If you won’t run bigger than 38 and want it to do well on road as well as gravel, I’d consider a Trek Domane. It’s officially a road bike (and a good one), but is an outstanding gravel race bike until things get really chunky and technical. Rated for 38 tires and I’ve ridden it with 40’s no problem. I bought one as my gravel race bike in 2020 and it served me well. I recently sold it (moved to something that will take 45’s and a bit more slack) and I really miss the Domane. I just couldn’t justify keeping both and I also bought the Domane a size too small (which I like for road, but was a little scary when things got technical/steep on the dirt). I miss the Domane enough that I’d consider getting another one (sized bigger) and use it for non-technical gravel racing and road.
Thanks for that and sounds like a good setup. Good advice on the tires as I am a gravel newbie and looking to get into it and potentially selling my mtb
Second @grwoolf vote for the Domane, outside of not being able to put on greater than 40mm tires it’s been fantastic bike for me where the bulk of my riding is on the road and I am starting to do some gravel racing. Managed to do a gravel race that was over 3000m of up and down in 126k and it was fine.
That said I do come from a mountain bike background so have have some off road kills.
I have toyed with getting a Checkpoint to be just a little more stable on the big decent and allow slightly larger rubber but still on the fence. The new Domane should officially break cover later this year and I’ll be looking at it closely.
Gearing on the Domane for gravel has been pretty good, the 34 cog, 34 chainring was good enough for the above race, the new 105 Di2 12 speed 11-36 cassette might be even better. But you could always go with a GRX front end if you needed some lower gearing at the risk of losing a bit of top end.
The other thing with the Domane that I have loved is the internal spare/tool storage, keeps things clean and you always have what you need on each ride.
Have a look at the Time ADHX and the Look 765 Gravel RS. Both unusual names in the gravel scene but I wouldn’t discount them
@Pbase do you recommend the Lauf shock absorbing fork for a dedicated gravel bike? I think I’d like a Seigla but 1) don’t have the boss’ permission yet and 2) am wondering the fork makes that much of a difference over something like 40+ mm tires.
I took my road bike on some well maintained dirt roads with 32 mm tires at about 45 psi and it felt smooth, but for longer rides I could see how some front end dampening would be nice.
I would not. I like the company and they make great bikes, but having owned one, I don’t think the fork really makes any positive difference and it does have some negatives (it wobbles when climbing out of the saddle on pavement). I would get the normal carbon fork, get a Lauf Smoothie handlebar (love these), and either use bigger tires or lower psi when needed. They are good people and make quality product. The fork does “work”, I just never felt it made any difference.
Thanks for the quick and thorough reply. Probably just saved me $300+. 
I have a lauf tru grit. I think the fork makes a difference.
Do you have another bike to ride the same route back to back and compare performance, RPE, etc? I did, and it didn’t change anything for me personally.
I rode the True Grit for a couple years and thought it worked, but then I went on vacation and rented a Warbird and was surprised it didn’t seem “harsher”.
So, when i got home, i rode the same course twice. Over the course of 30 miles, I was not any faster and didn’t finish with any improved “freshness” in my arms or anything from the fork.
Also, again, just my opinion, but if it made a difference, I think every pro would have one.
I rode my old gravel bike with redshift sports stem on same route and preferred the lauf. To get an accurate comparison I think you’d need 2 true grits or Seigla. One with rigid fork and one with the lauf fork. With everything else the same.
I don’t think pros want the extra weight of the fork.
But I still think the bike would be comfortable with rigid fork, smoothie bars and big tires. The Seigla even more so as you can fit really big tires on there.
I have friends who have one of each and use the rigid fork one on road and suspension fork model for gravel. I’ve never asked them for a comparison.
I do feel that wobble sometimes on pavement but it doesn’t bother me much and I mostly ride gravel.
I’ll chime in and say the Felt Breed is an underrated option that I don’t see a lot of people talk about. Really like my aluminum version. Clearance for big tires, mount points for top tube bag, fenders, etc… They recently came out with a carbon version that I believe is more race/aggressive without the fender mounts. Worth a look IMO.
Ron
Love my T-Lab X3
One of the challenges with threads like this is that everyone tends to tell you what they are riding, and that they love their bike…but that may not be the best option for you.
I’ve beat this horse multiple times in the past, but I would encourage you to look at the BB heights of whatever bikes you are interested in…it is a crucial, and often overlooked, geometry component.
Based on what you noted above re: 2 wheels, I would encourgae you to look at bikes with lower BB heights vs. higher. A lower BB will be more stable across multiple wheel setups…and if you aren’t racing cross, you really don’t need a high BB. So many gravel bikes are slightly modified CX bikes, which means they have a higher BB.
Bikes like the Cervelo Aspero 3T Strada have lower BB heights, more similar to a road bike. The new Crux kinda sits in between where the old Crux was and where something like the Aspero is. The OPEN and many other bikes tend to be higher.
A lower BB will get you an overall lower CG, which translate into more stability in gravel and when cornering. IMO, those are critical components for a good handling gravel bike.
Yes and thanks. Mainly my whole idea of adding this thread was to see what is out there as I have no idea really. I take these recommendations and look into them as I would normally.
I did see somewhere on here I believe having 2 wheel sets can be a pain as you might need to adjust a few items which would not be what I want over time.
Going to continue to give my new Epic Evo a good shot over the next couple of months while researching and decide then what I am ultimately doing. I don’t think however I will end up selling my Tarmac regardless of what I do as I like it too much.
Depends on which wheel / tire setups you have…if you are just going form something like a 700x40 gravel setup to a road tire setup, it isn’t too much of a big deal. If you are going between 700c and 650b, then yes it can require some modifications to your frame to keep the geometry consistent (assuming the frame has that capability).
The Cervelo Aspero and Allied Echo have inserts in the forks that you change around to accommodate the differences in wheels.
1 caveat, you WILL likely have to dial in the rear derailleur when swapping, even if you have the exact same cassette on both wheel sets.
The Giant Revolt does as well. I can’t get past the value for money of that bike – I’m trying to convince my wife that its worth the upgrade (I have the earlier model).
rather amusingly the Giant was bikeradars bike of the year in 2022 - that what put me onto upgrading.
https://www.bikeradar.com/news/2022-bike-of-the-year-road-gravel/
PS. I’m not sure a gravel / road bike combination will ever be as good as having a bike for both but I’m going to try the revolt.
Thanks and that is helpful for sure and did not realize the specifics. Looked at Aspero and it looks like a nice bike. Did not know it existed. I like the allied but not sure about the stem setup. I am sure it is fine just something I think about.
Yeah and good point. I typically get around that running di2 and having the app.
Will have to look at that one and thanks for the rec.