Chosing a frame for dual purpose (road/gravel) - need suggestions!

[cykelbne]

Hello all-
Long story short, I have a great groupset handy (more on that later) but am coming up on short on finding an adequate frame to build on.

My current ride is a 2003 Cannondale R2000 CAAD7, which is fun and sporty, but it starts shaking with fear if it sees anything but smooth bitumen. Previous rides are a 2002 Bianchi Veloce (steel chromoly is real) and a chonky 1980-something Bianchi Axis Pro cyclocross used for touring/commuting. Have ridden my dad's unbranded Ti road bike and I'd have to say the ride is pretty darn smooth. In a nutshell... all my rides have been old, classic geometry.

Ideally, this bike could conquer all - I could ride it to work one day, a wander out through the hills on the weekend, and dabble on an unpaved rail trail a couple times a year. Let's say it'd be 80/20 road/gravel.

I stumbled across this forum as I'm considering getting a Chinese-made gravel frame, but have ZERO idea what geometry I'm looking for or what brands/models I should try to emulate (e.g. Canyon Grizl/Grail, Specialized Crux, Enve Mog, Moots whatever, Cannondale Topstone, etc. etc.).

I don't intend to go on hardcore terrain so something that's a bit more reactive and stiff is okay with me, but I'm also not a speed demon and don't want to be coming home with numb hands. I am leaning toward Ti for this reason, but open to whatever.

So, TL;DR - what production frames should I research that will fit my needs? Oh, and I'm in Australia, so my options are even more limited. 😣

TIA!

[trailgazer]

Isn't Curve Cycling a Australian company? Beautiful Ti frames and it checks your wishes I think.

I'm a Carbonda CFR-505 SL owner. I just ride it for two weeks now, just came home from a 250km overnighter/onenighter. I have SRAM 1x setup now but with a 2x setup and an extra wheelset, I can really see this bike as a potential great gravel/road-combo-bike!

[carbonazza]

You can have a look at the CFR505
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,1375.0.html
Compared to the model above, the new model is fully internal routing, T47 BB, UDH, and allow 42mm tires.
You put road wheels on it, and you get a very capable road bike too.

[cykelbne]

@trailgazer, it is, but WAY out of my budget! I could ship a Lynskey or Litespeed from the US with what Curves cost. 😬 Aren't Curves and Bossis made by Waltly?

[eeney]

I went with a Waltly frame, design based on a frame from a well-known brand.  My friend did the same, but he had his design tweaked by a Sydney bike fitter for a small fee (CAD files supplied), then Waltly built to the tweaked design.

I've setup my bike so I have two sets of wheels, one road, one gravel.  My next 'in progress' change is to update the bike so I can quickly swap normal forks for suspension forks.

My only slight regret is that I didn't get a mix of Matte and Gloss finish with a personalised design to make the frame even more aesthetically unique.

Carbon v Ti..... I love carbon for my lightweight road bike, feels snappy, especially for climbing and changing speed.  Note that my road bike is only 6.5kg. The Ti is so nice to ride though, rolls smooth, feels sturdy and should last forever. My Ti bike is sooooo nice for gravel days, especially longer gravel days, or longer road rides where it’s not ‘race pace’.  TBH, I'm using my Ti bike much more than my road bike, even for roadie group rides, just because of the comfort.