# Gravity Liberty CXD



## PHeller (Dec 28, 2012)

This is not a new bike, but I can't find too much about it. 

$500, Shimano Sora, Tektro Lyra, Aluminum frame and carbon fork. It's cheap, I know, but its also for my wife who is extremely easy on parts and not picky at all about performance. 

Even with parts I've got laying around the house (wheels,cranks,bars, seat) I don't think I can build a bike this cheap. A disc frame and fork from Nashbar would cost $250 shipped. I'd still need levers, seatpost, derailure, shifter, etc. 

I've built many bikes so that doesn't worry me.

All I'm really concerned about is the weight. Anyone put one of these on the scale?


----------



## TenSpeed (Feb 14, 2012)

For the money, that is a pretty decent bike. Go ahead and ignore the compare to prices, as they are not really comparable. BD cuts the price, but also cuts the quality where they can. I would imagine that bike to be on the heavier side even with the carbon fork. The wheels probably will kill the weight. All of that aside, notice that they do not offer the specs on geometry, just a basic sizing guide. 

What will she be using this for? Commuter? CX? Just road rides?


----------



## PHeller (Dec 28, 2012)

Gravel bike, trainer, racer, etc. She'll be doing some triathlons on it. We don't really want a tribike, as they are too single purpose.


----------



## PHeller (Dec 28, 2012)

Ended up getting one of these for the wife as a Christmas present. I'll probably swap on a set of Cook Bros E-Cranks and an old XT rear derailure I've got that I think will work with 8-spd. 

My justification was this: I absolutely could not find a road bike for sale on Craigslist for anything less than $600 unless it was 15+ years old or singlespeed. At that point, I am buying the same technology as what the Gravity CXD has being brand new. 

The Nashbar CX bike is probably the cheapest fat-tire road bike, and it was still $250 more than the Gravity, and both utilize Sora components, although the Nashbar is 9spd. $800 would get me a Nashbar Tourer with Sora 10spd, but that bike weighs close to 30lbs.

The Nashbar Carbon road bike would certainly satisfy the lightweight aspects of a bike that may be used for triathlon, and at $1000 is probably one of the better deals around these days. As a multi-use bike that might be used for days of riding gravel, occasional commuting, and occasional racing, spending $1000 a bike for someone who has never ridden drop bars or clips seemed be a bit expensive.


----------

