EvanB said:
So does this mean I should order a gravel bike for 50% off or hope they will go lower?
https://gtbicycles.com/collections/gravel-bikes/products/grade-comp?variant=45862855475497#tab-geo
I have the previous generation Grade and it's not a bad bike, although more of a road bike than a gravel bike these days. It's sketchy as hell off pavement. Partly because I have it set up primarily for road use and partly due to the road-oriented design. It has more traditional road geometry and a horizontal tube tube with little exposed seat post, so it can't really accept a dropper post.
The current Grade is practically a mtn bike with curly handlebars. The fork is suspension corrected, so the frame can run a short travel fork. It has a sloping top tube with a lot of exposed seat post and is set up to run a dropper seat post. Overall geometry is slacker than a standard road bike and will thus feel a lot more comfortable on dirt trails.
So it'll depend a bit on how you plan to use it. If primarily on the road, I'd look for something else with less of a off-road design/geometry focus. Especially true if you plan to do rides with others who may be on road bikes. If you are looking for a bike that can be equally acceptable on dirt and road, then it could be a good choice.
In reply to ShawnG :
I worked in a Cannondale dealer at the time and scored a killer end-of-the-year sale. Other than tires and handlebar tape, it’s all 1986.
ShawnG said:
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Very cool.
I've got my 96 Brodie Expresso. The 'dale is a 2000s Gemini from when I was still doing really dumb things and healed quickly.
My 2010 Cannondale CAAD9 is right at the end of their US production. I tried ordering a complete bike at the time as they had a really nice off the shelf race build (just add proper race wheels and go) but they were already done with anything like that and were just offering framesets so I happily did that. Within a month of getting that the Taiwan made CAAD10 was introduced, nice bikes but I like how you can clearly see the lineage of all the CAAD frames up to my 9 from over the years.
With the race wheels on it was about as US made as you can get, Cannondale frame, Cannodale Hollowgram 2 crankset, EDGE (now ENVE) composites bars and a set of ZIPP wheels, the rest was Asia produced.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
Classic bike industry, they've moved everyone on to super aggressive mountain bikes (I mean, I've got one and they're great), sold everyone a very functional gravel bike (I'm still technically on a Cross bike and very fine with that) and now they're convincing us that "old" gravel bike isn't up to the task, you really need suspension and a more laid back geometry for all that "hard core" gravel lol.
I do get it but it really depends on what you are riding, gravel roads here are sometimes smoother than asphalt and our rail trails the same so no need for anything aggressive. Except there are those trails that are way to tame to take a modern mountain bike on but can get a little sketch with more road/cross geometry where a slightly more aggressive gravel bike can shine (hey, we should throw flat bars on! Wait, this looks a lot like a hybrid or that ten year old hard tail I couldn't wait to get rid of lol).
In reply to adam525i :
Who knows what GT were going after with the Grade V2. The other design that went even farther off the deep end is the Evil Chamois Hagar. I've raced DH bikes with less aggressive geometry numbers. Yes... a lot of gravel bikes look like older 29er hard tails... It's all rather amusing to me since gravel riding isn't something I do. If I'm on a dropped bar bike, I'm doing a road ride from my house. If I want to ride gravel I have to drive... and if I'm driving to ride, I'm more inclined to do a full-on mtn bike ride. Bike paths and rail-trails I avoid like the plague - safer to ride with cars.
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to adam525i :
Who knows what GT were going after with the Grade V2. The other design that went even farther off the deep end is the Evil Chamois Hagar. I've raced DH bikes with less aggressive geometry numbers. Yes... a lot of gravel bikes look like older 29er hard tails... It's all rather amusing to me since gravel riding isn't something I do. If I'm on a dropped bar bike, I'm doing a road ride from my house. If I want to ride gravel I have to drive... and if I'm driving to ride, I'm more inclined to do a full-on mtn bike ride. Bike paths and rail-trails I avoid like the plague - safer to ride with cars.
Man, we couldn't have more opposing use cases, haha... I live on a dirt road, and am about 10 miles from a top-class mtb destination, so I find myself grabbing my gravel bike and riding to the network rather than driving to it. The Evil is super intriguing for me because it's almost a mini-mtb that could excel in double-duty.
There's definitely a bike for every use-case. I admit that mine is probably a little less common, but I love the long/low/slack drop-bar bikes.
In reply to adam525i :
Here’s the 1986 Cannondale catalog with my bike–SR400 in navy.
I had already been gathering parts for the build, but then Cannondale had some sweet end-of-the-season deals that put a complete bike within my grasp–and I still needed a few odds and ends that helped it make sense.
Check out the prices:
Frameset retail: $235
Complete bike retail: $450
As a bike shop employee, we could buy at cost.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Very nice! Definitely worth holding onto. Even looking at those you can see the lineage going back from my bike almost 25 years later.
My first real BMX was a chrome GT Fueler. For a racing bike, it was a porker. It was also the town pump, as I was at least the 5th owner in my group of friends.
Somewhere I still have the anodized gold piston stem that I did a lot of chores to afford
Internet pic:
