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Trying to keep up with my friends on road bikes

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  • January 3, 2019 at 5:54 pm #29245
    Huckfinn

    Having ridden a 3x mtb for quite a while (well over 5 years….) I’m on the market for a gravel/cx one.

    I tried some and, while I’m definitely after a light carbon frame bike, the biggest difference I noticed came from the gears. And here’s the point: as I understand it, many a road bike have a 52-36 crankset and 11-28 cassette. This gives you a ratio of 4.72/1.28 which in gear/inches translates as 35.8-132.16 ({Gear/Inches} =wheel diameter in inches X n° of teeth in front chainring divided by n° of teeth in rear sprocket}}…if I understand it right. Great for speeding, not so when climbing (I live in the South of France and climbing cannot be avoided).

    I noticed that, for example (similar price bracket):

    1)The lovely White Essex One has a: 44 (1x) & 10-42cassette= 4.4/1.04 , i.e. gear/inches:  29.2 – 123.2

    2)The new Giant Revolt Advanced2: 48-32   & 11-34cassette = 4.36/0.94, i.e. gear/inches: 26.3- 122.1 

    3)The new Orro Terra C Adventure:   48-32       11-30                  = 4.36/1.06                                    29.7- 122.1

    and so on…

    Am I doing it right? Because from this it appears that, for ex, the n°2 climbs more easily and it is not that much “slower” when speeding.. 

    Basically: can anyone advise on a carbon frame bike, in this price bracket, that I can (also) take offroad on steep paths but that would allow me to keep up with my friends on road bikes….?

    For reference, my old Giant 3x mtb: 42-22         11-30                 = 3.81/0.73                                    19 – 99.1 (insanely easy for climbing but makes me pedal like crazy when speeding on flat asphalt road…!!).

    Any comment would be appreciated!

     

    Huck.

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  • January 5, 2019 at 12:33 pm #933623
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    Huckfinn

    ….”why does the bike have

    ….”why does the bike have to be carbon framed…?”

    1) weight                                                                                                                                                                                     2) whenever I tried an aluminium vs carbon (for ex: Giant TCX) I much preferred the second…

    @kevvjj : Looks like quite a cool bike, thanks! Altough, for that price, I would prefer the (even heavier) Giant Revolt with a 48/32-11/34.

    @rdmp2 : budget mid-2k euros. Thanks for the Checkpoint suggestion! that’s also a good one!

    One thing though: why are they all so “heavy”? I mean, following the suggestion from CXR94Di2 I stopped at my lbs this morning. They’d charge 150-200euros to install a bike. Basically I could buy a Cube Agree C:62 frame + fork, Ultegra or Sram 22, these wheels:                                 https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/fr/fr/roues-a-disque-prime-pro/rp-prod142940 or even:   https://www.lightbicycle.com/700C-V-shape-36mm-depth-hand-built-carbon-road-disc-wheels—28mm-wide-and-tubeless-compatible.html, carbon ones which seem to have a good reputation, and the guy at the lbs said the bike would certainly not be heavier than 8kg and quite possibly lighter than that…..

    Where is the catch? I don’t get it..

    January 5, 2019 at 11:51 am #933621
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    rdmp2

    Budget?
    Trek Checkpoint?

    Budget?

    Trek Checkpoint?

    January 5, 2019 at 9:14 am #933619
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    Anonymous
    Huckfinn wrote:
    ….Any suggestion for a carbon framed one? 

    By the way, thanks for the Rose suggestion Peted76.

    Have a look at the GT Grade in carbon. Tyre size is limited to about 34c but a very capable bike on and off-road.

    January 5, 2019 at 9:09 am #933617
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    CXR94Di2

    Ive edit my post to look at

    Ive edit my post to look at the Genesis bike

    Your frame design dictates whether internal or external cable routing.  You have the option to think about electronic shifting Di2, costs rise alot.  I suggest you stick with 10 speed because of the available 11-36 cass to give climbing gears,  mated with a 48/32 crank

     

    Just out of interest, why does the bike have to be carbon framed, when running large tyres?  

     

    January 5, 2019 at 8:46 am #933615
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    Huckfinn

    What a coincidence!!

    What a coincidence!!

    That’s exactly what I was looking at now!

    Never built one myself, so finding websites who sell at reasonable prices components that I’m not 100% sure what are needed ….is tricky.

    Of course, I need: 

    1)a carbon frame and fork

    2)a hydro groupset

    3) quality wheels + handlebar

    But what about all the bits and pieces…………?

    January 5, 2019 at 8:26 am #933613
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    CXR94Di2

    Have you thought of building

    Have you thought of building up a bike?   Get the frame, gearing, groupset and tyre clearance.

    Here is a carbon frame bike,  it will need different groupset/BB and cassette to achieve gearing range you desire.  Its wide tyre and disc braked

    Genesis Datum 10 2019 – Road Bike

     

     

    January 4, 2019 at 7:52 pm #933611
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    Huckfinn

    ….Any suggestion for a

    ….Any suggestion for a carbon framed one? 

    By the way, thanks for the Rose suggestion Peted76.

