bentin
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Austin, TX
- Car(s)
- 23 Golf R - 3 Pedals
Funny, I have a fifteen year old ti road bike with rim brakes. I did the Iron Horse last year from Durango to Silverton and the descent into Silverton really caused me to consider discs. I figure if I'm going to to make a change, I might as well get a gravel bike. Looking at the Revel Rover on sale right now. My plan is actually to do Ekar but with a Classified Powershift hub in Hunt wheels. That gives me 26 gears, so I figure I shouldn't be giving up anything on road and will still have plenty of range off road.While we're here, I've been toying with the idea of replacing my TCR with a gravel bike of some sort.
The TCR is getting old. Nothing wrong with it, but I'd really like to upgrade to electronic shifting, and I feel like I might as well at that point just get something totally new.
I've always loved trail riding (did it before I picked up road but have been out of it for almost 10 years now), and would like to get back into it a bit...but not hardcore full suspension trail riding.
I'm wondering if a gravel bike could do it all for me? Enough of a road bike to still hit the pavement, and an enough of an offroader to hit some trails.
I could always pick up a road specific wheel/tire combo and swap out as needed. Thoughts?
Part of me doesn't really want carbon though, as I'd prefer to have a more enduring frame, so I may go local and get a Chumba ti frame. They also come with sliding drops, so I can adjust the wheelbase when moving from road to gravel tires to shorten or lengthen the wheelbase.
My biggest issue is that I also have a single speed mountain bike, and the gravel bike likely replaces that too, so I'd be getting rid of my two custom bikes for one off the shelf bike, which feels a little weird, but probably makes the most sense and would keep the wife relatively happy.