Road Groupset x Gravel Bike - Share Your Experience

[patliean1]

I'm building up the new Yoeleo G21 gravel rig in the coming weeks. Will be interesting to see how it compares with my TanTan GR201.

The TanTan GR201 currently is paired with Sram Eagle GX 1x. 44T chainring and a 10-52t cassette out back. I realize I don't love 1x for gravel, particularly this gearing choice. No where within a 3-4 hour drive from home do I actually need the smallest 44x52 gear. The largest 44x10 gear isn't really that efficient for the flats, and just overall I don't love the drastic gear jumps.

My original gravel bike was the previous generation Yoeleo G21 from 2022. I ran that with mechanical Ultegra R8020 road groupset. 50/34 front and 11-34t cassette. It was just barely enough for the steepest stuff around here. And I'd argue that I'm much fitter now than 3 years ago.

Tire clearance is always an important aspect of course. Also realizing I don't need anything larger than 42 or 45c tires. In fact I was running 38c on the old G21 with minimal issues on dry roads.

My main question is for those running a road 2x groupset for gravel:
-What's your drivetrain brand? Sram, Shimano, Wheeltop etc
-Drivetrain selection? Chainring and cassette
-Tire size and tire clearance in relation to the front derailleur.
-What has been your overall experience?

For myself, I'm planning to run Ultegra road Di2 12sp with 52/36 chainrings and 11-34 cassette. The 36t should clear the chain stay. And if the 52 is big I'll swap to a 50/34 setup. T47 bottom bracket standard. I should be able to fit 42c tires depending on the inner rim width. Lastly, I also scored a sweet deal on the latest Sram Red 13sp XPLR derailleur and 10-46t cassette. I just think the gear jumps will still be an issue especially if I run a larger chainring like 46 or 48t.

[jonathanf2]

I'm building up the new Yoeleo G21 gravel rig in the coming weeks. Will be interesting to see how it compares with my TanTan GR201.

The TanTan GR201 currently is paired with Sram Eagle GX 1x. 44T chainring and a 10-52t cassette out back. I realize I don't love 1x for gravel, particularly this gearing choice. No where within a 3-4 hour drive from home do I actually need the smallest 44x52 gear. The largest 44x10 gear isn't really that efficient for the flats, and just overall I don't love the drastic gear jumps.

My original gravel bike was the previous generation Yoeleo G21 from 2022. I ran that with mechanical Ultegra R8020 road groupset. 50/34 front and 11-34t cassette. It was just barely enough for the steepest stuff around here. And I'd argue that I'm much fitter now than 3 years ago.

Tire clearance is always an important aspect of course. Also realizing I don't need anything larger than 42 or 45c tires. In fact I was running 38c on the old G21 with minimal issues on dry roads.

My main question is for those running a road 2x groupset for gravel:
-What's your drivetrain brand? Sram, Shimano, Wheeltop etc
-Drivetrain selection? Chainring and cassette
-Tire size and tire clearance in relation to the front derailleur.
-What has been your overall experience?

For myself, I'm planning to run Ultegra road Di2 12sp with 52/36 chainrings and 11-34 cassette. The 36t should clear the chain stay. And if the 52 is big I'll swap to a 50/34 setup. T47 bottom bracket standard. I should be able to fit 42c tires depending on the inner rim width. Lastly, I also scored a sweet deal on the latest Sram Red 13sp XPLR derailleur and 10-46t cassette. I just think the gear jumps will still be an issue especially if I run a larger chainring like 46 or 48t.

For gravel I would never do road gearing, mainly because the gravel bike shines when tackling unexpected terrain: flat, hilly, loaded, etc. Also it's not like I can hit the potential top speed of road gearing since my gravel setup usually has frame/feeder bags, big lights and wider knobby tires negating any aero potential. For 2x, I'm firmly in the camp of 46-30 or 48-31/2 and 10/11-36t. I've tried bigger cassette hacks and there's always a compromise.

I'm also not the biggest fan of 1x, not so much because of flat efficiency, but mainly because chain line compare to 2x isn't all that great in either direction. The only reason I'm using 1x for gravel right now is due to lack of support with electronic groupsets (outside of Shimano) and the ability to dial-in lower gearing possibilities with a chainring swap. Unlike 2x though, the chain length has some slack to go 1-2 sizes smaller/bigger with the chainring.

