[Closed] Flat barred gravel bike gearing

H.Y.B.R.I.D.

It's a hybrid, Stop being so obtuse. Some manufacturers refer to them as "Fitness Bikes". You might get some ideas from looking at complete builds, just to see what other folk are doing.

https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/bikes/hybrid-bikes/fitness-bikes/c/B420/

Yep. It’s a hybrid, which let us not forget started out as MTBs tweaked to take 700C wheels and thinner tyres.

Nothing wrong with a good hybrid mind you, says the owner of a nearly 30yo Raleigh Pioneer.

See above. Hybrid, or possibly a rigid MTB with old skool geometry.
Gravel bikes have drop bars.

And the idea of gravel bikes is they’re great on the road and off. That gearing out be no good on the road.

My HYBRID FLAT BAR GRAVEL bike has 11-32 9 speed with 36/46 front rings. Once off road the 46 is never used. On road it’s used very sparsely.

Actually the bike rarely gets used at all.

So what actually makes a bike a ‘gravel bike’? Just the dropped bars bit? Like if you buy a gravel bike then put flat bars on, is it no longer a gravel bike? Or if you put drops on a hybrid does that magically turn it into a gravel bike?

“ So what actually makes a bike a ‘gravel bike’?”

It’s ability to make idiots argue about it’s proper name or not. 😂😂

A gravel bike is a hybrid, and so a hybrid is a gravel bike. Seems like here in the UK we like to think drop bars offer some sort of superiority to all other bars but pretty much anywhere else in the world they don’t care.

At least if someone insists my wife’s bike isn’t a gravel bike it immediately identifies them as a moron so I can find someone else who isn’t full of their own importance to talk to.

So what actually makes a bike a ‘gravel bike’? Just the dropped bars bit? Like if you buy a gravel bike then put flat bars on, is it no longer a gravel bike? Or if you put drops on a hybrid does that magically turn it into a gravel bike?

If I ride my road bike up a mountain, does that make it a mountain bike?

I asked for advice on gearing not semantics. If I take a gravel bike frame and put a flat bar on it it’s a flat barred gravel bike. But I really don’t give a toss what’s it called I would like some advice whether the gearing will work.

It actually going to be used much more off road than on so I’m not bothered about the gaps between gears and I want the low gearing as it’s for a specific purpose that is likely to need it. I’ve got a nice road bike and a gt grade for more mixed terrain. Why would that gearing be significantly worse than an 11 speed 1x grx on the road

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I think even 9t sprocket x 34t chainring would be too spinny on tarmac. I'd go at least 36t up front.

Running 40x11-51 myself but with drop bars. Fast enough for me on road & a god send the last few days in Scotland off road

42-11t 11-sp cassette with 36t chainring on my whatever-you-call-it hybrid/gravel/****about bike. Perfect off-road gearing, fine on the flat (don’t usually go far enough to use 36-11 even on flat tarmac). Spin out on tarmac downhills but really doesn’t bother me.

<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">edit: I’d prefer 38t chainring but my frame doesn’t have the clearance at the chainstay (huge tyre clearance instead)</span>

Thanks for the comments I’m not an expert on gear ratios hence question wouldn’t 34 to 9 be the equivalent of 42 to 11 as they give almost the same ratio when divided or am i missing something.

I'm running a 42t Chainring with an 11-51 cassette on my Flat Bar Gravel bike, I've got a separate wheelset with sticks for commuting/evening road bubbles that I run an 11-42 cassette on.

I'd easily cope on an 11-46 off road, but climbing has always been the one aspect of riding a bike that I find easy.

42x11 with sticks is good for about 35mph downhill for me....and on a flat road ride with slicks, I can average around 17mph.

It would feel like the same gear as far as the ratio goes, I just wouldn’t want to be in those smaller cogs for long periods as I reckon you’ll wear them out pretty quickly.
If you’ve already got the kit it’s worth a try though.

Good point on wear. I don’t think on this bike I’d be in the small cog that often but maybe 10-50 would be better with 38 up front that would be similar to rocketdogs.

34/9 would be fine on tarmac - I spent most of winter with a 34/10 which was OK, spins out at around 26mph which means you're already going downhill on that sort of bike, which I was OK with. 34/9 would spin out closer to 30.

Put some numbers in here if you're worried https://www.bikecalc.com/speed_at_cadence

Don't forget wheel sizes..
I had 44 chain ring with a 10/42 cassette on my 650b 38c
It was primarily used for long rides and a bit of commuting, never tried a climb and plummet type hill thay I would on my mtb
For the application I had in mind the Gearing was ideal, only spinning out on the fastest downhills

What gearing do you ride on gravel now?

34 with 9 - 50 is a massive range and not sure why anyone would need more riding on gravel.

Highest gear is 104 inches and lowest is 18 inches so very high and very low, i.e. 104 inches gets you 25mph at cadence of 80. Do you typically ride at 25mph on gravel?
Whereas on the low end you are going under 3 mph at cadence of 50 so any less you may as well walk.

