Cannondale Topstone 4

We're looking at the Cannondale Top Stone Aluminium Four. This is the entry-level um, Cannondale Top Stone gravel Bike.

Um, yeah, Today we're gonna answer the question: Is that Cannondale any good?

This one made the list due to the 105 components which I’ve read are good but I do worry about a non mainstream brand in case I decide to sell in the future to upgrade. Cannondale Topstone 4.

Especially mechanical disc brakes, which are definitely not as good as rim brakes. 105 is good but definitely not necessary especially with the existence of r4700 Tiagra which is literally just r5800 105 with one fewer cog. And the fact that Microshift, Sensah and all of the lower end Shimano group sets are pretty dang fantastic, easily comparable to the higher end stuff from 10-15 years ago (hell the $1200 Cannondale Topstone 4 comes with Microshift). Definitely go for an aluminum bike you’ll get a much better bike with better components for the same amount of money.

If you wanted something near the higher end of your budget and wanted to stick to a name brand purchased from a local bike shop, I'd check out the Cannondale Topstone Alloy 4. Like any other equipment-heavy hobby (audio gear, watches, knitting needles, etc), cost moves up an exponential scale for incremental improvements that you may or may not find worth it.

Pretty much all I recommend are budget stuff. State All-Road, Poseidon X, Cannondale Topstone 4 to name a few. If you want to spend that much and have to have hydraulic brakes I would aim for a Tiagra 4700 groupset. Shimano 105 won’t be within your budget.