Avalanche dust gravel bike any good?

[Gershom Basson]

Hi everyone,

I'm a budget biker if there is such a thing. I'm a gravel biker and I in the market for a new bike. I've had my Avalanche estrada gravel for years very good machine. But I recently noticed the Avalanche dust gravel. I can't find any reviews on it. Does anyone own one or riden one to give advice if this is a good bike or not?

[RossTopher]

hi Gershom,

I owned an Estrada for a bit, and agree it was a good bike. The only real issue was the weight, both the frame and wheels. the Dust is alloy, so may be lighter and appears more off road geometry than the Estrada. i picked one up at a shop and it feels solid and lighter than the estrada, but i dont have any proper info on the numbers. the paintwork does look great.

the only downside i know is the specific LTwoo groupset on there gets horrible reviews, like it shifting on its own when bumpy, and rear derailleur setup issues.

 

hopefully there are some owners who can chime in

[Shebeen]

1 hour ago, Gershom Basson said:

Hi everyone,

I'm a budget biker if there is such a thing. I'm a gravel biker and I in the market for a new bike. I've had my Avalanche estrada gravel for years very good machine. But I recently noticed the Avalanche dust gravel. I can't find any reviews on it. Does anyone own one or riden one to give advice if this is a good bike or not?

looks decent, in my experience avalanche range is very good bang for buck so see no reason why this should be any different. looking forward to seeing these out there on (and off) the roads.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzoJqcEsTQ7/?img_index=1

[Gershom Basson]

42 minutes ago, RossTopher said:

hi Gershom,

I owned an Estrada for a bit, and agree it was a good bike. The only real issue was the weight, both the frame and wheels. the Dust is alloy, so may be lighter and appears more off road geometry than the Estrada. i picked one up at a shop and it feels solid and lighter than the estrada, but i dont have any proper info on the numbers. the paintwork does look great.

the only downside i know is the specific LTwoo groupset on there gets horrible reviews, like it shifting on its own when bumpy, and rear derailleur setup issues.

 

hopefully there are some owners who can chime in

Hi Ross,

Thanks for your response.

Ja agreed the Estrada's only hang up for me was weight and the external cabling a bit always made me nervous.

I did read reviews on the groupset, scary stuff. That's why I thought I'd ask the question if anyone has been any bad experiences with this bike in particular.

But thanks for that input 

 

[Gershom Basson]

50 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

looks decent, in my experience avalanche range is very good bang for buck so see no reason why this should be any different. looking forward to seeing these out there on (and off) the roads.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzoJqcEsTQ7/?img_index=1

Hi Shebeen, 

Thanks for your response.

I know I love the Avalanche brand I know they good but that groupset is a bit off putting. I do race too and last thing you want 5km into a 100 miler is your gears doing funny things. 

But I just found out you can hire this bike from Constantia bike park might test one a provide some feedback.

Thank you again.

[ajnkzn]

Not sure what size you'd need, but in the same price range there are far better used options;

 

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/gravel-bikes/705715/giant-tcx-gravel

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/gravel-bikes/701795/giant-revolt-1-gravel-bike

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/gravel-bikes/683154/momsen-gp300-169cm-to-179cm

 

etc

[Gershom Basson]

4 minutes ago, ajnkzn said:

Not sure what size you'd need, but in the same price range there are far better used options;

 

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/gravel-bikes/705715/giant-tcx-gravel

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/gravel-bikes/701795/giant-revolt-1-gravel-bike

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/gravel-bikes/683154/momsen-gp300-169cm-to-179cm

 

etc

Hi,

Thanks on the response, I need a medium or 54cm preferably in Cape Town. I have had two bad experiences with second hand bikes in the past and swore I would never again. But this might become an option if all else fails.

[RossTopher]

@Gershom Basson have you seen, D'ville Cycles in durbanville has them reduced at the moment. think about 2000 saving

[Gershom Basson]

1 hour ago, ajnkzn said:

Not sure what size you'd need, but in the same price range there are far better used options;

 

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/gravel-bikes/705715/giant-tcx-gravel

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/gravel-bikes/701795/giant-revolt-1-gravel-bike

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/gravel-bikes/683154/momsen-gp300-169cm-to-179cm

 

etc

 

1 minute ago, RossTopher said:

@Gershom Basson have you seen, D'ville Cycles in durbanville has them reduced at the moment. think about 2000 saving

Ja thanks I have, well that's why I'm  so eager to find out what the bike is like. I see the still have a medium available, which is what I'm looking at.

Thank for that bud.

