Which Gravel Bike for SA races

[Kom]

14 minutes ago, Hannes Haasbroek said:

Will definitely consider a mullet setup

once you realise you must have a mullet setup, the 13-speed xplr drivetrain becomes throwaway, resale on these components won't help much with the bits you need for mullet either (unless the bike shop will take it back into stock, which they certainly almost never do).

 my point is that off the bat, a frame set purchase is almost a given for an economic purchase.

[Michael S]

Just an option which myself and a few others I know did. 

Import a chinese frame. Buy straight from manufacturer in China. Plenty options out there. 
(Mine(and Mongooseman's): https://tideacebike.com/products/fm-gv201-noah-carbon-gravel-bike-frame?variant=42818324660407)
Even cheaper option that a mate of mine went with and is going well: https://www.velobuild.com/products/2025-velobuild-carbon-fiber-racing-gravel-bike-frame

I then bought a full new grx 12spd groupo with 10-51 cassette from BikeAddict which had prices better than Merlin at the time and bought a set of wheels(alloy) and bars on the hub. 

Build came in around ±R45k all in tax and shipping incl. 

I am about 91-95kgs and have put that bike through the ringer, incl. Gravel Burn which was hard on bikes from the conditions. 

My 2c on MY experience what I look for in any gravel bike at the moment as a bang on mid-pack rider YMMV:
 - Absolute minimum rated clearance of 50mm. 
 - Don't fit tyres smaller than 50mm, preferably 2.0-2.2 (Front end racers might differ) 
 - Run 2.2 tyres instead of suspension. 
 - UDH compatible
 - I like in frame storage
 - I prefer cables not through the headset but hard to find these days - Crux still a winner here.
 - This luckily dyeing out, but I will not consider any bike with a press fit bottom bracket, any threaded variant will do. T47 all the rage right now. 
 - I will steer clear of hookless rims 
 - 1x gearing with the ability to run a 50t min. cassette. 2X Gearing is not needed and just adds dropped chain issues, maintenance and unnecessary complexity. Might be the mtb background but I cannot for the life of me understand why you would risk dropped chains for better cadence here and there.  From a 3h8m August this year to Galgeberg and Hans se kop, 42t and 10-51 cassette has been fine for me on 175 cranks.  

Edited 59 minutes ago by Michael S
Added a gearing rant