Transitioning from hybrid to road/cyclocross

[Lady Hamilton]

If the roughest you expect to encounter is smooth packed dirt, then you could do just fine with a standard road bike with 700x25 wheels IF conditions are good and remain that way.

It's when road and weather conditions are not good that going to a 700x35 wheel setup is a great advantage. For instance, going wider on the tires is going to make for a more comfy ride when you start to hit those long stretches of pavement riddled those annoying cross cracks. Pedal, pedal, ouch, pedal, pedal, ouch gets old. Going wider is also safer when you get sand, debris, glass and other junk left on the pavement. Going wider is absolutely better if that packed dirt turns a little muddy or slick after a rain or even when that pavement gets slick with rain. Trust me, it takes surprisingly little to trip up a narrow tire road bike and bring you down. Been there, done that. Then, too, every time I've ventured into a new area with no idea of what I'll encounter for roads, I feel MUCH more confident when I'm riding wider tires. That's why the wider tire bikes are called adventure bikes or touring bikes.

Again, going light is nice and always tempting, but the more miles I've ridden over the years, the more I value comfort and safety on the long rides.

I've been eyeing a Norco Reach steel 105 700x40 bike. Right at that $2000 US price point. It's not available, yet, but it has all the stuff I want on a long distance/gravel bike. Norco is a Canadian company, by the way. I run Norco on most of my fat bikes. Very well thought out designs. Love them.

My daughter has a Norco, it is her 3rd Norco bike.

I went to a well-stocked Specialized dealer today and had a chance too see everything that I wanted to see. I saw 2018 Ruby (base), 2018 Diverge in several shapes and forms, and a nice surprize in a form of 2017 Dolche EVO Tiagra (it was mentioned above by one of the ladies).
Ruby is a beautiful bike. There is no doubt about it. The future shock suspension works like magic. But at it's current price of $2500 for Tiagra and mechanic breaks it is rally outside of the budget. Along with Ruby sport (at $2800), which I prefer (although still mechanical breaks, but 105 grupset). The cheapest Ruby with hydrolic breaks is sitting at $3900, it is still 105 groupset, and completely out of question.
Diverge is OK, I have already tried it yesterday. At $2500 you get future shock,105 and mechanical disks, at $1900 it's Tiagra and mechanical disks. To get hydrolics you would have to shell out shocking $4100, but it is carbon and 105 set.
2017 Dolche surprized me a lot. First, the fit in size 48 was perfect. We actually had to raise the seat a bit, and at level with the handlebar the bike fit like a glove. It is aluminum and Tiagra, but it has hydrolic disks (cable -actuated, whatever that means)! And currently only $1500.To be honest with you, if it had 105 groupset, I would wheel it out today.
https://www.evanscycles.com/en-ca/sp...-bike-EV302417