Having a cassette on both sets of wheels is pure luxury. When I was a young dirtbag bike racer, I’d say, “I’ll know I’ve made it when all my bikes have wheels on them.” Then it became pedals. Now it’s that all wheels have a cassette and rotor on them. 😂
I’m currently running a Cervelo Aspero 2x GRX with 2 sets of wheels. It’s been a great road bike as well as gravel bike. Feels very stable and quick on the road, and does well on the gravel too. Definitely recommend the Aspero for dual purpose riding.
Ditched my high end road bike for my gravel with two wheel sets even though the vast majority of my riding is on the road. Running 32’s is just so comfortable and stable. Only person I’m racing is myself.
I have gone the one by gravel bike route with two sets of wheels, both equipped with cassette and brake rotors. It makes for an easy swap. Both sets of wheels are identical (Roval Terra CL’s). I have a Sage Titanium Barlow with a 72.5 head tube angle. It handles very nice on everything. The gravel tires are Pirelli Cinturado gravel H. They roll very well on the road and is my everyday ride setup. The road wheels are mostly for road events. I’ll use them at El Tour de Tucson. At 70 years old, I don’t do fast group rides and I’m fine with the one by set up. It makes for a clean and simple setup.
I did this with a Diverge, different wheels but both had rotors and a cassette mounted. The constant swapping of wheels was incredibly annoying and pushed me to just buy a road bike. I basically never ride the diverge unless I go on a group gravel ride. having a fast super light rim brake road bike is awesome but I do miss the cushy ride of my gravel bike, and disk brakes. I love the rim brakes except when it comes to needing to stop quickly, or in the wet
This was such a good video, I have a 2020 checkpoint. The bike is perfect for what you’re saying I think that’s why I will not get rid of it. Great content, looking forward to more.
If going down the wheel-swapping arrangement, look for wheels with hubs made by the same manufacturer to increase the odds that everything lines-up w/o adapters. In my case, my OEM Bontrager wheels have hubs manufactured by DT Swiss, so I opted to get a second wheelset with DT Swiss hubs and the rotors and cassette align perfectly.
I’ve got two wheelsets for my XC bike, and I have this issue. I have to adjust the indexing by a few clicks when I swap them. It can be annoying to say the least.
I've owned a Cervelo Aspero and I now own an Ari Shafer. The Ari is hands down the better bike both on and off road. The slack head tube angle is not detrimental at all. I'm using 50mm Schwalbe Overland 365 tires and I have no problems on B+ and A- club rides. I just finished a century and I hung with the road bikes with no issues. I also have a ton of cornering confidence with larger tires. I think the pros out weigh the cons. I'm a firm believer that stability equals speed. I may be wrong, but I expect to see road bikes following gravel bike geometry trends in the near future.
Indeed road bikes are heading that direction the past 5years proved wrong the naysayers on disc brakes and wide tires - upnext, slacker geometry, front/rear suspension will also be standard- soon -
Ben, I hope you are getting better by the day. If you need someone to ride your bikes until you heal, send them here to Michigan, lol. Great video. I'm using the Aspero for dual purpose
I use my Giant Revolt 2022 as a dual purpose bike. I like it's endurance geometry. Despite I ride shorter 60mm stem, long flip chip setup and 1x drivetrain it feels very nice on the road. Of course, a proper road bike is much faster and aero but I just can't have 4 bikes🤷 The most important thing with my Revolt is that I feel very comfortable and have no issues with pain after rides. And i find it more significant then max average speed. Choosing a bike is always a compromise 🙂
I have a Devinci Hatchet that I squeeze some 2.1 Mezcals into for gravel/adventure rides and then throw on a carbon wheelset with 34 Pro Ones for road rides. 11 speed 10-42 Cassettes and a 40 or 44 tooth chaing, easy to swap with Eastons Cinch system. I love how it rides both on and off road, plenty fast enough for me, looks the business and gets the job done.
Good video, Ben. I have limited experience with other bikes, but would second the Spesh Roubaix. SL8 with 40mm clearance is great, but I actually use my SL5 (2018, first gen with future shock) on both road and gravel. 700cx28 wheelset for the road, and for gravel I run 650b wheels with a 43mm GKSK front and 38mm GKSS back. The frame only clears 700x32 radially, but with smaller diameter wheels there is enough lateral clearance for the sizes above. And because the rolling diameter of the front is equivalent to 700x23 (before squish), it handles super sharp. Very easy to point down twisty single track. I don’t ride chunky gravel, so this is as much tire width as I need. YMMV. Oh, and the future shock is a big bonus off-road too.
I guess there aren’t many dedicated CX bikes w/33mm knobbies anymore, but I have a 2018 Focus Mares. It has a 70 degree head tube, but can def make tight turns, and has space for 40mm tires. I changed the drivetrain to be standard road compact: 50/34 up front, 11-34 in back. Works well for both fire roads and tarmac, depending on which wheelset I use.
I also have the 105 Carbon Focus, 2018. Lovely, very well built (true German quality) and robust. For quite some time I was also doing all of my road events, with a set of good carbon wheels, a 130mm stem and pushing the saddle a little further back.
My Domane ALR road bike was my original “gravel” bike. I have since acquired a Lynskey GR300 and set up the Domane in road mode. Both are 1x, there is some overlap and I could certainly live with the Lynskey alone.
My Ti gravel bike is also my road bike. 71.5deg HTA 73deg STA 70mm BB drop 45mm tyre clearance, but can run 50mm in the dry. Often use 38mm Spez Pathfinder as it doubles up as fast (enough) road tyre and can do some gravel too, but is limiting in steep terrain.
Good points, well done. My two cents: Pay attention to chainstay length. Longer stays= longer wheelbase=slower handling/more stability. I have two gravel bikes, both have 71.5 headtube angles but one is much more reactive with 43.5 stays vs 44.5 on the other. Gearing? Both have 1X, 40 teeth up front with either 9/42 or 11/42 in back. Low enough to climb and high enough that I'm tucked-in and coasting before I spin out a 40 X 11, let alone 9! Tires/wheels? Think long and hard before you spring for another set of wheels. Do you REALLY need big knobs, which work only in mud or dirt soft enough for the knobs to dig in? I ride only on paved or gravel ROADS rather than single track or this hairball MTB stuff you see in the videos, so 38 mm slicks are just fine for me, but you might find a less gnarly tread pattern lets you enjoy riding anywhere without the expense and time to swap wheels. Rene Herse has some excellent tires choices IMHO.
