N-1; Cx on the road

Yeah, some counter-intuitive stuff, considering they are all from the same brand. Sizing can be odd, so I don’t know how one model compares to the other in all these cases, but the ranges I grabbed seem close.

The whole thing gets even more strange when you start looking across brands. I have been shopping gravel bikes and comparing to my Trek Boone. The WB is one in the running (once they fix the new fork recall) and others.

There are some very wide ranges on some dims and angles between them. I think some is the relatively young history of “gravel” bike since these mostly started from CX and touring bikes. I expect some variations and testing that will eventually end up with some “standard” numbers that will settle in for the most part.

Here is my personal chart looking at 56 size models from a bunch. Some large differences in here:

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+1 to this. Less marketing and more real world evidence

ETA: I do like the lauf grit although the fork can be a handful on rough terrain, and at least with that BB drop you don’t have to worry about pedal strikes!

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Where I live is a lot of gravel roads, so I do most of my riding on my CX bike. Most of my rides are not 100% on gravel and even when I’m at 35 psi on my 33’s the bike still feels pretty smooth on the roads. I have a pair of 28’s on order for doing a few road triathlons this year. I’m actually going to be doing a HIM with it. It is round tubed and alu, so not really that light. Have it geared with a compact 34/50 and 12-28 so it can still get up to respectable speeds.

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I’ve been arguing this among friends. My girlfriend is going to race CX next year so we are CX bike shopping and see no reason for her to keep the road bike. This is a Shimano house, as we are classy and dignified people, so it will get 46/36 gearing, could sell her Evo for a set or two worth of wheels.

Personally, I have a CAAD12 and Stigmata both with Di2 and although the CAAD12 is a fantastic bike I would not replace it it vaporized because the only racing I do is CX. Really think I even prefer riding the Stigmata on the road.

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I do exactly this with my Santa Cruz Stigmata. Most important thing is tire clearance which I think is limited on the Crux. I’d make sure it can handle at least 40cm tires. I run the 40cm tires on gravel, 35cm cross tires in cross races and then 30cm road tires out on the road. I don’t do road races on it, but I do take it out for occasional group rides that turn into races and it preforms just fine. I honestly find myself questioning if I really need a dedicated road bike anymore.

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Currently going through the same dilemma myself. Just have one road bike currently but want one for the winter with the potential to go off - road and maybe the odd cyclocross race later in 2019.

I have been looking at a variety of adventure/cyclocross/gravel bikes.

My question is about groupsets. Most I have looked at come with Sram 1x.

Do you think this will be still suitable for my road riding (mainly commuting/winter group ride averaging 18mph)?? Have read conflicting reports.

(Happy to have two wheelsets)

I think the answer is ‘it depends’

The great thing about SRAM is the 10 speed cog on the cassette, it gives you a decent top end speed with a wide range of gear ratios and a decent climbing gear (assuming you fit 10x42) . But the easiest and most sensible thing is to change front chainrings based on your discipline. They can be picked up cheaply from somewhere like superstar components and take about five minutes to swap over

Here’s a quick calc that will enable you to see the difference in gear inches between 40x10 and 46x11 with a 700 x 28c tyre

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Even better:

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My XC bike has a 1x12 (34-10/50) and my gravel has a 2x8 (34/50-11/34). Honestly I could never see myself riding gravel/road with a 1x. I know people do it but for me having the 50/11 option on my gravel bike for sections of pavement comes in handy a lot. If I was spinning a 42/10 on my gravel bike I know several sections on my local rides where I would be going slower. Imho 1x is great for mountain biking but not so much for road/gravel.

Que all the 1x road/gravel defenders in 3,2,1… :wink::laughing:

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Not a matter of defending. This is no different than any other cycling choice.

  1. Some stuff works for some people.
  2. No one choice works for everyone.

2x or 1x comes down to the rider, terrain, and intended uses. Both can work well, but one might be better for certain combos.

The key is to understand the full implications of each option and pick the best for your individual needs.

Good point McChad :slightly_smiling_face: My $0.02 is just my opinion. I could very well be wrong (or maybe right…:thinking:).

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Off topic, but kinda related:

  • #23: Pick a wheel size, and be a d##k about it…
    might as well be: Pick a gearing…

(some minor NSFW wording, depending on your tolerance level)

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Excellent, your post was my tipping point. Was considering a cx bike but want to use it a lot, maybe even more so on the road for base miles and wet miles, just didn’t want it to be super slow. Like my bikes racey feeling and quick but practically a cx bike makes a lot of sense in my permanently crap weather and godawful roads.

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:rofl::rofl::rofl: I hadn’t seen that one before. It could totally be about gearing.

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I run a cannondale SuperX for gravel, road, and CX. I run a 1x11 setup with 44x 11-32 for road, 44x11-40 for gravel, and 40x 11-32 for cx. I have two wheel sets, stock holograms for road and cx (once road season is over I switch to cx tires) and run velocity ailerons wrapped with 38 and 43 wide panaracer gravel kings for gravel.

I absolutely love my bike. The 2017 on up frame is so snappy and handles so well, even compared to my 2015 frame. I love that with some small quick changes, I can make it into a machine that tackles anything on a road. Having a Di2 setup with the clutched xt rear derailleur helps for fitting the larger gearing for those sharp gravel climbs.

I’d love a warbird for gravel but I seriously can’t justify adding it to the stable since my SuperX can do it all.

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Did they improve the rear tyre clearance between the 2015 an 2017 frames? I can’t get much more than a 33mm tub in my 2015. Presumably 38mm is the largest tyre it can take, otherwise you’d have matched front and rear widths.

Shame if that’s the case since they are great frames - being able to take something a little beefier at the rear may have made me buy a new one…

Mike

Not sure as back then I wasn’t riding gravel seriously and if I did any gravel I just ran cx tires. I thought my 15 frame was amazing until I rode my 18 (same as the 17 and 19 though).

Try to hit up a demo, I mean you’re 15 is a great bike but the 17 and up feels a lot more responsive. Ride them back to back and see if it’s worth a new one.

ETA: yeah I might be able to push it a bit and get a 40 in there but the 38 feels good so I don’t push it.

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Cheers

I’m running the Aileron rims (and Blunts on my XC bike) too. Velocity makes some good rims.

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My gravel bike is a Stigmata- I’ve got 2 wheelsets for it. I’ve gone on fast group road rides with it and it gives up nothing. In a perfect world it’d be great if it have a bit more tire clearance- they claim 41mm clearance but thats too tight to run 40’s in muddy conditions.

If you have a healthy budget I’d look at the Allied Alfa Allroad.

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