Giant Liv Invite Comax

[Owlie]

My CX bike has 32s (Kenda Small Block 8s--started life as a MTB tire). The Synapse is a road bike. I don't think it would take tires wider than a 28, which eliminates the majority of tires with any sort of tread. It's also quite flexible, yet not a comfortable ride on pavement. The CAAD10 is an excellent ride. (Haven't tried the CAADX, because no one carries them in my size.) I'd go with the CAADX or the Giant. (I really, really want a CAADX, but it doesn't look like it would fit...)

[pll]

Helene: How fun that you are considering a cross bike. Look at the Focus Mares, too. The AX series is aluminum and the CX is carbon. I have a Mares CX which I love. Don't underestimate the fun you can have with it --- I absolutely love my cross bike, maybe even more than the road bike. I use it for gravel rides and I've traveled with it for that reason. I would not go with the Synapse for gravel, even if you plan on avoiding mud. Mud cannot always be avoided... The wider tires are not just about mud; they also smooth your ride on bumpy roads and you can choose the type of tire you need. For example, right now I have a pair of 38mm 'file tread' tires (Challenge Gravel Grinders), for dry conditions. During the cross season I put on 32mm Clement PDX.

Competitive Cyclist sells Ridley online and sometimes they have good discounts on them. I like the look of the Niner RTL (they just came up with a steel one) and an orange Santa Cruz Stigmata makes my heart skip a beat each time I see it. A great option if you travel a lot is a Ritchey Logic Break-Away bike -- you can do your own build. I know it's more than what you want to spend, but you can always chose whether to put road tires or cyclocross ones.

I am sure there are some gravel roads around Montreal, but if you consider traveling with your bikes, Rebecca's Private Idaho is possibly the most beautiful ride I've done ... I am going back there this year. Last weekend I was riding in the Flint Hills area in Kansas (the area where the Dirty Kanza 200 takes place), hundreds of miles of dirty and gravel with beautiful sights. You can also take your bike to some MTB single track trails.