GRX Mechanical remains a killer deal, across all frame platforms.
It performs excellently, comparatively light weight (vs Rival, etc) and is durable.
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This.
Most (nearly all) brands and also riders think there is a split between race gravel bikes and adventure gravel bikes. When in reality, there isnāt. In former times it was a bit of tire size which was thought to be the difference - but that solidly isnāt the case. As you want respective tires course depending for racing as well as for adventuring / just riding along.
Then or at the same time they thought, mounting options on the fork suddenly transform any run-of-the-mill gravel bike into an adventure gravel or make it less desirable as a race gravel. Also nothing could be further from the truth.
Those 3 bosses on each side of the fork donāt weigh anything and probably the āotherā fork of the race gravel bike isnāt specifically designed with race pedigree in mind (like especially aero or what not).
What does make a Gravel Bike to a Race Gravel Bike is if you as a rider and racer decide that the sum of the capabilities of this special rig is ideal for your fastest time on that special course.
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I think the split between racing and adventure gravel bikes comes from the aspirational angle of bike manufacturersā marketing.
Itās a lot like aero - now lots of manufacturers are making extreme aero claims based on super-limited (sometimes non-existent) wind-tunnel testing, and using those claims to promote product. See this Escape Collective piece by Ronan McLaughlin:
In other words, āgravel race bikesā look fast, because they look like road bikes, and sponsored riders sometimes race them. So manufacturers promote them based on that.
But to add a bit of a plot twist, I agree that thereās a difference between gravel race bikes and adventure gravel bikes:
- Adventure gravel bikes are designed to be comfortable
- Gravel race bikes are designed to go fast on gravel thatās very similar to road (smooth and relatively shallow climbs).
This is the biggest area I would consider a difference between the two that would have most of the overall impact in terms of speed/performance.
Sure, āadventureā gravel bikes will typically have a lot more mounts, but that has far less of an impact than the more comfortable/upright riding positions that I consider an adventure gravel bike vs a race gravel bike.
Look at the geometry of the drop bar bikes used in the tour divide race, compared to the geometry of the lifetime Grand Prix riders.
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I agree with this. And my work brain kicked in based on @grwoolf 's great observation about smooth vs chunky. But I realized thereās another dimension on choosing the best gravel bike - how steep the climbs on the course are.
If the climbs arenāt too steep to make you worried about getting off the bike, then you can run any gearing you want.
If the climbs are steep enough to make you worried, and you donāt want to get off the bike if you donāt have to, then you can choose a different gearing setup to ride.
So hereās my proposed 2x2 for choosing a gravel event bike - comments and feedback welcome 
Note that this doesnāt consider total elevation - thereās a big difference between a steep climb and a lot of relentless up-and-down. The latter can easily be handled with any type of gearing, while the former specifically needs a wide range and a low easy gear for the steep section.
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Seigla is the best gravel bike ive ridden, get pne, you wont be disappointed
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The Seigla would be my top choice if it wasnāt 1x only. I havenāt ruled it out entirely yet, but I have been riding my 1x dropbar supercaliber for a few weeks and the gearing jump is much more noticeable on gravel/road than trail. It makes me want to really get 2x or minimum have the frame 2x compatible.
Others Iām considering are:
Felt Breed
Spec Crux
Giant Revolt
Pinarello Grevil
I like it. The only thing I might debate is the gearing topic. Iād argue that many folks can get away with road 2x on steep stuff (with smaller chainrings and big cassette) and most people are fine on 1x regardless of terrain.
Is there a way to run a 2x with a 52 out back? I canāt seem to find a way to get smaller than a 30-tooth chainring in 2x, but (At least with SRAM), the biggest cassette I can run with that is a 10-36. So the low end is 30-36 in a 2x, but I could run a 32 with a 10-52 1x setup, which is a significantly easier low end.
That was the comparison I was making - 30-36 vs 32-52.
For what itās worth - I used to feel the same way. My first gravel bike was AXS 2x and Iād sometimes swap to MTB eagle setup with 1x chainring for certain courses. And I found the gear jumps annoying with the 1x mullet setup and would swap back to 2x after the race. At some point, I stopped swapping back to 2x for flatter terrain and the 2x RD and chainrings have been gathering dust for the past few years. And it was the racing on 1x that made me give up the 2x. I found that the gear jumps only bothered me on training rides, but I never noticed it when racing. Now, I use my gravel bike running 1x for everything (including fast group rides). Honestly, I think riding 1x all the time has made me a stronger rider, much better across a wider range of cadence. N=1 and all that, just sharing my experience as someone who used to be pretty set on 2x for gravel.