    January 4, 2019 at 7:10 pm #933609
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    CXR94Di2

     CX/gravel/adventure bike can

     CX/gravel/adventure bike can do it all, if it has the right gearing and tyres.   I own a Kinesis Tripster titanium adventure bike.  It has wide tyre capacity, so I run 40 mm G Ones most of the time to do club rides, 100 mile sportives.  In this setup I can ride over 21mph solo for 10 miles, do 19 mph 70 mile club runs.  If I swap my wheels to the aero set, I have used the above bike >21 mph on closed road 80 mile sportives.  Then if I swap my wheels to mountain setup, I can ride up any climb at a high cadence because it has very low end gearing.  It’s not the lightest or raciest geometry but the difference between a race bike and adventure bike isn’t so great.  Just need to accept all the marketing about sub category bikes is bull-one bike can do most of it.

    January 4, 2019 at 4:31 pm #933607
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    CXR94Di2

    FSA adventure crankset do 50

    FSA adventure crankset do 50/34 .48/32 46/30.  They use a threaded bottom bracket

    January 4, 2019 at 3:29 pm #933605
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    peted76

    Rose have a configurator..

    Rose have a configurator.. and I hear good things about them.. 

    https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bikes/gravel

    Also you can choose a 46/36 crank.. with an 11/34 rear cassette on.. that’s about as good as it gets gravely/roady wise I reckon. 

     

    January 4, 2019 at 2:39 pm #933603
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    Huckfinn

    The Boardman looks lovely.

    The Boardman looks lovely..pity it’s not carbon!!

    I had a look at the carbon ones but there doesn’t seem to be any 2x

    ….

    I’ll use one set of tires, probably 38 or 40c.

    48/32×11/34, or 50/36×10/42 I think would be absolutely perfect

    January 4, 2019 at 1:59 pm #933601
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    rdmp2

    Are you planning to just use

    Are you planning to just use one set of tyres or change depending on terrain? Only ask as a larger tyre increases the gearing slightly. 48×11 gearing with a 45c tyre is marginally bigger (practically equal to) 50×11 with a 25c tyre. Personally I think 48/32 chainset is fine for me but there aren’t many options (and they aren’t exactly aesthetically pleasing). Most long cage road mechs are now fine with a 34t sprocket so you can get 1:1 gearing with a compact chainset (albeit with some slightly larger jumps than from a tight cassette). IMHO anything much over 110 gear inches isn’t worth it- I’d rather duck and tuck. But I have occasionally been grateful for my 28 gear inch low gear

    January 4, 2019 at 1:54 pm #933599
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    CXR94Di2
    Huckfinn wrote:
    Daveyraveygravey: you put it right when you say “CX/gravel/adventure bikes are a compromise…… They can mix some road riding and some gravel riding, but at the extremes of either they just won’t be as good.”

    I suspect the title of my post should have been more like “Trying to keep up with my friends on road bikes: which wide-tire bike could I buy”. That could have made clearer I guess.

    And by wide I mean 38 to 45c……, with discs, …..and low gears :-))))

     

    Have a look at the Boardman ADV 8.9 .It comes with 10 speed 11-32 Cass and 48/32 crankset.  It takes 40 mm tyres standard.  I would change the inner ring to 30t because FSA adventure crankset has also a 46/30 crank on the same BCD.   Then I would fit a 11-36 Cass, these are available in 10 speed.  

    That would give you gear inches 21.96 to 115″ .Is that enough range?

     

    Boardman from Halfords plus discount if have vouchers and or British cycling membership

     

    Only it’s alloy frame, but it won’t matter on 40 mm tyres, it will be Uber smooth

     

     

     

     

     

    January 4, 2019 at 1:36 pm #933597
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    Huckfinn

    Daveyraveygravey: you put it

    Daveyraveygravey: you put it right when you say “CX/gravel/adventure bikes are a compromise…… They can mix some road riding and some gravel riding, but at the extremes of either they just won’t be as good.”

    I suspect the title of my post should have been more like “Trying to keep up with my friends on road bikes: which wide-tire bike could I buy”. That could have made clearer I guess.

    And by wide I mean 38 to 45c……, with discs, …..and low gears :-))))

    January 4, 2019 at 1:27 pm #933595
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    CXR94Di2
    Griff500 wrote:
    CXR94Di2 wrote:
    Once over 30mph on a descent, you’re in comfortable freewheeling territory” – no you’re not on a 3% descent. eg Gorge de la Nesque, 15km @ 2,5% average. If I had a higher gear than 52/11 I’d use it.

    Ive ridden Gorge de la Nesque both ways.  The desecnt is not super fast because of lots of blind bends, until the latter part where it staightens outs a bit. 

    La  Nesque is my back yard. From the viewpoint on the North side, travelling West down to Auzon, there are only a couple of blind bends, for much of the route you can see the road snaking down the valley ahead of you. The South side is more twisty.

    Notwisthstanding that, your comment “once over 30mph on a descent, you’re in comfortable freewheeling territory” doesn’t make sense on long shallow gradients.  If you can generate power through the crank at 110 rpm, that’s fine. I can’t.  

     

    Just checked my Gorge descent, the first 2 or 3 miles I hardly pedalled lots of zero cadence and average nearly 26 mph. I peaked at 35 mph @110rpm later on with  a 42t chainring.  I came in top 20% on Strava without even really trying.  It’s worth saying again most folk dont need 48 or above chainrings.  Unless you are chasing KOM segments or racing, most folks are happy to top out less than 40 mph 

     

    The faster guys in my group were 2 mins ahead 2mph average faster and came in the top 5% of descent, but we’re riding very aggressively at pace into blind bends right from the start of the descent.  Whilst I arrived a little more safely 🙂

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