[Closed] Just One bike for road and gravel?

New 2019 Arkrose looking an option, in stock March.

Canyon grail carbon, my do it all bike, one wheelset 2x (not the swiftest of read riders but the engine not the bike is the problem)

single disc braked, 1×11, drop-barred bike which I can have 2 wheelsets for, one pair with 25mm slicks for swift(ish) road riding and one with 35-42mm treaded tyres of some sort for er… Gravel-ing?

You have described my Tripster.. (apart from the swift bit, but thats not the bike's fault.)

I once tried running a mountain bike with two sets of wheels. Turned out to be more trouble than it was worth and I vowed never to do it again. Spare wheel for the turbo trainer, but that's as far as I go now.

am I just a complete sucker for the marketing?

Yes. Undoubtably. But don't let that stop you.

I have an Arkose 4 (105) with 28c tyres and mudguards for audaxing (have done London-Edinburgh-London on it) and another set of wheels with 40c nanos on for gravel use. It'd be nice to have separate bikes but it works!

I run my Salsa Vaya like this

1. Hope pro 4 on Wtb Sti25 650b with Soma Cazadero tyres for gravel/off road and tarmac in between.

2. Hope pro 4 on WTB Sti25 700c with Paris Roubaix 32 tyres for the roads

Had toyed with selling the 650b wheels but going to run two sets. With having the same hubs it’s an easy change over.

I have an Arkose with 38mm Slicks

So I just change pressure for on and off road.

It has its limitations and i keep thinking about tyres with some tread....

The CGR is a good bike. I have one. Not a 1x11 but a 2x11. Good value for money but the Alu version is very rigid. Wish I'd got the steel version, but don't think they did one when I bought mine. But then I have an iffy back. Happy to sell you the bike minus wheels!!!

2 sets of wheels works perfectly on my Tripster: Mavic Ksyrium Pros and Ksyrium Allroads. I could imagine different hubs might makes the brake config awkward, but I can swap over without issue.

I use a Spesh Diverge as pretty much a do it all road/gravel/cross/credit card touring/bikepacking bike with just a change of tyres, I have avoided tubless due to the phaff and regular tyre changes, although I do now have spare wheels.
Its 2x though, works well until Spesh recall it and I have to dig out my creaky old roadbike!!

I run my caad x with 2 sets of wheels. It's a bit heavier than my other road bikes but if you aren't trying to smash strava pbs it's perfectly functional as an all rounder. I suspect the same could be said of any gravel/cx bike. I don't notice any real difference in geometry tbh.

My gravel bike has 43mm GravelKing SKs (and a Rival 1 drivetrain) and i'll happily go on a 4 hour pavement ride if i'm in the mood.
Unless you're the race-y Strava KOM type i'd say a gravel bike would be perfectly fine with one wheelset.

I ride for fun, i'm not racing anybody, and personally I don't feel like my 43mm tires are holding me back on pavement that much. It's still perfectly enjoyable and doesn't feel like I shot myself in the leg. I'll happily trade in the added comfort for a bit of lost speed. Now after owning a gravel bike i'm pretty sure i'll never have a bike with smaller than 35mm tyres again, even if my plan was to only ride pavement. Now when I try a road bike with 25-28mm tyres I just don't understand why did I even bother torturing myself in the past on those things.
All IMO.

Running a DeAnima custom steel gravel bike. Short stays but can take 650b 2.1 inch tyres with ease. Running XT tubeless wheels with Racing Ralph's and Pacenti Forza 700c wheels with Schwalbe G Ones. Bloody brilliant frankly. Ultegra 34 46 up front and 11 42 out back. One by on a gravel bike would just piss me off as I use it for pretty much everything from backpacking to road riding to scooting around on mountain bike trails and everything in between. I may have mellowed a little to 1x on an mtb but for the road, it is a definite no for me.

But I digress. Gravel bikes are great. They are everything I wanted my cross bike to be but better. 😄

Defo can be done to your satisfaction but 1x11 on road would be a sticking point for me - I don't really like it and think I'd prefer 2x for both if I was running just the one bike (I'm happy riding my cross bike on road but I fit a double crankset once the cross season is over).

