So I'm contemplating to build a fairly inexpensive Road bike to move on to disc brakes finally. From used parts and/or new chinese.
Primarily for road, but if I get an aero frame fitting 32mm tyres, then would get a 2nd pair of wheels to use on light gravel too.
Would go either Sram or Chinese. From Sram would like to try and get away with their 10-36 cassette, but if not then the 10-44 XPLR.
Would be tempted to go electronic, but only if I could get my hands on some 2nd hand bargains, otherwise I'm happy with mech.
What's out there in the Chinese/AliExpress realm that could work well in this case and be worth consideration?
1x12s Road/Gravel bike build advice
Moderator: robbosmans
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raisinberry777
- Posts: 276
- Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:09 am
For 1x12, the Chinese options are quite new and still subject to more thorough testing. The two main Chinese groupset manufacturers are Sensah and L-Twoo. Sensah's 1x12 hydraulic option is not yet released (though a ride test of a pre-production set from China Cycling on YouTube concluded that the ergonomics are dreadful, but the shifting is good).
L-Twoo's 1x12 option is the GRT groupset, which you can find from a few vendors on AliExpress or through pandapodium.cc (run by Joe Whittingham - who runs the China Cycling YouTube channel). Best source of reports so far is YouTube - but there are reports of carbon levers breaking very easily (though apparently this has been fixed now), and many have reported the brake bleeding process as being unclear, but working well once properly setup. Another reported issue is that the upshifting lever does not always return properly.
For the moment, I would strongly recommend either trying to find used SRAM Rival parts or wait for Shimano's 1x12 GRX which is seemingly on the cusp of being released (it has now been spotted in the wild).
My advice for gearing is to use this site to understand and compare different gear ratios:
http://gear-calculator.com/
L-Twoo's 1x12 option is the GRT groupset, which you can find from a few vendors on AliExpress or through pandapodium.cc (run by Joe Whittingham - who runs the China Cycling YouTube channel). Best source of reports so far is YouTube - but there are reports of carbon levers breaking very easily (though apparently this has been fixed now), and many have reported the brake bleeding process as being unclear, but working well once properly setup. Another reported issue is that the upshifting lever does not always return properly.
For the moment, I would strongly recommend either trying to find used SRAM Rival parts or wait for Shimano's 1x12 GRX which is seemingly on the cusp of being released (it has now been spotted in the wild).
My advice for gearing is to use this site to understand and compare different gear ratios:
http://gear-calculator.com/
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raggedtrousers
- Posts: 380
- Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:29 pm
My gravel/audax bike runs Rival XPLR (with a Force crank). It's great for steady, long road riding and gravel. I'm a big fan. I've put a 46t up front and used it as a fast-ish road bike, too, and while I wouldn't race it or ride it in a genuine paceline, it really is a very solid road option in that format. You can pick it up 2/h for sensible money.