[Nomuetze]

Ya….same here: Altera G21 with 2x wheeltop….11-34 11spd, 48/33 stone chainrings on dura ace crank.
Maybe later upgrade 12sp 11-36…that’s what I like with wheeltop….besides it serves me well, only complaint here are the
kind of old school tiny STI levers.
Cassette is edco/recon steel….
Tire clearance with front der. I have to check…now on 40mm challenge, maybe next try: Schwalbe 45, or 50?

[patliean1]

Thank you gentlemen.

I don't know what sort of endurance or gravel frame my Sram RED 13sp XPLR groupset will land upon. Perhaps I'll swap out the Eagle GX on my TanTan GR201 with it for better gearing.

But I do prefer 2x Shimano for a permanent gravel solution. Gonna look at getting some 48/31 chainrings.

[Sakizashi]

Late to the party here, but for me the preferred road and gravel gearing only varies in the rear.

I run Sram AXS 48/32 with a 10-36 on gravel--this is enough top end for me to rip it in the flats and low enough that I've yet to want more. Crucially, it also puts my most-used gear combo, the 48/15, pretty central on the cassette. If my smallest gear was an 11t, I would probably run a 50/34, but then I would also be one gear short for climbing.

On the road I run Sram AXS 48/32 with a 10-33. Again, there's more than enough bailout when climbing, and enough top end that I rarely use the 10t. One issue is that I use the 12t a lot when going for it on the flats--so moving to a 50/34 is probably something that's in the cards for me sooner rather than later as that would give me about an extra half gear.

[JonMS]

My grevil f clone is running a wheeltop eds tx with a 48/32 crankset and a 12 speed 11-36 cassette. Its been great for every type of ride i've thrown at it.

[acedeuce802]

I've run Sram Rival 2x11 with a GX 10 speed rear derailleur (50/34 with 11-36), Sram 2x12 Rival/Force AXS with Shimano cassette (50/34 with 11-34), Sram 1x Rival/Force AXS (46 with 10-50), and now run Shimano 105 2x12 with GRX derailleur (50/34 with 11-34).

I've tried smaller chainrings too but the races by me usually have some fast pavement sections, and no mountains to need lower than 1:1. Haven't measured tire clearance, but I'd estimate it's like 5mm to FD with a tire that measures 47mm.  I very much like 2x for the small steps and bug jump on the front ring to dump a big gear when hitting a big hill. I always had issues with Sram front derailleurs but Shimano has been perfect so far.

[Serge_K]

I've done 50/34 w 11-34, or 11-36, i dont remember. Either way, it's bad for European gravel. You're very quickly forced to do threshold, if not vo2 max efforts when you dont want to, which is stressful on top of being tiring when you're trying to not lose grip and navigate trails with debris, crevasses, rocks, roots and so on.

I drank the kool aid of "1 bike to do it all", and it's basically a scam. A gravel bike isn't a road bike, and to not be horrendous on the road, you sacrifice what would make a gravel bike great in tough environments.

For very average riding / riders, it's enough. I have a friend who's an ex pro, the only cycling he now does is "mindful cycling". Kudos to him. But if you want to push, road gearing on gravel is just bad news.

[jfcb]

Road set-up on a gravel bike is feasible. May pro's do it, similar as happens in cyclocross. Not saying you should do it, but apart from the limited gear range the SRAM AXS road groupset performs smooth on rough terrain.
Here is my experience:

Gravel race bike:

• Groupset: Force Xplorer
• Chainrings: Stone oval 46T or 50T
• Cassette: Goldix 10-44T or 11-34T
• Chain: Ultegra 12sp

This offers me each time the optimal gearing depending on the terrain.

Gravel training bike:

• Groupset: Force AXS (road)
• Chainring: Stone oval 46T since bigger doesn't fit
• Cassette: Aliex 11-34T
• Chain: Ultegra 12sp

I live in a hilly area without long hills, so no need to go for smaller gearing + the drivetrain is quite cheap.  Never had any issues with the Force AXS on rough terrain either.

