You might find some good considerations in this topic:
Spesh Crux seems worth a mention right off the bat.
Open UP(PER). I have mine spec’d with Di2 Ultegra 12 speed 50/34 in front, 11/34 in back on gravel wheels, 11/30 on road wheels.
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Ugh I had two tabs open and thought this was that one
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I couldnt race road with a 48/11 as the largest gear. I struggle enough with 50/11, and 10ts are dumb.
I’ve seen 52/36 or 50/34 work with an 11-40 long cage before?
No pressure one way or the other, but I can move these recent posts from you and replies into that “Racing Gravel Bike” topic if you’d like.
Great question and one I was thinking about for months. I sold my crit bike, cx bike, and wanted one to do it all. I looked at the Ribblle CGR SL - but it was out of stock for a long time in my size and wit the rival etap. Couldn’t get an Aspero either in my size. I went with the Exploro RaceMax and updated the crank to the 48/31. I’ve raced six or crits with it in Colorado cat 4 and I’ll tell you the bike has not set me back at all. I’ve been in a few breaks with that gearing and been fine. I have it setup pretty aggressive. The only downside is I feel it doesn’t quite have the snap I want and it’s not exactly light. I raced Littleton Twilight with it, averaged 27-28 mph with that gearing.
Gravel wise, it’s been fun. Fast. Just a bit limiting on tire clearance.
Having said all of that, I’m buying the Ventum NS1 frame on clearance right now and building up a road bike because I do miss having a light and nimble racer.
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Yes that would be helpful chad!
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Looked at the racemax but - a you note as well - hesus it’s pig heavy compared to a lot of other frames!
Merged. 
Any thoughts on best gravel race frames that will accommodate >44mm tire and has mounts for a rear rack? Use my gravel/CX bike to commute with, so getting lots of use out of it, currently have a 2021 Norco Search XR A1 GRX 600 2x mix (42c limit, heavy alloy frame).
Currently, am aware of the Checkpoint SL, Argon Dark Matter, Diverge (rack mounts in seat collar?) and On-One Free Ranger. Would probably go for the Apex Mechanical 12 speed, 38 CR and 11-44 cassette. Am I missing anything… rack mounts on carbon frames seem to be a rarity but the commute is on paved roads, rip the rack and panniers off when riding off road. Under 2kg for frame and fork seems like a reasonable goal. Would like <9kg build, which seems reasonable as the Checkpoint SL 6 AXS with Rival is 9.05kg with an 1800g wheelset, steel railed saddle and alloy bars.
You could have a look at Tailfin, they offer a great rack that uses the rear T-axle, so it could open up more options
For example you could consider the Crux
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I love my Tailfin and it is super-quick on/off. But this is a lot cheaper and probably at least as good for commuting: ORTLIEB | Quick Rack
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Canyon
We all assume it’s the new grizl or grail. But when does it officially release?
Yeah, the new Grail
Not sure if you’ve made a decision yet but I swapped from a Checkpoint SL6 eTap with Aelous Pro 3V wheels to a Crux Expert in February and it’s night and day. Added some wider tires and a carbon bar with a little more flair and can confidently say it gets up and goes!! It might be a little less planted downhill but for the mostly flat Texas gravel I ride that’s not a huge concern, and the bigger tires help a lot.
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I sold my 3T Exploro RaceMax and the hunt is on for me. I really wanted to love that bike - it’s so damn fast and does mostly what I want: minus running 42s with 700s. No more one bike to do it all since I’m building up a Ventum NS1.
Budget isn’t super high and will probably be used. Right now I’m looking at the previous gen Giant Revolt (can do 45s) unless I come across the new Revolt. Just looking for something I can setup a little bit aggressive but run the larger tires for a few races out here in CO that would benefit from 42s. I have light carbon wheels, so would dump whatever heavy stock wheels come with it.
You could pick up a used aspero cheap i bet
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Someone did have an Aspero 2x GRX for sale locally for $1,800 but wasn’t 100% in love with it. Can it run 42s easily?