Black Heart Allroad Ti here. 'stable' road bike/'twitchy gravel bike. set up as a dedicated road bike with fast wheel/tire (30mm) package the thing just simply rips and is super fun to ride, even if it is 18.5 pounds (w/ cages, computer, pedals).
I did the gravel bike with two wheel sets, one for road with GP5000s on them and one with Pathfinder Pros on them. I'd do 1-3 gravel rides a week and 1-3 road rides a week. The constantly swapping of wheels gets annoying. It's that 5-10 minutes extra before your ride of swapping wheels that just gets frustrating. Ended up buying an old SuperSix Evo with SRAM RED off marketplace for $1200 and now I don't have that issue. A Specialized Diverge certainly is not a fast gravel bike, but on the road it's slow! Especially a heavy aluminum one like I have with 46 chainring in flat florida, I'm begging for more gear normally. My SuperSix Evo at 14lbs is a rocket in comparison Including having a 52 chainring. Now I only pickup my diverge if I'm doing a gravel group ride and within seconds I wish it was that light, fast road bike. But I think since I'm not racing, and my gravel is virgin gravel, a cyclocross bike would be the best of both worlds. GP5000s are fine on the hard pack I ride on my diverge.
Doing the 2 wheelsets thing with everything mounted on both wheelsets for my KONA SUPER JAKE. 1 set 45mm deep 32 wide with 40c road tires (Strada Bianca Pro) & 1 set 35mm deep 32 wide with 40c gravel tires (Tufo Thundero) with a wider ranger cassette on the Gravel wheelset. Works great. Swapping wheels in +5 minutes
Thinking about selling my Tarmac SL6 for a bit more comfort. The new Defy is on my list. Funny thing is, stack and reach don't differ that much from my SL6 (both size 58/L). Reviews say the new Defy is like a TCR, but with a bit more comfort. No need for tall stack en short reach numbers, so this bike seems to be a sweet spot. Can take up to 38mm tyres as well, with a 2x setup.
Litespeed Toscano 71.5 HT, 2x GRX Ultegra mix, Ti seat post, Enve carbon handlebar. Running 40mm Gravelking X1, very low rolling resistance. Took advantage of 25% sale. The Arenberg road is less expensive option in $3k range
Nobody ever mentions Norco in the gravel sphere. Is there a reason for that? The Search XR A1 has the recommended (by Ben) 2x GRX, 72 head angle (in 58cm size), 70mm BB drop, and decent tire clearance. Seems to hit all the buttons. But I can never find anyone recommending it. Norco MTBs rock. Not so much on gravel???? Views/opinions welcome.
Nobody ever talks about Superior. Their bikes are purpose built to be dual-purpose. They can fit a road 2x groupset (many gravel bikes can only accommodate the smaller chainrings of a gravel groupset), and they have bigger tire clearance and the geometry to do both
Thanks for a great channel Ben! My ”only bike” is an Open U.P. A frame that’s been around for a long time (update in the works I heard) and does most surfaces great. Max 700c is 40mm so maybe should be considered an allroad bike today. BB drop is more in line with road bikes so I have two wheelsets for it: 700c with 35mm Rene Herse Bon Jon Pass. Great for road, commuting and not too rough gravel. And really light 650b set with Specialized PF 47mm. Both with rotors and cassettes. Love both setups. My one bike quiver😁.
I’m enjoying my Gen 3 Domane. 71.9 HTA, set up with 2X gearing and has clearance for 35’s. In dry gravel I could fit 38’s, but I’m actually really enjoying a set of Maxxis All-Terrane tires at the moment. Since my road tires are 32 and my offroad tires are 33, the feel of the bike doesn’t really change. If I want to get to anything chunky, I use my XC bike.
I think, performance wise, the head tube angle doesn't affect top speed on the road with the only exception which is a more sluggish steering and the added weight of more material on the fork. Sluggish steering makes a bike more stable, though.
I went from a Cervelo Caledonia to an Aspero5 and couldn't be happier. What surprised me the most is how my climbing has improved. The Aspero puts me in a position where I just feel more powerful. It's not exactly a fair comparison, they are designed for different purposes. And as Ben pointed out in an outstanding video on aerodynamics, the Aspero has an aero bar versus the round bar on the Caledonia, and an aero bar has a higher percentage of aero gain than even aero wheels do.
+1 for Cervelo Aspero as the perfect dual purpose gravel / road bike. It’s awesome on the road and the GRX 2x is the perfect gearing (better than most road bike gearing) for those of us in the real world majority who need some easier gears for the hills!
Hope to see you riding soon! Do you think that titanium gravel bikes (litespeed Toscano FI, for example) are a bad choice to race? Why?@@TheRidewithBenDelaney
That is what I do! In my mind, hard to justify buying an additional road specific second bike. For the road I run my Crux Pro with "Just Riding Along Mahi Mahi's" and Schwalbe Pro tubeless 30mm tires....Fast and buttery. For gravel I use the stock Roval Terra's with 38mm Pathfinder tires...seems perfect for me.
That’s what I have. Two sets of wheels. It’s a 1x, which isn’t perfect. I’d prefer 2x but I primarily ride gravel so it’s ok. Ultimately though I think you compromise on one discipline or the other and if at all possible having n+1 is mo better.
