ROYCE UNION RGF Gravel Bike, 700c Wheels, 19" Frame, Lightweight Aluminum Frame, 18-Speed Shimano Drivetrain, Matte Blue, Dual Disc Brakes

I am 5' 10'' and this bike is a good fit. I've dropped my time per mile by a minute. The gear shifting is good, after several adjustments. Out of the box, I would get a lot of "popping" on the lower, inside gears. Brakes are amazing! I ride mostly in a suburban area and have had to jam on them a couple times due to a car not paying attention to a stop sign. I've gotten this bike to just over 23 MPH and it's a smooth ride. Tires give a little more than I would hope on gravel, but overall are good. It's lightweight - I can hang it on the hook in my garage with with arm. It's a tight frame - at 5'10'', if I have my feet centered on the pedal (casual riding) and turn, the tires will hit my toe.

One of my tires came popped but they shipped me new tubes within the following day! The ride is smooth and it’s quick as well. I can’t wait to put road bike rims & tires for this bike!

The bike would be nice. There is just too many issues. Rear and front derailleur all out of wack and front does not want to work correctly. Came missing parts also. Missing seat clamp and stem was stripped out so the handelbars would not secure tightEDIT: They did sent replacement part however they were the wrong type and told me the otherd ones are on backorder.They did give me some off price so I did give 3 stars. The bike will be fun once all these issues are done!

Defective front shift system: I can only turn from low gear to high gear but not backwards, which makes me hard to climb slopes

