Looking at getting a new gravel bike. Current suggestion by retailer would be to get standard ultegra. What is the advantage of the grx groupset?
Thanks for your replies
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Gearing may be better for some people. The ratios are lower in GRX to deal with steeper grades and larger diameter wheels with the wide tires.
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GRX has a stiffer clutch spring in the rear derailleur compared to the Ultegra, so should be better in rougher terrain.
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GRX hood design is focused on grip in bumpier conditions. And the Di2 has a revised pivot location that makes brake modulation better from the hoods.
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GRX shift and brake levers are reshaped as well.
There may be more, but those are the ones I remember from the reviews Iāve read and watched.
Without more info, the cynic in me say the shop may be selling what they have vs what they donāt. Itās common practice, but not always in the best interests of the customer.
Hi Chad,
unfortunately the builder cannot get the GRX groupset. Would you go with the standard R8000 Ultegra instead or rather the sram Force 1x. I am tendnig towards the R8000 Ultegraā¦
Look forward to you response and thanks a lot for the great support,
Elvis
Got it. Ultegra vs Force1 gets into the whole 2x vs 1x debate on gravel. As with anything having at least 2 sides in our world, this is hotly debated.
I am likely to stick with 2x for my gravel needs since I like smaller steps in the rear and a wide range overall.
Assuming you are talking Force1 (11-speed and not the AXS) it seems to me that you either end up with a relatively road biased 1x with the 10-36 cassette, or look at the various options of MTB based cassettes. Those run the spectrum of 9-4X?, 10-4X? and 11-4X? depending on brands.
I donāt have any great guidance other than you need to think about your needs and preferences for gearing in your area or planned paces to ride. Ultimately, I think any can work, but one may be more optimized for each users. Once you go 1x, specific gearing gets to be interesting and quite tricky in ways.
The new AXS 12-speed opens the doors to more options, but we donāt see much splitting the road/mtb options right now. Those will come, just like they did with the 11-speed world.
There are a few guides about considering the choice between 1x and 2x. I can try to find them if youād like.
Hi Chad,
woooow, thank you for your immediate response - highly appreciated.
Yeah, it is a shame they cannot get their hands on the new GRX, would have preferred that. Since my choice is now between Ultegra, Force 1x and Force AXS (which is out of my budget) I am tending towards Ultegra. Reason being that it is a lot more flexible. I will ride gravel races, do long endurance rides on weekends in the winter and go bike packing (lightly equipped), so I think Ultegra simply offers more flexibility.
Look forward to getting my new ride and sharing some pics!
Cheers and thanks,
Elias
Happy shopping and please share your experience one you get some rides on it 
Thanks for this thorough response @jfranci3 .
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I actually grabbed that very tyre as I now have 2 plugs in my rear WTB tyreā¦from a short ride on pavement! So you rate the Terreno Dry over the WTB Byway overall or just the road rolling aspect?
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I have been going for about 45-50 psi if it is pavement and 30-40 for off-road. I think my pump is about is reading about 10% too high. So I need to check that. I thought I found 30 psi makes for a very squishy tyre that affects steering. Iāll try 30 or so again. Thanks.
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Right. So far, I have not detected any road vibration, but have only been riding on these 47mm tyres. Others have said what you are saying. I wonāt be riding any less than 28 or 32mm tyres on the road.
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Yes Fabric bottle mounts. Love them. Use them on all my bikes. Saves messing around with bottle cages (I donāt take any water for a race thatās 70 minutes or less). I thought off-road might result in some ejected bottles with this setup, so not even close. Even though I have been on some very rough terrainā¦at sped (probably too fast). Yes harder to get out in this frame with this many squeezed in there, but I got the hang of it after 1-2 times I used each bottle. Nice point on the mount under the downtube. I couldnāt work out why anyone would want a bottle down there, where it canāt be reach. Frame bag, I see.
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I moved my Power saddle from my road bike to my new Breed 20 and then bought a new Power saddle for my road bike. So saddle is the same. Crank length is the same. My road handlebars have 79mm reach and gravel bars 80mm reach. So that helps. Seat tube anglesā¦73.5 road bike and 73 for Breed. Hereās an image of the geometry laid on top of one another. Red is road.
I do have stems of everything length but not ever angle. Iāll take your advice on comparing on a trainer (once I find the thru axle attachments I threw in a drawer over a year ago) to get a macro comparison, but I think I am down to the mm in measurements and differences. And I do feel the same on both road and gravel bikes besides a little more upright. I guess my question is, is what is reducing the reach on the gravel bike helping? Less weight on front which is good for loose terrain? I did notice that my shin angle felt different and I looked down and the cleat placement looks different on my MTB shoes than my road shoes. I need to look at the more closely. I initially moved the cleat as far down the foot as possible, like my road shoes, but different shoe manufacturer and road vs MTB, I need to actually do some measurements there. Surprisingly poor attention to detail by me on this front.
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They feel like they have more flx. Iāll try and lower tyre pressure and see how that goes.
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I see. I am getting some road wheels in the next few weeks. Iāll see how it feels. Still deciding on 28 or 32mm tyres or a combo of both.
Thank you.