Well probably the 2 most varied rides for me on the gravel bike
This one, chain gang trying to make the finish of the Tour of Britain stage, plenty of turns out front
https://www.strava.com/activities/1821115597
Hope Pre Peak on a wet and crappy day!!
https://www.strava.com/activities/1782541029
Tour of the Borders, long hard day out there, average roads
https://www.strava.com/activities/1813828388

Only variation on the 3 rides were tyre pressure

Whyte Friston owner for 1 year here. Probably my favourite ever bike. I've eulogised over it many times on here, so feel free to check out my gravel-oriented posts for more info. Road it a lot last year. Everywhere. In all conditions. And absolutely loved it. Sooooo much fun. Also rode my 901 a fair bit on the trails. Only rode my Cannondale road bike once. Which probably says it all.

TBF, I plan to ride the Cannondale more this year. It's quicker, yes. But's that probably the only advantage. The Friston is like a dog that hasn't been out for days - it wants to pull in every direction and explore. Perfectly at home on the road - plenty of grip/traction and the handling is insanely well balanced. Off-road it's like a riding a wild boar. Get one. Ride it. Everywhere.

I have three sets of wheels for my Amazon. It takes a maximum of five minutes to swap them over. I reckon it would be a lot less if I had hydro disks rather than BB7s.

But 1x? Nah.

2x here also on my Vaya , just more versatile

2x would be better on and off road

Hmmm, Nobody's really managing (or trying) to dissuade me are they.

My justification (in my head at least) is that it would be a rationalisation of my two most frequently used bikes, my aging rim braked, 130mm spaced, 2x10, carbon road bike and my bargain bin build 1x9, cable disc braked, 135mm spaced aluminium "Gravel bike", both are great but both have compromises I'd like to address.

Part of the idea of this consolidation comes from the disc braked synapse I rode on holiday last year, it was a very capable road bike, but it clearly had the capacity for bigger tyres and more off-road... And then 1x just sort of makes sense (for me), I just don't need a 50t chainring and it doesn't take very complex maths to work out you can still have usable climbing gears with a big cassette and a 42/44t ring, I think I could put up with the larger steps on the road, and generally it just seems to make life simpler...

The only sticking point is even with chopping both bikes in I doubt I'll be able to swing a carbon bike and a decent group/brakes so I'm drawn more towards an Al frame with a carbon post and slightly wider tyres to soften the ride.

That LR-SL with force 1 seems a bit too much of a bargain up against the CGR AL...

I'm working towards a similar setup, self built on a ridiculously cheap shark CX frame/fork/wheel deal which I think you can still get... Currently have 40x11-36 on it, planning on swapping to 34-50 up front when I get round to selling the fancy road bike. Probably going to get a set of £100 tubeless wheels from superstar as the spare set, although I pretty much always ride with a slick at the rear and gravel tyre on the front.

My Boardman ADV 9.0 is rapidly becoming my favourite bike ever. So good I wondering why I need my road and MTB.

Just get the tyre compromise right and you don't even need 2 sets of wheels. A 32 would be fast on road and still fine on gravel (dependent on what sort of gravel you ride on).

Unless you are talking about extremes and riding 200k on the road one day and then 50k on single track off road another day.

Just get the tyre compromise right and you don’t even need 2 sets of wheels. A 32 would be fast on road and still fine on gravel (dependent on what sort of gravel you ride on).

This is true for me, 32mm slicks are fine on road and work ok off it as long as mud isnt an issue. I have found though I dont venture offroad on the gravel bike much in winter. I dont really trust the mudguards. I use 38mm G-One Allrounds for more offroady than mixed rides. If I kept the G-Ones on I wouldnt keep up on the road group rides I do.

I run two sets on my Arkose (it’s an old one so not massive tyre clearance).

I swapped it over to road wheels yesterday - Mavic Aksiums with gp 4 seasons (anybody know where I can get 32s for less than the price of a new house?)

I have been commuting on my sturdier wheels (hydra rims on dt 240s) with a mixed mode tyre (vittoria randonneur trail) but they just don’t fit under the mudguards and it’s a bit too wet to commute without them.