Why do most mountain bikes come with that gearing, so should every MTB get off rather than use their easy gear. The bike is been built to ride up some very long and in places very steep (not in the UK) gravel tracks with 1000s of meters of ascent per day but also I may be coming down long descents on the road hence wanting the faster gear, though I'll probably spin out regardless of the gear.

I often use my gravel bikes in the UK on routes that are closer to MTB routes so a bit more range won't go amiss,

I've not decided on wheel size yet, I'll probably have both sizes in the end

If I ride my road bike up a mountain, does that make it a mountain bike?

Only if the mountain qualifies as a mountain. I need a certificate of conformance please.

My Voodoo Marasa came with 3*9 gearing, 11-34 cassette with I think 26/36/48 rings.

It's a weighty beast at ~13Kg and in my work gear I must be ~86Kg, I use the full gear range over my tarmac commute, descending up to ~6% and climbing up to ~14%.

My hardpack/fireroad/chalk'n'flint/gravel/flatbar/commuter ​bike uses 46t and 10-50t 12 speed which worked fine for all but the steepest climbs on the north side of the south downs.

Having said that, I've just nicked the cassette off it for my MTB and put it back to 11-36t 10 speed for commuting only due to lack of spare parts.

Why do most mountain bikes come with that gearing, so should every MTB get off rather than use their easy gear

If walking is as fast as riding then up to the rider what they want to do. You are asking about a gravel bike not an MTB and riding a gravel bike at 3mph is somewhat missing the point of a gravel bike to me.

My HT has 26"x2.2" tyres, with a 30T chainring and 11-42 cassette I can cruise on the flat at 21mph at 100rpm. I've spent the last year working on improving efficiency at high cadences up to 150rpm for 30mph+ on the descents, I don't feel that I would need a taller gear unless I was to switch to a drop bar bike now that I am comfortable pedaling at much high cadences than the average mash-on-the-pedals MTBer.

For me the range is OK, but I'd be concerned about the big gaps between ratios if you are doing very long climbs. I find variety is important, especially if you are carrying a load.

I don't care what you call your bike.

My off/road/hybrid has 11-50 with 34 chainring. Gets up everything (even northern scarp slopes of the downs) but will spin out on fast road descents for sure. But then I’m sitting and coasting anyway.

Rigid forked Ti hardtail, 29er wheels.

@lardman do you have any problems with gaps between the gears.

@stainypants - Not really....
my rides on this bike are back country lanes, sustrans type routes, and light off-road. Nearly always on my own. So I ride at whatever speed the gears allow.

Sometimes I wish for a gear between the ones I have, but not for long.

If I ride my road bike up a mountain, does that make it a mountain bike?

No, you have to load it onto a trailer and sit in a van for the uphills to qualify.

Re: gearing, I'm running a 11-51 cassette with a 38t chainring, giving me a whisker lower gearing than the 11-36/40-28 2x9 set-up it replaced. Just done a 3 day trip in the Highlands, pretty good compromise for the combination of forestry tracks, wind farm roads, old hydro roads and (very carefully selected) tarmac.

40 x 11-46 here on drop bar gravel bike with 29x2.25"

For me that covers everything nicely, which is a mixture of road and XC and trails, but nothing too steep

I ride up the same fireroads on my gravel and mtb, gravel bike is 40-11 and it goes uphill so much easier so definitely you can get away with harder gearing on them for less spin out compromise.

I have the same problem, but want full-on mtb gearing for my drop bar plug that stays in Greece. It’s got Tiagra 4600 52/39 and a road cassette, so I abruptly stop when I reach steep gravel. All the riding will be gravel.
Question is- can I change the front cogs for smaller ones on the 4600 series or do I need a new chain set? Happy with superstar or uberbike or anything.

If I ride my road bike up a mountain, does that make it a mountain bike?

If I take the drop bars off my gravel bike and fit flat bars with appropriate shifters, is it now a hybrid? And if so was it never a gravel bike to begin with but simply a drop-barred hybrid?

As far as the gearing goes, are you not going to end up with big jumps between ratios or is that not an issue for you?

I have the same problem, but want full-on mtb gearing for my drop bar plug that stays in Greece. It’s got Tiagra 4600 52/39 and a road cassette, so I abruptly stop when I reach steep gravel. All the riding will be gravel.
Question is- can I change the front cogs for smaller ones on the 4600 series or do I need a new chain set? Happy with superstar or uberbike or anything.

My bike was 50 34 at front when i bought it. Generally 34 is the smallest you can go on a road chainset. I bought a spa cycles sub compact chainset which is 38 26 you'll need a threaded bottom bracket. But they'll do any ratios you like. At the back i run 36 11. The ratios work well for me. My bike is Tiagra 4700 and the old dérailleurs work fine. The 4600 might be less good with a large block at the back but i believe you can run a 9 speed mtb mech