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Will take some time to delve through it all, but assume that a 1 x 12 setup would work for both? Like the idea of ditching the front mech
I reeeeeally think going 1x would be a bad idea, you're just restricting yourself and the bike for what purpose? I mean, I run 1x on my winter gravel bike which is also my CX bike, but that's very singular purpose, i.e. relatively flat terrain in the mud, but even on the gravel bike I've missed the higher gears at times (and not because I'm in some 30mph chaingang either, just those times when you've got a tailwind or a gradual long descent or something and it gets annoying spinning out then coasting x a million). I've even gone back to 2x on the MTB, I just don't understand why you would limit yourself on any bike that designed to cover all sorts of different terrain.
I reeeeeally think going 1x would be a bad idea, you're just restricting yourself and the bike for what purpose?
I was all set on going 2x when looking but then I looked at my Rohloff bike and my experience of riding that on the road and realised that I'd never found the jumps between gears an issue and I've gone 1x13. Given the slightly smaller range the average jump will probably be lower than the Rohloff.
2*9 on my gravel bike. Some big jumps in gears and a 16t difference up front.
Good for high 40's mph and I can't spin out with my feeble legs at the moment on the downhills where I live.
The low gear isn't the lowest either but nor is the traction for getting up some off road inclines so I push when necessary.
My road bike is a Supersix Evo CX so not quite a gravel bike but it can fit 45mm tyres, it's definitely racier geometry though than most actual gravel bikes. I run it 1x still with 32mm road tyres, as stock it was 1x11 with a 40T chainring and 11-36 cassette and I found that fine when by myself but a bit limiting when riding with others on "proper" road bikes as I never seemed to quite be in the right gear and ran out of top speed when sat behind someone turning a big road gear.
I've recently changed to 1x12 using a 10-36T cassette instead so a bit more top speed (mid-high 20's mph is now pretty comfy) and smaller steps in the middle and that's made a massive difference, far more than I anticipated having come from MTB side of things and being pretty tolerant of gearing steps. I'd say now you can get 1x12 and 1x13 gravel/road crossover groupsets it works really well.
Edit to add: I do sometimes try road riding on my nice steel gravel bike but as much as I kid myself that I'll just cruise around looking over hedgerows and singing like Mary Poppins I actually get to the first hill, start hammering it and then just get a bit annoyed that it's slower/feels slower. It's completely personal but even as a mostly off-road rider, when I want to do a road ride I want it to be fast and a 'proper' road ride.
Yep, another 2 wheelset user here.
Road wheels have 11-32 cassette, Gravel have 11-36, I use the same 46/30 chainset with both (I’m not racing) and do swap pedals from SPD to SPD SL but that’s far from necessary.
The main reason I did it was because I didn’t want to invest the faff or money in replacing my last rim-braked “endurance” road bike with something else that had discs and wide tyres, on top of having a gravel bike that is essentially 95% the same thing. It’s a bit of an experiment for me, and I’m only using a cheap ally frame for it, but I think the concept is working well and at some point I’ll look for a posher frame to move the kit to.
It will get a bit of a break over winter as my old gravel bike is now my “winter roadie” with guards, sensible road tyres and a dynamo hub, I could do the same with just one bike and put it in winter mode come October (tried it previously) but once tou add guards it seems to exponentially increase the faff in reconfiguring the bike from Road to Gravel setups (IMO/IME)
My stigmata is 1x12, my wife's is a 2x setup and has a slightly lower bottom gear. I've looked into my options and may change when (if) something wears out but it's manageable for now. It's a gravel bike after all, something super gnarly and steep and I'll be getting off anyway.
I do like the reliability of 1x, would just prefer a slightly lower range than what I've got. Don't really care about losing the top end, I'm not racing it. I think in principle I can drop a couple of teeth off the chainring and/or use a slightly larger cassette, but I'm not sufficiently desperate that I'm going to throw away what is currently usable.
1 x 12 setup would work for both?
Probably. Depends on what actual gearing and where you live/how you ride. I'm on 1x13 and rarely use 12th or 13th gear on the road so the top end is fine and the 40x46 smallest ratio is low enough for the riding I do (occasionally I've wanted it a bit lower for very steep off road climbs where I need to stay seated for traction, that's not a big part of my riding though).
The thing with 1x on the road isn’t so much range anymore (if you’re using a combination that gives 1:1 or lower ratio) it’s increments.
when I tried 1x on the road it was with 9 and 10 speed, and on bikes that were either for shorter winter rides or commuting the compromise was range vs increments then, a balance was possible but it wasn’t going to work for longer rides or big days in the hills.
Now that big range 1x12 is the thing, using it on the road is more viable you have sufficient range (if you’re willing to accept a gear or two off the top end) and closer spaced ratios so you can better match the gear to your efforts.
Personally I’d still take 2x11 over 1x12 but I don’t think 1x would be such a problem now, both are perfectly good if you’re not chasing PRs or a competitive chain gang.
I reeeeeally think going 1x would be a bad idea, you're just restricting yourself and the bike for what purpose?
I was all set on going 2x when looking but then I looked at my Rohloff bike and my experience of riding that on the road and realised that I'd never found the jumps between gears an issue and I've gone 1x13. Given the slightly smaller range the average jump will probably be lower than the Rohloff.
IMHO I think the biggest issue with a 1x would have been if you were in a chain gang with other riders and everyone’s got a similar gear range but yours is just a tad to high or low.
