Justicebeaver wrote:
My road bike is quite old, so I'm wondering if a gravel or CX bike with road gearing and two sets of wheels would serve me well.
I bought a Specialized Crux last year thinking I might do just that. It came stock with 46/36 rings and 11-28 cassette. When I did my first CX race I found I never used the big ring (obviously course-dependant), but I also found that the 46/36 combo wasn't great on the road. Swapped out the rings for 50/34 which has proven to be pretty versatile for road riding and local gravel. I have to ride pavement to get to any gravel in my area so I wanted something that performed well on both.
I never ended up selling my road bike (Giant TCR) though. There's something about the Crux that just doesn't feel as crisp and snappy on the road - I think it's the slightly slacker front end. It doesn't handle poorly, just not like a road race bike which I guess is obvious, but I've been glad I still have my TCR. Just something to keep in mind if you're going that route.