A few come to mind:


Specialized Roubaix
Scott Addict CX
Santa Cruz Stigmata
Trek Boone
Cervelo C3/C5 (might be limiting on the tire size)
Focus Mares

Personally I have the Santa Cruz Stigmata built with Shimano Ultegra and Easton R90SL wheelset, and the bike is about 18 lbs all in

Thank you. Been eyeing Stigmata and Boone, unfortunately not quite in the budget, but I'll keep looking...

Jensen has a few Niner bsb builds under $3k. Great frame/fork, I'd go with the apex 1x build and get a set of Stan's grail wheels as soon as possible. For my money the grail rim combined with schwalbe g-one tires is very tough to beat for mixed surface riding.

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"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson

I am curious what people suggest, too. I have a Surly trucker that I use for touring and commuting, and solo gravel wandering. But damn that bike is heavy and slow. Gravel racing is growing in popularity here, and it looks interesting, plus my commute is mostly gravel and I would like something lighter for that.

I have a 2017 Salsa Warbird that I like a lot. You might check them out

I'm riding a Cervelo C5 in my retired life. Not riding a lot, and I think that it will fit some 32s for tires. Mine is stock right now, with a -17 stem and my saddle, but it's a really nice bike. I'm considering selling my S5 since this bike seems like it'll do about anything.

The C3 is the same geometry, etc.

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Brandon Marsh - Website | @BrandonMarshTX | RokaSports | 1stEndurance | ATC Bikeshop |

I might be able to get you a deal on Lynskey titanium.

I've got a Ritchey Swiss Cross Disc and love it. I built it up with an ultegra 10 speed group I had on hand and some Ritchey parts to round out the build. I'm running tubeless and use it for both commuting/short shopping trips and gravel riding. I rode a salsa warbird and the Ritchey back to back when I was shopping and much preferred the geometry/handling of the Ritchey. It's pretty light, especially for a steel bike, and can be built within your budget. I honestly want to put a sram 1x on mine now, just need to keep saving my pennies!

Anywho, I'd suggest giving it a look. See if you can find a shop in your town that sells Ritchey and go take a spin.

Edit - just checked and it looks like a complete ultegra build is available from Ritchey for $2700
https://ritcheylogic.com/swiss-cross-disc-bike

Here's pretty much what I got, when I was looking for a cross/gravel/whatever bike last Fall:

http://www.performancebike.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10052_10551_1206845_-1___


Got mine for about the same price too, it was for a 2016. (mine was from Backcountry.com)
Not "light", but ~20 lbs I'd guess.
Ultegra 11 Compact crank w/ 11/32 cassette = tons of climbing gearing. Almost as much as my mtb.


Can take up to 40c tires, should you ever want to go that wide.
Mine came w/ Challenge Gravel Grinder 38's - adequate clearance in back, TONS up front.


Hard to imagine a much better bang/buck deal than full carbon, Ult11, hydraulic disks, thru axels on decent wheels, for ~$2.7k


Naturally, between a little extra weight, more upright position, non-aero tubes, disks, etc, it's not going to be quite as fast on paved roads as a road bike - but it's not a tank either.
Once you get on rough roads, dirt or gravel carriage roads, and moderate trails - that's when it shines.
Feels really stable and planted, very confident handling in conditions that would be sketchy at best on a roadie.


I always felt disks were overkill for 'road' bikes since the skinny tires are the limiter, but with the wider tires, you can actually put that superior braking to good use.

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float , hammer , and jog

Take a look at the Fuji Jari models. I just picked up a Jari 1.1 frameset from Performance on sale. With the aluminum frame and carbon fork, it makes for a fairly light starting point, plus it can take some REALLY wide tires :-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

I'm riding a Cervelo C5 in my retired life. Not riding a lot, and I think that it will fit some 32s for tires. Mine is stock right now, with a -17 stem and my saddle, but it's a really nice bike. I'm considering selling my S5 since this bike seems like it'll do about anything.

