GT Grade Carbon Ultegra 2016

Why did I get another bike? Well, I could justify the purchase merely with reference to the rules:

Rule #12: The correct number of bikes to own is n+1

❝ While the minimum number of bikes one should own is three, the correct number is n+1, where n is the number of bikes currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of bikes owned that would result in separation from your partner.❞

(source: The Rules)

But I have been thinking about an all-terrain-vehicle for a couple of years. In fact it's almost three years ago I fell in love with the Fuji Gran Fondo 1.3. It had several features on my wishlist - tubeless tyres, clearance for 32mm tyres, disc brakes and vibration-damping technology. It's not a gravel bike, more an endurance bike. The bad news was that it cost £4k, which I couldn't justify. I looked for ages for a secondhand one but they never came up. So I forgot the idea.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was searching to see if there were any cheap gravel bikes available (less than £1000), when I saw this secondhand GT Grade Carbon Ultegra 2016 on ebay for £889, with a special offer 5% discount that day.

I'd never heard of the Grade, but soon discovered it had been at the spearhead of today's gravel bike 'craze', and was awarded Best Debut Bike of the Year 2015. It looked like a nice bike. I researched the hell out of it, kept looking at the advert and called the seller, but it was being sold on behalf of the owner, who could no longer ride it, through ill-health. Originally a £2.7k bike, it was well-specced and seemed to be a bargain. So I took a chance and bought it, sight-unseen for £840.

I picked it up the following day, less than an hour's drive away. It looks like an 'honest' bike. Judging by the original bar-tape and general condition it's not done that many miles. It has hardly any scuffs but needs a clean.

Specs (click to expand)

My specs (some components are not original)

Reviews and tests

Do I need a gravel bike? This question is much easier to answer.

Never one to shy away from riding on less-than-perfect surfaces, I can easily recall dozens, if not hundreds, of rides featuring something other than smooth tarmac. Woods, fields, deep mud, cliff-top paths, bridle paths, forest tracks, so-called UK bike paths, canal paths, footpaths, cinder paths, gravel paths, etc have all featured at various times. And all on a 'normal' road bike. Other than unrideable gradients, the only 'flat' surface that stopped me riding was large pebbles near Deal. That was just impossible, although maybe fatter tyres would have overcome even that.

Tyres I've had 28mm Conti Grand Prix tyres on my Giant for the past 5 years, but unfortunately there's not enough clearance for them on the Colnago. Although, last year, I shod the Colnago with 28mm Conti Gatorskins, which inflate to be no larger than the 25mm Grand Prix! After discovering the smooth ride that 28mm tyres offered, especially on UK roads, I naturally wanted to try even fatter tyres. And for that I would need another bike!

Brakes Gravel bikes have disc brakes. One advantage is that they won't get completely clogged-up with mud, which I have had before. I also won't have to worry about my wheels melting on long descents! I had several long descents last year where I was on the brakes nearly the whole time. A negative for disc brakes is that they can squeal, which is very annoying.

Frame The frame has a more relaxed geometry with a longer wheelbase which leads to more stability and less 'twitchiness'. The disadvantage is that it will be less responsive. The Grade frame features very thin seat stays composed of a solid fibreglass core. This, and the small triangle design at the top of the seat stays allow the frame to flex more. (In fact, on the 2020 version of the frame, the thin seat stays are completely decoupled from the seat tube, offering even more flexibility.) The frame is 55 cm, just right for me, according to Evans website - we'll see...

Bars The drops on the handlebars are splayed out at quite a noticable angle, offering more stable steering.

Things to do

Clean The bike needs a good clean and re-lube
Brakes The brakes squeal terribly. So I need to look at this. There's lots of advice on YouTube with all sorts of solutions including microwaving your brake pads!
Noisy free hub The DT Swiss 240 hubs are noisy, but that's my experience of DT Swiss hubs. Hopefully I can quieten them down by greasing the ratchet. I hate noisy freewheeling, but will put up with it for now.
Tyres The excellent Continental Grand Prix 4 Season tyres it came with will have to go because they are only 25mm, which kind of defeats the purpose of this bike. I have ordered some 35mm Schwalbe Marathon Supremes. Will report back after fitting those!
Mudguards It's useful that it came with £70's-worth of full mudguards, but these will come off, maybe never to go back on! I tend to use ass-savers.
Cassette I'll almost certainly change this out to a 30T or preferably 32T cassette.
Other bits A brake cable tie is missing

Rides that could have used a gravel bike

Twister	Sidewall puncture riding through Blean Woods
Completing the Jigsaw	Uncomfortable NE Kent coastal cycle path
Reverse Sandwich	Sidewall blow-out on Dover cliff-top coastal path
Ardennes Adventure	Puncture on a gravel forest track in the Ardennes
Tunnel Mortier	Disused roads and stony tracks in the Vercors
La Molière	Forest track
Tour of The Isle of Sheppey	Ride through a nature reserve
Auvare	Ride aborted due to steep gravel track
Saint Léger	Gravel section of the ride
Samphire Hoe	Many miles of off-road

etc, etc

It seems like fate that this bike came along. Good spec, great price, the correct size and in the new blog colour scheme! Once I get the fat tyres on, I'll take it out for a spin and report back!

