First of all, it's April 2 already here in the Philippines so this isn't an April Fools joke post. Second, yes most likely this will be yet another filler blog post. So here we go.
"Upgrade-itis" is real and ever since I got interested in bikes again I've been browsing stuff online with dream bike builds and dream components and all those things. To be honest though seeing how I use my bike, my financial situation, and my age I realize getting those super gravel bikes that are worth tens of thousands of US dollars would be pretty impractical for my use.
That won't stop me from doing online window shopping and even having wishlist bike frames. I've found two, and unfortunately it looks like these manufacturers don't sell frames only. Which is a damn shame because it would probably be cheaper to assemble your bike with your chosen components than buying a fully built bike then upgrading the components.
Anyway here are two bike (frames) I like. They're both aluminum and they're both gravel bikes, but they are also both built more for adventure/long rides than racing. Also this doesn't mean I don't like the old gravel bikes I used to blog about. I just realized these are probably more attainable. Maybe.
Canyon Endurance 6. Aluminum with maximum 35mm wide tires. Mounting points on the top tube, seat tube, and down tube, but none on the forks. Relatively cheap and nice looking.
Cannondale Topstone 4 (2023). Aluminum, has wider tire clearance. Mounting points on the top tube, seat tube, down tube, forks, AND under the down tube. Plus I love the mango color.
Ideally though I would get one of these bikes and replace the brifters, groupset, pedals, saddles, tires, and the brake calipers. Nothing too fancy and nothing too extravagant.
In fact I'm perfectly happy to use the Sensah SRX Pro 1x groupset I'm currently using. I'd pair this with maybe a 44T chainring and a better quality 11-50 11-speed cassette. This would make the bike extremely versatile.
Going with Sensah brifters means I'll be using mechanical brakes. I'm not really sold on the China made hybrid caliper I'm using so I'll probably get either an Avid BB7 Road brakes or the TRP Spyre Road calipers.
Final thing I'd focus on are tires, and for these I'm not really sure what I want.
Out.
