Originally Posted by
dwmckee
You can definitely go to a 36 tooth cassette in the rear with no issues (your current chain likely will cover that extra small amount. of reach) and that will give you about the same lowest gear as going down 2 teeth on the front. You cannot just go to a smaller inner front ring without likely affecting shifting performance since GRX 400 front derailleurs are designed to shift a 16 tooth difference between large and small ring. You may be able to switch to a smaller 2x MTB crank and derailleur matched to that crank, but I am thinking that is more than you want to do.
On the streets 11-34t is a breeze, it's just for these steep mountain fire roads I'm climbing where I feel I could go one more gear lower. Do you think 11-36t would affect my big front gear though? Not that I ever ride the 46t front with the 34t rear, since it's better just to drop to the small chainring, I just want to keep the bike riding smooth while gaining slightly better climbing. Thanks for the help so far!