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So this gravel riding craze... hasn’t really been an interest but this weekend I mentioned to the hub that maybe I should check it out (he was talking about getting a new bike so you know, me too). Then yesterday I learned Argon-18 has a new gravel bike and they’ve named it after my favourite beer. Obviously it’s a sign from the Universe. So
@Matt I can’t find any pricing info - how much are these retailing for?
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Force 1X comes with a 42T crank, 11-42 cassette and 42mm tires.
The 105 comes with a 50/34, 11-34 and 38mm tires.
I know it seems odd, but I spend the same amount of time cleaning and tuning both brands and always get SRAM to be smoother always.
@Matt, is this logical, or coincidence?
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Yes.
This may surprise you, but people rode on dirt roads, light singletrack, poorly paved roads, you name it, before 5-6 years ago. Take a guess what bike that was on. There are certainly differences, but one maker’s “gravel” geometry might be closer to another’s “cyclocross” geometry, or it might look like a hardtail MTB geometry, or....
They’re marketed as discrete choices, but it’s far from that at all. I ride my Ridley X-Night on most anything I want including non-rocky singletrack, with its primary limiter being only one set of bottle cage bolts. Yes the bottom bracket is higher than a “gravel” bike, but I’ve yet to tip over as a result of that.
I’m gonna go with the basic oversimplification that, all things equal, a gravel bike is gonna be a more slack geometry, clearance for wider tires, and better ability for accessories...
If you’re truly 50/50 and gravel grinding and racing cyclocross are equally important to you, I’d suggest a cyclocross frame with the widest tire clearance you can find and two bottle cage positions. It seems like most cross bikes can take up to 38 or 40, which is probably acceptable for most gravel grinding needs, but the slack, slightly less responsive geometry will hinder your cyclocross racing a lot more than not being able to run a 42mm tire in a gravel race/training ride, I would think. My experience is that the CX race geometry is only a little tippy at high, high speed loose descents at 40+ mph, and you adjust to it quickly enough. And you could certainly still run those wider tires even in cross racing if you’re not in a UCI race, but that’s kind of like playing basketball on an 8 foot rim. But yeah, CX frames with no bottle cages or only one make long dirt road training rides kind of a pain
My preference between the two comes down these factors: which is cheaper, and/or which one is sexier? The basic difference is similar to road bikes. Do you want a race bike or an endurance bike? Personally, I’d choose cross because it more closely matched my road bike. But then I also ride loose gravel and dirt on my roadie with 23’s at 100 psi. Any bike can be a gravel bike (sorry to rain on the marketing parade, @Matt).
Of course, now that I have ridden all these geometries, I would have to say your explanation is spot on. Easy to shift your weight on the downhill to settle the race bike down a bit on loose gravel, but I'd absolutely go with the tricked out all gravel geometries unless I was doing a CX race. Probably wont do one. Having said that, the Michigan Coast to Coast race proved to me why 42mm tires are a minimum requrement for this sandy loose soil. If you have disc, it's easy to go 650b / 27.5 and put those 42-50mm tires on most cyclocross bikes right? So maybe that's an all in one solution for the part time racer????
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I do it in training on my MTB quite often, though. But hydration pack on a roadish geometry is just not something I can get behind. It’s not a huge deal, as if I’m way out in the sticks that much that I will be more than ~90 minutes between even a gas station, I would likely rather be on my MTB because chances are any sort of forest service road, doubletrack, or whatever else I’m riding is going to be bumpy/Not maintained enough that having a suspension will make the ride far more enjoyable. Also this. My Venge probably has as many “dirt road miles” on it as my Ridley. But I am weak and ride 28s.
Exactly what I’m looking for in a bike. Looks great with khakis.
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