You may be reading that wrong. I can't think of a situation (besides rim brakes) where a groupset would dictate the tire width. On a disc brake bike the frame will dictate the width. That bike will take 40mm tires on 700 rims that come with the bike and 47mm on the 650 version.
On another note. I've never seen this brand until just now but seeing the store with the hipster tool in the clothing reminds me of Love the Pain.

He’s telling me the front derailleur is the limiter. Not the frame. According to the guy at Festka, tires bigger than 32 will contact the front derailleur unless it’s the SRAM wide or GRX FD. And this brand couldn’t be farther from LTP. That company is douche to the max.

Hmm. That sucks! . Any reason you want 2x? Hilly area? I have switched my road and gravel over to 1x. I just swap out chainrings if needed. Good luck.
Def wasn't taking a jab at the company. Just the hipster :)

Nah I’m actually fine with sram 1 x. It just kinda caught me off guard cuz I see lots of gravel bikes with standard 2 x setups

Yeah 1x is awesome!! So easy. I'm a GRX guy though. Good luck with whatever you decide. It's tough getting bikes right now.

Today I ordered a gravel bike that has clearance to 700x45 from Obed. Their gravel bikes have GRX but they make an all-road version with 105 (and probably any other non-GRX Shimano) that has clearance for 700x38. Usually the limiter for a gravel bike 2x setup is max chainring size, but with slightly different chain stay geometry I suppose that could manifest as max tire clearance. In any case, I disagree with the sentiment that a 2x setup with a specific FD cannot fit wider tires, although that very well could be the case for the Festka given their specific choices on geometry.

Thanks for the info. I have no gravel knowledge at all. But I’m in the market for a nice roadie so I figured I’ll get one that can do 35-40 tires in case I get the gravel itch.

Yeah, I’m pretty much in the same boat. But when I looked into it, a gravel bike and a gravel capable roadie usually end up with about the same geometry, so I decided to go for the gravel bike that allows for a lot more clearance. And in the case of Obed, gives you a carbon frame with Di2 shipped to your door for under $4k (at the moment). I can’t speak to the actual bike, because I won’t have it for a few months, but Dan seems to be a fan, and that was certainly a factor as I weighed my options.

My 2021 gravel frameset will work with 650 or 700 x 53mm wide tires.

I mean if Dan likes it....Same with DC rainmaker. If he likes it, I like it.

You can disagree all you want but the issue is that unless an FD has an offset it will limit tire size on most bikes. The GRX FD sits 2.5mm out to remedy this. https://weightweenies.starbike.com/...ewtopic.php?t=161815

As per Carl Spackler's link, the issue is that the wider tires literally hit a road-spec front derailleur on some bikes. GRX is offset to prevent this from happening. The chainrings are thus also offset, to accommodate the derailleur (and to help with too-short chainstays, but that's another topic entirely).

---

Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

2x gives range without compromise.
For an "all road" machine where you want a big top and gear tight gear gaps for road riding, yet still have a 1:1 or better for climbing.
I love my 1x , but I'm switching back to 2x for my next bike.

Right, on most bikes.

I was responding to OP, who asked if a road bike could accommodate more than the 32mm quoted by a specific bike manufacturer. The answer is yes. But perhaps I wasn't specific enough in my statements, so I'll revise them slightly.


At some point on a bike, something becomes a limiter to what can accommodate wider tires. In the case of many road bikes, it can be the FD, but it does not have to be the FD. On my c2005 Trek, it is the brakes. For many, it used to be the chainstays themselves. What is a limitation and how it limits that one dimension of bike building is a choice each company has to make, but there's nothing that forces the road FD to be the limitation. And even then, switching from road FD to GRX only extends it a bit.

Consider a hypothetical of a road bike with chainstays 3 feet long. Is it a great bike? Probably not. Could one be made? Probably. Would the FD limit the width of the tire a 700c wheel could fit? No.

TLDR: The issue is frame geometry, which in some cases (maybe many cases?) manifests as an issue with the FD these days.

Correct. In order for the FD to work correctly, it is mounted the exact same place on a frame. And with that fixed location, a FD can interfere with the rear tire if it gets big enough. So a frame should really have 2 max tire sizes, 1X & 2X......and of course for 700 or 650....so even though a frame may say it can accept a 700x48mm tire, 2X and using a FD may only allow a 40mm tire on that same frame depending on the FD being used (the tire will hit the FD before it hits the frame). I know Di2 is tighter than most mechanicals. From what I understand the GRX FD was slimmed down a bit to allow a few more mm tire clearance - maybe 42 instead of 40? I am sure SRAM did something similar. Going 1X now removes the FD entirely so tire restriction now goes back to the frames restriction.

i have been exhorted by some of the folks inside the editorial circle here to write something more specific on this for the front page, even tho i thought i had already explained this. so, i probably will. but for your specific case, here goes:

you would think that preserving wheelsize across various wheel types is normalizing. but i submit that it is not. preserving tire radius across wheel types is normalizing. a bike frame does not care how wide a tire is, or how many knobbies it has. it only cares about the distance from the wheel axle to the ground, and to the furthest protrusion from the wheel axle (which is slightly greater than the distance from the wheel axle to the ground in every place except where the tire contacts the ground).

this "tire radius" determines BB height, shoe overlap, and steering geometry. if you want a bike to exhibit certain properties and behaviors, tire radius is a design input, and when the wheel/tire gets subbed out for another wheel/tire, all of that behavior the bike designer intends for that bike goes out the window.

