Beginner looking to get into more cycling on a mix of road, fire tracks, and gravel roads and would like the option to be on some rougher terrain every so often. This won’t be a commuter, but will prob use 2-3 days a week on 50-100km rides for fun/fittness/fresh air. I have some BMX experience, its so many years ago might not really be relevant, but I can be a pretty aggressive rider and more so with a bit of adrenaline. My current bike is a 2017 Giant Talon 3.
I’m in Australia and have seen
Marin Nicasio+ for $1200 aud
[https://www.bikesonline.com.au/marin-nicasio-plus-650b-steel-gravel-bike](https://www.bikesonline.com.au/marin-nicasio-plus-650b-steel-gravel-bike)
Nicasio 2 for $1700 aud
[https://www.bikesonline.com.au/2024-marin-nicasio-2-steel-gravel-urban-bike](https://www.bikesonline.com.au/2024-marin-nicasio-2-steel-gravel-urban-bike)
Gestalt 2 for $1600 aud
[https://www.bikesonline.com.au/marin-gestalt-2-gravel](https://www.bikesonline.com.au/marin-gestalt-2-gravel)
The Nicasio+ is really tempting me, read a lot of good things about this bike and also LOVE the price. Ideally, I don’t want to be dropping loads of money on a new hobby when I can upgrade in a couple of years if it’s something that I’m going to be doing a lot more seriously. That being said, if spending an extra $400-500 for better components is going to improve my experience and the longevity of the purchase then I am open to it, I’ve heard the brakes on the Nicasio+ are a bit meh, and I’m not really bike-technical enough to be upgrading to a hydraulic system myself.
I’m not too bothered about the weight of the bike, I think any of these bikes would seem pretty light compared to my current/past bikes.
I’m pretty much ready to pull the trigger on something in the next couple of days, so any help would be amazing!
by MotherCapital3270
1 Comment
Nicasso 2 is a good bike. I own that and the Tiagra hydraulic brakes on them do a good job.
It’s steel so the weight is like 11kgs or so.
I would note the Niccasso + is mechanical disc brake, so you won’t have the same feel compared to hydraulic which is nicer with the other two options linked.
My partner has the Gestalt which is pretty entry level with the Claris groupset. You can notice the brake feel difference as hers is mechanical and is not as nice when braking.
Depending on your budget maybe you can look into the hydraulic disc brake options as if you that can be expensive if you were to upgrade later down the track.
Otherwise Marin make some good bikes and are reasonably priced. Couldnt recommend it more.