The shorter stem on gravel is just to put you more upright than your aero-er road bike position. The goal is to put you a bit more upright to take bumps and enjoy longer rides.
I havenāt tried those tires, but they should be faster. They are not great on sharp rocks- see the EF teams experience at dirty Kanza
Fit- you need to include your bars in your measurements if the bars are not the same. You need the length from your thumb crotch on the hoods to the steerer.
Thanks.
I do 200km rides on my road bike. I canāt see myself generally doing anything longer than 80km on the gravel bike. In other words, my gravel bike is for shorter rides and CX racing. More upright for taking bumps? I canāt follow the logic here. Please elaborate?
Virtually identical reach for each bars, but different shape. I have come to the realisation that it is hard to copy a fit from bike to bike when the handlebars are different, as the stack and reach of the bars donāt tell the entire story. So there is an element of subjective feel to fine tune it. But I think the rear end of a fit is most important, and that I can copy, especially using the same saddle. Am I right in thinking this?
Itās ALL subjective. A bike fit just puts you in the norms or gives you a good starting place.
If youāve got the same saddle and post, the measurements will be the same relative to the crank. The post clamp, saddle rail āliftā, and the saddle shape will all impact things a bit. I tend to side with my furthest point even with back of the saddle, so thatās where I measure forward/aft. Saddle height I set with the heel scrape method, as it works and pedal thickness can throw things off a bit. I then adjust tilt as needed. Only if the youāve got the BB at the same height can you just park the two bikes next to one another.
I know there has been a ton of discussion on these bikes but the new 2020 Giant Contend AR is very similar to the Diverge E5 (I know it is Aluminum) but I did a review on the Giant Contend and it was an amazing bike that I feel is more versatile than many bikes out there that are geared towards gravel (most feel kinda slow and sluggish on pavement).
Here is my full review and I go into testing out different tire sizes and wheel sizes, Road vs Gravel etc. Threaded BB, Thru Axles, Full Carbon fork. Really a great bike. $1550 for the Shimano 105 11 speed version.
@mcneese.chad sorry to bother, but Iāve been looking through threads about cx bikes as road bikes and see a couple posts where you mention having a 2015 Booneā¦ Iām looking for a jack of all trades bike that will serve as a cx bike in fall/winter, and road bike in spring summer (no planned gravel riding) and was considering a 2015 Boone (buying used, itās at the high end of my budget). Could you please give your thoughts about using the Boone heavily as a road bike, pros, cons, etc. - ? Thanks!
In general, I think the Boone can be a great all-around bike. Love the comfort the rear IsoSpeed adds for my gravel use, but I imagine it will hold for bad road conditions too, and not at a negative cost either. See the chart below, that compares my Boone, Emonda and Domane bikes that I own.
The Boone is not as short and sharp as the Emonda, and is similar in ways to the Domane for relaxed and stretch in some values. But you can nearly match the rider fit between the Emonda and Boone, since the Reach & Stack are so similar. The main differences are in Head Tube Angle and Wheelbase, with Chainstay Length as well.
I think it can be a perfect go-between bike with no major sacrifices, assuming you have two wheelsets for quick swaps.
Geometry Comparison, 56cm Frame Size
Thanks a lot for this, I appreciate it. Yes, my intention would be to get 2 wheelsets to swap.
Funny, I am keeping a similar chart for bikes Iām comparing, and am also looking at size 56.
The higher stack and slacker angles are whatās putting me off a bit on the Boone. I think Iād prefer something a bit more sharp and āraceyā but with limited budget on the used market all Iām really finding are caadxās which are heavier and not that different aside from lower stack and slightly sharper head angle, so the Boone seems like an okay option if I can afford it.
Thanks again.
You might be able to use a longer stem or reach bar, and set yourself more āon topā of the front wheel, to get a bit more agility to the steering. You are still subject to the wheelbase, head tube angle and trail, so that might not make much difference. But it might help a bit?
Curious if you have any updated input on the Breed after owning for a few months.
I am between a few similar models as well (Breed/Topstone/Revolt) for some gravel grinding, light CX and commuting. My LBS has some pretty good deals on the 2019 Breeds right now
Have you had a chance to try out a 700c wheelset on it yet?
I am not the poster you referenced but I have had a 2020 Breed for 2 months now. Have done a gravel ride a week on it, so getting to know it a bit. I do think it is a fantastic deal for what you get, nice components. The geometry is pretty great. The steering is super nimble. No toe overlap. Tubeless ready wheels/tires. Bento box bosses. I am still getting my fit dialed in. The handlebars for a 56 are really large 46 at hoods and way wider in drops. I think I will ultimately go a size or 2 down. Wheels are heavy, and I dented the rim slightly on the first ride. They did set up tubeless easily.
I went for the value, wheel size, geometry, and kit. Your other choices are good, and I had the same ones on my list. If I were to have gone a different route, I would have probably gone Exploro, Aspero, or Stigmata, but all three were significantly more expensive. But tighter wheelbase, lighter.
I think this would be super rad for commuting btw.
Thanks @llmonty. Good to know about the wheelset. Iād probably stick with my 700c wheelset most of the time and keep the 650b for winter trail riding. Hoping to get out and try some bikes this weekend!