That is totally sweet!
nice bike! nice paint job, too.
Beauty!
Lovely looking machine but you REALLY need to take the sticker off the rear mech… 
Mike
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Love the paint job. How much did it cost if you don’t mind me asking?
I have the opportunity to buy a 2017 GT Grade Carbon 105 for around $1,000 and this post came up after a search for that bike name. I see you had one once upon a time. I’m thinking of buying this for my 1st dabble into gravel. My only hangup is the max tire size of 35mm. Should I be concerned with that amount of tire clearance? I have friends that ride gravel that think that will prob be good for about 98% most people do.
Your thoughts of this bike for 1st gravel bike?
I just had one built. Almost done building it up but it is going to be the sweetest bike I’ve ever had. All Enve built with Easton EC90 SL cranks and Ultegra Di2. I’ll post a pic on here when it’s all done.
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I took my first foray into CX racing last year and used my GT Grade Carbon Ultegra. I ran a tubeless 33mm tyre set up in pretty muddy conditions with no major issues, so I think you’ll be fine for gravel racing. There’s a GT Grade group on FB that has loads of useful info and feedback.
Thanks for the feedback and the FB page recommendation! I went ahead and bought the bike yesterday!
2020 Trek Domane takes up to 38 mm tires. Should suffice for most gravel races.
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Yeah, the new model is very surprising and makes me wonder about the direction with the Checkpoint.
There are still key differences between them. CP is still better for max tire size, more mounting options, adjustable rear dropout, and probably others I am missing. However, the CP lacks the Front IsoSpeed. If they have seen enough growth with the CP, I suspect we will see a new SLR version that is a blend between the new Domane tech and the CP feature set.
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That’s as good as the Boone!
Mike
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Super jealous, can’t wait to see a pic
How does that tire clearance compare to the 2020 Roubaix, anybody know?
33mm max.
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That’s about all I can squeeze in my 2019 Roubaix, but I thought maybe that had been increased for 2020. Looking more and more like a 2020/21 Diverge for me…
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Yeah, the pretty much kept the new Roubaix “endurance-race” focused (tire size and geo settings to match) since they have the Diverge for “all-road” use.
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First of all – that bike is GREAT. I loved mine and would still have it if it didn’t meet an untimely end in a car crash.
Second – 35mm is plenty for me, and I’ve never ridden tires wider than that on gravel even though my current gravel bike has clearance for 42mm. However, I ride/race on Michigan and Illinois gravel predominantly – which means that I’m basically on dirt roads with loose stones on the top. For this type of gravel, 35mm is perfect. In fact my last gravel race I rode 30mm gravel tires because it was 60% pavement / 40% gravel.
But…I’ve heard that Kansas and Iowa gravel is more “slushy” in that it’s deeper and the rocks are the predominant surface you ride on, and I would think you’d want more than 35s for that. But, honestly, I’ve never ridden Kanza, etc.
So I definitely recommend the bike – but the tire clearance question depends on your flavor of gravel.
Good luck!
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Thanks @batwood14! I bought the bike on Wednesday and will likely give it gravel trial tomorrow. Sounds like my gravel needs will be similar to yours (not planning to ride when it’s muddy if I can help it). After a little research on the FB Grade page, went ahead and ordered some 35mm Teravail Cannonball tires.
Again, I appreciate the feedback.
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