Diverge with 2 wheelsets works for me... 1x setup with 44 chainring and GX cassette... Gravel wheelset is Terra with Tufo 44mm gravenduro tyres Road wheelset is C38 with Spez Mondo tyres
I have the latest Specialized Crux. Frame, fork, and headset weighs exactly 3lbs. I wouldn’t consider another bike for dual purpose. Just about perfect.
in the part of Europe where I live, the roads are okay but the trails are rough and here there is nothing like a decently light XC cross country MTB or even a tough trekking bike. My Canyon Pathlite 6 (2022 model, 40mm tyres, internal cabling. 1X 36T 10-51T 12 gears) is the best bike I have to ride here by far, despite also having a Giant 3X MTB and a 2X Decathlon road bike, I beat all my Strava records with the Pathlite 6, on the road..., which surprises me A LOT but I suspect it is due to a most "stable" gearing being 1X, also that the 40mm tyres don't make me feel the road as much and I don't get as tired, etc.... Love how the FRAY Endurance All Road bike you showed in the video allows for a 40mm tyre in the 1X model. After trying 1X and having 2X and 3X bikes I can safely say that I am the biggest fan of 1X nowadays
I used to have those tires on my gravel bike and they let me roll with the road crew without holding me back. Can’t say the same about the Gravel King SK’s
I was thinking about a gravel with 2 sets of wheels, but the 1 thing that put me off was after using my gravel bike for a week or so it got filthy so you'd be forever cleaning it if you switched wheels etc.
Been using Cx bikes as road bikes over 10 years. My current cx bike is 2017 raliegh rx 2.0 is at 72degree head tube and takes up to 40mm. After sandy punice to hardpack race last weekend at mammoth tuff with too many toe hits with the front wheel with 40mm gravel tire on, as I am on the upper fit adjustment limit of a 58 size frame of (border line size 58/60 frame). That frame is too small for gravel but fine for road/light fast hardpack paths/CX. Most gravel would be another frame that I am now looking for post race.
same here...rode a (72.3 HT / 73.8 ST) 2013 Ti CX framed bike with max 40mm (measured) tire clearance at Mammoth a couple weekends ago. I was well under-biked for that event's beach volleyball pumice sectors (which had zero fun factor) BUT in my opinion the bike and its setup are lovely on the road, most NorCal mixed terrain I ride and most of the Tuff 70.
I realized recently that I'm using my 2022 Revolt mainly as a road bike, so I"m glad I have the Di2 2X drivetrain. I like it on the road but it's not very aero - or maybe that's more me.
I ride a 2020 Giant revolt advanced with a 1x mullet setup and 2 sets of wheels. With what modern gravel bikes have turned in to I feel like my revolt is more all road now. I love how it handles with 40s or 36c road tires.
I have a Specialized Roubaix with a road wheelset and a gravel wheelset with 40 mm Conti Terra Speeds. Anything rougher than this setup can handle I'll take my XC bike.
Scott Addict gravel.. serveral people including myself Got this and two wheelsets here In Denmark. But but i also have a trek roadbike and a giant tcx i use for gravel 💁🏻♂️ my son and i fit the same setup, so we can ride together 👌
I got a second set of carbon wheels but the rotor fits in the brake caliper differently. Rotor shims were needed to make the rotor fit as my previous set of wheels.
I have a focus atlas alloy bike. I don't like the head tube angle 70,5° and the long wheels base like 1051. For tuoring/bikepacking, off road is OK, but for most of the time on road is very a lazy bike. For me a ideal gravel/road bike should be like from 3T.
Diverge E5. Nothing proprietary on it as stock. Reliable GRX400. Set of nice road wheels with 32’s, 11-32 rear for road rides, 21#. Stock wheels with 38’s and 11-36 rear plus redshift suspension post for the trails, 23-24#
Following up on the swapping of tires… are you swapping tires just for events? For the handful of events I have done, I have just ‘run what you brung’. I also realize that I am doing events more for the completion and not necessarily competing.
I think but not sure. Shimano has the 2x12 GRX group that provides a good choice for those who are interested in having a gravel bike with more options for long distance pavement rides. Personally I have a Shimano 2x11 with a crazy 48/30 chainring up front on a sweet White Industry crankset.
Love your videos! So, I need a gravel bike. I live in Northern Cali. We have a ton of forest roads that connect highways around here. The rides would be 60%road and 40% gravel. I would need a bike capable of screaming highway descents, and forest road shenanigans. Convince me not to get a Crux....?
Easy - buy one of those and you put more $ in the pocket of a guy who sued someone for using a name (ROUBAIX) kindly LOANED to him by another bike company. Do you want to support a-holes like that? Surely there must be a comparable bike with another brand-name on it?
I am fortunate to have a few bikes, my favourite road bike is my old school S Works tarmac SL4. Super Light, snappy, “quick”. My gravel bike is a Cervelo Aspero. I have Ultegra C36’s with Pirelli P ZERO 30 mm,, for the Aspero as a “road bike”, it is super comfortable and would be an ideal multi purpose bike. But if you like light and fast and “quick”… that it is not. The 2x front with a big cassette make it work for everything. But I spin out pretty early and I climb at a much more relaxed pace than with my tarmac or my Allez Sprint. If you aren’t racing your road bike, if you ride for fitness and fun and adventure… the gravel bike as a multi purpose machine is awesome
I went with the two sets of wheels (complete with cassettes and rotors) for my Giant Revolt. It wasn't cheap, but it's been great. It truly feels like I have two bikes, and I can swap in no time.
Do you have any issues with disc rotors rubbing? I would think that you would need identical hubs, rotors and cassettes for everything to transition smoothly between wheelsets.
@@hansschotterradler3772 I haven't had any issues. Rotors and cassettes are identical. The hubs seem compatible though the wheelsets are from different brands. I try to use the wheelsets 50/50 to maintain even wear.
Gravel race bikes and modern endurance bikes are literally the same thing today with 40mm clearance on both. One example is LOOK gravel RS and LOOKs optimum+ (endurance bike)… same frame! The new checkpoint proofs the point… For me 40mm clearance is enough. I’d rather be on a MTB if the terrain requires 50+ tires. But each to their own and the market going to two models per make makes sense.
For slow amateurs like me it probably doesn't matter too much: I have a 2x10 speed gravel bike but I do >95% asphalt, the best bike for me would be a carbon endurance road bike BUT I can't really go bike backing with it. I now have an aluminium gravel bike with 37mm mm knobby tires. I'll prpbably switch out the tires for something like 32mm tires suited more for asphalt. I guess I'll be 1 km/h less slow or something then lol.