In the real world other than not having the range for what your intending to go up or along I never really miss that extra x
IMHO I think the biggest issue with a 1x would have been if you were in a chain gang with other riders and everyone’s got a similar gear range
Agreed, but I'll only be on my own on this bike or with friends on similar bikes who aren't as fit as me anyway 😂
All the time. Ridley Kanzo 1x12 set up has been ace. Advantage of being able to comfortably fit mudguards AND wide road tyres. Sold my Canyon Ultimate ages ago.
My Sonder Camino is my road bike. It's obviously not a 'proper' road bike but it works fine. This year though I've started going out with a club and that has highlighted the differences again. Main ones are gearing (I'm on 1x 11) and it feels a little bit ponderous sometimes. But it still works, for the slower groups anyway!
I also have two sets of wheels, my road set has 38mm slick/slick-ish tyres on, which I could maybe swap for something a bit snappier.
Now that big range 1x12 is the thing, using it on the road is more viable you have sufficient range (if you’re willing to accept a gear or two off the top end) and closer spaced ratios so you can better match the gear to your efforts.
Ah yeah, forgot we were talking about road! To mimic a 50/34 chainset and 11-28 cassette I guess you would only need a 46 tooth chainring and 10-45 cassette, in fact you would end up with more range that way and most importantly would avoid the cassette-bigger-than-the-chainring aesthetic 😎 In fact... I'm suddenly wondering why I was so against 1x on road! 🤣
As many above have said, gravel bikes are ACE. I won't go into why as everyone has already covered the reasons.
If I only could have 2 bikes I would do as the OP has proposed.
(i) long travel light enduro bike and 2 sets of wheels (light and fast // burly and grippy)
(ii) gravel bike and 2 sets of wheels (road, gravel)
That covers a huge number of bases.
for what it's worth I've just ordered a new gravel bike that I want to ride on a mix of road and off road.
I ummed and ahhd over 1x vs 2x.
Went the 1x route in the end but splashed out on 13 speed axs to minimise gear jumps. There are a few youtube vids covering that setup for pure road use and it seems a decent step up from 12 speed, gear range and gear jump wise
My Specialized Crux is mainly used on the road.I don’t race or ride in a group I just plod at my own speed. I’ve got GRX 12 speed with the 45t cassette and I did swap the front ring to a 44t which suited my needs better.
My titanium cross/gravel bike has race geometry and I run 1x with a 38 chainring and 11-32 off road and 11-25 on road with different wheels - same hubs and rims because it’s a rim brake frame. It’s excellent but is a little too low-geared for serious clubs rides (average 20+ mph) and high-geared for off road (I’d prefer a 1:1 ratio really). However the compromise is good enough. On my own I can spin out downhill in 38x11, but cruising (commuting) it works well and I am normally in the optimal gears 456 for chainline. I add a quick rack for my commuting duties. It turned a redundant and unloved cross bike into a much lived all rounder.
I have a race bike (propel) for racing and a road bike (defy) for fast club rides, but this bike works. It also has etap red 1x 11 speed and this is a super option. If I wanted one bike for all duties, it would be a Crux with similar racier geometry to my bike. A slack heavy steel gravel bike (my titanium bike is sub 8 kilos) will never feel racy on the road, regardless of wheelset, so don’t kid yourself. A carbon cyclocross race bike will.
for what it's worth I've just ordered a new gravel bike that I want to ride on a mix of road and off road.
I ummed and ahhd over 1x vs 2x.
Went the 1x route in the end but splashed out on 13 speed axs to minimise gear jumps
Are you me? That's exactly what I've just done. And from reading this thread I've just added an extra set of 650b wheels to the order
I'd love to know the value of this forum to the bike industry 😂
Depends on what actual gearing and where you live/how you ride
Yep. I live in the New Forest so while not completely flat it is hardly mountainous.
My old road bike has a low gear of 42 / 23 and my gravel bike has a low of 42 / 32 as I removed the unnecessary 11-42 and replaced with 11-32. There are no hills that a re a struggle with those gears but then I admittedly maybe coming from a different angle of riding fixed gear for 25 years so happy with high gears up hill.
To mimic a 50/34 chainset and 11-28 cassette
I think you're more likely to have people trying to mimic a 50/34 + 11-32 these days, a 10-45 cassette as you say and then play with 42/44/46/48? chainrings as required to suit your local hills (some of us are willing to acknowledge our own need for sub 1:1 ratio).
But yeah whatever you do it's just 12 sequential gears and the low end isn't the actual challenge anymore. Back in the 2x9 era it was generally a accepted that you didn't actually have have 18 useful ratios, maybe 13 or 14 tops?
Which we're essentially getting close to now with 1x...
As ever the best thing you can do is a spreadsheet 😉
If on your own, and not interested in going as fast as possible then a gravel bike with road tyres is just as good, if not better as its more comfy, than a dedicated road bike
That said, I'd say my blinged out road bike is about 2mph faster than my gravel bike with road tyres on. On my club rides, when I take it I'm far less tired after a long ride than I am on the gravel bike with road tyres. On the flip side, trying to keep up definitely improves the fitness.
As many above have said, gravel bikes are ACE.
Yeah but blokey up there thinks that you're making it up and it's all a marketing ploy to sell more bikes, so you're going to have to try harder to show that you really, really enjoy that gravel bike.
TLDR : stop being so brainwashed, you sheep.
😉
Yes, I have a Supersix EVO SE which is at the sporty end of grav bikes. Use it as road/CX mostly, prefer my hardtail for grav. I will say though I think really you need a double chainset if possible for the top end to get it as road as possible, but obviously YMMV on that, road tyres make the biggest difference.
I run 2x 33/46 10-28/30 when it's a road bike, 36 10-36 CX, either for grav. 33/46 with 10-28 I can hold my own on a chain gang.