Moved from SD to BOS- Should I go Gravel?

[Jpalomba]

Hi all,

New to posting here but looking for advice. I am from MA and just finished up grad school in San Diego and am now back in Boston. I have ridden most road and some gravel over the last 10 or so years. Partially tired of my aggressive road geo and partially itching for a new bike, I am thinking of getting a gravel bike that I can ride on road and trails. Seems too good to be true. I was hoping for some advice based on some thoughts:

Is custom steel the way to go or too heavy?
Is it really any fun to ride a gravel bike with road wheels on road (not for racing or anything but still 30-50 mile rides)
Do I need two sets of wheels for on and off road?
If I want disc brakes, Sram, and 1x11 what’s a reasonable price range?
Is there any point in looking used?

Not in any rush to buy, still need to save up, just dreaming.

Thanks!

[robt57]

I'll address weight question; "Is custom steel the way to go or too heavy"

My steel Carl Strong All Road disc with a 588mm Top tube and Custom Steel fork after cutting steer tube weigh 4 lb frame and 1.6 lb fork. It is not a Thru axle frame, made in 2015.

You could drop weight off the fork probably, but going to have to spend to get even a Ti frame much lighter, in my size anyway...

Do math, Lynskey gravel tapered carbon fork=454g (not including axle) 567g (with TA). My XTR QR is 60 grams. So approx 1/2 lb saved in my example carbon VS steel.

Fun, road wheels for my Strong are 30mm Tubulars, dirt/gravel wheel clincher tubeless with either 38-40mm more grippy tires.

All pure fun...

[doomridesout]

Gravel bikes are a lot of fun, you should get one. Custom steel is fine but production carbon would get you pretty far too. IMO 2x is still the boss unless you plan to really be riding singletrack a lot. Road tires on a gravel bike aren't the same as a road bike, but it's close enough for most mortals. If you don't think you'd hate a 1x system on a road ride, you wouldn't notice the difference in geometry with road wheels on a gravel bike.

[Peter P.]

First answer this question-how much gravel do you think you'll find IN BOSTON?!

[buddybikes]

In Boston or outside Boston (where). Most off-road outside Boston is single track. Head to NH, western MA, VT and in gravel heaven.

Think you should get resettled here and see what your landscape is. Think 2x would be better suited.

[schwa86]

I’m in Boston. FWIW I bought a bike for gravel to mess around with when we head up to MDI — eg pretty groomed gravel. It made a huge difference on the road up there to have slick tires. These were fine on carriage roads but I suspect would be problematic for anything more serious. I’d say I lose about 1 mph on the roads vs one of my road bikes vs 2-3 when I had knobbier tires on.

[Cantdog]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

First answer this question-how much gravel do you think you'll find IN BOSTON?!

You start to find dirt around Boston even before you go outside of 128, and after living here most recently since 2017 I’m still riding new stuff from my house in the city heading out of town. I think I’ve done 2 or 3 road rides in that time. There are a ton of dirt paths, doubletracks, old abandoned roads. Gravel road riding? Not nearly as much.

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by Cantdog

You start to find dirt around Boston even before you go outside of 128, and after living here most recently since 2017 I’m still riding new stuff from my house in the city heading out of town. I think I’ve done 2 or 3 road rides in that time. There are a ton of dirt paths, doubletracks, old abandoned roads. Gravel road riding? Not nearly as much.

Agreed. The metro west area has trails, paths and misc ways that can be creatively linked for good mixed terrain riding...borderline mtb/gravel. Good dirt roads are further off in central and western MA.

In any case, a gravel bike is useful all around for the wide tires that make our crumbling pavement comfortable.

Yep, two wheel sets with road and with knobbies is a great idea.

[avalonracing]

I love riding my all-road/gravel bike on the road. Hell over the winter it's the better choice on roads that are less than perfect. I kind of prefer grabbing that bike unless I'm going for a competitive ride with friends where they are on their road bikes.

[djg21]

And you want to have a single bike, I think an “adventure”/all road/gravel bike —whatever they are calling it — makes good sense. Maybe set up two wheelsets — one for 40c gravel knobbies and another with 700c x 28 road tires.

[merlinmurph]

I'm a guy well outside Boston in Hopkinton (I-495), with a Seven Evergreen and two sets of wheels, and loving it. Nice road rides on country roads. Put the dirt wheels on, I can go out the back door and piece together a 2-3 hour ride on all sorts of trails. If you want to travel just a little, central MA has some great options. Just a little further, you've got southern NH and western MA where you can get totally lost - in a good way.

Depends what you want, but a gravel bike gives you a lot of options. If you do go with a gravel bike, I'd suggest a minimum of 40mm tire clearance, because, why not. There's a lot of granite here and trails can get rooty. A larger tire will give you options. Of course, that depends on your intentions, weight, etc. Just putting it out there. I've got 40mm tires on the dirt wheels and love 'em.

Welcome back and good luck in your search.

[robt57]

There is something to be said for riding, having the option for 650b. I like 47x650b on my Strong for some uses, seems more relaxed to me. Something worth seeing if one likes with a disc Allroad/gravel. If that desire is there, shop with tire clearances in scrutiny. Other factors may come into the build choices. Big clearances like than can cause chainline limits. I couldn't use a Force CX1 carbon chainset on my Strong for example. Too low Q-factor, arm tapers and shapes when a frame fits a 2.1 650b with breathing room, etc. Cake and eat it and all that...

[XXtwindad]

Rephrasing the question:

Speed is no longer the preeminent concern. I want to have the most fun possible on a bike. Should I get a gravel bike?

Answer: Yes. And get a 2X drive train. Trust me on this.

P.S. welcome to the Forum. It’s always best to make a subtle debut. Trust me on this

[djg21]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

Rephrasing the question:

Speed is no longer the preeminent concern. I want to have the most fun possible on a bike. Should I get a gravel bike?

Answer: Yes. And get a 2X drive train. Trust me on this.

P.S. welcome to the Forum. It’s always best to make a subtle debut. Trust me on this

I love my Force/Eagle AXS 1x mullet build. 44 x 50-10. It is simple. i used the 50 today to climb 16-18% grades. In can spin up virtually anything, and in the 44 x 10, I have a big gear to mash on downhills. If I were using the bike as an all-arounder and didn’t also own a road bike, I’d probably do a 2x. But for gravel riding, the 1x with a 12-spd cassette is great. If you don’t want to use a MTB derailleur and can’t use a MTB cassette, then 2x would be the way to go.

[TimD]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

Rephrasing the question:

Speed is no longer the preeminent concern. I want to have the most fun possible on a bike. Should I get a gravel bike?

I would respectfully disagree. If you want to maximize fun, buy a fat bike with a suspension fork.

My $0.02

Tim