I say get the wheel set! No need to get a road bike unless you’re trying to go full on roadie, have the spare money or are just trying to add a bike to the mix.
Plus if you happen to be a cross racer there’s nothing better than putting on your miles on the cross bike to get really in tune with it. At least that’s how I did it
P.S: if you go for the road bike I’d get the Roubaix unless you’re trying to race it. More comfortable for the longer rides.
I too have had a GRoad bike for the past two years and am switching between a 40t oval and 46t chainring with the 10-44 xplr casette. Spacing is better for road but sometimes on steep loose stuff I wish I had an even smaller gear. If I could go back, I‘d go 2x either Shimano GRX 48/31 or SRAM 46/33. 1x is okay I guess if you’re not cadence sensitive. I personally couldn’t ride a 10-52 on the road or else I‘d loose my mind with the cadence jumps
Right now I feel my bottleneck on the road is more me than the Crux. So I’ve settled on this plan: buy a nice second wheelset (likely Rapides) with road tires and shim the rotors if needed for easy swapping. Keep training and when the Crux finally becomes my bottleneck on group rides / races, look at building up a road bike and use that road wheelset.
For gearing, I have the Force 1x with 40 chainring and 10-44 cassette. I do want more on the upper end so strongly considering the GRX 2x Di2 when it comes out. Gear ratios if curious:
I think it’s less about the high and low ends but more the middle of the casettes and how the gaps are. Xplr is *edit 10,11,13,15,17 … 11-34 11spd shimano is closer spaced if memory serves me right.
I wish Campy went wireless on their Ekar instead of releasing whatever they did with their road group. I‘d imagine they‘d be really popular with 13spd 1x wireless.
I’ve had great success running a 2x setup on gravel; I know 1x is trendy, but I’ve had no issues with chain retention or shifting with 2x AXS, and of course this setup works better on the road. YMMV but I find 2x on gravel yields fewer compromises than 1x on road, so my do-it-all bike is 2x.
Yeah, I agree. Sometimes I wish I went 2x. But I‘m sticking with what I have now. I have a 10-33 RED casette that I sometimes use for flat rides. I think the range Sram and GRX offers on their 2x is perfect for 95% of people riding Road.
I have a checkpoint (GRX 2x) with 2 identical wheel sets (DT GR1600) with same 11-34 cassette, same rotors (still had to shim one) so I can swap between them instantly with no mechanical adjustments. Pirelli 45c gravel tires on one and Pirelli 32 or 35c on the road set. Works great and good enough solution for me.
Yep, it’s all about trade offs and priorities. The gear jumps used to bug me on 1x, but after racing/riding on it a bit I don’t even notice anymore and I run a 10/52 on pretty much all terrain (road, gravel, MTB) these days. My xplr RD and 10-44 cassette are just gathering dust.
I have no science to back it up, but I honestly think becoming less of a cadence diva has made me a stronger rider, especially off road. I still have 2x on my road bike, but it’s sitting on my rollers 360+ days a year in favor of the gravel bike. I never thought I’d be a 1x convert and I still probably wouldn’t do it on a pure road bike, but I’d consider it. I’ll probably never run 2x on gravel again, 1x comes with more tire clearance and is more manageable when things get muddy. Sure, I could easily swap between 1x and 2x with my SRAM AXS setup (and I used to), but I just don’t miss the tighter gearing any more.
For me it just doesn’t make sense to get a tarmac when like ppl have pointed out the crux is like 90% capable. Here is what I do with my crux:
Road mode: reserve 40/44 wheels with GP5000 and xplr cassette and RD with 48T chainring
Gravel race: Zipp 303FC with pathfinder 42 and Eagle cassette and RD 48T chainring
The RD switch is like 5min - 10min max and and wheelset is 2min. For me a few extra minutes of setup is totally worth having one bike that can rip road ride or haul on a gravel race.
I’ve done a road race on this and Unbound 200 and everything in between and it’s been amazing.
Huge fan of the Crux as both my Gravel and road bike. Granted I only do a few “legit” group road rides a year. I have been using a 44 tooth chainring and the XPLR 10-44 cassette on both wheelsets. I use the Roval Terras as my road wheel set with 32mm GP5000 S TRs and running the Reserve GR 40|44 with 42mm pathfinders for most of my dirt road and gravel adventures in Colorado. I think I may move to the Mullet setup so that I can run a bigger chainring though. I can still get close to 40 mph on the flats with this setup.
I should add that if anyone is looking for a SOLID and fast gravel wheelset, the Reserve GR 40|44 are amazing. at 27mm wide internal they are super wide and deep and have been bombproof for me while also being noticeably faster (not to mention much lighter) than the stock Roval Terra C wheels.
I can also vouch for the Reserve 40/44 gravel wheelset. Honestly think they are a bit ahead of the game here….the 27 internal plays well with 32 road and 42 gravel.
I’d love to try 3T Discus 45|40 because its 40mm external, a full 4mm (front) and 6mm (rear wider than the Reserve. And 45mm deep. But the 3T are a little heavy, and no option for DT Swiss.
Those and the Reserve 40|44 GR are the 2 name brand wider aero gravel wheels.
Posted elsewhere, but I have the Discus 45|40 and they’re cool and fun. I run them with road tires on a gravel frame, they look monstrous compared to skinny road wheels/tires but they’re plenty quick. And they’re hooked, so I feel good running them with 32mm road tires.
I got em’ heavily discounted with a bike; not sure I’d pay full retail for them. I also have some LB WG44 rims on DT240 hubs, which are ~200g lighter than the Discus, similar dimensions, and cost half the Discus list price. I’ve raced these on some very gnarly terrain and they’ve been great; this is what I’d get if I had to pick one gravel race wheel and was spending my own money.
I think rims of these dimensions (29-30mm internal, 40mm external) with nominal 32mm tires (blow up to ~35-36) are a great and fast option for real-world road/light mixed surface riding. And to make these work you’re gonna need a gravel-ish frame, at least currently. I expect more “endurance road” frames will take a cue from the Fray and new Roadmachine and build in clearance for 40mm tires.
I have been debating upgrades from stock Roval Terra C to something lighter. Was thinking Terra CLX II or maybe getting another pair of Zipp 303 FC (100g heavier but $1k cheaper). I think deep wheels wouldn’t provide any benefit running 47 Pathfinders but I would notice 1600g > 1200 g with CLX (and better hubs).
If you know you know