The skinny tyres certainly make the occasional gravel cut through interesting (i.e. sketchy AF)

I do take my current gravel bike offroad quite a bit through winter, it does get quite muddy.

Thinking about it the switch over from gravel to road trim might involve more than just a simple wheel swap...

^ depends what you mean by gravel. I have one bike that does hilly 200km+ rides on generally poorly surfaced roads and more open mixed byways and lanes rides, ie Ridgeway in summer etc. 650B x 47-50 does all that well. Makes a great bikepacker/tourer also.

CBA swapping wheels. I want to make the rides up as I go, not decide when I'm in the garage. If I want a fast road bike on 25s I'll get the road bike out, accept the sketchiness on local road surfaces and won't have the needs for guards etc. Rarely do road-only rides where actual speed is vital either and for the same effort over a 4hr+ ride the 650B bike isn't much (at all?) slower. It just isn't as snappy-feeling on shorter sprinty rides.

No chance I'll be fitting 1x to the all-road bike though.

I started out with this ‘one bike to rule them all’ thing. I also had two wheel sets (identical hubs, discs and cassette types, so had no problems switching)...but, as usual, a spare wheelset morphed into another bike.

I now have a 2*11 Tripster ATR for general touring and road duties, and a 1*11 (XTR/R685/XX1) Litespeed T5G for mucking about on.

I can still swap wheels between the bikes, but it’s a pain and would only do that if a mechanical reason prevented me using the bike for its inteded purpose.

EDIT - I also have a Niner RLT which is really a big tyre commuter, but which I’ve also done 110-130mile sportifs on.

I have conti crossspeed 35s on my Croix de Fer and use them on all surfaces. Not sluggish on road and great on fire tracks and easy singletrack.

My justification (in my head at least) is that it would be a rationalisation of my two most frequently used bikes, my aging rim braked, 130mm spaced, 2×10, carbon road bike and my bargain bin build 1×9, cable disc braked, 135mm spaced aluminium “Gravel bike”, both are great but both have compromises I’d like to address.

Well that’s almost exactly what I did. My ageing Defy now sits as a wheel off turbo only machine, and I moved to a 2 x 10 Bergamont Gravel bike. Forget the two sets of wheels unless you want a fast bike for the Summer, I have G Ones but those or Gravelkings will do. Mine sits ready for 1-4 hours of anything, from a 4 hour endurance ride to one hour lunchtime to/from the canal side Cafe without changing anything its very refreshing. The bigger tyres are a little more comfortable too.

Just don’t let anyone convince you its “just as fast”. They are not - they are heavier and the tyres have greater resistance which isn’t to say you can’t keep up on a club ride it’ll just be a little more effort than a dedicated aero road bike with 25mm tyres. Not necessarily a bad thing.

For me over the winter period and in general having one bike as a ready to go bike is excellent. Summer speed thrills in a pace line is a lot more fun on a dedicated properly setup road bike IMO but that could just be that I like my light aeronroad bike a lot.

This bike brought back memories of what was considered suitable for gravel 60 years ago.

Behold! Granpa's one bike for road and gravel. 🙂

Nice steel 531 frame, reinforced front fork.

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And he would have revelled in the choice of ratios a 4 speed hub gave him while riding the same stuff as we do.

If you took that frame and put 650b wheels in it, you'd probably be able to fit up to 45mm tyres so it might work even now if you were happy with rim brakes.

If you're on a budget, it may be worth finding one of those and setting it up to suit with modern running gear.

Just don’t let anyone convince you its “just as fast”. They are not – they are heavier and the tyres have greater resistance which isn’t to say you can’t keep up on a club ride it’ll just be a little more effort than a dedicated aero road bike with 25mm tyres. Not necessarily a bad thing.

See that's the point I thought might be a bit more prevalent when I started the thread. And back up the page when I said I like both bikes but just want to address their respective shortcomings. It occurred to me, why not simply do that?

