What is the most advanced gravel bike do date?

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rollinslow
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by rollinslow

There's not really a "most advanced" for gravel. Tire clearance and geometry are what matter most in the frame itself. You can always run smaller tires but you can't run bigger. You need to be able to run 45's to shred most legit gravel. You can also throw 32's Gp5k for fast road only rides. That's what matters IMO. If you can't run big tires, then it's dated. Boost is a waste for gravel and not catching on.
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joejack951
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by joejack951

satanas wrote:
Wed Jun 15, 2022 4:41 am
Road Boost is IMHO a totally pointless and extremely annoying attempt at planned obsolescence and proprietary parts lock in. All it really achieves is worse heel clearance, almost zero front hub options, higher Q factor, etc.
Just wanted to pop in to say that if anyone is battling road Boost front hub options (or even MTB Boost as seen on some gravel bikes) let me know. Fork and hub conversions to other standards have become my ‘thing’ lately. A 12x110 (or 15x110) fork can easily use 12x100, 15x100, or 15x110 hubs with my kits.

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andreszucs
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by andreszucs

satanas wrote: As for "most advanced" that depends on what matters to you - aero, suspension, tyre clearance, weight, something else???
Don’t care about aero, but how about all the rest above plus 15 speed?

Here is my goal specs:
-Full suspension, with lock
-34mm tires, for fast road riding
-15 speed 1xby, small steps on road, high range for mountains
-Under 19 pounds. Good climber


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plrww
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by plrww

I'd go for the following specs:
- Great looks and paint/colour schemes.
- Electronic gear shifting with large range and close gearing. This means in practise 11 or 12 speed and 3x as low gearing needs to be much much lower than standard gravel gearing nowadays. I don't have pro W/kg and I also like to ride on steep hill and mountain roads.
- All aero because there will be plenty of riding at reasonably high speeds.
- Tool space inside the frame.
- Possibility for wide tyres, upto 42 mm.
- Full internal cable routing.
- Lighter than boat anchor, below 9 kg.
- No need for specific bikepacking attachments or fenders.

All other requirements can be fulfilled by several modern gravel bikes except for the gearing. I think current gravel gearing is designed for competitive riders and is currently not very well suited for recreational cyclists.

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andreszucs
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by andreszucs

plrww wrote: - Electronic gear shifting with large range and close gearing. This means in practise 11 or 12 speed and 3x as low gearing needs to be much much lower than standard gravel

At least from my personal experience, 1x proved to be more reliable than 2x or 3x, also lighter. As for Pro vs Recreational riders, using 1x by it would be a simple adjustment; Pro’s would use a slightly bigger chainring. I think the perfect cassette would be a 15sp 9-46 or 10-50.


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satanas
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by satanas

Whilst I've nothing against more rear cogs, IMHO 15 won't be happening any time soon. There are only a few ways to fit more cogs in:

1. Make them thinner: There has to be a limit before the teeth either fold up or shear off; Ekar must be getting close to it
2. Increase the rear spacing: However, one gear + one spacer ~4mm, so to add two gears on top of Ekar = 8mm more spacing on the RHS or 16mm total = 158mm; SuperBoost is 157mm. Making the chainstays wider is likely to cause ankle clearance issues
3. Make the big cogs bigger and cantilever them over the spokes to get derailleur-to-spoke clearance. At some point though the cog can't get bigger without causing derailleur cage-to-ground clearance problems

Then there's the problem of increased wear and reduced drivetrain efficiency with the greater chain deflection, chain-to-tyre clearance, etc, etc.

I can totally see 13 speed MTB cassettes as these already go up to 52T so can sit a fair way inboard. As well as Rotor there are Chinese manufacturers making them (11-50/52). Presumably SRAM and Shimano will follow suit eventually.

