Gravel bikes for commuting?

I think a gravel bike would be ideal and would be my choice but you could also consider the more endurance end of road bikes e.g. Domane, Defy, Endurace, Roubaix. I think you've worked it out pretty well though and a gravel bike should tick all your boxes.

Something to consider with panniers is that your heel can hit the pannier ("heel strike"). It's no big deal as there's all kinds of adjustment possible, just something to bear in mind, particularly if you have big feet.

And you simply must have a pair of gravel shoes: https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/best-gravel-bike-shoes/

Of course, anything but gravel socks with gravel shoes would be a literal faux pas: https://luxa.cc/en/socks/214-only-gravel.html

How on earth did we ever manage without this stuff?

There's tons of them if you know where to look.

https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/7010/blast-from-the-past-the-rough-stuff-fellowship

Quite well actually!

VonLuck, I was in a similar situation to you. I had a reasonably good hybrid that I used for commuting. I wanted something for longer trips, and to try a bit of off road, and decided a gravel bike would be a good “go anywhere bike.”

I had no intention of using it for commuting, but my hybrid kept getting punctures a few months back (due to roadworks on my commute, I think), and I ended up having to take the gravel bike. Now I don’t want to switch back. It’s a much more comfortable bike to ride. I’ll keep the hybrid for locking up around town, but I can’t see myself going back to it for the commute.

Caveat: my hybrid is reasonably decent; my gravel bike is high spec. Not all gravel bikes are created equal. Some are more like road bikes, others are more like old school mountain bikes. Most will give you a degree of versatility though. I don’t have a pannier rack on mine, but I could, and I do have 4 bottle cages, a lock that clips onto the frame, and full mudguards. Some road bikes will allow for some of this, and some gravel bikes less so: “gravel” is a to some extent a marketing term, so research a few individual bikes and see which one best meets your requirements.

Well, we can file my attempt at humour in the same box as the L-shaped cranks 😉

I decided to buy a cx bike as a combination commuter and occasional cx race bike. The mudguard and pannier mounts were appealing, and the tyre clearance also. it came with fairly low end 35mm cx tyres which are useless on road so I fitted schwalbe pro one 28s I plan on replacing the with larger road tyres next time but it has worked out well. Its a comfortable bike, but is it any more comfortable than a modern endurance bike? I don't really think so.

I'd be interested to know what tyres you intend to run, presumably not gravel tyres as they will slow you down a lot.

Of course there isn’t, but drop bars and fatter tyres might make things more comfortable and open up more rugged terrain.

I used my cx last year to commute the N81, Blessington to citywest.

All things being equal it was 4 kmph slower than the road bike but was x 3 the comfort while wearing the back pack.

I got a genesis CDA 20 two years ago for the commute. I dont use clip-on shoes if cycling in the city - Great bike for getting around Dublin. I would bring it up some gravel paths such as Hellfire as well.

I find my gravel bike much better cycling in an urban environment that my road bike - Just easier to use. I have mud guards, a pannier and have no issues. Also swapped the WTB RIDDLER tires with Marathon Smartguard 35 tires for the commute (and change the to riddler tires if doing a gravel cycle)

I also have an old hybrid bike if locking it in a dodgy area.

Would defo recommend a Gravel bike if commuting! Great for track-standing at lights!

Now that road bikes have disc brakes you'd easily fit a 32-35c tyre for more comfort and you'll have no issue going for longer spins. I don't think a gravel bike is necessarily any better here especially if you look at endurance road frames.

It was more a comment on the TCX. I've been happy with my giants (not withstanding my irritation on the tyre clearance of my 2016 Defy Disc), but it would've been a wait (with no time frame given) for the Revolt. TCX and Topstone were in stock at the time, and the quick release of the TCX put me off. Both were previous models - I don't know if they're even doing a alu TCX anymore, but the "pro" is thru axle now, but they're not pushing the "do all" nature of it either.