Curious how the stack/reach of your gravel rigs compare to your road bikes, and stem length/saddle setback as well?
I’m 188cm tall and ride a 56cm Tarmac SL6 with a 130mm stem in a fairly forward aggressive position as my every day indoor and outdoor bike. It’s very comfortable for everything from zwift races to 6+ hr road/gravel rides on gravel king 28s.
Obviously bigger tires are the main difference in terms of comfort, so curious if those of you that race gravel competitively mirror your road setup or go for an upright position.
My next bike will be primarily for racing and fast training rides. No bike packing or recreational trail riding whatsoever. Looking at gravel rigs I’m assuming I will still be sizing down to keep a similar position with a bit more stack and probably run a slightly shorter stem for a touch less reach. Based on all the geometry charts I’ve looked at so far.
Loving my Exploro with DT Swiss GRC wheels, tubeless of course, & SRAM 11-42 cassette. Not planning on bike packing, though maybe a hut to hut. Long rides, short rides to get out of the house, races… It rolls great on the roads, too.
Minor detail: changed out the handlebar light in the first pic. The (green) Light & Motion was great, until temps dropped below about 6 C/42 F and then life was 20-30min, no matter what. Changed to a Bontrager ION 800, that is controlled by the Garmin (ie turns on automatically). In -5 C (coldest it’s been this season), it lasts 80min+. Helmet light is a Lupine Piko, which gives an 1+hr at high (1900 lumens) output and longer at med output.
[Quick edit: the ION 800 lasts well over 80 minutes in very cold weather… I originally wrote “at least 60min” but that’s a disservice to the light. I have no experience with it in “normal” temps.]
Thank you! Unbelievably it’s a Medium, which seems about equivalent to a 56 - this seems to be pretty different to other Orbea sizing. I rode a demo bike in M and while it wasn’t perfect I knew with some tweaking I could get it right. I was really torn about whether to go for a Large, but if it’s too big, it’s too big. If a Medium came up a little small there’s jiggery-pokery to be done with layback saddles and stems to make it fit. I’d recommend trying to get a go on one if possible. I am a bit odd in that I have long legs in comparison to my height and torso.
I ordered mine today, m30d with 2x and upgraded wheels to the vision ones. How tall are you? Im 188cm and went with a large. Have to wait til April now which isn’t great!
Yes, I have the Aspero GRX Disc. I did not want fenders, a lot of mounts for bike packing and will use it for events like DK, Rasputitsa and Paris to Ancaster. Not sure whether I will upgrade the wheelset from the EA 70AX to something like Enve G23 or the new Flo gravel wheels. Will run the stock set up this spring. May get a carbon wheelset that will run narrower 28-32 mm tires on mixed surface events or for fire road gravel and keep the Easton alloy wheels for chunkier gravel. One odd thing is that the crankset is Easton rather than GRX. With 47/32 up front and 11-34 cassette there are lots of gearing options. One snag I have hit is finding a PM option without getting an Easton Cinch. Otherwise, love the bike
My 2 cents on 1x. I have a bike I set up w/ 1x mostly for around town and greenway riding when I just want to do a recovery ride or something easy…basically a day off training and it is fine for that. Yes it is a bit quieter and that’s a plus when you are going easy. Other than that I would never set up a gravel build with a 1x and this is why. Gravel biking is tougher than road biking as is mountain biking mile for mile (not going to debate this fact). The rougher/uneven surfaces and usually heavier bike weight make it that way. A 1x drivetrain severely limits your in between gears and on mild climbs it’s more difficult to find the right gear. You can put a pretty large cassette on the back to make the tough climbs more manageable but again you limit yourself. I have seen handfuls of people on gravel rides walking up tough climbs because they didn’t have enough gearing. The slightly quiter and slightly less fiddling (no front mech) just isn’t worth it imo. I can almost guarantee you’ll be happier on gravel rides with a 2x upfront especially if it’s more than a few hrs.
I do. GRX build. It’s fast. It’s not meant for bikepacking. I don’t like the gears they come specd with so I put an 11-40 XT cassette on the rear and it loosens everything up a bit. I live in NorCal and we have climbs, lots of em.
The Donnelley tires the cone with I don’t like and took them off for some Maxxis Rambler 40c. They’re almost a pound lighter so it makes the bike feel a bit livelier. The Donnelley’s are heavy and sluggish and take a bit to maneuver. YMMV.
Other than that it’s an awesome bike. Feels and handles like a road bike with big tires.
Agreed. 1x works on MTB because the speeds are slower vs. gravel, and hence the power jumps between gears are smaller than the power jumps with 1x on gravel. 1x on gravel would only work if you are a very strong rider.
I thought this too when I researched a gravel bike (see my post above). I ended up with a 1x bike with the intention of changing to 2x. But I have to say, for me, and where/how I ride this bike, I have come to really like 1x. Yes, once you are above 25-30 mph on a road downhill I run out of gears, and on the steepest climbs, something lower than a 40-42 low gear would be great. But for rolling and flat gravel, I like the ease of 1x and don’t mind the gaps as I thought I would. Sometimes they are advantages - especially on rolling terrain. Instead of maybe going down 2 cogs and/or debating front shifts, I hit it once and the gap gives me what I need. Unexpected, but I like it.
I am talking on my 80%+ gravel bike. For something that sees lots of road time, no question 2x is better.
Im pretty sure I am going to by a Aspero. I thought the same thing about the power meter, might have to swap cranks and do grx stages or run a quarq crank.
I have a feeling i’d do the same. i tested a bike the other day that had a 1x and i couldn’t get my preferred cadence. granted i can probably adjust over time i think i’ll go for a 2x for now.
Same here! Amazing paint color and 650b set up stock. I ended up with a Felt Breed for a few reasons, which had many of the same features at a lower price. But that Aspero paint though…
Also, the grx 3t Exploro is really up there too with a beautiful different shade of blue.
That sounds about right, I’m 182cm, I had my first ride on it today after recovering from a cold, it’s a lovely bike. Hope the wait until April passes quickly!
I race mainly MTB but 70% of my outdoor riding is on my beloved gravel bike. Though the gravel portion varies from 20 to 80% on my rides. Got rid of my road bike after two near hits from behind on open wide roads.
I have three wheelsets: 1) 38mm tires for gravel riding, 2) 32mm for family vacations (there I usually ride mainly on roads, depends on where we go. Roads in Italy can be pretty bad), 28mm for the few road races I do (mainly Gran Fondos in Italy, these are extremely competitive. There is a real culture around these).
For me only 2x. No way 1x, I don’t even like it on my MTB.
Pretty certain I’m going with a TCX. The geo is close to my CAAD12, just a little bit slacker and longer. And the huge tire clearance is a bonus. Not sure how I feel about 1x but can always convert to an xd driver and run a 44 or 46t. Should be plenty of range for just about anything.