The C-Series is a great "Retirement Bike" - you can ride and do a bit of everything on that bike just by changing up the tires.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I would actually get 2 bikes...an inexpensive commuter with disc brakes and a dedicated gravel/CX bike. I tried to have an all-in-one and it was kind of pain. If I wanted to do a 60 mile gravel ride, I didn't want to have a bike with a rear rack, bell, lights, etc. The now have a hybrid (setup as a 1x) for commuting and a Niner BSB has my gravel/CX bike.

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"Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps"
Blog = http://extrememomentum.com|Photos = http://wheelgoodphotos.com

Agreed. Finally got a dedicated cross bike so I could kit out my old CX/commuter as a dedicated commuter.

Cheap used CX bikes are easy to find.

Thank you for sharing!

You're right of course, but my main problem (aside from not having a million dollars to spend) is that my goal is to have a light commuter, which I don't think I can get unless it's expensive. Since I'll be spending a bunch on that, looking into how feasible it would be to spend potentially more but to get both commuter and a race bike in one.

Some good suggestions here, appreciate it!

http://allcitycycles.com/bikes/mr_pink

Not disc brake but designed to run big-ish chubby tires

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David T-D
http://www.tilburydavis.com

Lots of options in this range. Some not already mentioned and trying to keep it on budget :

Steel
All City Macho King
Surly Straggler
Specialized Sequoia

Carbon
Ridley X-Trail
Diamondback Haanjo
Jamis Renegade
Specialized Diverge
Focus Mares

Aluminum
Specialized Diverge
Niner RLT 9
Cannondale Slate

3T Exploro?

Here is a pic of mine -> http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ing=exploro#p6267443

I have 2 sets of wheels: Zipp 30 course with 35mm Schawble G-One, and Zipp 202 with Zipp Tangente R30 (30mm) tires.

I do commute on mine. I use the SKS RaceBlade fenders when rain/snow is in the forecast. The frame does not have rack mounts, but you mentioned you wear a backpack (I do as well), so maybe that is not an issue.

I've also got a Cervelo S1 (Zipp 303 front, 404 rear, Zipp SL-70 aero drop bar, eTap; so a build that is similar to the Exploro) that I run 25mm tires on. Honestly, I cannot tell the difference in speed when riding the S1 versus the Exploro. And that really says a lot, as I've always felt that the S1 was a fast bike; notably faster than others I've ridden. I even took the Exploro on my Saturday group ride yesterday, as my road bike had a flat and I was running too late to fix it. Even with the 35mm G-One tires on (didn't have time to switch wheels, I was already late), I didn't really feel at much disadvantage relative to my road bike. Climbing was fine, the only place I felt slower was at high speed (> 30MPH) where I felt I had more drag from the size of the tires. (Could have been more mental than physical, triggered by the tire buzz noise.)

At this point, if I did not have a road bike, I would not buy one. The Exploro functions that well as a "road bike". But with big tires, it is great off road as well.

Last- The bike is actually quite comfortable. The 3T seatpost has a fair amount of flex; combined with big tires, the bike is really a nice ride.

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2015 USAT Long Course National Champion (M50-54)

What you are looking for was exactly what I were too. Versatile, stable but swift. I bought Focu Mares CX ultegra 2017.

It's 8.2kg. Considering my bike is equiped with mechanical disc brake (TRP SPYRE) and 32h damn heavy bundle wheelset, weight is not that bad.

I am using conti 4000s 2 28c with latex inner tube. *28c's CRR is not that bad compared to 25c. It is swift enough and feels decent. It is quite easy to sustain 23mph. I am using my focus as a race bike, commuter and cx/gravel bike.

Disc brakes are awesome. They are really powerful and efficient whether dry or wet.


Take a look.

http://imgur.com/Vufyuy8
http://imgur.com/SO9JIqh
http://imgur.com/ssrtZhg
http://imgur.com/Fp9R2D3

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Stay home, stay healthy.