Here at PEZ, we’re all about the superbike: The Italian dazzlers ridden by Pogačar and Pidcock — or at least the German machines that Mathieu van der Poel has ridden to so many victories, both on and off-road.
Our Readers’ Rigs tend towards the flashy and the carbon — or the skinny-tubed steel kind, built before anyone had heard of carbon fiber, and ridden by LeMond, or Hinault, or Merckx.
It all begs a key question, though: Do any of us actually need one of those bikes? With every notch up the price ladder, the earned marginal gain gets a little smaller — but since most of us could gain much more by, say, losing a few pounds or cutting back on beer, maybe most of us duffers should make do with good-enough bikes — that cost far less.
This is what I was considering as I test-rode the Batch Bicycles GB.2 — retail price: $1,299.
Out of the box, the Batch is plenty pretty, though not flashy. The steel gray paint has a glint, and the branding under the top tube is elegantly understated.
The subtlety of unfamiliar logos on the components were a surprise — I’m used to seeing Ultegra or Force — but served as a reminder: This bike is intended to be functional, solid — and inexpensive.
Assembly was simple, even for a non-wrench like me, and as it came with plenty of spacers, I was easily able to find a comfortable handlebar height and reach. I also noticed the handlebar configuration: hoods slightly cambered, drops slightly flared; later I would find this positioning to be a source of comfort.
That flared right drop is peeking out!
One flaw did become apparent, however, as I removed the padding during assembly — the flip side of the appealing gray paint: I barely ran my scissors along the downtube, and already had my first solid scratch.
My bad, of course, for not being more careful, but I’m confident that I’ve scratched other bikes much more roughly, and noticed nothing. Later, while propping the bike up for a photo I again barely nicked it, and immediately saw a ding in the paint. I assume that over many miles of gravel riding, the paint job will take on a pocked appearance.
But — and this is the theme I kept coming back to — you get what you pay for.
What it turns out you pay for with the GB.2 is indeed a very solid, seemingly durable, and — considering its nearly 26-pound weight — even nimble ride. I took it out onto local gravel farm roads, and even some short singletrack segments. I found the GB.2 to be responsive, I assume thanks to the double butted aluminum tubing. On the other hand, it did feel a bit harsh, especially when I took it onto a bumpier, rutted trail — but as the BATCH site says, its “aluminum frame and relaxed geometry keep the GB.2 feeling planted on pavement, dirt roads, and everything in between.” I figure a trail isn’t between pavement and a dirt road.
Thus far I’ve ridden the GB.2 for several hours, and its stiffness notwithstanding, I continue to feel quite comfortable on it. I chalk this up to the easy geometry — which again has me asking: Do most of really need a slammed stem and hyper-aggressive positioning? I felt a little funny climbing aboard a bike with such a sloped top tube — but I’ll take that funny feeling over the aching back that I get on most gravel rides.
Yes, I was generally very pleased with the bike — especially for the price — but I do suggest a few slight, likely very inexpensive upgrades for the Batch GB.2:
- Considering the wider-is-better ethic pervading gravel riding, I’d suggest 42mm tires, or even wider; mine came with 40s (though the website lists 42s; there’s definitely room for a bigger tire). (Note that the tires are tubeless compatible; at first I wondered Why not ship it tubeless? but then realized that many GB.2 owner-riders may not be up for replacing sealant, etc.; they’d just as soon replace a tube.
- I found the shifting mechanism to be slightly awkward. Surely I’m just not used to it — it’s neither Shimano nor SRAM, let alone Campy — but I found that shifting into a harder gear while in the drops required a bit of a forefinger-stretch.
- This one’s important: out of the box, the brakes were very soft — like, soft enough that I had to use both front and rear to stop even from a slow roll; had I started on a steep downhill, it could have been ugly. Considering that this bike isn’t intended for riders who will perform their own fixes, I’d think that you’d want solid stopping power from the get-go.
The GB.2, then, isn’t perfect — but, except for the brake issue, which seems easily addressable by the folks at BATCH (I’ve delivered this feedback), I found it to be an enjoyable, solid ride, and look forward to riding it much farther afield.
Which all gets me thinking: Is the utility I get from riding a bike like the GB.2 a third, or even a fourth of the utility I get from my other bike? (After all, those bikes 3-4 times as expensive.)
Absolutely not. In fact, maybe it’s time for me to quit buying such expensive bikes.
- The BATCH Bicycles GB.2 can be found at batchbicycles.com, and may be purchased for $1,299.00.
The post BATCH Bicycles GB.2: The Entry-Level Gravel Bike You’ve Been Looking For? appeared first on PezCycling News.
