Originally Posted by
livedarklions
Don't know what OP means, but I think the thing that I consider least road-bikey about a gravel bike is the gearing as the chainwheel tends to be way too small for my riding style.
I like the way you laid out these options.
My gravel bike has essentially the same gear range as my road bikes. I'm not familiar with gravel bikes that have gearing that can't be modified anyway.
Re, other aspects of this discussion. I have road bikes and have had a "gravel" bike in various forms for well over a decade, before they were called "gravel" bikes. Regardless, for me, although I have a few really nice, genuine road bikes, the gravel bikes, depending on how they were set up, were great road bikes. Yeah, the geometry may be different, but for me, there's so little difference in handling on good pavement, with similar tires, that it matters absolutely none.
Anyway, I'm of the camp that I really can't make any sense of what the OP is looking for. He has a "real" road bike, but he wants another "real" road bike that can take studded tires. If you want winter tires, go all the way and get appreciably wider tires and a frame that can accommodate them as well as the fenders. A gravel bike.