I no longer race cross but do a fair bit of gravel riding and just left the same gearing. I have two rings up front. I'm in the Seattle area so its hilly and could not get away with a 46 up front.

I run 42x11-28 for commuting and did a few cx races with that gearing and was happy. I think the big factor is what kind of gravel you will be riding.

Nor sure of the exact math, but I would think that 44x11-32 or 48x12-36 would get the job done for just about anything. Also depends on your cadence preferences. Some people would rather have an extra cog in the middle of the cassette that gets used more, some would rather have a bail out gear.

I would rather spin out and have to coast a bit sooner rather than being way over-geared trying to climb a hill. Have done King's Mtn and Old La Honda on my tri bike with 39/23 as my easiest gear and it wasn't that fun. If I was stronger/lighter then my opinion may change. But I would rather tuck and coast at 38mph vs 42mph and have the climbing gears.

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/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

40x11-26 has always steered me in the right direction for cyclocross races. It's what I plan to throw on my new cross bike here in the near future. I may consider a heavier front gear *42 and MAYBE 44* if I was talking about gravel racing, but I can't actually base that on anything aside from theory.

Kinda impossible answer...

So may variables:-
Gradients you ride, your fitness, the grade of gravel you are riding, your preferred cadence, your tolerance to gaps in gearing...

For me under the following conditions:

Flat / rolling pea sized gravel / fire trail
300w FTP
96rpm preferred cadence
35mm tires at 34 / 38 psi tubeless
40t- 11-28t
With that its only on false flats down hill that i would need a higher gear..

For my gravel grinding routes (3-6hr hilly and varied rides etc as opposed 60-120 min CX style bashing around) i run a 36-46t front...
Zero negatives, and just more options..

I am a cat 3 roadie, 150lbs, good power, living in a fairly hilly part of Kansas City. The hardest part and reason for this question is that most of the gravel riding is rolling/hilly but no climbing. I am trying to maximize my gearing for gravel and still be able to not be over geared in cross races. Most of the cross races are not too bad locally, lots of grass, moderate use of hills, and some long hole shots. A few cat 1/2's i race with use 46 tooth rings as an all around ring but that seems pretty big, thinking a 42-44 might be a good mix for both. Then swap in a 48-50 for gravel races.

i'd say forget the 1x and do either a standard compact or mid compact.

If you are doing gravel races, you won't want to have a 1x in my opinion. Especially if you are doing anything long (like Dirty Kanza, Gravel Worlds, etc). You'll want to be able to spin up hills into strong headwinds, and still keep up when you are motoring on flats and downhill tailwind sections. I don't think a 1 allows you to do that.

In my opinion, a 1x in gravel solves a problem that doesn't exist. There's just no reason, other than it looks cool and it is trendy. Like any other trend, I think this one will pas (on gravel at least, but probably not on cx or mtb)

Got you...

I'd go with a 42 and an 11-28 11spd for starters..

For wet CX ie high load i'd have a 40t on stand by tho....

For flat rolling light gravel i guess i'd swap to a 44t..

In summary i'd runa 36-46 with a front mech ;)

Helpful much? thought not..

That combo sounds like suicide for a gravel race. If you're serious about gravel racing, keep a double. If you're serious about cx, you can figure out what gearing works for you based on what you've run on a double in the past. I find a 10speed 11-32 more than adequate for cx. I'm not picky about fine tuning a cadence and generally just need a substantially different gear (NOW) so the large jumps aren't problematic for me.

Hence i said run a double.....

Know what kind of terrain you will be riding. Any gravel ride I can do from my house means long sustained climbs with gradients in excess of 10% with peak pitches at close to 20% (mostly old logging tracks, not farm roads). On these roads, gearing is a limit going up, and skill/comfort is a limit going down - not gearing. If I traveled out of town that may be different - but I run a 46-38 front (didn't have a 110bcd crank at the time i built the bike) and 11-32 rear cassette. 36-32 would be a better low gear IMO.

My only thought is I can remember exactly one time I ran out of top end gear during a race, but have many, many races (& rides) where a bit easier gear would have been useful, even if it was to maintain traction up a loose climb. I did my first two cross seasons on a 39-53 and just never shifted out of the 39. I'd go with a 42 and something with an 11 in the back.

Thanks for the thoughts everybody!! I decided on a 2x as the 1x was just too limiting for a cross/gravel/road setup. Ended up with 46/36 up front and 11-28 in the rear.