I've obviously got the space for multiple bikes, and both currently get used as intended. Maybe I should stop trying to balance lots of competing needs/compromises in one bike and accept that the two bikes work as is. I could just spend a bit of time and money sorting out drivetrain, braking and wheels on either one and probably end up happier, without spending as much on a whole new bike...

It sounds just like what I do. With my Whyte t130 ha ha. Road, gravel, trails and bpw, same bike.

You can easily do everything with 1 bike, but it will have good days and bad days depending on what you're doing?
For me, it I go out and average 22km/h on road, does it matter, nah, not really. It's all being outside and enjoying

Personally, i dont think you are wrong.

The reasoning for me is that i do a fair few short recovery rides before work. I have a park and a nature reserve and the London tow path network near to me, all of which have "gravel" pathways which I wouldn't take road tyres on. So, i was swapping the Defy rear wheel on / off the turbo for long rides, and a bought a SSCX for the rest. I was swapping lights across the two bikes constantly.

Yes i could stay on the road but one direction is commuter traffic the other a 12% 1.5km climb - not as useful as riding on empty pathways for recovery at 5am.

Now the Bergamont stands ready for any kind of ride at whatever time or surface and actually its cushioning more "robust" build, paint and disks has proved a mental reduction in stress levels. I have no prep for short or long rides, but still have the good bike staying in good condition for glorious summer rides.

Bargaintastic...

https://www.rutlandcycling.com/bikes/road-bikes/bergamont-2018-grandurance-expert-carbon-all-road-bike-black_383006?currency=GBP&gclid=CjwKCAiA1ZDiBRAXEiwAIWyNC8nNOECaM3djk2ofToe_eWWCpP5PvD1Hyu2UiVlf-u0WujlYtOimthoCGMMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

CTC or road cc as they insist on calling themselves now have a review here
https://road.cc/content/feature/253291-roadcc-gravel-and-adventure-bike-year-201819

I run two sets of wheels and three sets of tyres on my Fargo 2x10.
I put the Big Apples on last spring and haven't taken them off yet as the winter has been so dry in Devon.
I have G-One All Round as a winter tyre waiting to go on and MK2 knobblies for if I ever get really off road.

Been there done that ! On one pickenflick set up 1x10 with spare wheels for road use. Felt it cumbersome off road and undergeared/heavy on road 🙁

Proper road bike and mountain bike are more fun 🙂

or buck the trend and fall off the bandwagon..

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See to me Rocketdog thats a drop barred mtb. Dont get me wrong it looks like shit load of fun but its not a road/offroad bike. Its too focussed to me a gravel bike is a bike of compromise that can do all sorts...obviously opinions differ though.

Proper road bike and mountain bike are more fun

Unless your rides are 40% road and 60% off road (which mine all are). I just use the type of bike I like riding and get on with it. Way too much overthinking going on these days as unless you are racing what difference does a few minutes make from not being on the best bike for the surface ridden on.

I run two wheelsets with 1x10. Works fine for road and off road. But I also have five other road bikes for more serious road riding and racing. But it does work.

38T and 12-32 off road and 11-25 on road

Way too much overthinking going on these days as unless you are racing what difference does a few minutes make from not being on the best bike for the surface ridden on.

This. I might be in the minority, but to me just because one bike is faster than the other that doesn't automatically mean it's more fun. To be honest I don't understand why it is more fun to do the same distance in let's say 5 less minutes.

Yeah, a road bike is faster than my gravel bike. But for example with my gravel bike I don't have to pay as much attention to potholes/cracks/etc in the road because of the bigger tyres, it's more stable and confidence inspiring, the position is more comfortable, and the ride is less jarring. For winter riding there is room for fenders and bigger tyres so I can stay dry and have actual grip. To me just these properties make the gravel bike more enjoyable even on pavement.

Yeah, riding pavement on a DH bike is torture, and riding rocky singletrack on a road bike is torture, but we are not talking about extremes like these.

IMO 1x starts at a 10-42. That kind of range can work, if you're not sensitive to bigger jumps in the gearing, or if you're not trying to ride pavement and then climb singletrack on the same ride. But I don't know about an out of the box 2x drop bar solution for the latter.

With spare wheels do you also change the cassette or buy 2 cassettes?

