MarcusT

So, getting into the gravel bike craze, I've decided to convert my never used road bike into a gravel bike. After much research and inner debate the big choices needed to be made.
Looking long and hard at numerous videos, I've narrowed my choices of what is required for this transformation.
I found a pair or tires that have written "GravelKing".
And...voila, I have a gravel bike.
Am I missing anything?
Let me know

katsup

You forgot to add an extra 1-2lb of extra weight to the bike,

leob1

So your riding a bike that has not been properly advertised as a 'gravel bike'?
Your living dangerously my friend.

ThermionicScott 

Have you removed one of the chainrings yet?

Leebo

Gravel shoes?

base2 

The Panaracer Gravelking's I've noticed are quite popular around here among bikeshop employees & people that work at the local co-op. Among people that can have any tire in the world for daily use, that speaks volumes. IMO: The sidewalls are thin & the tread area is on par with Vittoria Open Corsa III's (Compass makes an equivalent for much, much, more money) & I really have a difficult time reconciling these two truths with eachother.

My guess is the lower pressure & extra volume makes cuts much less likely...& I need to just accept that people who work with these things know best.

Other than that: Clearance between the any place on the frame & the tire ought to be at least 4mm. Frame flex & dirt/mud/snow accumulation being the biggest reasons.

Gears: Gravel bikes often has lower gears than a roadbike (smaller chainrings in front &/or larger cogs in back) This may limit your top end speed on the road.

Geometry: Gravel bikes often have slacker headtube angles & more trail than road bikes. Often longer wheel bases, in particular longer chain stays. But there's nothing particularly special about that. It just helps you track straighter over rougher terrain.

Yeah, a second wheelset with a larger cassette & maybe a derailleur that will accommodate the road/gravel wheel swap ought to have you well on your way.

I run full Ultegra & swap between road with an 11-28 cassette & 700x23c road tires & gravel with 11-32 cassette & 700x35 tires just fine. All it takes is a turn on the barrel adjustor for the rear & a re-center of the pads in the TRP Spyre brake caliper on the front.

Depending on what you have & what your goals are, it *may* not be this easy. For example: If I were to go out to my parts box & install an 11-40 cassette on the gravel wheel,
A) I would need a spacer behind the cassette. To fit the XT/XTR cassette to a road freehub body.
B) A derailleur swap (and Jtek shiftmate 8/TanPan or equivalent) would be necessary to convert the pull of the road shifters to the proper pull of a mountain derailleur. For example: Ultegra 6800 shifters & a longcage Ultegra derailleur will not accomodate a 40 or 42 tooth cog no matter how much I/we wish it were so.
C) The XTR derailleur would shift like garbage with out a B-screw adjustment on the road wheels because the upper jockey wheel resides so far away from the smaller road cassette...Again, The system would work, but adjustments beyond a simple barrel adjust with every wheel swap would quickly prove tedious & problematic...At least it was for me.

For a long time I just ran the above configuration with the wide range 11-40 on the road but the wide gap between shifts got irritating. You may find it so as well. I suggest keeping groupsets "in family" for simplicity & ease, but options certainly exist & tires are a large portion of a conversion.

subgrade

By now the gravel bike style has branched out quite a lot; at one end of the spectrum is basically what you describe - endurance geometry road bikes with a slightly larger tire clearance and a couple more mounts, at the other - drop bar rigid mountain bikes. Although the 'rigid' part is not necessarily true anymore, quite a few mfrs offer some sort of suspension, and Niner even has a *gasp* full suspension gravel bike.

I tend to look at them as hybrids that are considered cool by "serious" cyclists, because unlike the "Fred machines" they have drop bars. And also cost a few times more, as all trendy things do.

All that said, I'm not opposed to the thought of owning one

Steve B.

Basically, if the tire fits.......

HerrKaLeun

not sure yet if the OP is trolling or not....

What the industry calls gravel bikes are road bike type bikes with drop bar and a little wider tire clearance and possibly some lower gearing. But a hardtail, hybrid or any other flatbar bike also can be a gravel bike. Define gravel...
My flatbar Giant Toughroad is a more formidable gravel bike with 2.15" front tire compared to the 40mm gravel bikes.

tyrion

You need dirt drop handlebars too, otherwise it's not a true gravel bike. 12° flair minimum.

canklecat

Needs a sloping top tube to allow generous clearance for the gravel bike beer belly.

Mustache bars so the brake levers can be mounted in the worst possible angle. You won't need brakes anyway. By the time you need brakes on gravel it's too late.

And invest in plenty of chains. Or wax, a crock pot, and set aside plenty of time to argue about the merits of wax over oil for gravel and dirt.

canklecat

Well, okay. Twelve is the minimum, okay?

Now, you know it's up to you whether or not you want to just do the bare minimum. Or... well, like Brian, for example, has 37 degrees of flair, okay. And a terrific mustache bar.


Gravel biking is all about expressing yourself.

tyrion

Flair is important in many sports.

katsup

Ultegra RX800 with a 42T cassette. There was still a little bit left with the stock B screw.

tyrion

Warranty violation!

ThermionicScott 

Oh yeah! MarcusT , we'll need to see pictures of your cassette, to judge whether it's big enough to be called "gravel."

MarcusT

Looks like I missed a few things. Now, I don't know if I will ever have gravel bike
The bike did come with a triple crank, does that count?
But, I am more worried about appearance.
Do I need to grow a beard?
Do I need to tear the sleeves off my flannel shirts?
Sandals? I've never ridden in sandals. Is it hard?
Maybe I'll just call it a cyclo X bike. Seems less complicated

mstateglfr 

oh- this is all just a joke. gotcha. good one.***

unterhausen

I think you have the uniform all wrong. Beard,flannel shirts and some kind of non-cycling specific shorts are for mountain bikers. Gravel is usually much more like road, unless you are a mountain biker slumming. My first year of gravel, I put 30mm tires on my road bike. Then I got bigger tires (still nominally 30mm) and put them on my touring bike. Finally, I got a gravel-specific frame that would take 40mm tires. That was a big improvement. I didn't have a mountain bike at the beginning of this saga, that came later. Probably could have just used that if I had it at the time. I would get rid of my road bike before I got rid of my gravel bike.

One thing about flannel shirts is you can get them at goodwill. Mountain biking in expensive cycling-specific clothing around here is a bad idea, because it will get torn on the trails. I have a rip in one of my nice wool jerseys from before I learned this lesson. The rest of the mtb uniform is so they can go to a bar after the ride.

MarcusT

I am glad that some people have a sense of humour. Sometimes people do not even look or understand the emojis.
So the difference between cyclo cross and gravel is clothing?

mstateglfr 

No emoji, so apparently this isnt a joke and you are serious. Super.

tyrion

Triple cranks are only for very advanced gravel bike riders. Beginners should start with a 1x system.

ThermionicScott 

Cyclocross is a kind of racing. That's a whole other ball of wax.

zjrog

So, um, no "speed suits" for gravel? How tall or short of socks is proper? I hate sandals...

Hmm, my recently acquired hydrid with suspension fork MIGHT work... I can fit the 700x54 off my 29er on the front, but just a 700x40 in the rear (unless I dimple the chain stays for 700x45, or maybe 650bx45?)...

Maybe I'll just pretend to be advanced and keep the 3x8 for now...

base2 

Um, yeah. I see where this thread is going. Basically I'm a dum-bass for thinking anyone would ask any questions about the difference in the latest trendy trend.

I did learn The new R800 will do a ginormous cassette. Cool.

But, ok. It's all tires. Fat, fat tires. Truck tires, if they'll fit. 205 75 R 18's if you got 'em.