in my opinion, a sound tire radius for a multi-purpose bike in a road motif is 345mm. i have 2 such bikes right now, an OPEN WI.DE and an OPED Boundary. Each can be ridden as a gravel bike or a road bike. in one case it's with a 30mm tire on a 700c wheel (road) and a 53mm tire in a 650b wheel (gravel). each of these wheels has a 345mm tire radius. each has the same BB height, the same shoe overlap behavior, and the same steering geometry.

the outlier would be the 700c wheel with the 38mm or 40mm or 43mm tire. this tire radius is now something between 353mm and 357mm, and all those metrics are now changed: how the bike handles, shoe overlap much more likely, and so forth.

now, your gravel might be different than my gravel. you might want a bike that has a 35mm or a 40mm tire. that might be ideal for you. fine. but then what i would recommend is a bike that is designed around a 35mm tire radius.

as for 1x or 2x, i would just say that "clearance" for the FD is a function of tire radius. no, it's not true that tires more than Xmm in width won't work on a bike. SRAM's problem with some bikes has been the FD's battery. it doesn't clear the larger tire. but this assumes you're putting a larger tire on a 700c wheel. if what you want is a multi-use bike, then you're going to have 2 sets of wheels, because it's just way too much hassle to switch tires, especially if you're running tubeless. if it's a disc brake bike, you aren't limited to wheels conforming to a wheel axle-to-braking surface distance.

the main thing you have to worry about with the approach i espouse above is chainstay and seatstay clearance for that fatter tire. the only hindrance i've run into is that this kind of fat tire clearance pushes the chainstay out, and this now creates a limit to the chain ring size if you're running a 1x. my OPEN WI.DE can run a 40t and no bigger.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

The FD max measured tire size is 700x 42/43mm for SRAM AXS depending on how it's angled. SRAM etap (11 speed) FD max measured tire size is probably around 35 or even smaller. You don't need the SRAM Wide crankset and FD unless you plan on running 700x42c tires and even then you are limited to a tire size of 45c.

I have the same frame OBED uses and have SRAM Force AXS 2x on it and it works great as a road and gravel bike. I run different tire radii (700x32c vs 700x40c), but the difference in handling doesn't bother me. If at all, I like the slower steering for gravel rides. Slowman is absolutely correct in everything he is saying. If you decide to go my route, I highly suggest two different size cassettes since the 700x40 will be harder to push in the same gear as a 700x32.

I ride a Domane as a gravel rig and it's a dandy at it.

I swapped the Di2 8000 FD for the GRX and absolutely gained clearance. I bet you certainly know that, but many others may not.

The Domane is an absolutely brilliant gravel rig and a pretty solid all out road race bike at that. 40mm tires clear no issue at all with the Domane and GRX FD. Sure some folks like more for comfort. I never want to go more because I prioritize speed with a little comfort :)

I once thought 1x was the way to go for gravel, but Di2 and synchro shift changed that. It's like 1x, but it's 2x :)

---

24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

The Factor LS is a great option. It is very close to the new O2 which is a phenomenal bike.

Thanks for the info Dan! So if I understand your method, attempting to have a consistent tire radius between the road and gravel wheel/tire setups would require a 650b gravel wheel. I’m definitely getting 2 wheelsets so I should be able to achieve this.

yeah. exactly one 650b set and one 700c set. one problem is now negated, which is the problem of the tire hitting the the SRAM FD battery (on a 2x) because that clearance issue is due to the larger tire radius, not the fatter tire diameter. i don't really see how there's any other problem, because on a 2x system you're still dealing with the same road BB width, so, the same road BB, road crankset, road shifting system, i don't see why there's any issue.

that said, all that is a bit helpful if the chainstay length is reasonably long, and i think 425mm to 430mm is a pretty usual chainstay in gravel bikes these days. that's longish for a road bike, however, i have not found in my own riding that a long chainstay is a detriment to how the bike handles when configured as a road bike.

here's where you're hemmed in by what i propose: there is really no way to accommodate that midrange gravel tire. that 35mm to 43mm width. the bike is really set up for 2 kinds of wheels: road and fat gravel. it's a 28mmm to 30mm tire on 700c, and it's a 47mm to 57mm tire for gravel (that would be the entire good workable range, and the closer you get to the midpoint, 53mm, aka 2.1", the more that bike will handle as the bike designer intended).

that works for me, because, when gravel is indicated, you'll be happy much or most of the time you have the fatter tire. it's got to be really nice gravel before you prefer 38mm to 53mm. any sort of washboard, or rockiness, or singletrack, or technical downhill, or sandy uphill, any of that and you'll be happier you're on the 53mm tire.

still, this is what you give up. i mean, yes, you could put that 40mm tire on there, but these bikes i'm writing about are really set up for either or: road 30mm or gravel 53mm.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I’m told by the frame manufacturer I’m considering buying from that they don’t recommend 650b wheels. Bummer.

The LS is on my short (getting longer) list of gravel bikes. I'm really leaning to the 3T Exploro Race/Max, but the Factor LT and Ventum are on that list as well (Open WIDE should be....) and the Giant Revolt just due to the price but no Di2 option so.....

I'm looking for a gravel bike that will have some road use (I have a road bike), but mainly gravel. I'd like to be able to run 700 up to around a 42-45 and 650 50+ which I think can only be done as a 1X option (Shimano Di2 only). I just need to spend some time to review what each can fit and verify which stack/reach works.

What is their problem with 650b wheels?