If you buy 2 casettes then they wear differently and that messes the chain up for the drive train.

Changing a tyre with a tube is a 5 minute job. Spend the extra money on a quality set of road wheels and build up some strength in your thumbs.

As above 1x on the road doesn't work.

Will you be riding on your own or in a group? If in a group buy 2 bikes. On your own? Who cares if you are slow as long as you are happy.

I might be in the minority, but to me just because one bike is faster that the other that doesn’t automatically mean it’s more fun.

True but I want my slicked up gravel bike to allow me to keep up on group road rides.

I'm a bit old fashioned, but for me, my trusty old Crosslight 5TDisc with knobblies on the standard wheelset and a set of cheapish Shimano factory wheels with a set of 4 seasons on covers all my drop bar needs from long road epics to multi day bimbling and everything in between.

On that basis, I'd be surprised if you couldn't find one bike of the current crop that would satisfy road and gravel unless you're very much more serious about Road than I am!

First time I have seen that Ribble. Its actually rather nice and good to see a proper gravel option with double chainset at least as an option. I think that's now added to my maybe list.

With spare wheels do you also change the cassette or buy 2 cassettes?

I swap the cassette. Seriously, how long do folk think this takes?

I'd be a bit concerned about 1x for faster group road rides if you do them but if not I'd go for it.
I run 2 sets of wheels (32c road and 38c CX tyres) on mine and it's great. Takes no time to change and makes for a very versatile setup.

With spare wheels do you also change the cassette or buy 2 cassettes?

If you buy 2 casettes then they wear differently and that messes the chain up for the drive train.

been running 2 wheelsets for a few years now - I much prefer riding gravel but sometimes ride with people that don't or enter some road challenge event

as said doesn't take long to swop a cassette (usually) never had a problem with two cassettes but do use a chain checker on a regular basis in the belief it reduces possible problems with unbalanced cassette wear

not run 1x but do have 1x10 on my gym/shopping bike and not sure if could ride all day with 1x

not so sure on Ali' frames - used to feel like been beaten up my pro6 - though partly geometry - carbon bish bash bosh floats along

I think I would struggle with 1x , so 2x is a requirement for me....as is a threaded bottom bracket...although I do ,fairly regularly ,lust after the Orbea Terra...

True but I want my slicked up gravel bike to allow me to keep up on group road rides.

It would, but as I meantioned above the very nature of a gravel bike means its not designed for the same speed-finding abilities as some dedicated road bikes. You might need a little more effort than your colleague on an Scott Foil for example. Then again, you may be fitter and stronger and may not.

Go for it. Unless you're racing or riding in fast club rides where you really need every help you can get to keep up, or you want to ride steep, rocky mtb trails quickly.

I've got 2 "do everything" road/gravel bikes. A Singular Peregrine, 1x10, disc brakes, 2 sets of wheels, clearance for 2" knobblies. Commuted for years on it, long road rides (some quickish, most not), bike packing, cx racing, ridden it like a mountain bike on trails you wouldn't call gravel. Does the lot marvelously. Not whippety light, though: 2kg frame and 1kg forks. the rest can be as light as your pockets allow.

Other one is a bike that was supposed to be a bit more "disposable" for leaving locked up at the station. 1987 Raleigh Randonneur that I was given the F&F free, rest was cheap, ebay, parts bin. rim brakes, 33c tyres, 1x8 (125 spacing, so 8 sprockets of a 9 speed block) Amazing on road, unbelievably smooth. perfect for very long rides, but that's what it was built for. done plenty of off road riding on it, trying to find the limits of the 33c slicks, which are surprisingly far high! Flip side of the magic carpet ride on road, is that the forks aren't that confidence inspiring if you're trying to ride hard off road - it definitely feels like there's a speed limit if it's rough.

I tried a 3T Exploro last summer. Gert lush. I liked it a dangerous amount for a bike that's waaaay more than I'd want to spend. That'd do lovely for a 1 bike for all. Happily it's very ugly indeed. The Open UP and Upper, though...

