Road set up for Gravel bike

[Ysterpikkewyn]

Hi guys and girls

I recently bought an Avalanche Dust gravel bike for 3 reasons - indoor training, occational off road riding and doing road races with. I am more of a singletrack kind of person, but have a bike sorted for that. 

Okay, so now my dilema. I want to get a second wheelset with a more road orientated setup. I would just like to swop out wheels and not worry about anything else. So what should I be looking out for? 

The Dust has a 11-speed setup currently - 11-46T with a 42T chainring. I would prefer staying 1x as it is just easier. Will swopping out the tires alone be okay? But then I will run out of gears on the flats with only a 11T - right? 

Please assist me here. 

Dankie. 

[NC_lurker]

26 minutes ago, Ysterpikkewyn said:

Hi guys and girls

I recently bought an Avalanche Dust gravel bike for 3 reasons - indoor training, occational off road riding and doing road races with. I am more of a singletrack kind of person, but have a bike sorted for that. 

Okay, so now my dilema. I want to get a second wheelset with a more road orientated setup. I would just like to swop out wheels and not worry about anything else. So what should I be looking out for? 

The Dust has a 11-speed setup currently - 11-46T with a 42T chainring. I would prefer staying 1x as it is just easier. Will swopping out the tires alone be okay? But then I will run out of gears on the flats with only a 11T - right? 

Please assist me here. 

Dankie. 

Your problem isn't the 11T at the back, it's the 42T chainring at the front...

With a 46T at the back you should be ok running a 46 or 48 at the front, unless you're planning on doing some bike packing rides on steep terrain..

That of course assumes the bike can take a larger chainring.

Edited September 8, 2025 by NC_lurker
Clarity

[bleedToWin]

3 hours ago, NC_lurker said:

That of course assumes the bike can take a larger chainring.

And it assumes OP is willing to swap chainrings + tyres + longer chain each time...

Personally I'd go with 2x to cover everything required from this bike

[NC_lurker]

18 minutes ago, bleedToWin said:

And it assumes OP is willing to swap chainrings + tyres + longer chain each time...

Personally I'd go with 2x to cover everything required from this bike

Realise I wasn't very clear. I was suggesting that the OP change the 42T to a 46 or 48T and then continue to run the same cassette on both wheelsets. That was in response to the desire to stick to 1x.

Switching to 2x could turn out to be expensive..

[Prince Albert Cycles]

6 minutes ago, NC_lurker said:

Realise I wasn't very clear. I was suggesting that the OP change the 42T to a 46 or 48T and then continue to run the same cassette on both wheelsets. That was in response to the desire to stick to 1x.

Switching to 2x could turn out to be expensive..

Still cheaper than 2 bikes 😇

[NC_lurker]

7 minutes ago, Prince Albert Cycles said:

Still cheaper than 2 bikes 😇

Now, now, don't get practical....😉

[Ivan Van Onselen]

I suggest getting some fast rolling gravel tyres and not change between wheels.

I have tufo thundero hd tires on and they are fast on road and good grip on gravel.

 

[michaelbiker]

One other thing that’s often overlooked but can be super annoying are differences in tolerances of the hubs. Which means your discs may rub when switching between wheelsets. Plus the discs will wear at different rates depending how much you ride each set. So it’s not going to be completely straightforward each time.

[michaelbiker]

8 hours ago, Ivan Van Onselen said:

I suggest getting some fast rolling gravel tyres and not change between wheels.

I have tufo thundero hd tires on and they are fast on road and good grip on gravel.

 

Thunderos on the road are great. That’s all I use for both gravel and road rides. They last forever too. Getting about 7000km a set. 

[Dry Biltong]

I have the same dilemma with my gravel bike that I wanna use for the odd road event

Currently have 13 speed setup (10-44) with a 40 chainring, and 40mm thundero tyres

Looked into changing to 2x but would mean complete replacement with costs in region of R30k

Instead have changed tyres to 30mm comtura and hoping the better rolling resistance and narrower tyres will make the difference when using the bike for road events