Originally Posted by
telebianchi
(Making the assumption that any of these bikes will provide a good fit for up)
Between the Motobecane and the Poseidon and the carbon frame, I'd go with the GRX equipped bike all day every day. It's just a great system. The design behind GRX400 is no different than 600 or 800 other than the # of gears. You'll never know it's "only" 10 speed while riding (my gravel bike has 10-speed Tiagra 4700 - I never notice or think about it having one less cog than my Ultegra road bike). The FSA crank set is the low end of FSA's offerings but perfectly reliable. If you care about it in the future, the GRX 10-speed 2x crank + BB is less than $200. Personally, I still prefer a 2x set up on my gravel bike. The 46/30 with 11-34 cassette will give you plenty of gear range. And I wish my bike had hydro brakes; it's just too expensive to upgrade that (just last week I missed out on a used full Tiagra hydro group for $100....errrgh).
One thing to note is that none of these has tubeless ready rims or tires. So that's a wash on the comparison. But going tubeless at some point will make any of these bikes ride better because of the technology but you would also by default end up with better wheels and tires than what these bikes come fitted with. I'm not saying you have to run out right away and upgrade the wheelset, but that's where I'd start saving up my money. I say this from experience on my generic Performance Bike house brand aluminum frame gravel bike. The switch from clincher-only base-level Scwalbe tires to a tubeless set up was huge. Anyway, I got off topic there a bit didn't I.
After doing a bit of reading, I ended up going with the Motobecane Gravel X Pro purchased used from Bike Island. I've bought twice from them in the past. The first time the bike I ordered didn't come as-described so they sent a FedEx return shipping label (which worked out fine since I live near a FedEx shipping hub) and I received a full refund no questions asked. The second time I bought from them, the bike came as-described. I built that bike up nicely and it came out much cheaper than new. It's a bit hit or miss, but I learned from that first experience to email to get as much information about the bike before buying and they'll respond quickly regarding any inquiries.
Anyways, it was the GRX groupset of the Motobecane that sold me. The other bikes in my budget were the Poseidon X and State All-Road. I actually like the looks of the Poseidon X and prefer the steel frame of the All-Road, but they both use budget or in-house components. At least with the Motobecane the components are known. From my prior experience with Motobecane frames, while nothing special in the lower end, they hold up just fine. I'll definitely consider new wheels as a future upgrade. Though for some of the trails I plan to ride which includes creek crossings and rocky trail passes, I don't mind using cheap alloy rims, since they'll see considerable abuse!