This is more local to me, but I could see my CX bike as “the one”. The brand is Prologue, along with “Rhus” wheel and components, which is the house brand of a LBS (Eurosports) that specializes in mid to high end equipment. Essentially everything is a custom build. I believe, but not sure, that this is open mold stuff and not their own designs. Anyhow, my CX bike runs pretty close stack/reach to my road bike (Ribble R872) but has more tire clearance and runs slightly lighter overall with the same 105-7000 groupset. I definitely could see this bike with two wheelsets and compact gearing being a single all-rounder except for the gnarliest of gravel/trail riding.
This is the exact bike I own, and I almost was about to comment that I already have the right bike and am not changing it! It’s superb in every way.
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I’m not much of a Trek guy, but the Domane is one of the most forward-thinking endurance bikes out there right now. Some super cool stuff on that one.
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No such thing, but at the moment I’m really enjoying my Ibis Hakka MX. Admittedly when I get the single track itch again, this isn’t going to cut it, hence my position on, “no such thing as a one bike quiver”
I’m really digging NOT using a car to get to some really cool FS gravel “roads” though.
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i’m jealous!
been looking at it, but being in the US i don’t want to pay import taxes to get the bike here.
although if your review is convincing enough i might consider it 
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It’s a medium term plan, but I plan on n+1 being a made to measure custom build Gravel/ Endurance bike. I’d hope that to be my quiver killer, but in reality, changing wheel sets has always been a bit of faff, with the indexing not quite right each time*/ disc brake rub.
*may not be an issue with electronic shifting?
- It is still a potential issue with electronic shifting. It’s not magic and won’t “fix” a delta on the spacing between cassette location between wheels and trainers.
- It can be manually adjusted via the appropriate methods, that are obviously different from a mechanical / cable setup.
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Been looking closely at Domanes recently. Looking for a disc brake bike that can take wider tires, primarily for road riding but UK roads which in winter can be pretty horrible - pot holes, debris, wet leaves, loose gravel, steep gradients, etc. Already have a nice aero bike, but it’s rim brake and only takes 25mm tires, would like more grip and stopping power when conditions aren’t great or the roads get steep, a bit more comfort wouldn’t hurt either.
I train with some pretty strong groups, so want something that can still be set up with a fairly aggressive position and isn’t going to hold me back when I need to go fast. So don’t think I need to go as far as a gravel bike (though do like the look of the 3T and Open bikes). Probably wouldn’t need to go wider than 32mm, so also considering the BMC Roadmachine, Specialized Roubaix, maybe the Tarmac, particularly if the new one has wider tire clearance. Am thinking though that with the Domane’s 38mm clearance I could run a second wheelset with some really nice wide rubber for the solo days when I don’t care so much about speed. Option to fit proper fenders/mudguards could also be attractive.
What else did you look at apart from the Domane? Are you just training on it or racing as well? Anything you don’t like about it? Seems it’s a little heavy, but then I’ve got a few pounds I could lose as well.
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Yeah, and that’s why for the mechanically and/ or time challenged like myself, a quiver killer probably isn’t that big a deal. Since getting a gravel bike, i’d quite often have road and gravel ready to go the night before, and decide in the morning!
This is something I have thought about a lot. There are so many ways to go with it! There is a weird appeal to having 1 bike to rule them all. I think you can cover most of the spectrum from Gravel/CX/Climbing Road/Aero Road/TT with maybe 2 bikes. That is CX and an Aero Road bike.
Currently I have a Venge, which is Awesome. Tempted to get a Crux to cover the CX/Gravel stuff to replace my TCX as the Crux has quite a good aggressive geometry which would make
It a good back up road bike.
I think a CX bike like a Crux, Boone or SuperX would do for most to cover 90% of situations. So if someone put a gun to my head and said you can have one bike and NO others I would go for something like the following:
Trek Boone in Road drag, looks awesome. With 2 sets of wheels plus some different chainrings/cassettes you wouldn’t be far off a quiver killer there.
However with all that said, the aero road bike will probably always be a compromise vs an out and out TT rig. Likewise CX bike is going to be pretty aggressive for LONG gravel grinders.
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Do you still pay the import tax if you get it from somewhere like competitive cyclist? https://www.competitivecyclist.com/ibis-gravel-bikes
That’s a nice bike though!
My 2 cents FWIW - For my 2020 Domane currently have a set of 32c Conti GP 5000’s on it. I don’t race, I just do endurance / group rides, but coming from my last bike, an aluminum Fuji, it feels pretty fast. Not super light, but it’s a trade off- a little bit of weight for comfort - but it doesn’t feel all that heavy to me. I figured I was better off losing a few pounds rather than worrying about the weight of the bike so much.
I looked at the Specialized Roubaix, Cannondale Synapse, and Canyon Endurace. Also considered the Giant Defy. My #1 thing was comfort for long miles and I though the Domane gave the best option in terms of comfort and being able to fit a larger set of tires.