I went for two wheelsets. Swapping is quick. I have the OBED Boundary 2x which ticks all the boxes. 72 angle and first 40mm easily. Ultegra/GRX mix. Also can do bike packing.
Curious if you have experience with Argon 18 bikes? I ended up on an Argon 18 Krypton all-road bike based on my stack/reach measurements (and price point and tire clearance) and it has been a great dual purpose road/gravel bike. Clears up to 40mm tires, possibly 42mm if mud is not a concern but I have yet to try that. Having two built sets of wheels is a breeze to swap between use-cases as well.
Ah, cool. I have not ridden one in.... maybe ever? The Project Echelon guys have been on them for a bit, so I'm familiar. Glad it's a great fit for you.
I like the thought of the Mosaic GT iAR, but the $8,300 price tag is too much for me. What similar bike would you recommend in the $3,000-$4,000 range?
Giant Defy or Specialized Roubaix have models in that range. I’d recommend Googling around for all road bikes and seeing what you like - just look at tire clearance when you do.
Regarding head tube angle: My cannondale supersix evo road bike is 71.2 head angle and it’s the perfect balance when it comes to comfort and good road handling. My older Stigmata is 71.5 and it does feel a little slower on the steering, even with road tires. I wonder if the trail makes more of a difference here.
Trail for sure makes a difference. Fork rake and tire size play into trail, as you know, but I figure going down that rabbit hole makes some people’s eyes glaze over, so I (over)simplified it with just a head tube number. Is your stack and reach the same on both?
Common misconception about 1x drivetrain is that they have a lesser range than 2x which is not the case when you chose the correct 1x gearing. Yes, the jumps between gears are slightly bigger. I live a 1x life on all my bikes. Ebike, commuter, gravel, road and MTb.
I really like my OPEN UPPER. Mine is set up as a dedicated gravel bike, but a close friend of mine has hers set up for double duty with two complete wheel sets.
Same. Two wheel sets 700c with 38mm slicks + 650b with 55mm knobbies make this a one bike solution. And the best part is this bike is from 2016 but still super relevant.
This has me curious as to how much faster I could be on a road bike. I have a 1x Stigmata V4 that handles road duty with semi-slick 42c gravel tires. I average around 20mph on shorter rides in the 20 mile and 2000 feet range and 18ish over the bigger days at 50 miles and 5k climbing. I definitely feel the gearing on descents and spin out around 30ish mph.
@@TheRidewithBenDelaney Thanks for the reply.😎👍🏻 It is definitely an excellent channel Ben. I’ve been binge watching over the past couple of days. Really excellent videos mate and lots of no bs info. I think you have single handedly converted me over to gravel. I think I’m about to “clip” my toes into the seas of Gravel. Thanks. Subscribed.👍🏻 Blessings from England. 🙏🏻😎👍🏻
On my ADHX, i swap tires seasonally (until I get another set of wheels). The biggest thing I've come to realize is the steering response on the road comparing 38mm tires at 44 psi to 30mm tires at 60 psi. The steering with the 38's is slower to initiate, and then tips in more quickly after a slight delay. With the 30's, it feels just like a normal road bike. I don't know if this is due to a slight change in trail or the lower pressure and larger/wider tire patch.
Having a cassette on both sets of wheels is pure luxury. When I was a young dirtbag bike racer, I’d say, “I’ll know I’ve made it when all my bikes have wheels on them.” Then it became pedals. Now it’s that all wheels have a cassette and rotor on them. 😂
I’m currently running a Cervelo Aspero 2x GRX with 2 sets of wheels. It’s been a great road bike as well as gravel bike. Feels very stable and quick on the road, and does well on the gravel too. Definitely recommend the Aspero for dual purpose riding.
Ditched my high end road bike for my gravel with two wheel sets even though the vast majority of my riding is on the road. Running 32’s is just so comfortable and stable. Only person I’m racing is myself.
I have gone the one by gravel bike route with two sets of wheels, both equipped with cassette and brake rotors. It makes for an easy swap. Both sets of wheels are identical (Roval Terra CL’s). I have a Sage Titanium Barlow with a 72.5 head tube angle. It handles very nice on everything. The gravel tires are Pirelli Cinturado gravel H. They roll very well on the road and is my everyday ride setup. The road wheels are mostly for road events. I’ll use them at El Tour de Tucson. At 70 years old, I don’t do fast group rides and I’m fine with the one by set up. It makes for a clean and simple setup.
Pirelli H ++
I did this with a Diverge, different wheels but both had rotors and a cassette mounted. The constant swapping of wheels was incredibly annoying and pushed me to just buy a road bike. I basically never ride the diverge unless I go on a group gravel ride. having a fast super light rim brake road bike is awesome but I do miss the cushy ride of my gravel bike, and disk brakes. I love the rim brakes except when it comes to needing to stop quickly, or in the wet
This was such a good video, I have a 2020 checkpoint. The bike is perfect for what you’re saying I think that’s why I will not get rid of it. Great content, looking forward to more.
Thanks!
Thank you!
If going down the wheel-swapping arrangement, look for wheels with hubs made by the same manufacturer to increase the odds that everything lines-up w/o adapters. In my case, my OEM Bontrager wheels have hubs manufactured by DT Swiss, so I opted to get a second wheelset with DT Swiss hubs and the rotors and cassette align perfectly.
I’ve got two wheelsets for my XC bike, and I have this issue. I have to adjust the indexing by a few clicks when I swap them. It can be annoying to say the least.
I've owned a Cervelo Aspero and I now own an Ari Shafer. The Ari is hands down the better bike both on and off road. The slack head tube angle is not detrimental at all. I'm using 50mm Schwalbe Overland 365 tires and I have no problems on B+ and A- club rides. I just finished a century and I hung with the road bikes with no issues. I also have a ton of cornering confidence with larger tires. I think the pros out weigh the cons. I'm a firm believer that stability equals speed. I may be wrong, but I expect to see road bikes following gravel bike geometry trends in the near future.
