Dedicated road bike vs gravel grinder/cross bike

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Good point my only concern with a cross bike is that it will feel slow for a road bike. I'd like to have the option of not getting dropped on group a fast paced rides. Not sure if it is the engine or bike in those type of scenarios though.

How will a road bike prevent you from getting dropped?
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
I doubt it would. Not sure how much slower a gravel/cx is in real life. Especially considering the difference in gearing.
In general Cross race bikes typically have a harshly stiff rear triangle made to be slammed out of corners, full gas, so it isn't going to slow you down unless you keep knobbies on. Gravel bikes has such a broad range that could range from flexy steel to well designed carbon so technically nothing is going to slow you down more than tire selection and an overly heavy cheap steel bike, but that goes for any bike.
 

jackx

Well-Known Member
In general Cross race bikes typically have a harshly stiff rear triangle made to be slammed out of corners, full gas, so it isn't going to slow you down unless you keep knobbies on. Gravel bikes has such a broad range that could range from flexy steel to well designed carbon so technically nothing is going to slow you down more than tire selection and an overly heavy cheap steel bike, but that goes for any bike.

Soundz like a knowledgeable response.
 

Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I'm also dumping my road bike for a gravel bike.
I don't like going fast on my road bike it scares the crap out of me.
In no particular order my picks for a gravel bike.
1 Pivot Vault. More bike than I'll ever need but I already have 2 pivot Mtbs
2 Santa Cruz Stigmata. Leaning toward this one cc rival build
3 GT Grade
 
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rick81721

Lothar
I used to own a CX bike but ended up selling it cause:

1) A road bike is better on the road because it's a road bike and not a gravel bike.

2) Most people who live in NJ who ride roads ride on tarmac 90%+ of the time, not gravel. I would estimate my gravel riding to be 1% of all my road riding, however much I try to ride gravel.

3) Any gravel roads I could ride on my CX bike, I could also ride on my road bike even with 23c tires.

In short, it was not worth the 1% of gravel I do ride.

This. I don't see the appeal of riding on gravel roads, other than less traffic. I have an old cx bike and only use it for night/bad weather rides.
 

Ian F

Well-Known Member
I have both, but I'm not sure yet. My 20+ year old Colnago and a 2016 GT Grade I bought earlier this year. I have 1000's of miles on the Colnago, so I'm very used to it. I put about 100 miles on the Grade over a few rides and basically decided it's not for me. I'm not sure why, but I found my hands really hurting after an hour or so on it. Whoever invented flared road bars needs to be shot... and I don't like SRAM road shifters any more than I like SRAM mtn shifters... (the Colnago has Campy).

I think part of the problem is I'm used to a fairly aggressive road position - the stem is a fair bit lower than the saddle - and the more upright position of the Grade is not comfortable to me on longer rides. Counterintuitive to most, I know, but I've been riding this bike since 1999 and it's what I'm used to. I tried swapping a negative rise stem and it didn't help as much as I would have liked. I do like the disc brakes and the stiff BB area...

I fear my next road bike will be a pure custom - something that matches the Colnago geometry with minimal changes to allow for larger tires (the Colnago is maxed at 25c)

The Grade (56cm size) will be for sale once I can get the dust off it and some pictures taken. Hasn't been ridden in months.
 

MadisonDan

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Good point my only concern with a cross bike is that it will feel slow for a road bike. I'd like to have the option of not getting dropped on group a fast paced rides. Not sure if it is the engine or bike in those type of scenarios though.
This comes down to gearing. That's all. CX bikes with a 1x or 46/36 setup will not hit the top end like a road bike. The Diverge looks like it comes with a 48/32 up front, which seems like a great compromise.
So much of this is personal feel/opinion.
Test ride as many as you can, and go from there. FWIW, my CX bike is about 2-3 lbs lighter than my road bike, even with the wider CX tires.
 

