I’m looking for a new bike to bikepack 2500km’s on in Norway next summer. I don’t have a big budget (at most around 600 to 700 euros). Locally theres a lot of mid/higher end cyclocross used bikes for sale. These have groupsets like Shimano 105 and seems okay spec wise (I don’t know much about gravel/cx specs as I come from mtb so im not entirely sure). My other option would be to buy a low end gravelbike for around 600 euros like a marin nicasio. These have groupsets like Shimano claris. My friends say buying a new bike will be better because new components are more durable because they haven’t been used yet, but I feel that I would trust older higher end components on a well maintained bike more as these have already held up through previous usage and would probably be reliable for many more miles. The thing is the geo of a cx bike is way more agressive and problably less comfortable on endurance type of rides compared to a gravelbike. I would definetly put a different stem on a cx bike to raise the handlebars for more comfort but im not sure if that is enough to make a cx bike comfortable for bikepacking.
[This](https://www.marktplaats.nl/v/fietsen-en-brommers/fietsen-racefietsen/m2065640740-empella-bonfire-sl-custom-volledig-campagnolo) seems like a good bike for 350 euros as it seems to be in good shape and has a Campognolo veloce groupset and would right now be the kind of used cx bike I would buy. I would probably put some money into new tires, brakepads and chain/casette when buying used so the price would probably go up to around 500 euros in total. [This](https://www.bikester.nl/serious-gravix-M1160849.html?vgid=G1716245#cgid=240482) seems like a well specced cheap gravelbike with good geo and would be the kind of bike I would buy choosing for a new low end gravelbike. I’m not really sure what bike to buy as I don’t know much about the gravel/cx segment, I’ve only ridden a lot of mtb so I’ve got some idea about what the geo numbers mean but haven’t had enough experience on these types of bikes to make a clear choice. What do you guys think is the most reliable and comfortable type of bike for the price?
And if you’ve made it to the bottom thanks for reading, I appriciate it a lot!
TLDR:
Would an older higher end cyclocross bike or a newer low end gravelbike be better for bikepacking?
by bloebvis
1 Comment
Hi, I’d go with the “old” CX bike, even if you have to do some tweaking if you need to put some racks, cages etc, it’s still possible to find all kinds of clamps etc. I did exactly that on a 80’s CX bike and it’s become a solid bikepacking machine. One advantage this bike has, is a bottle cage mount ; usually you don’t have these on old CX bikes because cx racers don’t need to drink on short races.
The other newer bike doesn’t even have some rack mounts on the seatstays, or on the fork, or on additionnal points on the top/down tubes, so it doesn’t even have a solid advantage over the old one. Except if you absolutely want some disc brakes…