Paul Barnard

I have been kicking around the idea of getting a gravel bike. I have a camp on some acreage over in Mississippi. It is surrounded by Forest Service gravel roads and lightly used county roads. The bike would stay there save for a trip to the Colorado mountains every summer. The camp is pretty secure, but I am slightly concerned about theft since I now live in NOLA. My video cameras have never shown a trespasser though. The club I used to ride with does multi-surface rides there and does paceline stuff on the paved parts. I'd join them on occasion.

I thought about doing it on the cheap with something like this. https://www.adrenalinebikes.com/stor...oductid=205206 It would serve me just fine, but the gearing isn't ideal for me for the Colorado trip. I like the mechanical discs.

This Breezer seems like a pretty good bike for the money, and it's just $300 bucks more. The gearing is slightly better, but it has hydraulic discs https://www.bikecraze.com/Breezer-Ra...vD_BwE&click=4

Today I started looking at Litespeed. I already have a Litespeed and two Lynskey bikes and LOVE titanium. The subject bike comes in at $2700. It has better gearing yet. Not ideal for my bad flat-lander knees, but manageable. https://litespeed.com/collections/ti...32275336691787

If there were a 2X gravel bike with good parts, good gearing and TRP Spyre (dual pistons) mechanical discs, It'd have my attention. Actually $200 would put a Deore 9 speed RD, TRP Spyre brakes and an 11-36 9 speed cassette on the Diamondback.

Talk me into or out of any of the options.

I should add that I don't want a black or a dark gray bike an that I slightly prefer external cable routing.

thehammerdog

you best answer that call.....
😃

Paul Barnard

Yah, I know. Every now and then when I am airing out ideas while sitting on the fence, someone shoves me one way or the other.

thehammerdog

1st question= budget
2nd. lusting...what u like.
3rd. fit, shop support,
4th pull the trigger.
whats the down side...at a given price most things are the same....its like buying sneakers....go with ur gut jonny.

Paul Barnard

Budget up to 3K, but at that price it needs to check lots of boxes.
Lusting, I don't love the graphite, asphalt and black colors that seem pervasive.
I can read the specs and know if it will fit, so fit is easy. I rarely need a shop as I do my own wrenching. That opens up all the online bikes that can be shipped! I'd even build if I could get my gearing where I want it. 20 gear inches on the low end and pushing 100 on the high side. I started a thread in mechanics to see if anyone could help me there.

My biggest hang-up is that the low end gearing on most bikes is not where I want it to be. 30-36 is the lowest I can hope for and that's over 22 gear inches. I ride in Colorado every summer and have found that I like lower than that when I am tired on the steeper sections of long climbs. Few bikes even hit the 30-36 mark.

It looks like what I will have to settle for is the best compromise.

mstateglfr 

Thats quite the range of bike options- $1000-2700.
There are dozens of options within that range.

The DYI solution for the Hannjo is good, and you could probably get away with keeping the current RD on there with an 11-36 cassete, but either way- it would get you close to what you mention wanting.
This is $1500, has GRX 30-36 bailout gearing, mechanical disc brakes, thru axles, carbon fork, fits up to a 44mm tire, and isnt black/gray. https://www.rei.com/product/159859/c...es-adv-22-bike

Me personally- if that really is your budget, I would buy a frame and build it up. A 46/30 crank and an 11-40 cassette has been shown to work with the Ultegra RX RD. Maybe a roadlink is needed or maybe a longer B screw, depending on the bike. But you could get exactly what you want for gearing this way.

Paul Barnard

Thanks. You have given me several things to consider. Can you remember where you read that about the Ultegra?

mstateglfr 

I dont remember where i first read it, i think a road.cc article or a similar web mag. There are youtube examples of it working and posts like this -->https://weightweenies.starbike.com/f...c.php?t=152599

Paul Barnard

I did a little research on this. Here's the GRX long cage being used in a 2x11 set-up. The crank is a 48/31 and the cassette is 11-40. The cassette was swapped out with an 11-34 and the chain length left as it was. It worked fine. On a 46/30 with an 11-40 cassette and a properly sized chain, it shouldn't be an issue at all. I also learned that 11 speed road shifters will work with 11 speed GRX derailleurs.

https://gravelcyclist.com/videos/shi...-xtr-cassette/

I emailed Litespeed to see if they could do a partial build using what they had with me supplying what they don't have and finishing the build.

They would swap the shifters from the GRX Hydraulic to 105 Mech. GRX shifters cost about $50 more at the consumer level. The FD would have to be switched from a 2x10 to a 2x11. That should be a wash on the money. They would then leave off the crankset, cassette, RD and brake calipers. I'd supply those and compressionless brake housing and have what I want. I'd have to spend about $350 on the additional parts to complete the build.

tangerineowl

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/...129310247.html

Not ti, but carbon 3x9 (20gearinches) bits. Internal cables though.

Cheap enough to add a second 700c wheelset, and best mech-brake upgrade.

Do agree with your ti preference though.

Paul Barnard

That's a pretty sweet bike. My inclination is to balk at bar-end shifters, but I may like them if I tried them. Internal cables isn't a huge deal with me. It's certainly nothing I would ever put in the need or must-have category.