Pearl

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
pure road is going to feel the best on the road. gravel and cross bikes work really really well, but the geometry is just a little different and it is noticeable.

if you've never ridden a pure road bike, you won't know what you are missing.
 

szymon

Active Member
For most people 46/36 with a 11-25 setup is not a problem, the only time I have problems with that gearing on the road is if the pace is above 33-34mph then I start to spin out. Also consider a 46-11 is about the same as a 53-13/14 so your only really losing 2 gears and how many people push 53-11 a lot? Unless your looking for very aggressive low front end most newer cross bikes have lower head tubes and lower bb then years before so don't feel that much different. If your getting dropped on a road ride with 46 front 11-12 rear and road tires a pure road bike will not help much.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
For most people 46/36 with a 11-25 setup is not a problem, the only time I have problems with that gearing on the road is if the pace is above 33-34mph then I start to spin out. Also consider a 46-11 is about the same as a 53-13/14 so your only really losing 2 gears and how many people push 53-11 a lot? Unless your looking for very aggressive low front end most newer cross bikes have lower head tubes and lower bb then years before so don't feel that much different. If your getting dropped on a road ride with 46 front 11-12 rear and road tires a pure road bike will not help much.
haha had to laugh, how many here are pushing a pace of 34mph ever? for me only going downhill
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
I don't like going fast on my road bike it scares the crap out of me.
^this for me too,
every intersection has me doing a brake check and when I see a car even with me with the right of way, I wave frantically to where I'm going...

If going fast on your road bike scares the crap out of you, you either have the wrong bike, the wrong fit, or maybe just a "insert the PC appropriate term for scary-d-cat".

Just remember, speed goes UP on gravel sections. Dirt on the Ground, Lay the Power Down. It can get scary, but that is the fun part.
 

wonderturtle

Well-Known Member
I live in the same area and ride the same area (roads around the Hartshorne area).

I do my road rides on a cross bike with relatively nobby 35mm tires. since I don't come from the roadie side of things I don't know the difference between my cross bike and a "real" road bike. all I know is that compared to my mtb it is A LOT faster on the roads ;)

depends what kind of riding you do. if youre gonna be on pavement all the time seems like a real road bike would be in order (if all pavement why bother with a cross bike?), but if youre gonna mix in some gravel (and particularly some off-road), and if youre not too concerned about absolutely maxing your speed on the roads, then a cross or gravel bike could work.

I like the idea mentioned above about a set of road wheels. I am think of getting a pair. most of my riding is mixed surface but I would like to do some longer road-only rides and want to have real road tires for that. switching tires is not ideal since I am tubeless (switching the wheels entirely would be easier)
 
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Ian F

Well-Known Member
I've done low-mid 30's in a pace line during a A/A+ group ride. It's actually not that hard to do if you're in shape for it (I'm not anymore), although it's very easy to get spit off the back if you aren't careful or paying attention. And that's not even sprint speed for those guys. Riding in a pace line with a group that really knows what they're doing is probably the only thing I miss about doing group road rides. It's really amazing how fast you can get going.

I'll usually get into the upper 40's on descents during my normal road loop. I've hit 50 a few times. When my loop used to take me down Sergeantsville Rd into Stockton, it was hard to not hit 50, which was sketchy when the posted limit is like 35. You have to assume that a car pulling out of a side street either, A - doesn't see you, or B - can't comprehend you can be moving that fast. So I tend to keep my speed on descents in check around here.
 

hotsauce

Well-Known Member
hard to not hit 50, which was sketchy when the posted limit is like 35
I've done above 60 mph racing the Bear Mountain circuit a few years back. Sketchy AF in a group of 50-80 other guys, especially when some smart guys are sitting on their top tubes. This is unrelated to the bike type debate but shows the necessity for disc brakes. Rim brakes ain't stopping shit at those speeds.

The other consideration should be for modern road bikes that can accommodate wider tires that will give them 75% of the utility of a dedicated gravel bike around here. A lot of the new road bikes can fit 28-30mm tires, even some with light tread. For any of the gravel riding in NJ, that should be more than enough. There's no 15-20 mile stretches of gravel that I know of (but if there is please let me know!).
 

Ian F

Well-Known Member
Yeah... road racers are nuts. I'll stick to DH racing. It's much safer.

There are some longish gravel/dirt roads down in Pine Barrens. Not sure if they're 15-20 miles long, but definitely longer than I'd want to ride on my Colnago with 25's.
 

Magic

Formerly 1sh0t1b33r
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Get a road bike, then do Hell of Hunterdon to test its gravel capacity.
 
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