Kona Sutra Se

The Kona Sutra is a great all-around touring bike suitable for light gravel as well. Well within your price range and comes with a rear rack and Brooks saddle. However, there are a number of other similar bikes out there that are really good. I only mention the Sutra because that’s what I ride and it’s been excellent.

Hi i have the Kona Sutra and it really is an amazing bike. I used mine to cycle from the coast of Wales to London in mostly foresty trails, it did well though the rear derailer broke after a crash.

So Sutra uses a cable to actuate a hydraulic calliper, the Sutra SE uses a cable to actuate the pads directly. IMO the only advantage mechanical disc brakes have over hydraulic disc brakes is that basically all the maintenance can be done trailside. Hydraulic brakes however require maintenance far less often, the maintenance is easier and the **performance is so much better. ** Hydraulic disc brakes self adjust the pads - so (unless something goes wrong) there virtually no maintenance required for the life of a brake pad and the performance usually stays pretty consistent the whole time.

The 2x10 (46/30 x 11/36) has worse Shimano components than the 3x10. Has smaller gear range, with the worse low end gear inches (harder to climb). The only thing better (arguably) is the drifters instead of the bar end shifters (which many like).