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| Image courtesy of State Bicycle Co. |
In 2026, I find most people are probably thinking along the lines of the following: Aluminum is "entry level", carbon is "the best", and titanium is for "cork sniffers" in the bicycling scene.
Steel is .......I'm not going to say it! Steel is perceived by many casual cyclists I've met as being "heavy". Most don't want anything to do with it.
Apologies if I offended anyone with those gross generalizations, but I used those to prove a point: Most folks have no idea what a frame material really does for them. Sure, they have heard things. You might think carbon fiber is "the lightest" and most prestigious frame material. You may have heard aluminum isn't comfortable to ride. You may have heard titanium is "expensive". As generalizations go, some of their basis is true. Much of the nuance lost will paint a more detailed and truer picture.
That goes for pretty much anything in life.
Anyway, this is about an idea I had to help dispel some notions about aluminum gravel bike frames. The thing is, the frames you can buy are priced all over the place and some are more expensive than what I would pay for a carbon fiber frame and fork from China.
The next thing you'll notice is that many of these frames have odd geometries. In fact, those geometries are all over the place as well. Adding in my proclivities for what a gravel bike geometry should be, and well, it gets darn near impossible to find anything I'd like to try.
Take for instance the State Bicycle Co. 6061 AllRoad, (shown here). It is sub-$900.00 with a carbon fork. Tire clearance up to a 50mm tire. But the bottom bracket drop is straight out of cyclo cross. Too little of it, that is, so it fails as something I'd want to test.
Then there is the fine looking Velo Orange Chessie. I took a deep-dive look at this bike last year. It was almost there like the State offering, but the bottom bracket drop was odd on the bike so I passed on it. Honestly, I was disappointed because I really like everything else about the Chessie.
So, if any of you dear readers have a suggestion, here are my parameters: The frame/fork must not cost 1K or more. Secondly, the frame must be aluminum, but the fork can be carbon, or whatever. Now, geometry is important. Bottom bracket drop must be 72mm or more. The head tube angle must be 72° or slacker. Tire clearance must be up to a 45mm, and preferably up to 50mm. I'm open to suggestions on anything else, but I'd really like to stay away from any oddball bottom bracket standards and I prefer threads there, but I can work around this detail.
Got anything for me? Hit me up in the comments.
17 comments:
Hi GT. First of all, thank you for writing the blog. I read it daily here in Poland. Regarding the frameset, here in Poland you can buy a complete bike, a Felt Broam 60, or an Octane One GRD FLAT Teal, for $790. Both meet the requirements, although I don't know if they're available in your country. Best regards.
@Rambling Biker - First of all - Thank you for reading the blog!
I'll take a look at those suggestions. Thank you for pointing them out to me. Cheers!
Trek Checkpoint ALR gen 4… It is a hair steeper than your ideal head angle, but is, but it's still in the 72degree range, and the BB is deeper than you specify. I've ridden it and it's a clear step better on gravel than a State All Road 6061. If that was my budget, it'd probably be my choice.
… that said, the Specialized Crux DSW Comp has a very similar geometry set, with just a 72mm BB drop. I'd prefer 75mm at least.
… Oh, snap… The Alumax 2 from Ron's Bikes: https://ronsbikes.com/products/aluminus-maximus
That's the deal.
If it was sub 1000 without fork, Kona Ouroborus gets there but maybe too high/slack. If you believe the numbers, The Walmart Ozark Trail G1 might do it, but I'm not sure what the tires max out at.
You might also want to check out the Sonder Camino Al frameset from the UK. It looks good and the price is decent too.
@Marc Pfister - Thanks for these suggestions! The Ourobourus is just outside my range in price, but otherwise does tic all the boxes. Unfortunately, the Ozark Trail example gets too high in the BB if you look at the Large, which is what I would need.
@MG - The Checkpoint ALR v4 is pretty tasty. A bit pricey, but good. I may go have a word with our local dealer.
@MG - FtW fabricated. Good pedigree. Far too expensive though at above 2K.
I got a look at one of those Ozark Trail gravel bikes this past weekend. A guy showed up on our ride Saturday on one. It was an amazing bike for the $250 he spent on it, and he kept up just fine. Who'd have thunk that we'd see the day when legitimately usable bikes would come from WalMart? Amazing...
What about a Niner RLT 9 AL frame, it can fit up to a 2.0?
I'll submit the Niner RLT 9 as a longshot that might work for you. My size 59 has an HTA of 72 and BB drop of 70. However, the bike has a PF30 BB and accepts an EBB. If you run the EBB in the 6 o'clock position you should end up with a BB drop of greater than 72mm. I'm using the wheels mfg EBB which I know you are familiar with. The good: I got the frame/fork/headset direct from the Niner website for $599. 50mm tire clearance. Singlespeedable. In my opinion the alloy frame rides smooth, not harsh. The bad: geo is basically CX geo, nothing to get real excited about. Annoying toe overlap with my 48mm tires. Availability - no clue what is going on with Niner these days so availability and pricing are big question marks. But if you can afford to be patient with this project it might be worth keeping an eye on the RLT9. On a related note: Project Fixed Gravel Bus makes me think the RLT9 would be a good candidate for a gravel fixed gear.
@N.Y. Roll - See Scott's comment and my response below.
@Scott - Yeah, I've looked at Niner's stuff before and I think you are correct in your assessment of the geometry.
The RLT 9 would make a great fixie though. You should try it!
While it doesn't exactly fit into all your parameters, I'm moved to encourage you to revisit the Stormchaser. Your reviews of it a few years ago helped me pull the trigger on one. I've been enjoying mine very much for 3 years now riding/racing gravel, a little CX, and a good deal of single track.
@Travis: Thank you for the suggestion. I would love to have included the Stormchaser into my stable of bikes but the frame sets in my size are all gone.
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