Which bike should be my 1st gravel bike? I’m stuck between these 2 bikes around the $1000 mark (1000 and 900 USD). I live in a hilly gravel infested region of the midwest (Driftless Iowa). I love the idea of longish trips, probably about a week. I’m 6’1 and 190lbs male.
Thanks for the help!
by fjordknight
11 Comments
Poseidon unless you’re looking to buy local. Free shipping too
i’ve never heard of Primos but i wouldn’t get it due to the fact it only has one pedal and the front brake cable housing is poorly installed
seriously, fb marketplace ads have better product photos…
Salsa
I’m new to the hobby, but I’ve had a posiedon x ambition for about half a year and love it.
That Primos is intriguing.
I just emailed them to ask for some clarification. It says the main triangle of the frame is double butted 4130, which is a good material, but that makes me wonder if the stays are just regular old steel, or if they’re 4130 just not double butted.
It’s got decent components for the price, looks cool, and is unique (which to me is a good thing).
If it’s a full 4130 frame, I think that’s a really good choice. If it’s only 4130 for the main triangle, for me I’d have to pass. I’m just not a fan of hi-ten for the stays.
The Salsa, on the other hand, is a well known and respected option. So you really can’t go wrong with it.
I think in this situation you really can’t pick which one you like better. I’d like that Primos more if I knew for sure what its entire frame was made of.
I have both a Poseidon Redwood and a Primos Dame (in mustard). You can see some pics through my acct. history. The Dame is a solid bike, good components for its price point. I recently built a Crust Bombora from the frame up (see my reddit acct), and have built quite a few bikes over the years and can easily recommend the Primos Dame. The two guys that started the company are active here on reddit, (and their other social media accounts), you can talk to the designer himself if you call them up. Solid company. 👍
There’s definitely more cool factor to the Primos, but I’m not a fan of curved steel forks. I know it’s a hip look to have an old looking steel fork, but I prefer a carbon fiber fork.
I’ve had a Journeyman and a Journeyer back to back and I absolutely adore them. I’d recommend them to anyone.
I’ll say, though, that I have a super short torso and they were the only bike I found that fit me. I’m not sure how they scale in the larger sizes (I ride a wee one) but I do know they tend to have a shorter reach than some other brands.
Dame all the way, I recently purchased a mustard color one and really appreciate the ease of assembly and quality components. It is extremely hard to find a great gravel bike for under 1k.
If you compare geometries, they are pretty different. The Salsa is slacker, lower, and has a longer wheelbase, so it is a bit more mountain-bikish than the Primos. So if your riding trend more towards road-ish, the Primos will have a more suitable geometry.
Journeyers are very cool bikes. The value is off the charts. My partner is new to cycling and bought one a year ago. I am super impressed with it. Kind of jealous tbh.
Versatile/progressive geometry. Much more so than most other gravel bikes on the market. That with the crazy tire clearance and the hydraulic brakes means that it can handle almost anything you would throw at it. But it’s still quick enough for long pavement rides. And because it is 100% aluminum, it is very lightweight for what it is.
Depending on how you set it up you could use for anything from bikepacking/light singletrack to long road tours.
The new design on the aluminum fork is very, very slick. Really smart engineering. I thought it was carbon at first.
I would spend the extra cash to get one with rear thru axles. definitely worth it.