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It makes me happy to ride every time and I can't see any upgrade that would make a meaningful difference on an adventure category gravel bike.

Are we at least getting the 32" hardtail is smoother than a 29" dual pitch first.

Starting to ride a bit after a 6 year break for the kids and needed some gear. In the time I skipped someone decided you need to be glad wrapped to pedal a bicycle so easier said than done. Really happy with the range, quality and price from Leatt in the end.

AL1 has 12 speed groupset with hydraulic disc brakes vs 10 speed with mechanical disc brakes. In the parking lot or around town the ride feel will be identical but if you're planning long days out with long descents there will be a difference.

Look at the Outer Cycles Rora 1. I couldn't find the bike that ticked all the boxes until I stumbled onto the Rora.

I have an outer gravel bike and it's beautifully built with none of the shortcuts you'll find with the bigger global bands. Having owned most of the major brands I've been the happiest with quality of Titan Racing and Outer Cycles.

Not sure what the range of your +- is but I have a Rora AL 1 and I'm super happy with it. https://outercycles.com/products/rora-al2?variant=47222677340408

Continental Dubnital is supposed to be the new Race King but I would also go Air Trak given the local pricing.

I thought I had exhausted every option and at the last moment after deciding on a Checkpoint I stumbled onto this bike. Saw it in the shop yesterday and immediately handed over the credit card. The value is ridiculous but I would happily have chosen this over the Trek even if it wasn't cheaper. Checks every box (50mm+ clearance, 500% 1x gearing, quality stock rims and tyres etc), fits great and looks the business.

Buying a new bike in the future will be really simple for me after buying a Cypher a few years back. I'll just buy whatever Titan I can justify at the time.

Thanks for this. Really insightful.

Definitely, those 2 year old 29er dual suspensions are not safe on the same roads and trails that were perfectly fine on 26 inch GT Zaskars with 71° head angles.

The blurb is actually restrained and to the point. Nothing like the stuff Specialized puts out which must take a piece of the authors dignity and soul with it.

Broker all the way.

The brain was a XC specific solution (and fair to say a proven one) that somehow found it's way onto the marathon scene. I imagine in a XC race it's helpfull not to deal with locking out or forgetting to unlock. For a marathon you can decide this is a long hill and have the smoother suspension going down.