$899! Best Budget Drop Bar Bikepacking/Gravel Bike? (Poseidon Redwood Review)

The irony of all this is that it takes a $900 budget bike to give me all the stuff I'm looking for in a drop-bar bike: wider handlebars, huge tire clearance, gearing suitable for ordinary Joes, loads of mounts. The vast majority of bikes costing four times as much don't come with these elementary features. Someone at Poseiden really does know what daily riders are looking for. Maybe they should also produce the same bike with a better spec and maybe in a high-grade steel, charge more for it, and enter that $1500-2000 market where a lot of keen riders are willing to invest.

I have to say, I watch most of the bike channels in here but you are hands down the best bike reviewer.

I’m really digging the Microshift trend we are seeing in these cheaper bikes. They seem like good bang for your buck. Even Cannondale opted for them on their 2021 Topstone

I bought a Redwood on pre order. It ended up being too small, despite Poseidons advice. Im 5'9 and ordered a small. I swapped stems and played with fit and it was just a little off..I chatted with Luis at Poseidon and he sent me a larger sized frame, with a return tag for mine. No problem! Excellent customer service so far, which is always a concern for this type of business model. Super stoked on everything so far! Lots of obvious upgrades as one sees fit to.lightnen it up. The LIFETIME warranty helps justify that for sure! Gonna be fun to rally it a bit. And the aluminum makes winter riding less of a worry, corrosion wise. Cheers from Whitefish!

I've had my Redwood for about 2wks now and so far I love it. I think your review was really good and there's for sure some things that I will change at some point and some observations that I'd share. The not so good or things that will be changed at some point. Brakes: the Tektro MD-C550 are not very good and in fact, pretty awful, IMHO. My last pair of mechanical disc was about 10yrs ago and they were BB7, which if my memory serves me, were much better than these Tektro. I've adjusted them and tried to get them to the best point I can, but on any significant downhill, whether dirt or road, they do not give great confidence, especially the rear. Wheels: They were probably the least trued wheels I've ever seen?! I spent a couple hours truing them before taking it out on the first ride. Some of the spokes didn't even feel like they were tightened at all. The wheels are also heavy. Rear wheel with tire & tube weighs 6.9lbs. The tubes weigh 9.2oz, so after you going tubeless, my rear wheel came in at 6.03lbs and I lost about 1/2lb per wheel. Cranks/BB: after getting wheels tru and everything ready to go on my first spin around the block I heard some creaking/grinding noise coming from cranks/BB. I wasn't planning a ride that day, so I pulled the cranks and BB and found metal shavings inside the BB shell and on the BB. I cleaned it out, re-greased everything, put it back together and it's been fine, thus far. The Prowheel cranks and the BB are not something I'd feel comfortable with on a long-haul, multi-day adventure ride/tour. And as stated in your video, the seat post is chunky and the seat I don't think will be adequate for a long day in the saddle or beyond. Ok, those are the things I'd change and that I found somewhat concerning. Now for the good. The bike handles and rolls way better than I expected! It is a blast to ride. My first real ride on it was about 40 miles and a combination of road, gravel, fire roads and even some pretty technical singletrack and I was blown away by how well it handled and transitioned with all of it. With the geometry and the big 2.35 tires, it for sure feels like it leans toward the mtb side, but I was pleasantly surprised how responsive it was on road and fire roads. It cruises really nicely! The Microshift Advent X is also way impressive! I've heard so many bad things about their components and this is my first experience with Microshift and I think it works very well. I dialed it in and I've had no issues with the shifting whatsoever. I also think they nailed it with the gearing(38x11/48)! It has just enough good range for getting up over some steep, but again, I also find it great for cruising down the road comfortably. Yes, the bike is a little on the heavy, as expected with the big tires and etc, but for me, it climbs much better than I expected. I was a little concerned about the bars, since it's Poseidon own branding, but they seem great so far. I appreciate the 24 degree flair for handling/control. On some singletrack with some small bumps, I was routinely getting some small air and it takes it in stride. The feedback through the bars and connection to the ground with he tires, felt confident and always under control. I did not notice much flex or wiggle in the rear triangle when putting it under stress of climbing, turning hard or even getting air. The bike/frame feels solid. And finally, the bike just looks badass! Lets face it, it just looks wicked cool! The big tires, the Green color, the frame design and just how the complete package is laid out, it just looks like it's ready to take on whatever you throw at it. It's turned a few heads already on the few rides I've done thus far and I'm sure it will continue. This is my first adventure bike experience and I can't wait to load up all the bosses with bags and roll this thing on some long haul trips. Sorry for long post, I couldn't stop typing. :-) Cheers-

What a great bike for a reasonable price! Having been a cyclist for 45 years I'm staggered at what companies are asking cyclists to pay for bikes these days! The inflation over the last 10 years has been way, way, way out of line with general inflation as a whole and even out of line with inflation due to improvements in materials and technology. At this price one could afford a second set of wheels and tires, a rack or two, and have a near "do anything" quiver killer. Thanks for the review!