[Vaultboy]

@Gershom Basson I looked at the Dust, to replace my Rook Scout, but the groupset put me off. I think the Dust has a superior frame to the Estrada, and looks to be better suited to gravel. I've ridden the Estrada, and it struck me more as a road bike with gravel tyres? 

I am waiting for @Titan Racing Bikes to release the Sport and Expert models of their MY24 Switch. Hopefully that will come with a Miscroshift Sword groupset, which I reckon is vastly superior to Ltwoo. I think you have a Microshift R9 on the Estrada?

[KatjieStewels]

The only gripe I had with my Avalance Solo (2020 model with the Shimano Claris Groupset) was it lacked a carbon fork. I see the Dust also has an "alloy fork". I rebuilt all the components onto an old Schwinn Fastback Pro with a carbon fork and chainstay, which is a noticeable difference. 

I have also had some bad luck with second-hand mountain bikes in the past, but with the gravel bikes, I'd check out the second-hand market first. Plenty of people buy gravel bikes, hit the "sinkplaat" and go back to their mtb, or they stick to the tarmac which means the bikes had a fairly comfortable life. 

This has been said numerous times on the hub, but Avalanche resale value is terrible, I ended up literally giving away the Solo frame, lol.

[Shebeen]

6 minutes ago, KatjieStewels said:

The only gripe I had with my Avalance Solo (2020 model with the Shimano Claris Groupset) was it lacked a carbon fork. I see the Dust also has an "alloy fork". I rebuilt all the components onto an old Schwinn Fastback Pro with a carbon fork and chainstay, which is a noticeable difference. 

I have also had some bad luck with second-hand mountain bikes in the past, but with the gravel bikes, I'd check out the second-hand market first. Plenty of people buy gravel bikes, hit the "sinkplaat" and go back to their mtb, or they stick to the tarmac which means the bikes had a fairly comfortable life. 

This has been said numerous times on the hub, but Avalanche resale value is terrible, I ended up literally giving away the Solo frame, lol.

so if I've learnt anything from this thread then the trick is clearly to buy a 2nd hand avalanche dust and slap on a 2nd hand shimano shifter and rd

[Gershom Basson]

2 minutes ago, Vaultboy said:

@Gershom Basson I looked at the Dust, to replace my Rook Scout, but the groupset put me off. I think the Dust has a superior frame to the Estrada, and looks to be better suited to gravel. I've ridden the Estrada, and it struck me more as a road bike with gravel tyres? 

I am waiting for @Titan Racing Bikes to release the Sport and Expert models of their MY24 Switch. Hopefully that will come with a Miscroshift Sword groupset, which I reckon is vastly superior to Ltwoo. I think you have a Microshift R9 on the Estrada?

Hey Vaultboy,

Thanks for the input. Yes microshift R8 actually. But still a great machine did the Boland Gravel monster and the Standford 100 with it. 

[RossTopher]

We relly need to learn to stick to the topic, and to read what the OP has written. This is all too common across the hub. 

The guy asked for info on the Dust. He has an Estrada. Responses should be about the Avalanche Dust: the frame, the ride, the groupset.

If he wanted a 2nd hand tcx or whatever, he'd have bought it. 

 

People write off bikes based on brand alone, when our skills are often the most limiting factor.

 

Go for the dust, ride it. If the shifting is awful, you can pick up microshift centos 11 speed, or old shimano shifters and derailler for cheap. 

Edited March 5 by RossTopher

[Ant in the NL]

I'm riding an Avalanche Reflex Pro 29er and I love the frame. Groupset is OK (L-Twoo) which I'll change as things break. If I had the choice I would've taken the Dust no doubt back in 10 2022 when I got my MTB. The Avalanche frame is stiff and light for a budget bike and still looks sharp 👍 Good luck and enjoy if you get the Dust 

[Gershom Basson]

Hey everyone I do appreciate all the feedback I'm probably going to get the Dust. I'll ride till the shifters give up the ghost then replace them with something else. Again appreciate everyone's input will provide feedback once I ride this bike. Thank you all have a lekker evening chow for now

20 minutes ago, RossTopher said:

We relly need to learn to stick to the topic, and to read what the OP has written. This is all too common across the hub. 

The guy asked for info on the Dust. He has an Estrada. Responses should be about the Avalanche Dust: the frame, the ride, the groupset.

If he wanted a 2nd hand tcx or whatever, he'd have bought it. 

 

People write off bikes based on brand alone, when our skills are often the most limiting factor.

 

Go for the dust, ride it. If the shifting is awful, you can pick up microshift centos 11 speed, or old shimano shifters and derailler for cheap.