Originally Posted by
grolby
I wouldn’t go that far. Sure it could have a place there. It just depends on your wants and priorities. I’m a cross racer who occasionally dabbles in gravel racing. Both of my cyclocross bikes these days are 1x10. When I decided on a whim this summer to race the Overland, I kept the 42 tooth chainring up front and swapped out the 12-30 cassette for an 11-36. And that actually worked fine. For climbing, I was actually better off than the two previous times I’d done this event with a double, with a 38x25 and then a 38x30 low gear (I do NOT recommend the former, by the way). I wouldn’t climb up on a soap box and declare that 42x11-36 is all anyone should ever want for a mountainous gravel event or even that it would be what I would choose if I were building a bike for gravel from the ground up. I don’t even think a “do-everything” bike is actually really possible anymore these days, or if it is it’s not a good idea. But in that spirit, wouldn’t you expect a do-everything bike to do some things better and some things a bit worse? It turns out my 1x bikes can race cross or they can race gravel. They’re a bit better at the former than the latter. It’s all very conditional, I happen to care more about cyclocross capability and I’m fortunate to be fit enough that 42x36 is an acceptable low gear. But bikes are very individual. It’s hard to categorically rule anything out.
There's no way I could make that gearing work for me. I run a 1x on my Diverge. Started with a 40t front with a 10-42 cassette. Worked ok but I wanted better climbing, went to 36x42 low, then a 36x46, then 34x46 because the cassette was too gappy for more mixed terrain. And now I'm running a 34x42 low. Getting closer to what works best for me at 225 lbs and steepish terrain.
My point about a do it all bike is more about people who need their gravel bikes to be fast on the road but somehow still want it to climb the steep grades off road. I can see why some or most people would want this but I have the luxury of multiple bikes to choose from for different type rides. This allows me to build a bike better suited to a particular environment. Not to say a well rounded bike is bad in any way but a 1x system is a bit limiting if that is what you want.
I'll keep my 2x road bike and 2x hybrid as they work extremely well. But when it comes to riding off pavement I want a 1x drivetrain. The ability to shift quickly under moderate to heavy loads makes it a must have IMHO. I just wish there was an affordable wide range 1x12 groupset for drop bar bikes.