For the record, I purchased this bike off of Royce Union's own website rather than Amazon. There was a sale going on which got me a further reduced price (also, they have coupon codes for students and military that are always available), which meant that I was able to get this for about $280 including tax and shipping.I will denote the major positives about this bike first and follow up with some caveats.- This bike is a tremendous value. So much so that I'd say not only is among the best value among entry-level bikes, but it is ranks among the best value in the entire bicycle industry at any level. I say this because, while plenty of cheaper bikes exist, they are clear examples of "you get what you pay for". At the time I'm writing this, this bike is at ~$325 on Amazon. At the same time, you would have paid ~$165 just for the brifters alone (that's without any of the other components in the groupset). The thing is that every component on this bike is a reputable name brand item. I mean, the drivetrain, the saddle, the wheels, the handlebars... even the inner tubes. They're all lower-tier components, but they are at minimum a notch above entry-level. Heck, the quick-release skewers blew me away in terms of their quality. They were at least twice as stiff as anything you'd get on other bikes of this price. To get the exact same tier components from a name-brand bike, you are easily looking at a $1200 bicycle in this day and age. And sure enough, Royce Union lists it at a supposed MSRP of around $1200. I will say that if you pay that much for this particular bike, it is not a fair price at all, but that has more to do with the caveats I will get into.Even with those caveats, I don't think I can overstate that this is almost as good a value as is possible for bicycles. That said, to state it as one of the high watermarks thereof is more a statement about the bike industry rather than it is about this bike in particular. Still, road bike and drop bar componentry is always more expensive than equivalent quality flat bar components, and that plays into why I would call this as good a value as it is.- The gearing setup is just about optimal for most people, I'd say. It is a 2x9, effectively, with a 50/34 crankset and an 11-34 cassette. So that crankset is what road cyclists would call a "compact" crankset. Conversely, it has a wider range cassette. That means its lowest gear is a 1:1 ratio and its highest gear is a 4.54:1 ratio. You've got an easy enough easy gear for most hill-climbing scenarios and a high enough top gear to be able to achieve pretty decent speed. To me, this is a gearing setup that can basically satisfy the widest possible gamut of would-be buyers. Too often, the gearing I find on many so-called gravel bikes is a 1x (which is ostensibly simpler) with a small chainring better suited to mountain bikes. While that is good for getting you an especially easy hill-climbing gear, it means you lose out on top speed if you ever want to go faster. I think the 2x setup gives you the best of both worlds.- The packaging is well-done. The bike came in well-protected, and it's a good thing it did. FedEx being FedEx, decided that when there are enormous markings on a box that read "This Side Up", they figure that actually means that the box should be turned to stand sideways and that "up" actually means "north"... Naturally, if up means north, you should make sure that the side marked "This Side Up" points to the west. Congratulations, FedEx. So yeah, the fact that the bike was just fine, the wheels were still in true, etc. speaks to how well packed it is.- Brakes are actually more than enough. Mechanical disc brakes often get a bad rap because you will find them on cheap department store bikes and they will be bottom-shelf components that have severely bad quality control or they will be adjusted poorly by the mechanic assembling the bike. The reality is that there are good and bad mechanical brakes. Yes, you may not get the one-finger action that people tout on hydraulics, but you don't get that on drop bar brake levers anyway. I think the brakes they've fitted to this bike are absolutely more than adequate and the feel is about as good as one should expect from mechanicals.A little bit of info about Royce Union. It may not seem relevant, but when you know these details, the reasons for the caveats I will list as well as why they are able to offer such great value will make sense. Royce Union, as it currently exists, is owned by a company called United Wheels. Now United Wheels happens to also own Huffy and Buzz. Both of which are cheap low-end big box manufacturers, and they are good examples of "you get what you pay for". However, United Wheels also owns Niner and Vaast, which are extremely high end premium and even pro-grade bicycles. Given the mix of parts found on Royce Union's other bikes -- e.g., one of their mountain bikes also features a very high end SLX drivetrain, but also in a 2x form. When I look through their catalog, something finally becomes clear.I believe Royce Union as a brand is sort of the parts-bin brand within the portfolio. The reason they can offer something like a Sora drivetrain gravel bike at such a low price is because they're essentially using some variant that they had lying in stock that won't sell in today's market, or they're putting it on an outdated frame design, or they have some other limiting factor that basically means -- "we have something that just wouldn't work any other way, so let's just sell it to clear our warehouse." In accounting terms, they're trying to overcome the fact that the inventory holding costs of some older components is starting to exceed the value they might otherwise bring.So knowing that, here are the caveats about this bike that come up.- The fact that there is no separate derailleur hanger. It is actually integrated into the frame. This is usually a big giant no-no on an aluminum frame. If it was a steel frame, this is potentially acceptable, but on aluminum, it's a problem. If you don't know, the issue boils down to one where if you crash or knock the bike over on its drivetrain side, the derailleur hanger could bend or be damaged. A very slight change is all it takes to ruin your shifting performance. Now if the hanger is a separate piece, you can just replace that one little part. If the hanger is part of your frame, the whole bike is now worthless. This is why we have derailleur hangers as a sort of sacrificial part. They're meant to fail more easily and absorb the impact that way.Now steel frames, you might still be okay because steel has a far better fatigue life than aluminum. It is not unheard of even on aluminum frames to have that small section of the frame be made of steel for this reason. I double-checked and found that they did not do this on the RGF (a magnet does not stick). It is all aluminum, though the front fork is steel. You can still bend back an integrated hanger even if it is aluminum -- it's not like it's only possible for steel. The thing is that this fatigues the metal with microscopic fractures. If you have a severe bend, you may be screwed, but slight bends aren't usually an issue ... unless you face them often. You'll just accumulate fatigue over time.Now you might argue that this is a relatively small risk factor and you might well be correct. It's simply a question of how big of a risk this is for you. In my case, I'm principally riding as a commuter, so I won't be doing any trails or actual gravel riding. I do ride some muddy and grassy areas where there isn't room for cycling on the road because this is America and infrastructure that is supportive of anything that is not a car is considered an egregious affront to freedom. But anyway, it means that the risk is pretty small for me.- The bike is a 2x9 drivetrain, but the front brifter isn't. There is another review mentioning the "defective" shift system, but the reality may actually run deeper than that. I had a similar experience myself, but it took some adjustment to get things working. The cables for the front mech were reaily slack, so I fixed that, and as I tested it and had so much trouble getting it adjusted right, I realized something. Yes, the crankset only has 2 chainrings, but the front shifter is for a 3x drivetrain, not a 2x. This explains why they were able to sell a Sora for so cheap. It's a Sora that no one would buy in this day and age. Don't get me wrong, it's not that it's a bad setup. It's that it's a setup that, in this market, has an association with poor quality. I admit that it's a bit unfair, but that is the perception that people have. Knowing this, though, enabled me to get the adjustment a little better, but even I couldn't get it perfect. I can use both chainrings, but with my best efforts, I still couldn't get it to stably hold the big ring. I figured that was okay for now until I can get it adjusted by a pro bike mechanic. While it would be nice to access the higher speeds of the big ring, because I have to manage around traffic on a commute, I considered it more valuable to have the quick acceleration I can have in lower gears.All the same, I advise you to get the shifting properly adjusted by a pro. Shifting in the back was flawless out of the box for me, but your result may vary. Especially if you also have some sinfully stupid FedEx delivery guy who induces all sorts of damage in handling.- The frame design does have provisions for things like fenders and what not, but I feel like it wasn't well thought out as far as having those along with disc brakes. I happened to get full-coverage fenders at a good price and I was able to fit them on this bike. I will say that the frame clearance for fenders was so tight that if this bike had even a slightly nobbier tire or even a 42mm rather than a 40mm, I'd simply have no way to fit a rear fender. Regarding the fender stays... yeah, there were eyelets on the frame and the fork to accommodate them... but the brake calipers are so close to those eyelets that I have to bend the fender stays to go around them. Now they happened to be long enough that I could do that and still have it reach the fender, but only just barely. Again, if the fender stays were even 5mm shorter, I'd have been screwed. And yeah, I had to do this both at the front and the rear.My guess is that this is a frame that was not originally provisioned for disc brakes, and they welded on the caliper mounts -- I.S. mounts, no less. To be fair, I think I.S. mounts are a better standard because it means you don't risk stripping threads on the frame, but the industry at large disagrees and has largely shifted to caliper mounts that do have that risk. Again, adding to that general idea that this might be a frame pulled from inventory that they couldn't otherwise sell on their other brands... probably originally meant for a hybrid bike, and they welded on disc brake mounts put drop bars on it. There are holes on the fork and seat stay bridge where one would otherwise mount rim brakes, though those same mounts are anyway used for fenders so it's not the strongest indicator. Either way, the wheelset that is included is strictly a disc brake wheelset, but I just get the impression that the frame and fork have been retrofit after the fact for that purpose.All in all, I think it's a good buy if you're interested in exploring entry-level gravel and/or road biking, or if you, like me, want a commuter bike on which you can achieve pretty decent speeds. With bicycles in this price range in general, there are always ways in which corners are cut in order to hit the price point. In the case of this bike, the ways in which they cut corners are more subtle and seem to be more the effect of market dynamics than, say, slapping on poor quality components. That alone makes it worth considering for almost anyone seeking value.

This is great entry level road bike for someone looking to get into cycling without spending an arm and a leg. Assembly was straightforward and easy and shipping was quick. Would recommend to a friend.

Solid bike, I had the bike assembled professionally and tested, and have already logged a ton of miles. No issues with gear shifting or brakes and have already tested offroad. Very happy with the performance for the price tag

More of a road bike. Not really suitable for gravel.

Buena calidad de grupo shimano.Los bloqueos de la maza son de baja calidad.