Originally Posted by
Badger6
I am seen, 2016 Diverge is this for me...I'd offer that the original Diverge fit this bill better than the current gen, which is no slouch either. From specialized, the new Crux might be best all-arounder in the market at this point, if you can get one (or a frame) and build it up. But, thats also a quite aggressive gravel racer that can do CX duty. Plenty of other suggestions in this thread already (Bombtrack out of Berlin is legit also).
The new Crux is a great example of this. I think it was Cyclingtips that described that bike as a "fat tired Aethos". It's a light and nimble drop bar bike with snappy handling that can fit 47mm tires. The only downside I see to the Crux is that all of the builds currently being sold are 1x drivetrains, which would be more limiting for road riding, so as you say - finding and buying a frameset and building it up with a 2x drivetrain would be the way to go.
The only other downside to the Crux (and this is a big one) is the insane pricing. Forget about the $12k S-Works model, but even the entry level Comp is $4200 and has Rival 1x11 mechanical. That is REALLY expensive.