Have you looked at Lynskey titanium?

NS Rag+

When I bought mine, and where I am, the Canyon at the time made the most sense (best bang for my buck). But your circumstances are most probably different.

Ibis Hakka MX

What is your thoughts on a Canyon?

I'm on my second Salsa Warbird and love it. I only got a new one because the 1x setup of my first one really didn't work for me so I wanted to go back to a 2x setup. My current ride is a 2020 Salsa Warbird with GRX600 on it.

What's the reason the Aspero not on your shortlist, too racy or too expensive?

I'm curious too why you don't want to consider the Aspero? Especially if you have a few Cervelo's as well. I just got one, did my first ride on it Saturday. 56 miles with 5800 ft of climbing. It was AWESOME! I don't see myself being happier with another gravel bike.

Is yours 2020 the navy blue model? It's on my short list

edit: spelling is hard

Love my Trek Boone ! The ISO takes just enough of the edge off on gravel.

It is and completes my collection of blue bikes.

I have a 2019 Checkpoint SL5 and truly love it. I live outside of Chicago and don't have to deal with many steep climbs on gravel, so the compact crankset works fine for me. I also just wanted a good "all-arounder" to compliment my tri bike. I have two wheelsets and use one when I am riding in chunky country gravel, and one when I am doing group rides. I am coming up on a year with it and have enjoyed it so far. With that said, I can imagine plenty of situations in which it wouldn't be the ideal bike. It will be overgeared for a lot of people (myself included) in a lot of areas that involve serious gravel climbs.

Concerned about the ride comfort on longer enduro races. I ride a 61 P2 (my S2 is a 58) and flexibility is not my strong suit. Price is secondary but they are pricier that’ some or the options that I’m considering.

Well as you know a very polarizing bike. But I for one loved the look (even better in real), and didn't care for the different handlebar. In the end, the handlebar has proven to be quite useful, as the lower bar can fit my Fly12 and a bell (the part of the lower bar near but not nearest to the drops is kind of round and similar size to a normal round handlebar), away from any of my contact points on the handlebar, but close enough to my hand position on the drops and/or hoods that I can just action the bell with a flick of the thumb without moving my hands from their riding position. All other functions of the handlebar work as well as any other. The drops have proven to be a problem for people with small hands, but not an issue for me.

Everything else about the bike I love. When I bought it a year and a half ago, where I am (Australia, Canberra) it was the (or one of very few) only option I had as I wanted a carbon frame gravel bike. The only other option in the same price range was the Trek gravel bike, but I didn't like it as much. I bought the 105 mech version of the Grail. Mostly use it for commuting to work (mix of surfaces, but mostly undulating bike paths around the lake), and gravel on the weekends.

Hope that helps.

I picked up a Salsa Warbird when they updated the frame a year or two back... far and away the best bike I have ever owned. I even went ahead and sold my tri bike as I have no long distance tris in my future and a properly setup Warbird isn't that different from a road bike, especially at the back of the pack!

I went with the Apex build figuring the components will wear out and can be replaced with higher end stuff down the road. The initial savings left me with enough money to buy some toys like wheels and a power meter.

I bought a Kona Libre last October and have been very happy with it. Fun bike for both gravel racing (I've done two so far) and bikepacking.

Giant's are usually pretty damn sound and well priced bikes. The Canyons are similar (nice spec and price) but tend to be a little tight on tire clearance. May not seem like much but if you find yourself out and about on a muddy road there's nothing quite like grinding through the chainstays on your carbon frame.

I went all out on my gravel bike. I bought the Lynsey GR270. I did a full Ultegra Di2 group and HED wheels. It’s stellar and I can’t say enough good things about it.

Don’t make a move til you check out this bike. I bought direct from Lynskey and they were great to work with. I requested stickers for the frame from a road frame instead as I liked those better and I was able to test ride the straight post and ended up sending it back for the layback post. No issues at all and they were great helping me get what I wanted and the right fit for me. Lifetime warranty on the frame set and no chipped paint with titanium! It will look like new forever.