Gravel bikes for commuting?

I think a gravel bike would be ideal and would be my choice but you could also consider the more endurance end of road bikes e.g. Domane, Defy, Endurace, Roubaix. I think you've worked it out pretty well though and a gravel bike should tick all your boxes.

Something to consider with panniers is that your heel can hit the pannier ("heel strike"). It's no big deal as there's all kinds of adjustment possible, just something to bear in mind, particularly if you have big feet.

And you simply must have a pair of gravel shoes: https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/best-gravel-bike-shoes/

Of course, anything but gravel socks with gravel shoes would be a literal faux pas: https://luxa.cc/en/socks/214-only-gravel.html

How on earth did we ever manage without this stuff?

There's tons of them if you know where to look.

https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/7010/blast-from-the-past-the-rough-stuff-fellowship

Quite well actually!

VonLuck, I was in a similar situation to you. I had a reasonably good hybrid that I used for commuting. I wanted something for longer trips, and to try a bit of off road, and decided a gravel bike would be a good “go anywhere bike.”

I had no intention of using it for commuting, but my hybrid kept getting punctures a few months back (due to roadworks on my commute, I think), and I ended up having to take the gravel bike. Now I don’t want to switch back. It’s a much more comfortable bike to ride. I’ll keep the hybrid for locking up around town, but I can’t see myself going back to it for the commute.

Caveat: my hybrid is reasonably decent; my gravel bike is high spec. Not all gravel bikes are created equal. Some are more like road bikes, others are more like old school mountain bikes. Most will give you a degree of versatility though. I don’t have a pannier rack on mine, but I could, and I do have 4 bottle cages, a lock that clips onto the frame, and full mudguards. Some road bikes will allow for some of this, and some gravel bikes less so: “gravel” is a to some extent a marketing term, so research a few individual bikes and see which one best meets your requirements.

Well, we can file my attempt at humour in the same box as the L-shaped cranks 😉

I decided to buy a cx bike as a combination commuter and occasional cx race bike. The mudguard and pannier mounts were appealing, and the tyre clearance also. it came with fairly low end 35mm cx tyres which are useless on road so I fitted schwalbe pro one 28s I plan on replacing the with larger road tyres next time but it has worked out well. Its a comfortable bike, but is it any more comfortable than a modern endurance bike? I don't really think so.

I'd be interested to know what tyres you intend to run, presumably not gravel tyres as they will slow you down a lot.

Of course there isn’t, but drop bars and fatter tyres might make things more comfortable and open up more rugged terrain.

I used my cx last year to commute the N81, Blessington to citywest.

All things being equal it was 4 kmph slower than the road bike but was x 3 the comfort while wearing the back pack.

I got a genesis CDA 20 two years ago for the commute. I dont use clip-on shoes if cycling in the city - Great bike for getting around Dublin. I would bring it up some gravel paths such as Hellfire as well.

I find my gravel bike much better cycling in an urban environment that my road bike - Just easier to use. I have mud guards, a pannier and have no issues. Also swapped the WTB RIDDLER tires with Marathon Smartguard 35 tires for the commute (and change the to riddler tires if doing a gravel cycle)

I also have an old hybrid bike if locking it in a dodgy area.

Would defo recommend a Gravel bike if commuting! Great for track-standing at lights!

Now that road bikes have disc brakes you'd easily fit a 32-35c tyre for more comfort and you'll have no issue going for longer spins. I don't think a gravel bike is necessarily any better here especially if you look at endurance road frames.

It was more a comment on the TCX. I've been happy with my giants (not withstanding my irritation on the tyre clearance of my 2016 Defy Disc), but it would've been a wait (with no time frame given) for the Revolt. TCX and Topstone were in stock at the time, and the quick release of the TCX put me off. Both were previous models - I don't know if they're even doing a alu TCX anymore, but the "pro" is thru axle now, but they're not pushing the "do all" nature of it either.

Planet X London Rd.

Relaxed road geo, disc brakes, mounts for panniers and racks plus ability to stick a 42c in there (or 32c and mudguards).

Wondering if anyone with knowledge on this could help me out....

I've decided to buy a gravel bike, also decided to go for a 2x group on basis of my sense that I'll have a greater range of gearing and, with a second set of wheels, this will be my winter bike in future as well....

Looking at what is available, which isn't much, I'm wondering how the Sram 1x groups compare to the Shimano Grx 810.

So. GRX 810, 48x31 with an 11-34 cassette I can understand,

But then Sram 40 front, 10-50 cassette in 12 speed,

And Sram 40 front, 10-44 cassette in 12 speed...

I imagine I can find an online calculator and get % differences or whatever... But in real use, would there be any significant disadvantage in either of the Sram groups for someone doing a bit of gravel /trails /and a bit of winter cycling?

I don't have any experience of SRAM 1x - but in Shimano, I find it challenging to make a 1x work for both road and gravel. I run 40t front, 11-42 on the back. 40-11 is not enough for a road group ride, whereas I like having the 40-42 for climbing on gravel. The gaps between gears can also be an issue. 40-10 would help a bit on fast road rides, but not really with gaps between gears on the road, particularly if you are going for 10-50.

Shimano is definitely hindered by having a smallest small cog of 11. For now the only groupset I'd consider for road riding to go 1x would be Campag Ekar 1x13 with with a 42t front, 9-42 cassette.

I think it ultimately depends on what type of road riding (e.g. faster group rides?) and what type of gravel riding (steep climbs needing a very low gear?). I'm a big fan of 1x but it just doesn't quite work for me on a road bike. On gravel it is great, and I don't understand why every single urban type bike doesn't have it. Who uses a front derailleur in a city?

For that usage I'd definitely chance 1x. I hadn't noticed that you said 12-speed, I'd say the extra gear and 10 tooth sprocket would be an improvement on my set up as it would be a step in the right direction in terms of both gaps and highest gear.

If you're planning on going up the mountains or doing general road riding I'd say go for 2x for better gear selection. 1x doesn't make sense on the road in my opinion. I have 1x11 GRX on my road ebike, 42t cassette and 48t chainring. The cassette is awful, shifting into the 32-37-42 gears is clunky and the jump between some gears seems too high when upshifting because the cassette needs to be capable of going uphill and on the flat so it loses that closer gear ratio that a 2x would have. Since I'm only commuting on the flat, I'll be putting on a 32t cassette.

I understand 1x for mountain biking or gravel but general road riding? Nope!

The Sram options (electronic v non electronic grx of course) are around 500 and 1k more expensive, so I'd nearly need a good reason to go for those, from reading all those comments there's no justification for me in spending more for the 1x, I'll hang on the few months longer for the 2x grx. Thanks