I tried a 3T Exploro last summer. Gert lush. I liked it a dangerous amount for a bike that’s waaaay more than I’d want to spend. That’d do lovely for a 1 bike for all. Happily it’s very ugly indeed. The Open UP and Upper, though…

Theres some demo ones on the distributers site for sale and a a frameset and wheels.

But if its one bike you want its very very good apart from some foibles/features.

I had my Genesis CDF set up with 43mm Gravelking SKs for a while, and 30mm WTB Exposures after that. The latter were perfect onroad but uncomfortable on anything mildly rough offroad, the former were brilliant offroad but noticeably slower on. Nothing surprising...

I'm now running 38mm Gravelking slicks and they are a perfect compromise. They're ridiculously light for their size so fly on the road, but I tend to be careful offroad on rockier stuff and the 43mm SKs were noticeably better still there. And they don't grip mud of course

Point being I reckon it's definitely worth swapping wheels if you can be bothered to, but I reckon one bike is definitely enough.

See to me Rocketdog thats a drop barred mtb. Dont get me wrong it looks like shit load of fun but its not a road/offroad bike. Its too focussed to me a gravel bike is a bike of compromise that can do all sorts…obviously opinions differ though.

I don't disagree, but when I put the other wheels in with 42mm resolutes on it becomes a much better handling "gravel" bike on the singletrack stuff I ride than my checkpoint is.

to the OP. Cotic's escapade seems a good all rounder with the benefit of a bit of steel compliance built in.

I have separate wheels with separate cassettes. I don’t bother swapping cassette or tyre so wheel changes are trivial. Of course I have a few other wheelsets, but as AA says, keeping up with a modest club ride is ok, but a medium fast 20 mph average will be spinny!

Theres some demo ones on the distributers site for sale and a a frameset and wheels.

3T or Open?

Do those with gravel bikes and slick tyres find it much slower than a dedicated road bike?

@hooli

A lot depends on the tyre. They're slower for sure, but with a good quality tyre they're not as much slower as people would think. For 90% of people that are not actually racing they're perfectly fine and the big tyres have a few other advantages.

Do those with gravel bikes and slick tyres find it much slower than a dedicated road bike?

Not at all.

I've got a Mason Bokeh that I run with either 28mm slick tyres, 42mm knobblies or 47mm 650b's. I was on a club ride on Saturday and the 650b's were on the bike, didn't have any problems keeping up with everyone when the speed picked up. Possibly a bit more effort than it would be on the 28's but that's about it. I've never had problems keeping up that are due to the bike, only due to the rider.

Do you run a double on that Bokeh notmyrealname? Agree with you and others about the wheels not being a big deal for normal sort of club runs, but a single would do my head in for that type of riding. High cadences are an effort for me, though - I know some folk can sit at 100rpm all day and kick it up from there.

I run Gravel King SK 38mm and 34/50 chainset, 11-36t cassette.

I find it fine for everything and just adjust tyre pressure.

I'm not a fan of two wheel sets. I've got 2 young children, just want to pick a bike up and get out the house ASAP when i get chance for a ride!

Do those with gravel bikes and slick tyres find it much slower than a dedicated road bike?

A bit more effort, not as aero. OK for shorter rides but it all adds up on longer days.

^^^This.

Especially on your own. You'll notice a significant drop in max speed as a result of the aero drag if running larger tyres and a larger frame. They also tend to be heavier bikes as they're CEN tested to to MTB standards, not road bike standards, so coupled with heavier tyres - it can fatigue you a little more.

Seems to tank along nicely on 28 Pirelli's. Then again I don't race and not a Strava W****r*.

The "fatigue" factor is an interesting conundrum. An all-out road bike will be less tiring to propel with its lighter weight and arse-up, head-down position but, at some point, a more relaxed riding position and bigger tyres will give increased comfort, allowing you to go further/faster. The cut-off point will vary bike, route, surface and rider.

The forks on the Rondo are genius

Was out with a couple of mates on a road ride on Saturday. Was on gravel bike with 35mm Gravelking SKs - definitely harder work than the road bike and ended up sitting in a lot more than usual. Was much more comfortable on the crap roads though and the disc brakes much better than rim brakes.
I do have some spare wheels which I'm going to "slick up" and will see what the difference is.

