I am thinking of getting a new bike and want really just one bike for both road and a bit of gravel/off road riding. I currently have a cervelo r3 with a set of carbon mavic wheels as my current road bike and I also have a mtb. Now I am playing with the idea of basically just moving my ultegra groupset over to a new frame and get a second set of wheels for gravel riding.
I have had a look at a few frames and a couple have caught my eye, either a specializes crux or maybe the santa cruz stigmata v3 (currently on offer for Ā£1500). Just looking for some recommendations for frames, wheels and I take it using the ultegra groupset off road will be ok? I would say about 70/80% of riding will be road and the other 20/30% gravel.
From gravel standpoint, which gravel bike would handle a lot of road riding? (Many)
From a road standpoint, which road bike can handle a bit of gravel? (Also many)
3 Factors that I think are most important:
Geometry, primarily head angle
Gearing
Tire size
Gearing. What will you need for the gravel climbs you will want to ride? Can road bike gearing accomplish it? Can you swap to a bigger cassette and do it? If you build a gravel bike up, can you do the road riding you want with a 40t chainring?
This is just to say a bike with more relaxed angles than a typical road bike, like an endurance bike, with good tire clearance, will do all that youāre asking, and be smoother on the road, so that would be my recommendation if you want one bike.
Better yet, two bikes from one new frame (which usually results in a few more parts). Buy whatever you need for the gravel frame and swap parts between the two. Ideally, a different crank on the gravel frame, but if they have the same bb standards, you can swap cranks really easily. No reason to drop the road bike unless you donāt have space for it imo
My one bike (mentioned above) would 100% be my new Specialized Epic World Cup. Bit of rear suspension, basically locked out when you donāt need it, can fit a 38 tooth chainring when needed and gravel drops make it speedy. Throw slicks on it and itād be a mean fat tire crit beast. With a 120 mm fork and flat bars, itās a beast off road, just swap to a 32 or 34 chainring depending on terrain. Wait, you said one bike but we can keep a small warehouse of parts right???
Iām at this spot myself currently. I have a road bike I love riding and fits me great but only takes up to 32mm. I am not sure I really want to spend $$ on a full new bike as the gravel riding would be limited. Many more gravel events around me and 0 road events Iām interested in. Just would be nice to have that option - which I currently do not.
Thinking about buying a new frame along with a second wheel set and swapping everything over. Iāve been looking at some all road frames that will fit tires up to 47/50mm for some gravel riding that have similar geometry to my road bike. You can go real cheap with Chinese carbon - but with some looking and research it seems around $700 is a sweet spot for nice frames. Figure Iād be able to run my current wheel set with 30 or 32s and then a new set for east swapping and gravel riding.
This is an interesting take on the Trek Checkmate (available in a frame set). Hits all the marks for road/gravel. The ONLY complaint is that it canāt fit MTB tires, if thatās a concern. Reviewer says itās the best road endurance bike on the market and a fast aero gravel bike. Itās claimed 45mm tire clearance but fits 50mm with 6mm all around. I have this frame set on order and will be built up in a few weeks.
I use my checkpoint gravel rig for road riding, my madone just sits on the trainer. Only exception is if Iām racing, but I donāt do much road racing these days. For fast group rides, the checkpoint is plenty fast and more comfy than the road bike. Only real downside is the gearing since I run a 1x mullet setup, but there are very few situations where I truly spin out.
Oof. Expensive frame. Looks awesome though and wish I could swing something like that.
Iām currently hung up on how much tire clearance do I really need? Riding in MN/WI pretty sure no need to run a MTB tire - especially since Iām not on the pointy end of any event Iād do. But is 42 enough? 47? 50? Iām leaning towards something with either 47 or 50 clearance but then wonder how goofy 30/32s would looks - vanity right?
Also debating on do I need UDH or not. Trying to future proof some - really wish All Road was more readily available 4 years ago when I bought my road bike.
But that violates the law!! N + 1! Plus someone has to keep subsidizing the bike industry. I did my part, bought one of each.
And I can tell the difference between them too. Not sure the one wouldnāt be fine for the other type of riding, but I can tell the difference, and prefer the āgravel bikeā mostly, but all the tech is on the roadie.
My opinion is that whether or not Iām at the pointy end of a race, I still want to do my best when racing against myself.
Larger tire volume reduces flats off road and reduces vibrations/fatigue. Currently, 2.1 & 2.2 tires are fastest for rolling resistance (only 2 specific models), but I suspect thatās because of their casing and design, not just because theyāre wider. As gravel tire manufacturers are now learning this, there will likely be faster offerings in the 45-50mm range in the next year or two.
With that in mind, Iād not purchase anything with less than 45mm tire clearance, and would also suggest a UDH if possible as it opens a lot more options down the road.
If you can find a bike checking all the boxes with 50+mm clearance, all the better.
what is your definition of āgravelā and how hard do you ride it? do you really need (/ want) to tinker with two sets of wheels?
Iād try really hard personally to compromise one or the other to not have to mess with that.
not saying you should - just for me when I ride āgravelā itās a straight canal path and I canāt even really go that fast cause of people and other bikers. but I do this <5% of my ridingā¦so I got a bike with 42mm clearance and run 35mm. so I can go on there - just for me I am a little careful (Iām also not skilled on gravelā¦I know a lot of people would crush with 35mm).
Unless one is racing gravel, I donāt really see the need for a gravel bike over a mountain bike. And if you are racing gravel, you will want 50-55 mm clearance.