If lower weight or getting a higher end group set at lower price is more important, I’d look at the Endurace or Synapse or Defy.
If you want a bit of “suspension” to take the edge off things and add comfort, I’d look at the Domane or Roubaix.
FWIW - The new Roubaix is supposed to as aero as the Tarmac.
If you want to slap fatter tires on the bike, I think the Domane had the biggest clearance. Plus it has that cool little internal storage feature.
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I believe the US import tax comment was directed towards the Rose Backroad, which comes out of Europe. Not sure they have a US distribution at this time.
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I get that part in theory but it seems like everyone’s n=1 bike is a custom or boutique frame with a couple sets of great wheels and some kind of high zoot groupset that requires some esoteric parts. I am all for people buying whatever bike they want but that doesn’t seem like it is more simple or less expensive than owning a couple of pretty standard bikes, one of which you probably already have.
Having multiple bikes can also add some flexibility by letting you keep riding if you other bike is in the shop or loan one to a friend who wants to ride with you.
There are tradeoffs either way and having an amazing do-everything bike sounds awesome. I just think that the “last bike I’ll ever need to buy” mentality isn’t super realistic for a lot of people and focusing on a bike that will do everything can push you toward some fringe solutions that are relatively expensive/complex for problems that can be solved by having second bike.
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You make a good point about how versatile bikes like the Aspero can be. The Specialized Crux is another race oriented off-road bike that is plenty aggressive for riding on the rode with a tire swap. I guess the idea of a bike like the Aspero doing everything depends on what everything includes for you 
Racing on multiple surfaces, sure. But touring, CX racing, technical single track, the 20% grades and washboard surfaces on some of the forest service roads around here, or hauling home a case of beer, might be more fun on a bike with bigger tires, slacker geometry, longer chainstays, lower gears, more braze-ons, or a less aggressive position.
I really think that a gravel bike are excellent and should be the default option for most people who want to get a bike but don’t know exactly what they want. Just not sure that I would choose to replace a dedicated road race bike with a gravel bike or fully enjoy all the things I do on a gravel bike with a race oriented set up. This is my particular situation and that my be different depending on what you want.
There are a lot of 105/Ultegra/Rival equipped bikes out there to be found for a lot less than list price and it gets harder to find a bargain on the more niche set ups. Seems more doable to me to come up with a high value solution with a 2 different bikes but that has got to vary a lot by person and what you needs/wants are.
Take that with a grain of salt because I have a pile of bikes and love em all but I do think it is a bit of a fallacy to assume that a one bike solution is simpler or cheaper. Different hubs or cassette sizes between set ups can make wheel swaps more complicated. Touring or trail riding may shorten the service life of lightly built race bike components and a more robust dirt road rig could be less fun to accelerate out of that uphill corner in a crit for the 100th time.
Buy whatever bike you want and as many or few as you desire. O.P.E.N., Cevelo, 3T, Bearclaw, etc all make rad bikes and I want one too. I just don’t agree that a one bike is inherently simpler or less expensive.
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@wfenwick is right. i was thinking of the Rose Backroad with my comment about import taxes.
had to double check to make sure i didn’t comment on the wrong comment about import taxes 
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I’ve been eyeing the Rondo ruut in titanium or carbon. It has a fairly aggressive geometry (almost identical to he aspero), but you can change it to a more relaxed ride with a flip chip, it has massive tire clearance (the 2020 models can fit 700x50 or 650x2.2), and looks nice with some solid spec. The only downside is that it wouldn’t be as aero as the aspero or exploro.
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Just looked it up. Sorry to hear that the import tax in the US was raised to 25% for bicycles. I guess that’s great again .
BUT to show you the silver lining: The prices on the Rose website are incl. German sales tax. The VAT in Germany is currently 19%. If you order from outside of the EU they deduct these 19%. Upon checkout.
Of course you have to pay import tax of your country at your local customs. Like I said 25% in the US is steep. I’ve been fortunate residing currently in a country where it’s 7%.
Since I’m a German native living abroad: If anyone needs any info / help with a Rose order, chat me up.
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Not sure. Ibis had stock, purchased through a dealer. I’m really enjoying this bike. I have nothing modern to compare it to other than the older Hakkalugis I had in the past. This is a better bike and components for gravel riding have improved so much since the older days of really terrible mechanical disc brakes and FD adapters etc. I’m still of the opinion that gravel geo could get pushed a bit further and become slightly less road and a bit more full on off-road capable. For the riding I do mainly, this bike is close to perfect.
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I use a Crux as my only curly bar bike now. Got rid of everything else for the exact reason you mentioned. It checks 90-95% of the boxes. To me, its the best option for a quiver killer. I use Industry 9 65’s on the road, i9 AR25s on gravel with 38s.