Gravel & Monster Cross Custom Bike Shootout!

[droo]

On 11/6/2024 at 8:49 AM, Bub Marley said:

With wider tyre clearance. That’s the key.

 

Honestly, this gravel thing is just too complicated. I’ve come to the realization that the variation in terrain and the term gravel is just far too wide and complex. You are never gonna have the best bike for all surfaces. Whichever route you ride on, you gonna be compromised somewhere. I think I’ve come to the realization now, that unless you are racing and competing right at the front, a rigid bike with smaller tyre clearance is going to be fast but uncomfortable. So for 90% of people, any form of suspension be it in a fork or wider tyres is going to make for a much better ride.

Gravel bikes suck at everything, but they can do anything. It's what makes them fun.

If you ride bikes for fun you probably have a screw loose and an odd relationship with pain (an observation, not a judgement, just to be clear.) So it's worth a try if you have the opportunity,

[Dexter-morgan]

11 hours ago, droo said:

Gravel bikes suck at everything, but they can do anything. It's what makes them fun.

If you ride bikes for fun you probably have a screw loose and an odd relationship with pain (an observation, not a judgement, just to be clear.) So it's worth a try if you have the opportunity,

Guilty - I only ride my bike(s) for fun.

[HdB]

I've managed to get a alu gravel frame, and would like to pick the brains of those who can maybe help me avoid some expensive mistakes... especially as I try to build it up relatively cheaply, can always upgrade (much) later.

The frame has 100/142 spacing, and can take a front derailleur.

I've got a Shimano 50-34 chainring somewhere in a cupboard, and my plan is to get an 11spd 11-34 or 11-36 (ex. SRAM PG-1130?) cassette. Short of going 1x, any better suggestions for the cassette?
Can probably change the chainring later, if my knees beg for mercy.
I'd probably have to avoid any serious hills, even though it would still be a lot lighter than my road bike (52-36, 11-30).
Ideally it should work with Shimano/Sram road 11spd, so I can put it on the trainer or use some of my spare wheels.

Would a long-cage road derailleur even be able to handle the 34x36T? Better to spend a bit more and get a derailleur with a clutch or something, to survive the corrugations?

For shifters I'm thinking of testing one of the Chinese groupsets' shifters, ie. Sensah or L-twoo. Or used 105 shifters, depending on the price. Mechanical, cable shifting and brakes, with cable or cable/hydraulic brakes.

Am I making any huge mistakes?

[ChrisF]

22 minutes ago, HdB said:

I've managed to get a alu gravel frame, and would like to pick the brains of those who can maybe help me avoid some expensive mistakes... especially as I try to build it up relatively cheaply, can always upgrade (much) later.

The frame has 100/142 spacing, and can take a front derailleur.

I've got a Shimano 50-34 chainring somewhere in a cupboard, and my plan is to get an 11spd 11-34 or 11-36 (ex. SRAM PG-1130?) cassette. Short of going 1x, any better suggestions for the cassette?
Can probably change the chainring later, if my knees beg for mercy.
I'd probably have to avoid any serious hills, even though it would still be a lot lighter than my road bike (52-36, 11-30).
Ideally it should work with Shimano/Sram road 11spd, so I can put it on the trainer or use some of my spare wheels.

Would a long-cage road derailleur even be able to handle the 34x36T? Better to spend a bit more and get a derailleur with a clutch or something, to survive the corrugations?

For shifters I'm thinking of testing one of the Chinese groupsets' shifters, ie. Sensah or L-twoo. Or used 105 shifters, depending on the price. Mechanical, cable shifting and brakes, with cable or cable/hydraulic brakes.

Am I making any huge mistakes?

 

Following ....

[betaboy]

Sounds like a cool project 👍🏻

[Bub Marley]

How would you guys setup a gravel bike / drop bar hard tail compared to a road bike? Purely in terms of reach?

 

I think I bought one size too small on my hardtail which probably works out better for me in terms of this conversion. At the moment the reach on my hardtail is 380 which is equal to that of my road bike. I currently run a 100mm stem on the road bike. Should i keep the same length for the hardtail or maybe go smaller for better handling?

 

Any advice?

[droo]

On 11/18/2024 at 6:49 PM, HdB said:

I've managed to get a alu gravel frame, and would like to pick the brains of those who can maybe help me avoid some expensive mistakes... especially as I try to build it up relatively cheaply, can always upgrade (much) later.

The frame has 100/142 spacing, and can take a front derailleur.

