So…NBD Crux Expert
This bike is really amazing and so much fun to ride. It is fast, light and compliant. It is basically in another league than my Domane on both the gravel (expected) and on the road (not expected).
I frankly don’t know what wizardry Specialized employed with the carbon layup but it is both stiffer and more compliant than the Domane with a similar setup on the road and makes isoSpeed a non-factor. This bike just ate up broken pavement and crappy chip seal.
This setup in the picture is 56 at 8.6kg (will have a lighter daily training version with 303FC and 32 Vitorria Next). This is stock wheels, tubless setup and bottle cages. I swapped out the Rival crank set for Red AXS Powermenter ($800 on BTD with sale and points) which works great and allows me now to move on from my PowerTap P1s, which were real boat anchors at 450g. Pedals are the wide Shimano Ultegra SPD, great pedals and a much needed improvement over my PowerTap P1s.
This is my first electronic shifting group set and all I can say is I am not ever going back to mechanical. The 1x 40/10-44 is perfect for my daily riding. So much better than 2x.
Swapped out the Rival chain for a Force.
Roval Terra C wheels are surprisingly good. They punch way above their price point and I would have no problem racing them. I was going to sell them, but they will be my non-race gravel wheels.
I am not a fan of the stock handle bars and will be swapping them out for Enve Gravel bars, pending a bike fit next week.
My only regret is not buying an Sworks version. 