Racing / Gravel bike can you have both?

Jonesy101

Hi, looking for recommendations of a road racing bike that can accommodate gravel type tyres/wheels, say 35mm+ or a gravel bike that can put on 28mm and have proper gearing.

Id like a new bike but one that I can swap the wheels in and out for the odd triathlon say but then also be able to take it on a gravel path or for a commute. The only way I know to find these types of bikes is to trawl through each individual bike and check the tyre clearance and gear ratios etc which I dont really understand that well.

Any experience having this kind of bike or ideas on which ones are good? Only must haves are a good looking bike and about €2-3k

thanks

nilhg

Wilier Rave is probably the type of bike you are looking for but unfortunately it'as well out of budget

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mi9p6oig0k

Other than that something like the Trek Domane or Giant Defy might work for you but would be limited in tyre clearence for anything but easy gravel. A decent S/H CX bike might be an option, a Giant TCX if you could lay your hands on one

CantGetNoSleep

Cannondale Supersix Evo gravel maybe worth a look too. Or there are more aero focused gravel bikes like Ridley Kanzo Fast / Cervélo have one too.

CramCycle

One of the lads in my club is racing on his Cube CX bike without issue, just put road tyres and changed the gearing.

ARX

https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/road-bikes/endurance-bikes/endurace/cf/endurace-cf-7-all-road/3086.html

8valve

I'd suggest the Giant TCX, full carbon. From memory they're about 2700 or thereabouts.

Just swap your knobblies for road slicks and away you go.

jamesd

I think the canyon Grail could be the best option - https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/gravel-bikes/all-road/grail/cf-sl/grail-cf-sl-8/3096.html

jamesd

How would a 48/31T with a 11-34T cassette work as a winter road bike ? Currently on a 50/34T with an 11-32T cassette.

CantGetNoSleep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119101950#Comment_119101950

Will be perfectly fine for 95% of people - unless you find yourself using the smallest sprocket on your existing cassette a lot of the time

jamesd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119102317#Comment_119102317

Rarely use the smallest, usually the 2nd smallest on a the bigger climbs like corkscrew hill or cliffs of mother to just spin up them but not used too often.

Squidgy Black

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119102381#Comment_119102381

it’s more would you use the smallest cog aka the highest/hardest gearing when going downhill or descending, as you’ll lose gearing on that end of things but arguably more gearing for climbing

jamesd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119102499#Comment_119102499

I mis-read , Yes I would use the hardest gearing at times but not too often - I find with my current 50/34T I can do most sunday club spins with high cadence in the 34T up front and only change to the 50T for downhills.

CantGetNoSleep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119102779#Comment_119102779

If you are in 48-11 and spinning at 90rpm then you'd spin out at 49.4kmh according to a calculator I looked at. In 50-11 you'd get to 51.5kmh at the same cadence. I would say go for it

jamesd

Thanks very much guys, with a 2nd wheel set it looks like the Grail maybe the way to go.

nilhg

Maybe another option?

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/products/rondo-launches-ratt-all-road-bike-with-variable-geometry-for-swapping-wheels?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

I think I'd like to see one in the flesh before pulling the trigger, the looks are anything but conventional....

68 lost souls

Have you looked at the Scott Addict Gravel? I was doing a gravel adventure with a guy this month that was riding on one and it was a lovely bike.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119110461#Comment_119110461

That's a kind way of saying ugly.

I've a an argon 18 Krypton x road, that's supposed to be for road and a bit of light gravel. It's definitely more a road machine, but is sort of lost in what it's supposed to be. It was a short lived model plus has qrs instead of thru axles

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119110889#Comment_119110889

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it looks much better in the video here

https://rondo.cc/ratt-cf-1%2C627%2Cpl

Weepsie

Still ugly. And for 4.5 k it has no excuse for being that ugly

DJB030244

I’ve a v nice light giant revolt advanced carbon gravel bike with a carbon wheelset and a double chainring . Works really well on road and gravel with the double gearing . On the road it’s not much slower than my road bike and that’s with 35 gravel king tyres . . Actually its available to buy if anybody is interested medium size…Haven't Advertised it

Jimbo789

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119113011#Comment_119113011

Does it have mechanical GRX? What weight is it?

DJB030244

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119120061#Comment_119120061

Yes grx 810 , about 8.6kg without pedals . Pm if interested

harringtonp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119113011#Comment_119113011

Came across this thread when searching.

I suspect most higher end gravel bikes can be made a lot faster with the right wheel set. The above configuration with pedals is for a large sized Giant Revolt and weighs 8.1 kg. My rim brake race bike which I've used racing since 2013 weighs 7.6kg and that is with speed play pedals which would be slightly lighter than those on the revolt. And 0.5 KG is nothing when you're carrying extra kilos around the mid rift !

The above is 1x with a top gearing of 40x10. This is the equivalent of 52x13 and while this may be a little short in road races, it's fine for club runs. There is however a possibility to replace the 40 chainring with a 46 which would sort this out.

It wouldn't be particularly aero but if you're mainly following wheels this is a non issue. It's a bit twitchy in wind and I can't yet decide how much of this is down to the 50mm wheels and how much due to the wide gap between the forks and rims. On the gravel end the bike came with 45mm knobbly tyres and can fit wider.

fat bloke

It sounds from your original post that it's mainly road and only light gravel, in which case 30 to 32 mm tyres will be more than enough and therefore any disc braked road bike will work. Sure didn't a canyon cf slx win the gravel world champs? If you genuinely need 35+ then maybe you're better off getting a gravel bike and putting road wheels/tyres on it.

I spent several winters road training on a cantilever braked carbon Focus CX bike that I chucked road wheels and tyres to. I did the tour de Connemara on it in fact and it didn't slow me down one iota. You'd do well to narrow down your actual range of usage and then buy the most appropriate bike for that. If you're only really commuting or only going to be on very light gravel and only very occasionally, then it makes less and less sense to buy a bike that is designed specifically for that. ANY kind of a bike will manage a commute, and most bikes will put up with a bit of gravel too. In my experience CX bikes make savage road bikes.