Do those with gravel bikes and slick tyres find it much slower than a dedicated road bike?

No idea, as I don't have a dedicated road bike.

My Pickenflick with 28 slicks would average 25-28ish kmh on a purely tarmac ride of 2-4 hours around these parts. The same bike with 42 Continental knobbly tyres around 23-25ish kmh for the same kind of ride. Bit more weight, bit more aero drag, bit more rolling resistance. Adds up to a bit overall.

But the number of times I choose to do a purely road ride per year I can count on the fingers of one hand, so it's not really an issue for me and the kind of riding I do, which is much more mixed surface.

I wouldn't buy a pure road bike now as the difference, for the riding I do, isn't significant enough. However, I still have a carbon Cube and it's definitely quicker on the few occasions I dig it out.

This has been in interesting thread actually (for me at least).

I the space of 48 hours I talked myself into and then out of the "One Bike to rule them all" concept..

I rode the Gravel bike in to work this morning along a mixed on/offroad route and yep it's versatility is a real benefit and while it's fine on the road it's not a bike I'd really want to plod along on roads for hours on end, its relatively draggy compared to the road bike and you're always looking for a cheeky track or something to take it off and get muddy...

I don't think Aero is a big factor between the two (for me at least) but semi-slick/fatter tyre drag on tarmac might be, Hence I was mulling over a 2 wheelset bike... But a "Proper" road bike on the road is just a wee bit "better" in my opinion it's that shade lighter, more efficieint (for the surface) and generally being able to eek out a couple of extra mph for abou the same effort makes road rides solo or in groups a bit more enjoyable...

Plus who am I kidding, I'm not going to change the wheels every other ride am I?
Grab and go is always going to be the prefered option...

One thing that I'm still interested in though is the idea of a 1x road drivetrain (I started a thread on that a couple of weeks ago) I'm a spinner not a bulging thighed, Watt mountain. So I might just cobble such a monstrosity together to try the idea this spring before deciding about investing in a new 2x11 setup...

I love 1x, never getting a 2x bike again. With a proper setup you don't miss anything. running 40t chainring and 42 cassette for CX duties, has plenty of gusto for the flat / road, and a better than 1:1 ratio for the ups. Not found anything I can't climb on the South Downs yet...

I'm firmly in the camp of don't buy a road bike though. Don't know why anyone would restrict themselves to just a tarmac network just to go 1mph quicker.

With a tyre like the WTB Byway or the GravelKing SK, we really do live in a do it all world.

nedrapier
...Other one is a bike that was supposed to be a bit more “disposable” for leaving locked up at the station. 1987 Raleigh Randonneur that I was given...

...Flip side of the magic carpet ride on road, is that the forks aren’t that confidence inspiring if you’re trying to ride hard off road – it definitely feels like there’s a speed limit if it’s rough...

On the classic lightweights you'll often find a plug of wood (usually ash) up the bottom of the steerer tube. We used to do it to get that few seconds of grace if the steerer fractured. You may find it improves the feel of the fork.

A bike that didn't need that done was the Rudges because the lower part of their steerers was reinforced - which is why I posted the pic of the Pathfinder - it was a proper gravel bike in its day. You'll also find the same fork on some later Triumphs, but their frames were not built with 531, so not in the same league.

With a tyre like the WTB Byway or the GravelKing SK, we really do live in a do it all world.

resolutes are better though

Do those with gravel bikes and slick tyres find it much slower than a dedicated road bike?

My Diverge with 32mmm slicks is slower than my defy with 28mm slicks. I think the main difference is position though Diverge is shorter so I'm more upright. Weights are similar, climbing is about the same, decending the diverge is quicker but on fast flat sections I finder it harder to keep up on group rides on the Diverge.

On the classic lightweights you’ll often find a plug of wood (usually ash) up the bottom of the steerer tube. We used to do it to get that few seconds of grace if the steerer fractured. You may find it improves the feel of the fork.

I think you've mentioned this to me before. I'll keep my eye open for an ash broomstick!

3T or Open?

£T