If you used a proper road bike, you’d have finished that century about half an hour sooner. Give or take. 😂😂
Indeed road bikes are heading that direction the past 5years proved wrong the naysayers on disc brakes and wide tires - upnext, slacker geometry, front/rear suspension will also be standard- soon -
The shafers all come with a 1by
@@noels8817Road bikes are heading in that direction? You mean endurance bikes, not road bikes.
Ben, I hope you are getting better by the day. If you need someone to ride your bikes until you heal, send them here to Michigan, lol. Great video. I'm using the Aspero for dual purpose
My dual purpose beast is the Felt Breed Advanced. With moderate race geometry, 71,5 head tube angle and 50mm tyre clearance it really does it all :)
I use my Giant Revolt 2022 as a dual purpose bike. I like it's endurance geometry. Despite I ride shorter 60mm stem, long flip chip setup and 1x drivetrain it feels very nice on the road. Of course, a proper road bike is much faster and aero but I just can't have 4 bikes🤷 The most important thing with my Revolt is that I feel very comfortable and have no issues with pain after rides. And i find it more significant then max average speed. Choosing a bike is always a compromise 🙂
You might need to shim your rotors in order to be able to wheel swap without brake adjustments, but it's easy to do.
I have a Devinci Hatchet that I squeeze some 2.1 Mezcals into for gravel/adventure rides and then throw on a carbon wheelset with 34 Pro Ones for road rides. 11 speed 10-42 Cassettes and a 40 or 44 tooth chaing, easy to swap with Eastons Cinch system. I love how it rides both on and off road, plenty fast enough for me, looks the business and gets the job done.
Good video, Ben. I have limited experience with other bikes, but would second the Spesh Roubaix. SL8 with 40mm clearance is great, but I actually use my SL5 (2018, first gen with future shock) on both road and gravel. 700cx28 wheelset for the road, and for gravel I run 650b wheels with a 43mm GKSK front and 38mm GKSS back. The frame only clears 700x32 radially, but with smaller diameter wheels there is enough lateral clearance for the sizes above. And because the rolling diameter of the front is equivalent to 700x23 (before squish), it handles super sharp. Very easy to point down twisty single track. I don’t ride chunky gravel, so this is as much tire width as I need. YMMV. Oh, and the future shock is a big bonus off-road too.
I guess there aren’t many dedicated CX bikes w/33mm knobbies anymore, but I have a 2018 Focus Mares. It has a 70 degree head tube, but can def make tight turns, and has space for 40mm tires. I changed the drivetrain to be standard road compact: 50/34 up front, 11-34 in back. Works well for both fire roads and tarmac, depending on which wheelset I use.
I also have the 105 Carbon Focus, 2018. Lovely, very well built (true German quality) and robust. For quite some time I was also doing all of my road events, with a set of good carbon wheels, a 130mm stem and pushing the saddle a little further back.
Canyon Grizl. Perfect for both gravel and road. I have two sets of wheels. Road wheels are my zipp wheels. Comes with Shimano GRX di2 2by set up.
My Domane ALR road bike was my original “gravel” bike. I have since acquired a Lynskey GR300 and set up the Domane in road mode. Both are 1x, there is some overlap and I could certainly live with the Lynskey alone.
My Ti gravel bike is also my road bike.
71.5deg HTA
73deg STA
70mm BB drop
45mm tyre clearance, but can run 50mm in the dry.
Often use 38mm Spez Pathfinder as it doubles up as fast (enough) road tyre and can do some gravel too, but is limiting in steep terrain.
Good points, well done. My two cents: Pay attention to chainstay length. Longer stays= longer wheelbase=slower handling/more stability. I have two gravel bikes, both have 71.5 headtube angles but one is much more reactive with 43.5 stays vs 44.5 on the other. Gearing? Both have 1X, 40 teeth up front with either 9/42 or 11/42 in back. Low enough to climb and high enough that I'm tucked-in and coasting before I spin out a 40 X 11, let alone 9! Tires/wheels? Think long and hard before you spring for another set of wheels. Do you REALLY need big knobs, which work only in mud or dirt soft enough for the knobs to dig in? I ride only on paved or gravel ROADS rather than single track or this hairball MTB stuff you see in the videos, so 38 mm slicks are just fine for me, but you might find a less gnarly tread pattern lets you enjoy riding anywhere without the expense and time to swap wheels. Rene Herse has some excellent tires choices IMHO.
Black Heart Allroad Ti here. 'stable' road bike/'twitchy gravel bike. set up as a dedicated road bike with fast wheel/tire (30mm) package the thing just simply rips and is super fun to ride, even if it is 18.5 pounds (w/ cages, computer, pedals).
I did the gravel bike with two wheel sets, one for road with GP5000s on them and one with Pathfinder Pros on them. I'd do 1-3 gravel rides a week and 1-3 road rides a week. The constantly swapping of wheels gets annoying. It's that 5-10 minutes extra before your ride of swapping wheels that just gets frustrating. Ended up buying an old SuperSix Evo with SRAM RED off marketplace for $1200 and now I don't have that issue.
A Specialized Diverge certainly is not a fast gravel bike, but on the road it's slow! Especially a heavy aluminum one like I have with 46 chainring in flat florida, I'm begging for more gear normally. My SuperSix Evo at 14lbs is a rocket in comparison Including having a 52 chainring. Now I only pickup my diverge if I'm doing a gravel group ride and within seconds I wish it was that light, fast road bike.
But I think since I'm not racing, and my gravel is virgin gravel, a cyclocross bike would be the best of both worlds. GP5000s are fine on the hard pack I ride on my diverge.
Dude just goes bikepacking between races, what a legend. That must‘ve been a ton of fun judging by the pictures.
