Stevens Gavere or Namur Bike review

jh84

Has anyone any experience of the Stevens Gavere or Stevens Namur Cyclo Cross bikes. I Just plan to use the bike for recreation and maybe a bit of touring. Fitzcycles in Stillorgan are selling the bikes but it hard to find a good review.

CramCycle

While not the bike you are referring to, I have recently bought a Stevens road bike and have to say I love it. I had been daydreaming about a CX bike (alas out of money for it though) and had been looking at the Namur and Prestige. Stevens has a good reputation whenever I talk to anyone who has one out on the road, which is rare, but haven't met a negative reviewer yet.

I would go for the Namur, if you are going touring over very long distance, I imagine the brakes would be easier to repair if needed but that seems to be the only real difference.

smacl

Chatting to a lad (Manafana?) with a new Stevens road bike last year, lovely looking bike. Getting a cross bike for touring just make sure it has suitable rack and mudguard mountings. I got a Rose disc CX bike with this in mind, and ended up needing adaptors to get the rack on.

Vincenzo Nibbly

I've had a Stevens Gavere for 3 months and overall I really like it. I swapped the Schwalbe cx tyres over for Panaracers and use it for commuting. One shortcoming is its TRP cable disc brakes. They are spongy and have less stopping power than 105 rim brakes, even comparing the two in the wet... I'm going to try switching out the brake pads and hope that improves things a bit.

DirkVoodoo

Really? I have the TRP Spyre disc brakes and they outperform any rim brake I've used.

They take a while to bed in, and of course if you don't do it properly when you get the bike, you end up with compromised braking performance. Changing pads won't change anything if you don't set them up right!

Bedding in disc brake pads

smacl

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Really? I have the TRP Spyre disc brakes and they outperform any rim brake I've used.

They take a while to bed in, and of course if you don't do it properly when you get the bike, you end up with compromised braking performance. Changing pads won't change anything if you don't set them up right!

Bedding in disc brake pads

Bit off topic, but I've full hydraulic disc brakes on the CX bike and the front has felt spongier than the veloce rim brakes on my road bike even after bedding in and taking the bike to the local bike shop to have the brakes checked. Brother in-law who's a serious MTBer suggested changing the resin pads to metallic, with the caveat that I might just get fecked over the handle bars if I brake to hard. Rear brake is a dream, but I tend to feather with the front first.

jh84

Hi Vincenzo.

Do you think the Gavere is comfortable enough for all day cycling I know some CX bikes are designed more for short race cycling and not long all day cycling.

Thanks

pats22b

I have a 2012 stevens vuelta made from scandium and haven't a bad word to say about it- frame has been rock solid throguh thousands of km as has their finishing kit and it has never given me a minutes trouble

CramCycle

Mine is a Veulta as well, fantastic bit of bike.

Vincenzo Nibbly

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Really? I have the TRP Spyre disc brakes and they outperform any rim brake I've used.

They take a while to bed in, and of course if you don't do it properly when you get the bike, you end up with compromised braking performance. Changing pads won't change anything if you don't set them up right!

Bedding in disc brake pads

Yep really. I'm as surprised as you are - I had read nothing but positive reviews online before making the decision. I've found them to be a let-down on an otherwise excellent bike.

I imagine the brakes would have been set up by the bike shop. I carried out a handful of hard stops to bed the pads in when I first got the bike. I've been careful not to contaminate the rotors but on the other hand I've not cleaned them either, so will give that a bash along with changing the pads.

Vincenzo Nibbly

jh84 wrote: »

Hi Vincenzo.

Do you think the Gavere is comfortable enough for all day cycling I know some CX bikes are designed more for short race cycling and not long all day cycling.

Thanks

IMO yes it's comfortable enough for all day cycling. There is certainly nothing about it that is less comfortable than a road bike. I've left mine set up with lots more steerer tube than I would leave on a road bike, so it's a more upright position.

The only other considerations I can think of are your saddle preference, if you have one, and changing the tyres out for whatever you'd use for touring. Hope this helps.