing to consider is if you want to occasionally tour, not all frames have pannier lugs (though you can obviously go for a bike packing set up with bags strapped to the frame).

id echo what’s been written above, hydraulics discs are a massive improvement, and think carefully about gearing many CX / gravel bikes have competitive gearing. So you may need to change not only the cassette but also to a longer gauge mech at the rear to accommodate the larger cassette, as well as thinking about the size of chain rings.

I suspect my days of cycle camping are over, any touring is likely to be based on B&Bs, gite d’étapes etc and a large saddle bag would probably be enough (I assume they still exist).

Try a Cannondale CAAD13 105 or Ultegra road bike. I have the later version with upgraded wheels. It is a fantastic bike. I have had two 531 frames and a Reynolds 653. They were great bikes but the CAAD13 Is a different beast altogether!

Definitely hydraulic discs. I’ve ridden all the flavours of disc brakes, and anything that isn’t fully hydraulic is a disappointing compromise just for cost. 
 

low gears. Really low, probably using 2x to get the widest range for a good top end on the road. 
 

Plenty of space for bigger tyres. 

It depends upon the frame, and the tubing used, it's too generalised to say that modern tubing makes alu frames stiffer when applying power, and more comfortable than a steel frame, both at the same time, that's much too generalised to be able to accurately apply as advice on those 2 materials, it depends on the frames in question.

Don't take any blanket advice about frame materials, it depends a lot on the individual frame/bike model.

I have the Orbea Terra H40 and love it as it's super versatile. Great for riding forest tracks  but I also used it to ride to the Alps last year, with a rear pannier. I also just swap the tyres for road and cyclocross races. Easily the best money I have spent on a bike. 

Well I visited two of the bike shops in our local town yesterday. Looks as if its more a question of what's available than what I want, especially as I need a small frame

First shop had nothing in stock, despite being part of a chain of shops - after spending sometime searching on her computer the sales assistant said she might have something in October. The second shop was a bit more hopeful, nothing in stock but he made a couple of phone calls & could offer a carbon framed bike by a French company  'Cycles Bertin' in a few weeks. But being carbon its more expensive than my initial budget. Oh well, at least one more shop to visit, then maybe consider others in eg Grenoble.

Have a look at Sonder Camino builds, Doug. I think they are in stock in May / June and at a very good price. Obviously its not really possible to test ride an online purchase like that, but they are very well reviewed and they also have a 28 day return policy if you're not happy with the bike (but more hassle from outside the UK, I guess).

I can recommend Ribble, if there's anything on their website that fits the bill. The CGR is a very good bike and probably ticks most boxes that you've mentioned.

I'd rather buy in France if possible, but out of interest I did look at the Sonder Caminos - all the models I looked at had no small frames available

Now to look at Ribble...

I recently built a gravel bike with drops and disk brakes but I found the drops awful off road. I kept the wheelset and now have two wheelsets for my mountain bike, one with thin gravel tires which are great on and off road then the other set with big mountain bike tires. I also swapped the suspension fork for a solid fork and swap these back and forth depending on what I'm doing. I use hydraulic disk brakes and wouldn't use anything else. I like the simplicity of a single and use a 32 up front with an 11-50 on the back which is very slow but I don't find I need more than a 36 - 11 when I'm riding more often.

I love steel frames, I think titanium and carbon are great for professional cyclists however I wouldn't get one for myself. I've had aluminum in the past but I prefer steel, I like the tiny bit of flex you get with steel and prefer the look.  Also think steel is more durable in practice and easier to fix than other materials.

Some gorgeous steel frames out there

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FTOOBZ29/on-one-bootzipper-29er-mountain-bike...

https://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/frames-forks-c6/mountain-bike-frames-c48/kra...

This looks good, looks like they're selling it off because they only have smalls left

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FROOBZ29FO/on-one-bootzipper-29er-mountain-bi...

I got my bike from Kelvelo, but I'm also aware that Cycles Lekeuss stock Orbea.