Doing the 2 wheelsets thing with everything mounted on both wheelsets for my KONA SUPER JAKE. 1 set 45mm deep 32 wide with 40c road tires (Strada Bianca Pro) & 1 set 35mm deep 32 wide with 40c gravel tires (Tufo Thundero) with a wider ranger cassette on the Gravel wheelset. Works great. Swapping wheels in +5 minutes
Thinking about selling my Tarmac SL6 for a bit more comfort. The new Defy is on my list. Funny thing is, stack and reach don't differ that much from my SL6 (both size 58/L). Reviews say the new Defy is like a TCR, but with a bit more comfort. No need for tall stack en short reach numbers, so this bike seems to be a sweet spot. Can take up to 38mm tyres as well, with a 2x setup.
Latest gen Canyon Grail is working for me. Somewhat aero, internal storage, 42mm clearance, 1x , and nice aero bars.
Litespeed Toscano 71.5 HT, 2x GRX Ultegra mix, Ti seat post, Enve carbon handlebar. Running 40mm Gravelking X1, very low rolling resistance. Took advantage of 25% sale. The Arenberg road is less expensive option in $3k range
Nobody ever mentions Norco in the gravel sphere. Is there a reason for that? The Search XR A1 has the recommended (by Ben) 2x GRX, 72 head angle (in 58cm size), 70mm BB drop, and decent tire clearance. Seems to hit all the buttons. But I can never find anyone recommending it. Norco MTBs rock. Not so much on gravel???? Views/opinions welcome.
Nobody ever talks about Superior. Their bikes are purpose built to be dual-purpose. They can fit a road 2x groupset (many gravel bikes can only accommodate the smaller chainrings of a gravel groupset), and they have bigger tire clearance and the geometry to do both
3T Exploro is a good choice too. It's kind of a gravel, road, cx thing. I hated mine at first but it is really growing on me.
Thanks for a great channel Ben! My ”only bike” is an Open U.P. A frame that’s been around for a long time (update in the works I heard) and does most surfaces great. Max 700c is 40mm so maybe should be considered an allroad bike today. BB drop is more in line with road bikes so I have two wheelsets for it: 700c with 35mm Rene Herse Bon Jon Pass. Great for road, commuting and not too rough gravel. And really light 650b set with Specialized PF 47mm. Both with rotors and cassettes. Love both setups. My one bike quiver😁.
I’m enjoying my Gen 3 Domane. 71.9 HTA, set up with 2X gearing and has clearance for 35’s. In dry gravel I could fit 38’s, but I’m actually really enjoying a set of Maxxis All-Terrane tires at the moment. Since my road tires are 32 and my offroad tires are 33, the feel of the bike doesn’t really change. If I want to get to anything chunky, I use my XC bike.
I think, performance wise, the head tube angle doesn't affect top speed on the road with the only exception which is a more sluggish steering and the added weight of more material on the fork. Sluggish steering makes a bike more stable, though.
I went from a Cervelo Caledonia to an Aspero5 and couldn't be happier. What surprised me the most is how my climbing has improved. The Aspero puts me in a position where I just feel more powerful. It's not exactly a fair comparison, they are designed for different purposes. And as Ben pointed out in an outstanding video on aerodynamics, the Aspero has an aero bar versus the round bar on the Caledonia, and an aero bar has a higher percentage of aero gain than even aero wheels do.
I run 35c Gravelking SK's on my Canyon Ultimate and it's super fast. Only in dry, pebble gravel races, but very fast.
+1 for Cervelo Aspero as the perfect dual purpose gravel / road bike. It’s awesome on the road and the GRX 2x is the perfect gearing (better than most road bike gearing) for those of us in the real world majority who need some easier gears for the hills!
I've been looking at the Bridge Bike Works Surveyor. 42mm clearance on an all road bike!
I think chainstay length is also an important part of geometry to consider for a snappier, road-ier feel
Yeah, agreed.
Hope to see you riding soon! Do you think that titanium gravel bikes (litespeed Toscano FI, for example) are a bad choice to race? Why?@@TheRidewithBenDelaney
Heard so many testimonies from Specialized Crux owners of the bikes great dual purpose performance.
can confirm even with an older model the Crux is awesome on road
That is what I do! In my mind, hard to justify buying an additional road specific second bike. For the road I run my Crux Pro with "Just Riding Along Mahi Mahi's" and Schwalbe Pro tubeless 30mm tires....Fast and buttery. For gravel I use the stock Roval Terra's with 38mm Pathfinder tires...seems perfect for me.
That’s what I have. Two sets of wheels. It’s a 1x, which isn’t perfect. I’d prefer 2x but I primarily ride gravel so it’s ok. Ultimately though I think you compromise on one discipline or the other and if at all possible having n+1 is mo better.
Great Video
My all-road is IBIS Hakka MX ; perfect for me
72 deg HA ; 40c-700c clearance
When I grow up, the ENVE Fray may be more perfect :)
Diverge with 2 wheelsets works for me...
1x setup with 44 chainring and GX cassette...
Gravel wheelset is Terra with Tufo 44mm gravenduro tyres
Road wheelset is C38 with Spez Mondo tyres
Good vid bro n congrats to Brennen! Hey what about the giant bike revolt? Did you love that bike and does it do road/gravel????
I have the latest Specialized Crux. Frame, fork, and headset weighs exactly 3lbs. I wouldn’t consider another bike for dual purpose. Just about perfect.
Allied Echo! Great Road bike and great Gravel bike. Priced like it's built in the USA though... (Two sets of wheels, one for road, one for gravel).
Great video Ben! Very helpful suggestions for getting a bike to do double duty on road and trail.
Glad it was helpful.
in the part of Europe where I live, the roads are okay but the trails are rough and here there is nothing like a decently light XC cross country MTB or even a tough trekking bike. My Canyon Pathlite 6 (2022 model, 40mm tyres, internal cabling. 1X 36T 10-51T 12 gears) is the best bike I have to ride here by far, despite also having a Giant 3X MTB and a 2X Decathlon road bike, I beat all my Strava records with the Pathlite 6, on the road..., which surprises me A LOT but I suspect it is due to a most "stable" gearing being 1X, also that the 40mm tyres don't make me feel the road as much and I don't get as tired, etc.... Love how the FRAY Endurance All Road bike you showed in the video allows for a 40mm tyre in the 1X model. After trying 1X and having 2X and 3X bikes I can safely say that I am the biggest fan of 1X nowadays
I love my Scott Gravel Addict with 44mm Rene Herse. Fast and comfy on/off gravel
I used to have those tires on my gravel bike and they let me roll with the road crew without holding me back. Can’t say the same about the Gravel King SK’s
I was thinking about a gravel with 2 sets of wheels, but the 1 thing that put me off was after using my gravel bike for a week or so it got filthy so you'd be forever cleaning it if you switched wheels etc.
