Looking for a do it all bike
 

I've been riding a Giant Escape 3 for a little over a year now. Really enjoyed the bike but I'm ready for something different. Looking to up the road mileage a little but still want to ride the rail trails with my wife which consists of fine gravel. Also looking to do some charity rides with it. I'd like to have one bike that will do it all. I test rode a Specialized Diverge Sport A1. Loved it compared to what I'm riding now. Just smoother & felt like it fit me better. Looking to test ride a Trek Crossrip and a GT Grade Alloy 105. Will these bikes fit the bill? Or is there no such thing?

Thanks.

Depending on whether you prefer upright bars or drop bars, look at a decent hybrid or cyclocross/touring bike. Other factors to consider are tire/fender clearance, and eyes for fenders or a rack.

There are so many bikes out there with all manor of variation and choices, that you shouldn't have a problem finding something that fits the bill.

FWIW over my 50 years riding, I've ridden top end race bikes on roads and trails that would barely qualify as goat paths, and ridden off road bikes on the road at speeds and distances comparable to what I use my dedicated road bike for. IME fit and position (and the engine) matter more than the specific bike. Tire selection is also important, for instance I commute on the same mtn bike I use for mtn biking, but have spare wheels to switch back and forth between ones with smooth tires for the road, and aggressive tires for off road and/or snow. (could just change tires, but changing wheels is more convenient).

Any road bike that can take a fatter tire (which includes the bikes you are looking at) are about as close to a swiss army knife bike as you can find. They're fine for gravel and road riding plus fatter tires are just comfortable for long miles.

My do it all bike is a soma double cross.

I ride fine-surface trails, charity events and road miles on my custom Engin road bike with 25c tires. So...What Bikemig wrote.

Cyclocross bike, gravel/adventure bike, touring bike, all of these will do everything you want in slightly different ways.

The three bikes you mentioned have a mix of 3 different price points of Shimano components. That should be reflected in the price your seeing. Also, I don't believe the Specialized (just from web specs) has mounts for fenders/racks. that may or may not be something of interest to you.

You did mention fine gravel trails. perhaps you also want to try a steel bike to see if you like the feel of steel over Aluminum. I do. I prefer my Specialized AWOL over my Felt Z100. I wish I would of grabbed the Kona *****-Tonk instead of the Z100. good luck!

I have a road bike, a mtb and a crossbike. I have a spare set of wheels with road tires for my Trek X01 Crosser for distance rides and I use the stock wheel w/28 knobs on them for the dirt/gravel. Guess the do it all for me is the X01. I would look at cross bikes if I were you.
Bill

I ride the discontinued Salsa Casseroll, which is pretty much a do it all bike. Worth checking out if you can find a used one, or maybe a NOS frame. If you want Salsa, you would have to go with either the Colossal or the Vaya. Similar bike currently in production would be the All City Space Horse. The Specialized Diverge looks nice, as least worth of a test ride. Similar to that is the Kona Rove AL, or Rove ST. Or the Fairdale Weekender Drop. Or the Soma Double Cross.

There really is no shortage of the type of bike you are looking for. You just need to test ride a few models and see what appeals to your body and style of riding.

Not sure what your budget is but I bought a Colnago World Cup CX and it is a great all-purpose bike IMO. I think they are currently on sale at Competitive Cyclist for $1500 or thereabouts.

Giant Escape hybrid for me as well. Love the bike. Does it all, but do have a road bike for group rides at work.. hard to keep up with road bikes while on a hybrid, especially on down hills. I do like the fact the I don't have to be concerned about dirt roads or gravel on the route when riding the hybrid.

Any of those bikes would do.

I ride a GT Eightball - urban flat bar road bike changed into a gravel road/adventure bike.

If you can fit your bike with wider tires, you can ride hardpack/gravel terrain and fire roads.

This is the best deal. What sets it apart from the other bikes that you mentioned is the hydraulic road disc brakes. $1299, takes up to 700x45 tires.

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Here's another bike I'll throw into the mix only because I'm in the same situation as jmls1994 looking for a do-it-all and have been testing lots of different rides. Jamis makes a nifty cyclocross bike called the Renegade. I rode the Crossrip, and it's a real nice bike, but compared to the Renegade, felt like it was a bit too brittle of a ride, picking up each little bump and divot in the road. The Crossrip is aluminum while the Renegade is steel. Both have disc brakes, if that's something that you're factoring into your new ride. And price-wise they're about the same here in Portland. I also rode the Salsa Vaya and that's a real sweet ride as well, and was about the same set up as the Crossrip and Renegade, but was a couple hundred more expensive. One other thing that I noticed about the Jamis was the ability to add fenders as well as front and rear racks if you want, Crossrip wasn't as flexible in that regard. I'm guessing part of your do-it-all would be some form of commuting. On the negative side, the brakes on the Jamis were not as strong as the Crossrip's brakes, so there you go.

Depends on the trails, but I disliked my Crossrip on the chunky gravel we have here. I have an escape, and with beefier tires I'd probably rather ride that on gravel than a Crossrip. The crossrip will feel lighter than the escape unless you have a 2015 one, but even then it will probably be a pound or two lighter.

What is your budget like? Have you played with different tires on the Escape? Mine will fit 50c Big Bens which changes the game pretty markedly...

Really, there are so many bikes in this category now I'd shop for local bike shops rather than specific models of bike. Get whatever do-all bike they sell a lot of and build a relationship with the shop.


My 2015/2016 Crossrip will accept racks and fenders. In fact, I'm about to move my rack from the Escape on over.

Thanks for all the great replies. Price really won't factor into my decision as all 3 are within $50 of each other. Just considering value I should go with the Grade. The Specialized wins because of the bike shop although I have not personally visited the Grade dealer yet. Another problem is that all the bikes my size are not in stock to test ride. We'll see what happens the next few weeks.

I'd look at Gravel/Adventure bikes.

Here's a good article about them, that lists several options.

Any of those would suit your needs, so it would really come down to which one fits you the best.

GH