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tarmackev
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by tarmackev

Giant Revolt..... Advanced

warthog101
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by warthog101

tarmackev wrote:Giant Revolt..... Advanced
Bingo!
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andreszucs
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by andreszucs

satanas wrote:Whilst I've nothing against more rear cogs, IMHO 15 won't be happening any time soon. There are only a few ways to fit more cogs in:

1. Make them thinner: There has to be a limit before the teeth either fold up or shear off; Ekar must be getting close to it
2. Increase the rear spacing: However, one gear + one spacer ~4mm, so to add two gears on top of Ekar = 8mm more spacing on the RHS or 16mm total = 158mm; SuperBoost is 157mm. Making the chainstays wider is likely to cause ankle clearance issues
3. Make the big cogs bigger and cantilever them over the spokes to get derailleur-to-spoke clearance. At some point though the cog can't get bigger without causing derailleur cage-to-ground clearance problems

Then there's the problem of increased wear and reduced drivetrain efficiency with the greater chain deflection, chain-to-tyre clearance, etc, etc.

I can totally see 13 speed MTB cassettes as these already go up to 52T so can sit a fair way inboard. As well as Rotor there are Chinese manufacturers making them (11-50/52). Presumably SRAM and Shimano will follow suit eventually.
14sp is already possible I know a guy that added the extra cog behind the Ekar 9-36 (wireless shifting with an external Mech-to-Wireless adapter). I want to experiment and added two and see if works.

Another word of optimism: Sram FlatTop 12sp chain is 5mm wide and works with the Ekar cassette (I’m using it), it actually works shifting 14sp. The Ekar chain is 4.9mm, that means the Ekar cassette could have 0.1 x 12 narrower spacing and still work, opening 1.2mm more space to add that 15th cog. All that with non boost hubs.
Last edited by andreszucs on Sat Jun 18, 2022 1:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

satanas
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by satanas

Interesting! It hadn't occurred to me to use something like the Archer shifter to add more cogs:

https://archercomponents.com/

^ Might be ideal for "mad scientist" type experiments. Fabricating suitable cassettes might be more of a challenge unless one has machining expertise and suitable facilities to hand.

For my use (more touring oriented, with very steep loaded off-road climbs) the Ingrid 11-44x12 cassette plus TA's 44x28 GRX pattern rings might be one answer, and it seems Jtek do a Shiftmate that translates between 12 speed Ergopower shifters and Shimano 2x12 MTB rear derailleurs. That would give ~629% range with suitably high and low gears.

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C36
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by C36

Most advanced? Ask John Tomac 91 Raleigh Image
- short travel suspension,
- crazy aero,mean stop the marginal BS gains, they went full blast with a Tioga disc wheel
- carbon front triangle and Ti rear one.

Image

To me gravel has already lost the simplicity it initially had and marketing teams will continue turning it to 90s MTB
Last edited by C36 on Sat Jun 18, 2022 6:37 pm, edited 3 times in total.

ooo
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by ooo

Both John Tomac and Lance Armstrong used rear STI index shifters + front friction shifter - I like this too.
Armstrong used frame mounted friction shifter, Tomac used barend friction shifter.
With front friction shifter and modern hydro STI you can still run 3x13 mechanical rear or 3x12 electronic rear.
Front friction shifter also acts as backup option when electronics/battery or STI mechanism stops working.
'

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wheelsONfire
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by wheelsONfire

Bikes:

Ax Lightness Vial EVO Race (2019.01.03)
Open *UP* (2016.04.14)
Paduano Racing Fidia (kind of shelved)


Ex bike; Vial EVO D, Vial EVO Ultra, Scott Foil, Paduano ti bike.

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andreszucs
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by andreszucs

wheelsONfire wrote:I would probably lean towards
https://www.cannondale.com/en/bikes/roa ... on-lefty-1
10kg bike Image


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wheelsONfire
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by wheelsONfire

andreszucs wrote:
Sun Jun 26, 2022 12:30 am
wheelsONfire wrote:I would probably lean towards
https://www.cannondale.com/en/bikes/roa ... on-lefty-1
10kg bike Image


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Ofcourse a frameset with dual suspension carry more weight. The question wasn't for the most light gravel bike.
It won't help with comfort if the bike is lighter.
Bikes:

Ax Lightness Vial EVO Race (2019.01.03)
Open *UP* (2016.04.14)
Paduano Racing Fidia (kind of shelved)


Ex bike; Vial EVO D, Vial EVO Ultra, Scott Foil, Paduano ti bike.

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