Great video as usual Ben. One question: what are those beers on the shelf to your left?
My favorite spin on the Bike/Car analogy is calling my Gravel/ATB an AMC Eagle
Scott Addict Gravel - with slick tires rocket on the road
The 2020 TREK checkpoint alr5. Adjustable rear and I love how stiff the BB (no flex). It's not aerodynamic design though....
Been using Cx bikes as road bikes over 10 years. My current cx bike is 2017 raliegh rx 2.0 is at 72degree head tube and takes up to 40mm. After sandy punice to hardpack race last weekend at mammoth tuff with too many toe hits with the front wheel with 40mm gravel tire on, as I am on the upper fit adjustment limit of a 58 size frame of (border line size 58/60 frame). That frame is too small for gravel but fine for road/light fast hardpack paths/CX. Most gravel would be another frame that I am now looking for post race.
same here...rode a (72.3 HT / 73.8 ST) 2013 Ti CX framed bike with max 40mm (measured) tire clearance at Mammoth a couple weekends ago. I was well under-biked for that event's beach volleyball pumice sectors (which had zero fun factor) BUT in my opinion the bike and its setup are lovely on the road, most NorCal mixed terrain I ride and most of the Tuff 70.
Great videos. Curious, how many bikes are your personal bikes vice in for test bikes.
I realized recently that I'm using my 2022 Revolt mainly as a road bike, so I"m glad I have the Di2 2X drivetrain. I like it on the road but it's not very aero - or maybe that's more me.
I go for a Rose Backroad FF Shimano 2x12 GRX Di2 with a second wheel set.
How comfortable is it, is it too stiff, too low and stretched, or more like an endurance road bike please?
I’m going to go test ride that exact model in the next couple of weeks. I live in Belgium and will drive over to the Bocholt location.
I ride a 2020 Giant revolt advanced with a 1x mullet setup and 2 sets of wheels. With what modern gravel bikes have turned in to I feel like my revolt is more all road now. I love how it handles with 40s or 36c road tires.
"Which factors" at 0:06 is a nice editing touch
I see what you did there
I have a Specialized Roubaix with a road wheelset and a gravel wheelset with 40 mm Conti Terra Speeds. Anything rougher than this setup can handle I'll take my XC bike.
Scott Addict gravel.. serveral people including myself Got this and two wheelsets here In Denmark. But but i also have a trek roadbike and a giant tcx i use for gravel 💁🏻♂️ my son and i fit the same setup, so we can ride together 👌
I got a second set of carbon wheels but the rotor fits in the brake caliper differently. Rotor shims were needed to make the rotor fit as my previous set of wheels.
Good video Ben. Like the fact that you are doing it single handed and the quality is not left handed work. 😂
Looking very gravel pirate with the sling and goatee
Really well considered video... Hope you're well soon.
I have a focus atlas alloy bike. I don't like the head tube angle 70,5° and the long wheels base like 1051. For tuoring/bikepacking, off road is OK, but for most of the time on road is very a lazy bike.
For me a ideal gravel/road bike should be like from 3T.
thank you as always a great bit to think about
Curious to hear your opinion on mechanical vs electronic shifting drivetrains.
Diverge E5. Nothing proprietary on it as stock. Reliable GRX400. Set of nice road wheels with 32’s, 11-32 rear for road rides, 21#. Stock wheels with 38’s and 11-36 rear plus redshift suspension post for the trails, 23-24#
Ventum GS1 with 2 wheel sets 👍
Bergamot grandurance 6, 50mm clearance 2 x grx, only downside is it's alu
Following up on the swapping of tires… are you swapping tires just for events? For the handful of events I have done, I have just ‘run what you brung’. I also realize that I am doing events more for the completion and not necessarily competing.
Salsa warbird with sram xplr 1x and panaracer slick tyre
I think but not sure. Shimano has the 2x12 GRX group that provides a good choice for those who are interested in having a gravel bike with more options for long distance pavement rides.
Personally I have a Shimano 2x11 with a crazy 48/30 chainring up front on a sweet White Industry crankset.
Love your videos! So, I need a gravel bike. I live in Northern Cali. We have a ton of forest roads that connect highways around here. The rides would be 60%road and 40% gravel. I would need a bike capable of screaming highway descents, and forest road shenanigans. Convince me not to get a Crux....?
Easy - buy one of those and you put more $ in the pocket of a guy who sued someone for using a name (ROUBAIX) kindly LOANED to him by another bike company. Do you want to support a-holes like that? Surely there must be a comparable bike with another brand-name on it?
I am fortunate to have a few bikes, my favourite road bike is my old school S Works tarmac SL4. Super Light, snappy, “quick”. My gravel bike is a Cervelo Aspero. I have Ultegra C36’s with Pirelli P ZERO 30 mm,, for the Aspero as a “road bike”, it is super comfortable and would be an ideal multi purpose bike. But if you like light and fast and “quick”… that it is not. The 2x front with a big cassette make it work for everything. But I spin out pretty early and I climb at a much more relaxed pace than with my tarmac or my Allez Sprint. If you aren’t racing your road bike, if you ride for fitness and fun and adventure… the gravel bike as a multi purpose machine is awesome
I went with the two sets of wheels (complete with cassettes and rotors) for my Giant Revolt. It wasn't cheap, but it's been great. It truly feels like I have two bikes, and I can swap in no time.
Do you have any issues with disc rotors rubbing? I would think that you would need identical hubs, rotors and cassettes for everything to transition smoothly between wheelsets.
@@hansschotterradler3772 I haven't had any issues. Rotors and cassettes are identical. The hubs seem compatible though the wheelsets are from different brands. I try to use the wheelsets 50/50 to maintain even wear.