Addendum

Other posts concerning further work on this bike:

Fitting New Disc Brake Pads

Fitted new disc brake pads to the GT Grade to keep everyone happy

Puget-Rostang

First ride of the year. First ride on gravel bike. First hot sunny day of the year. Lots of things learned

More Upgrades to Grade

How I fitted a whole new drivetrain to the GT Grade and serviced the DT Swiss freewheel hub

Gravel Bike Gear Ratios

Gear ratios on the GT Grade are too high for a gravel bike. “Where’s the data?” I hear you ask…

Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 35c Tyres

Fat tyres, angle grinders and weights

Interesting… I actually have this bike’s 2017 version (same 1st gen, but mine has Mavic Aksium wheelset instead of that Stan’s NoTube with DT240, it’s a downgrade IMO) as my main road bike from 2018, actually it’s my first road bike. But I went towards the complete opposite direction — since then I have gained a whole lot of fitness, and my bike’s changed more and more towards the performance/racey end of the spectrum.

Currently my bike is fitted with 50mm front and 88mm rear carbon wheels, front tyre is GP5000 TL 25mm (for aero reason, this rim don’t cope with that 28mm tyre, unstable with wind) and Schwalbe Pro One TLE 28mm at rear. I swapped the very good stock FSA K-Light Carbon 25mm setback post to a straight one, because with continous tweaking of my position I found that I kind of prefer the forward position. However that FSA K-Light SB25 is really a very good seat post, you can search it for a bit you’ll see it’s lightweight, and almost the best at absorb the micro buzz of the road, it’s probably the highest grade stuff comes stock on this bike, it’s on a lot of TdF bikes of that era.

Just lately with further tweaking of my position I changed the stock GT Droptune bar (this bar is also very good quality, it’s only 260g) to PRO aero pursuit 36cm (front sweep, 101mm reach, however even heavier at 330g), because I just notice that most of the “modern” aero saving just comes from the handlebar and the narrower bar actually is a lot faster. This is also part of my searching for the limit of my “aero” position because my fitness now takes me to the stage that aero actually brings sudden huge speed gains than training/power. After that bar change I actually find I can go even lower/longer so after a lot of testing on a lot of stem, including a 120mm adjustable one, just this month I’m set on a -35 degree 130mm stem.

This might sounds very ridiculous but with those geometry comparison websites my current position is actually just at the baseline of the pro’s position. — GT Grade is a “small” and “tall” bike, I also own a size 55, so with these “aggressive” tweaks, it’s just but about the same if you are on a 52/54 Venge with fairly normal size 100 or 110 stem at -17.

I never felt that my bike’s let me down except just this year when I found that I cannot go lower at the handlebar height because I’m already at 0 spacer and -17 degree “fully slammed”. But as you see I have figure out my way. I might even race this bike some day, and I believe no matter the result, it will just be me and not my bike. Plus of course I have changed the left side crank arm to a 4iiii power meter.

Hope you enjoy your bike. I just want to add how versatile this bike could be. You use it as an UK winter/gravel bike, however I use it exclusively as a road bike, and we all feel satisfied!

BTW currently my bike weights just at 9 KG, with XTR trail pedals (I believe it’s about 350g) and different cages and everything. This frame is also like a super bike from that era, around 2015 most disc brake bikes are at ~1100g, while this frame is at 965g, it should be in the super bike category. So I believe if you want a super light weight build, even with my mandatory requirement of 50mm or more deep wheel (last two years carbon wheels seems having some breakthrough), it’s very possible to get a 7.5 KG bike with pedals and everything without skeptical components. GT just has some altitude, they chose not to go with that “elitism” or “luxury bike” route like some other brands and decide to make it a practical bike and an affordable bike. It’s all just marketing.

And also the direction of your seat post clamp is wrong, the screw should face forward, or you’ll likely be align that clamp edge with the carbon round collar plate it clamps (I don’t know the correct termiology LOL), and when you accidentally over tighten it, it might crack your seat post — don’t ask me how I know, even with a torque wrench, things happen.