The age old “help me decide” question. Looking for a new gravel bike. The 3 candidates are the new Crux Expert (with Rival AXS), Aspero (with Rival AXS) or OPEN UP (with Rival AXS or Campy Ekar). I do have Rival AXS on my road bike and love it. So I know I’d like it on the gravel too, but curious …

The geometry on those 3 bikes is pretty different. I would go with the frame that fits your needs best. I’ve not ridden Ekar, so sorry, no opinion there.

Thanks! I had compared them on geometry geeks… the up has a taller stack, but they all have a quite similar reach. The Aspero and Crux look more similar than not to my, admittedly, non-expert opinion. Can you share anything else about why you feel they’re so different? I appreciate your input!

We love those posts, spending other people’s money! I think the decision matrix to me would be something like this: (1) Decide on a bike first, not a group set. If you are willing to spend the money, you can get any groupset on any of the bikes. (2) Prioritize what feels best. Personally, I was …

Thank you! That’s excellent feedback. I haven’t used Campy, in any form, ever. But know I love AXS. As for the 3T, I like the idea of it, but my eye doesn’t like it at all unfortunately.

[image] Jonmc7583: Thank you! That’s excellent feedback. I haven’t used Campy, in any form, ever. But know I love AXS. The fit and finish of Campy groupsets is great from what I hear, and the groupset works the treat. But the UI of SRAM’s eTap groupsets is second-to-none. I definitely would a…

Oh, and this thread might also be of interest to you.

[image] Jonmc7583: the up has a taller stack, but they all have a quite similar reach. The Aspero and Crux look more similar than not to my, admittedly, non-expert opinion Both the Crux and the Open have a 70mm BB drop, IIRC. The Aspero has a 76mm BB drop. I looked at the Open earlier this ye…

Hearing you’ve never ridden Campy, I have to agree that you should absolutely try it first. It has thumb shifters, so it’s quite different. So, you’re looking at different geometry and different shifting systems. I know in todays world it’s really hard to find bikes to try, but if you look at the ge…

I’m a huge Ekar fan, it seems to be a good group set from all the feedback I’ve heard or read. Personally I wouldn’t consider anything with a press fit bottom bracket. I know and ride with people who’ve got Open’s and most of them creak. It’s just not acceptable for that price point. I’d pick the C…

Which groupset?

Equipment

Pbase December 18, 2021, 1:20am 4

The guys at CyclingTips made a video and wrote an article making geometry at a high level pretty easy to understand. I’ve read several articles on this topic and these are the best. Simple and brief. These should help.

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Which groupset?

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