Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

XPLR jockey wheels, will Rival fit Force?
Force and red seem to share the part and not sure I want that outlay when we have a fair bit of SFAB season left!

First ride on the Crux. What a bike.
Lanes, aerodrome apron and gravel were ridden. Enjoyed being able to mix it up.

Observations:
Ride - Wow, 45c tyres are dreamy on beaten up roads. Zero jarring. Like a magic carpet.

Flared bars - 44cm > 51cm, these are a revelation. Moving out to the drops and down hill control is immediately noticeable. More stable and less twitchy. It feels like so many more position possibilities vs a normal drop bar.

Gearing - 40 x 11>40 is just right. I feel I did myself dirty pushing a 50T on the SL7. For all but the fastest of declines it's more than adequate. I used to enjoy pushing 50mph, i'm a little more risk averse these days.

10/10 will ride again this year.

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Yeah, I ride 46/30x42-11 on most bikes now. On descents I don't even need to pedal and I've dropped my missus so there's little point pedaling downhill when I could be eating or something instead :)

I may have gone a bit far with the MTBs 28x51 though... it gets a bit silly on roads.

40 x 11>40

Loaded, or tricky terrain you'll want to go lower. 30x36 is my sweet spot. Much better than Hippy's ratio which sees him track standing and occasionally falling over

1x11 speed the best you can do is having a 46t cassette at the back. Getting over stupid 20% ramps with rocks and sand gets a lot less stressful

How very dare you!

Yup, about to order a 11-46 for my partner, can't decide on keeping the 38t up front or also dropping to 36t.

Some of the reason behind 11-40 is it’s matched with my mountain bike (34t). My legs therefore don’t even have to thing about ratio jumps, they’re the same across all bikes (applicable when I ride them)
I’ll give it a bash for a bit and see how it plays out. My power meter and Di2 stats will speak the truth!

Now, can we discuss 650b, please.
I have some of those Prime carbon wheels. What’s the use case? Is it literally to be able to run some 2.1s in winter and make the bike a little more rugged?
Tyre suggestions welcome (2.1 rated frame).

Isn't the answer always Mezcals? But I suppose Vittoria must also make some SFAB UK gravel models.

SALE10
https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Vittoria/Mezcal-III-XC-TLR-G20-MTB-Tyre/MHY8

Gear ratio and 650b chat:

40t up front, I’ve got 700x38 GravelKing Slick with a 11-36 cassette for commuting, winter road and road+

Also snagged a set of those wiggle hoops, they’ve got 650x47 Conti Terra Trail with a 11-46 cassette. Swaps fine, just one full turn of the barrel adjuster. These are for sloppy Epping trails. I have zero experience of off-road tyres but the contis were £25 on wiggle and seem great so far.

I want to drop Liz’s from the stupid 42t at the minute to a more usable 36t, but it looks silly yet I’ve never seen her ride in the bottom 3rd of the 11-38 cassette go figure.

currently I'm running road a 105 group with 50-34/11-32.
can I swap out the 105 chainset for a 46-30 grx double without changing anything else for easier gravgrav ratio?

That looks absolutely lovely to ride.

I do enjoy that your three highlights of the bike are the features you get on a £1000 gravel bike.

lol imagine doing him like that in public... savage.

Sorry wasn't meant to be negative, bike looks killer.

Wait, you’re telling me that a £1000 bike can do the same as a £11700 one?
I must note I did not pay this. It’s fucking obscene retail price.
My Crux is justified because a £1000 bike will be nowhere near as light to lift over a 5 bar gate twice a ride.

Did lol mind.

can I swap out the 105 chainset for a 46-30 grx double without changing anything else for easier gravgrav ratio?

You have to lower the front derailleur, and shorten the chain obviously.

You’ll probably also need to change to a GRX front derailleur, because of the 2.5mm offset GRX chainrings. Although some people report that their road front derailleur also worked, by adjusting the limit screws to their limit.

Haha yeah just teasing him, didn't mean to sound like i was calling you out!
I'm v jealous of the bike. It ticks every box for me, except mudguard mounts!

Have you weighed it? or weighed the frameset before building?

nice one. it's a band on mech so probably worth a try.
I'll probably slap a new chain on there anyway.

edit - just found a thread on stw forums that suggests 11-40 cassette and a roadlink would also work. might be a better option as I'll still be able to ride the big on the road.

I’ve been waiting for this question - no and no 🙃

The published weights are always for the smaller sizes. Same on weight weenies, everyone seems to ride a 52cm frame... Would like to know 58/60 weights. Not that its matters at all when I weigh what I do :(

Totally deserves it 🤣

I’d wait until you get a bigger gearing.

I have a 38t but does find myself spinning on the road but perfect off road.

edit - just found a thread on stw forums that suggests 11-40 cassette and a roadlink would also work.

Nah, can run 105 with 11-40 without roadlink, best to test to make sure the derailleur hanger of said bike allow this.

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