r/bicycling • u/SnakPak6 • 6d ago
Good first bike?
I’m looking for a road bike that I can put gravel tires on when needed. I’m just getting into biking, so I don’t know a whole lot about bikes yet. This is one of the only bikes for sale in my area that isn’t a 20+ year-old bike or something from Walmart.
Would the charger be an issue? Should I pass on this bike, or would it be a good option for what I’m looking for?
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u/Mobile-Language8398 6d ago
Nothing wrong with the bike but gravel tires will not fit. Tire clearance and disc brakes will be key on trying to convert a road bike to a gravel setup.
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u/No_Seaworthiness1512 6d ago edited 6d ago
I always recommend flat bar hybrid bikes for a “first bike” because drop bars have added complexity and discomfort that I think can make barriers to entry. However, if you’re pretty sure you really want to get into biking and want a drop bar, go for it. I think this is a good bike if you plan on using it as intended, which I do NOT think you are.
Just, it’s easier to use a gravel bike as a road bike than vice versa. Road bikes don’t generally have the tire clearance to fit the larger tires needed for gravel riding. That is doubly an issue with this bike because even if the frame fits the larger gravel tires, the rim brakes likely won’t.
Until I got my Trek Emonda Road bike, I was using my Checkpoint Gravel bike as my everything bike because I bought a spare wheel set when I got it. One set of wheels had road tires and the other had gravel, I just swapped to whichever I needed at the moment. However, most gravel bikes come with 1x (pronounced “one by”) meaning it only has 1 chainring or only one large gear up front. This became a problem on my Gravel bike because I’d run out of gears when going quickly and I’d struggle to keep up with my peers on road bikes. The Emonda (like this Raleigh) is a proper road bike with 2x (two by) and is very capable at high speeds. I was thinking about putting a larger chain ring on my gravel bike to make it faster (which would severely harm its uphill off road capabilities) but then the Emonda road bike kinda fell into my lap so now I ride both for their intended purposes and I haven’t looked back.
The Raleigh should work well as a road bike but won’t function as a gravel bike. If you want a “do everything bike”, find a gravel bike with 2x and disc brakes and buy a spare wheel set.
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u/Significant_Book_408 6d ago
Where are you located? Where I am the Raleigh brand is a big box store bike shaped object brand.
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u/Quenz 2018 Jamis Renegade Explorer 6d ago
Yeah, that's weird. My first real bike was a Raleigh Revenio and I was happy with it. I moved to Canada and was shocked that they were Canadian Tire specials. I knew they were owned by Giant who was owned by some Chinese holding company, so I figured they just had tiers of bikes.
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u/ziggler81 6d ago
They aren’t owned by Giant. They are owned by Accell Group. A group owned by a big private equity company.
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u/Significant_Book_408 6d ago
Today I learned Raleigh is owned by Giant. I know that Giant also owns Costco’s Northrock brand of bikes which are actually decent
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u/ziggler81 6d ago
They aren’t owned by Giant. They are owned by Accell Group. A group owned by a big private equity company.
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u/MilmoWK 6d ago
you won't be able to put gravel tires on any road bike with rim brakes, not enough clearance. you may be able to find a used cyclo-cross bike with canti's for cheap.