I've got a Shimano 50-34 chainring somewhere in a cupboard, and my plan is to get an 11spd 11-34 or 11-36 (ex. SRAM PG-1130?) cassette. Short of going 1x, any better suggestions for the cassette?
Can probably change the chainring later, if my knees beg for mercy.
I'd probably have to avoid any serious hills, even though it would still be a lot lighter than my road bike (52-36, 11-30).
Ideally it should work with Shimano/Sram road 11spd, so I can put it on the trainer or use some of my spare wheels.

Would a long-cage road derailleur even be able to handle the 34x36T? Better to spend a bit more and get a derailleur with a clutch or something, to survive the corrugations?

For shifters I'm thinking of testing one of the Chinese groupsets' shifters, ie. Sensah or L-twoo. Or used 105 shifters, depending on the price. Mechanical, cable shifting and brakes, with cable or cable/hydraulic brakes.

Am I making any huge mistakes?

I've just been through this exact exercise, ended up with 11-36 PG-1130 cos it's all you can get in that range. Shimano maxes out at 11-34. Ultegra 50/34 rings up front.

RD capacity - Ultegra RX or GRX RD-810 are rated for 34T max casssette but the extra 2 teeth on the 36 works ok. Shifting can be a biit fiddly to set up but works well enough when you get it. The 40T rated capacity is only 1 short of the 41T range of the compact/11-36 combo.

I find gearing a bit tall when hitting 18% climbs at the end of a long day (Gallows, anyone?) but I'm too proud to walk so I haven't had to yet. Your only other option while keeping the rest of your setup is a GRX crank which can take you down to a 30T, which should be enough to climb a wall.

[HdB]

35 minutes ago, droo said:

I've just been through this exact exercise, ended up with 11-36 PG-1130 cos it's all you can get in that range. Shimano maxes out at 11-34. Ultegra 50/34 rings up front.

RD capacity - Ultegra RX or GRX RD-810 are rated for 34T max casssette but the extra 2 teeth on the 36 works ok. Shifting can be a biit fiddly to set up but works well enough when you get it. The 40T rated capacity is only 1 short of the 41T range of the compact/11-36 combo.

I find gearing a bit tall when hitting 18% climbs at the end of a long day (Gallows, anyone?) but I'm too proud to walk so I haven't had to yet. Your only other option while keeping the rest of your setup is a GRX crank which can take you down to a 30T, which should be enough to climb a wall.

Thanks! Really good to know I'm not entirely lost with this.
It will be an "interesting" test, one way or another. Taking a chance on some of the components 🤞 If it works ok on my road wheels, I will look for a separate gravel wheelset.

My first road bike had a 52-42 chainring (and dowwntube shifters), so I am familiar with refusing to get off and walk 🤣

[droo]

1 minute ago, HdB said:

Thanks! Really good to know I'm not entirely lost with this.
It will be an "interesting" test, one way or another. Taking a chance on some of the components 🤞 If it works ok on my road wheels, I will look for a separate gravel wheelset.

My first road bike had a 52-42 chainring (and dowwntube shifters), so I am familiar with refusing to get off and walk 🤣

Back in the days of "a real climber would never fit a 25".

Makes my ageing knees hurt.

[droo]

2 hours ago, Bub Marley said:

How would you guys setup a gravel bike / drop bar hard tail compared to a road bike? Purely in terms of reach?

 

I think I bought one size too small on my hardtail which probably works out better for me in terms of this conversion. At the moment the reach on my hardtail is 380 which is equal to that of my road bike. I currently run a 100mm stem on the road bike. Should i keep the same length for the hardtail or maybe go smaller for better handling?

 

Any advice?

Pretty much bang on. Depending on how aggressive your roadie setup is and what sort of terrain you'll be riding you may want a slightly more upright seating position, but stems are cheap enough that you can experiment. Just leave a bit of steerer so you can raise and lower until you find out what's comfortable.

Just bear in mind that too short a stem on a drop bar can get a bit twitchy in the drops, but that'll usually only be at around the 60 - 70mm mark depending on bar reach.

[guidodg]

[Bub Marley]

21 minutes ago, droo said:

Pretty much bang on. Depending on how aggressive your roadie setup is and what sort of terrain you'll be riding you may want a slightly more upright seating position, but stems are cheap enough that you can experiment. Just leave a bit of steerer so you can raise and lower until you find out what's comfortable.

Just bear in mind that too short a stem on a drop bar can get a bit twitchy in the drops, but that'll usually only be at around the 60 - 70mm mark depending on bar reach.

Thanks.

I probably won’t need the spacers as the stack on the hardtail would obviously already be too high. Will try and get a stem with a decent negative angle to get as low as i can.