@TheRidewithBenDelaney What happened to your luv for Time's ADHX 45 as a dual purpose gravel/road bike?
Gravel race bikes and modern endurance bikes are literally the same thing today with 40mm clearance on both. One example is LOOK gravel RS and LOOKs optimum+ (endurance bike)… same frame!
The new checkpoint proofs the point…
For me 40mm clearance is enough. I’d rather be on a MTB if the terrain requires 50+ tires. But each to their own and the market going to two models per make makes sense.
For slow amateurs like me it probably doesn't matter too much: I have a 2x10 speed gravel bike but I do >95% asphalt, the best bike for me would be a carbon endurance road bike BUT I can't really go bike backing with it. I now have an aluminium gravel bike with 37mm mm knobby tires. I'll prpbably switch out the tires for something like 32mm tires suited more for asphalt. I guess I'll be 1 km/h less slow or something then lol.
Fat slicks are the best!!! Check our Rene Herse tires.
If a road bike has enough tyre clearance, it practically becomes a gravel bike!
I went for two wheelsets. Swapping is quick. I have the OBED Boundary 2x which ticks all the boxes. 72 angle and first 40mm easily. Ultegra/GRX mix. Also can do bike packing.
Curious if you have experience with Argon 18 bikes? I ended up on an Argon 18 Krypton all-road bike based on my stack/reach measurements (and price point and tire clearance) and it has been a great dual purpose road/gravel bike. Clears up to 40mm tires, possibly 42mm if mud is not a concern but I have yet to try that. Having two built sets of wheels is a breeze to swap between use-cases as well.
Ah, cool. I have not ridden one in.... maybe ever? The Project Echelon guys have been on them for a bit, so I'm familiar. Glad it's a great fit for you.
I like the thought of the Mosaic GT iAR, but the $8,300 price tag is too much for me. What similar bike would you recommend in the $3,000-$4,000 range?
Giant Defy or Specialized Roubaix have models in that range. I’d recommend Googling around for all road bikes and seeing what you like - just look at tire clearance when you do.
Litespeed Arenberg on sale now. Upgrade to the Ti seat post.
What gravel tire fits the Uthald?? I tried the WTB Byway 34mm and it rubbed on the front battery. BTW, the bike is sweet!
Regarding head tube angle: My cannondale supersix evo road bike is 71.2 head angle and it’s the perfect balance when it comes to comfort and good road handling. My older Stigmata is 71.5 and it does feel a little slower on the steering, even with road tires. I wonder if the trail makes more of a difference here.
Trail for sure makes a difference. Fork rake and tire size play into trail, as you know, but I figure going down that rabbit hole makes some people’s eyes glaze over, so I (over)simplified it with just a head tube number. Is your stack and reach the same on both?
Hi from Honduras! How is that Rocky Mountain Solo? Que te mejores pronto!!!!
Wilier rave slr
Orro terra c rapid on both gravel and road👍
Common misconception about 1x drivetrain is that they have a lesser range than 2x which is not the case when you chose the correct 1x gearing. Yes, the jumps between gears are slightly bigger. I live a 1x life on all my bikes. Ebike, commuter, gravel, road and MTb.
I feared I would hate 1X until I tried it. With 11 cogs on one bike and 13 on the other, I rarely find myself wishing for an in-between gear.
Ben what's your thoughts on the Diverge in this category for dual purpose?
Too squishy for my taste on pavement, but certainly could work.
Nice to see you healing up well! Will you be you be on a bike before Santa comes?
Shoot, I hope so, but I have been told six months before riding bumpy stuff. 😭 Hopefully that is wrong.
My Trek Checkmate SLR 9 with 1x13 goes well on the road and gravel. Basically a Madone that can take a wider tire.
Hey by steeper angle do you mean a larger or smaller angle?
Larger. Road race bikes are usually 73ish, gravel bikes 70-72ish.
I really like my OPEN UPPER. Mine is set up as a dedicated gravel bike, but a close friend of mine has hers set up for double duty with two complete wheel sets.
Same. Two wheel sets 700c with 38mm slicks + 650b with 55mm knobbies make this a one bike solution. And the best part is this bike is from 2016 but still super relevant.
The ultimate dual-purpose bike: Which drop bar XC is good on the road and why Supercaliber?
This has me curious as to how much faster I could be on a road bike. I have a 1x Stigmata V4 that handles road duty with semi-slick 42c gravel tires. I average around 20mph on shorter rides in the 20 mile and 2000 feet range and 18ish over the bigger days at 50 miles and 5k climbing. I definitely feel the gearing on descents and spin out around 30ish mph.
How do you like it on the road?
the goatee suits you sir!
@TheRidewithBenDelany why is it that Argon18 never gets mentioned in the mix? The Dark Matter is a great bike in eother 1x or 2x configurations.
Krypton would do well amongst his ‘all road’ examples
Dude look at all those bikes behind you?😳 N+1 Extreme!!😂
Well, this is a bike test channel. And those are all test bikes.
@@TheRidewithBenDelaney Thanks for the reply.😎👍🏻 It is definitely an excellent channel Ben. I’ve been binge watching over the past couple of days. Really excellent videos mate and lots of no bs info. I think you have single handedly converted me over to gravel. I think I’m about to “clip” my toes into the seas of Gravel. Thanks. Subscribed.👍🏻
Blessings from England. 🙏🏻😎👍🏻
Ah, that’s great, Steve. Thank you.
No thanks, I'll just mount a weather vane on my bars.. Its getting pretty silly isn't it?
On my ADHX, i swap tires seasonally (until I get another set of wheels). The biggest thing I've come to realize is the steering response on the road comparing 38mm tires at 44 psi to 30mm tires at 60 psi. The steering with the 38's is slower to initiate, and then tips in more quickly after a slight delay. With the 30's, it feels just like a normal road bike. I don't know if this is due to a slight change in trail or the lower pressure and larger/wider tire patch.
Exact same thing with my Racemax, changing between 30mm Corsa Pro and 40mm Strada Bianca.