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Not that Iām aware of. I think some people have had luck running the Xplr (maybe with 44) in the back with 2x, but I donāt think SRAM blesses that. I believe there was a post about it on TR a while back. I actually tried running Eagle in the back and 2x up front and some gears worked, but it wasnāt usable. The range of any setup is really limited by how much chain wrap your RD can take. Whether itās 2x or 1x, there is only so much chain a RD can deal with before the jockey wheel is going to be dragging the ground.
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Gotcha. Yeah, thatās why I separated 2x/road and MTB drivetrains. You can get a MUCH lower gear ratio with a MTB drivetrain than you can with 2x/road, for the same tires.
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I agree, the GEAR JUMPS SUCK, until your in the race and you never notice it. When I ran 1x i never noticed the issue in the races, it was the training rides being spun out or choosing to run a 50 over my 44 for super flat rides that i was using my gravel bike for
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I had a Seigla demo ride this morning and my new frame is on itās way. Canāt say enough good things about the folks at Lauf that set me up with the demo ride and quickly shipped my new frame out same day. The stars kind of aligned on doing the demo close by, but they do have demo days at some events that are more accessible. And if getting a full bike, they have a pretty flexible policy to basically demo a bike for 30 days and return it if you donāt like it. Anyways, this was my first transaction with Lauf and so far Iām really impressed (especially for a direct to consumer business model).
I had ridden a Lauf (true grit) briefly on the road before, but I got ~25 miles of proper gravel in this morning on the Seigla. Ran it with race king 2.2ās at ~20psi and it obviously rolls the chunk really well. And proper clearance for 2.25ās, there was plenty of room to fit a finger between the tire and frame/fork when running the race kings. Geometry is pretty similar to my Checkpoint, with the one significant difference being a higher BB on the Lauf. But the bike felt really stable and I got a chance to hit a couple fast descents, so I think itās going to be good. Iāve got one last race on my checkpoint this weekend and I hope to have the Seigla built up next week and ready for Rule of 3 and Unbound. Iāll be running a Transmission groupset and zipp 303fc wheels. I hate making any changes so close to races, but I think/hope the Seigla is going to shine at both of these events.
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Pics, please when built.
We all need fresh bike pjorn.
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But comfortable is fast. And if you deliberately design otherwise thinking that is fast, it isnātā¦
But I know not everybody knows this and therefore it works for the industry (in selling them). Luckily for them it works either way if the designers themselves donāt know this or if they know better but also know how to cater for the market.
Note that ācomfortableā has many nuances there. And it ranges from keeping you longer from overly fatiguing and thus being able to keep up the power longer (super important for all these long races and independent whether you are a pro or everybody Joe). All the way to considerations of power output vs an aero fit (or an aero fit you can actually hold over any duration longer than 5 minutes in the wind tunnel). And to the aspect of impedance (i.e. energy dissipation of your propelling power into rattling your bike and your body instead).
I would actually argue that from these points alone any ārace gravel bikeā is precisely no race gravel bike.
Did you get the suspension fork or rigid fork?
Suspension fork. Since I use my gravel bike for most of my road training (and group rides) year around, I had considered getting both forks. After doing the demo on the suspension fork, I didnāt feel any downside in handling or feel on smooth/road surfaces. I probably wouldnāt want if for racing smooth crits or something like that, but this isnāt a great bike for that job anyway. Unless someone is a serious weight weenie or wonāt be using the bike on rough roads or gravel, I donāt see any advantage to the rigid fork. But thatās one personās opinion after one test ride. Lauf offers the rigid forks, so clearly it appeals to some. And itās quite a little cheaper, so probably a good option for someone focused on hitting a price point and comparing to other bikes with rigid forks. The Lauf fork w/rigid frame and carbon handle bar is only $1900 and a full bike build with wireless transmission is only $2750.
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Yeah. I was even thinking about this as I was writing it, because I agree with you.
A better way to have said it might be:
- Adventure gravel bikes are designed to be comfortable according conventional wisdom, which is an upright riding posterior and lots of mounts
- Gravel race bikes are designed to go fast on gravel thatās very similar to road (smooth and relatively shallow climbs) according to conventional wisdom, which is that they should be road books with slightly more tire clearance
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This is where people end up talking past each other.
IMO; gravel race bikes are very obviously not road bikes with slightly more tire clearance. There are vast geometrical differences between them.
Hereās the Allied Able 2 compared to their road race bike the Alfa:
The stack and reach are similar, which is what is (by some) meant to be similar to a road bike. But everything else is very different.
Some manufacturers vary the differences; but overall, design has advanced well past road bike with more tire clearance. Smooth unpaved roads are probably less a design influence than they were a generation ago (<2019?). Itās a spectrum I suppose but the indicators point to accommodation of rougher roads and more front tire impacts which influences design to moderate.
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