[gofasterstripes]

I've run a 2x 50-34 and 46-34 using a mixture of a 11 speed Shimano GRX rear mech and initially an ultegra front mech before swapping it out for a GRX front mech to gain a tiny increase in tyre clearance.

With the 50-34 used on road and the 46-34 used for gravel both set ups works really well despite my less than ideal chain-line.

I've subsequently changed to a Di2 1x 46 : 46-11 set up with a MTB rear mech. For a mixture of increasing the tyre clearance but also I wanted to reduce the chances of chain drop, especially towards the back end of races when I get tired and my brain gets foggy.

If you go with the Ultegra rear mech it might be worth looking into getting the spring tension increased if you haven't already. It was something I did on my CX bike with the 1st gen di2 rear mechs to help with 1x chain retention

https://www.parktool.com/en-int/blog/repair-help/rear-derailleur-overhaul

[demeaux]

But I do prefer 2x Shimano for a permanent gravel solution. Gonna look at getting some 48/31 chainrings.

I've used 1 x 11 with 11-30 with a 38t and a 42t front ring. The 38 is better for most stuff apart from when I was doing road rides with friends. The 42t is better for a mix of stuff but still not great for keeping up with people on road bikes (or I'm just not as good as I used to be). The 38t was also better for cyclocross.

I've also used 46/36 throughout the winter for road and off road. What is old is new again.

[kbernstein]

If "road groupset" means 2x, I'm doing that on my do it all bike and I'm happy with the gearing. I live somewhere very hilly, 15% roads and 25% loose terrain forest paths is very common. I'm only at 3.4w/kg FTP right now so I'm taking all the help I can get.
My bike has 48-31 front, 11-34 cassette on the road wheelset. Higher top speed would be nice but I rarely miss it. >70kmh is not that common because our descents are usually sketchy with tons of hairpins so I don't build up too much speed
And 11-40 on the gravel wheelset which I think is the sweet spot. I don't mind the jumps and whenever I'm mashing above threshold it usually doesn't take long before I lose traction and have to push anyway
All working seamlessly in just a wheel swap because my hubs are the same
The huge downside is that I'm effectively stuck with shimano 11 speed GRX and miss out on the fun chinese groupsets because they don't really do wide range 2x.

Unless magene win my heart or Ltwoo makes it easier to buy eGR RD with eRX levers and FD, cassette brands make 12 speed 11-4x cassettes which I can't find and/or they make a PM crankset which can take subcompact

[kubackje]

Late to the party here, but for me the preferred road and gravel gearing only varies in the rear.

I run Sram AXS 48/32 with a 10-36 on gravel--this is enough top end for me to rip it in the flats and low enough that I've yet to want more. Crucially, it also puts my most-used gear combo, the 48/15, pretty central on the cassette. If my smallest gear was an 11t, I would probably run a 50/34, but then I would also be one gear short for climbing.

On the road I run Sram AXS 48/32 with a 10-33. Again, there's more than enough bailout when climbing, and enough top end that I rarely use the 10t. One issue is that I use the 12t a lot when going for it on the flats--so moving to a 50/34 is probably something that's in the cards for me sooner rather than later as that would give me about an extra half gear.

No problem with sram axs FD with 48/32?

[bremerradkurier]

I'm running 105Di2 with 50/34 and 11-36 rear on my XMCarbonspeed Grevil clone-no chain drops so far on our local gravel roads unlike many on our group rides with 1x and clutched rear derailleurs, but I do default shift to the big ring as soon as the road points down for more chain wrap and tension.

[Sakizashi]

No problem with sram axs FD with 48/32?

I use the Praxis rings and have been running them since Feb 2022. I've had one chain drop ever--and it was last week, and it dropped from the big to the little ring when I hit a washed-out section of road at like 20mph. I do use an OSPW for more chain wrap since I'm technically above the capacity of the RD on the gravel bike. On the gravel, I am using the old D1 force wide FD and max RD.

For road use, the 10-33 setup is stock with Rival derailleurs other than those same Praxis rings.

Both of my bikes are running chaincatchers and are band on FD, so they are pretty stiff, which makes a difference with AXS FDs.