Just got my Redwood yesterday, took it on a varied 25 mile ride today, and I AM IN LOVE. It's my first gravel bike. And, if anyone is new to gravel bikes who doesn't know much about bikes (that'd be me), it's really impressed me on day 1. Also, it looks quite beautiful.

Someone just shot me a link to this bike! Really glad there’s a production bike now that’s not just for the roadies who think they can ride dirt... Nice clearance for tires and love the price point! Too often are people being priced out of what should be a more inclusive sport. Every time I see an article about an affordable bike and realize they’re talking about a 2500 price point I want to put my head into a wall... this definitely puts a smile on my face... also looks to be way more practical for most people as well!

Seriously as someone who paid more than twice as much for an All City Gorilla Monsoon all I really got for the increase is a flashier paint job, though I dig this matte green finish.

I love it so far! I swapped the tires for the byway 47s tubeless and did not notice any harshness. I also swapped the stem for a Zipp stem with a slightly higher angle. Everything is killer except the brakes. Took about 80 miles to bed and still are pretty bad but usable. I'm going to look into getting some hydro mechanical calipers eventually. All I can say is this bike is fun. Not for racing but if you really don't care about speed but want more adventure this is it!

The Teravail Rutland I feel are the ideal tire for this bike as an all arounder, it maintains the monstercross nature of the bike, intention wise, but improves the overall riding experience on all surfaces over the stock Kendas. I've been enjoying linking up gravel/ditch riding and pavement connector miles to hit the local singletrack all on the Teravail Rutland (27.5 x 2.1 tanwalls) and they are well suited to this bike. Another thing, this bike straight up rips downhill in fully loaded bikepack mode. I did a multi day bikepack in northern NM on this recently and we hit some serious miles long baby head descents and this bike with some finessing was relentless. My other bike is a steel Krampus, and the aluminum rides just fine relative to steel, the right tire and pressure goes a long way with the Redwood.... oh, and some thicker handlebar tape helps.

As a 6'2" 300 lb guy I've really enjoyed mine. I've just got back into biking, and I felt it is a good entry bike to explore what you might want.

This is incredibly enticing as a compliment to my lightweight carbon gravel bike. I'd use that for everyday gravel rides and road riding, while I'd use the Redwood for bikepacking and a commuter/around town bike that I wouldn't be afraid of locking up

I was worried because Ive never owned a 1 by. After this review I purchased the Ambition x flat bar. You gave me confidence that the gearing will be enough to tackle the hills in my city. This is going to be my baby and errand hauler! So pumped. Love this channel, fits my philosophy on why I love bicycles...the adventure! Got it on sale for $600!!!

I’m still digging this bike, but definitely looking to make changes. I just bought a Race Face Ride crankset, Race Face Team XC BB and Race Face Chainring to replace the Prowheel cranks and square taper BB that comes with the Redwood. Before installing the new setup, I did a weight comparison and the new Race Face setup is 1.47lbs lighter than the Prowheel!! That’s a lot in the crank rotation!! I was actually a little shocked it was that much lighter, because Race Face Ride cranks are definitely not the lightest cranks on the market. I noticed an immediate difference riding it. The rotational force just felt lighter in the cranks. Next upgrade, those horrible tektro brakes. Considering Juin Tech R1?

I've been on mine for about 3.5 weeks now. Digging it immensely. I am rider who took off about 11 years so for pulling the trigger to get back into it the price took the sting off of getting back in the game. That said, gearing is great in woods, and more harsh trails, I do a bit of hunting in the flats to find a good gear. I did order a pair of 29er wheels to use with a little less meat, but I am just under 6 feet so that wont hurt. my only complaint was for fit wise I felt the stem was a bit short. I gotta say though I like that the company focused on affordable and what matters to the consumer. Affordable bikes that arent just carbon copies with different stickers are hard to find. This definately shines for that reason alone.

I just ordered this bike for riding fire roads and Bikepacking. Looking forward to this.

I'm a fan of my redwood. Running 27.5x2.6 with plenty of room for mud to fly through.

If this had been around when I bought my Trek 920, this probably would have won out. Amazing value.

Who here has watched this excellent vdo 3-4 times, gleaning Redwood details? Poseidon will have more production available by June 2022