My wife used to laugh when I'd get excited seeing a shiny new Canyon on the back of a car on the road. "It's just a bike!"
I never thought I'd be able to afford, or rather justify the cost of a gravel bike, with even entry level offerings pushing $700. So when I caught wind of the Ozark Trail, $250 shipped to my door? From Walmart of all places? Shit. I've never bought something so fast. Worst case I figured I'd have a good commuter I wouldn't need to care too much about.
In the three days it took the Wally World Express to reach my front door I started to have my doubts about my purchase, but a few YouTube videos and online reviews kept my mind at ease and open.
I'll be real, a lot of the videos I watched were a little to kind to the bike in it's fresh out the box state.
The saddle, peddles, and bar tape were, of course, junk. No big deal. The tires were teetering the line between half decent and junk. Very knobbly and squishy feeling on the road and not much grip in the dirt. A pair of gravel kings, cheap peddles, and nice thick cork bar tape and if feels like an entirely different bike.
I'm at a little more than I wanted to spend but for a little more than $350 total this is one hell of a bike for the money. I've been exploring all of the less than paved parts of my city as well as the miles of trails that are a short ride from my house and this is the perfect bike for it. I've got about 50 miles on the bike in the two weeks I've had it and couldn't be happier.
This post is longer than I intended, but I just wanted to share my experience with a fun cheap bike. The thing makes me feel like a kid again, hopping on a bike that could go anywhere and do anything. It's very freeing, especially coming from the world of fixed gear and skinny ass tires.
Long story short – buy the bike you can afford and ride it!
by gravelbikedad