Originally Posted by
ridethetown
@
shoota - Right. It's hard to get any gravel-first, road-second build under 20 lbs. within a $3k budget without it being a crappy ride. Personally, I wouldn't want to be spending much time off tarmac on a sub-20 lb. bike unless it was dedicated to CX racing. I'd chased lowest-possible-weight on so many bikes and builds until I came around to the reality that ride quality and comfort matter so much more for preventing fatigue.
It's funny you say that. I actually went the other direction. Started with a 24-ish lbs Raleigh Tamland and while it was a great bike, I just always felt the need for a more lively ride. Wound up with a Cannondale SuperX and now I'm looking for something as light as the SuperX, that feels like the SuperX but that is slightly more gravel orientated. Basically I'm in the same boat as the OP.