what bike(s) is best for climbing (and then descending) road AND gravel? CruX? Open UP(PER)?
I haven’t ridden Crux.
I own an UPPER and it’s great - it will (in a few days) be my only bicycle: road, gravel and something that resembles cx mtb. Trying to do all that we three wheelsets. To that end… best for climbing… that’s gonna be a lot about the wheels.
Ian
Agree on wheels (and tires). Have been thinking about the Open (regular UP), I have a Diverge now but for on road it isn’t my favorite, and since the gravel grinder goal had passed and really just looking for something to do 75-90 minute climbing rides, Open seems ideal.
That Obed GVR I reviewed on the front page is worthy of a mention. It’s getting hard for me to not sell my current all purpose bike and buy that with a extra set of wheels to swap for road v gravel.
Trek Domane
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i now remember when they released this, taking a look.
I have a Moots Routt RSL. I got it strictly as a gravel bike in 2018 and have found myself riding it more and more on the road. In fact I sold my Tarmac SL7 this spring and now have the Routt as my only drop bar bike. I could definitely tell a difference on climbs between it and the SL7 - especially short steep stuff - but not so much of a difference to justify keeping both bikes.
If I had it to do over again though, I’d strongly consider the Moots Vamoots RCS. I’d likely be willing to sacrifice some tire width for gravel rides to have more of a road geometry since this has turned into a bike I ride on the road 99% of the time.
Same here, for the UP(PER). Commuting, too, since I have secure places to stow it on each end. road use case is with nominally 28mm tubeless and zipp 303’s, on a 2-by train, and darned if it isn’t sprightly and fun, and up for the challenge of short steep hills. I can’t speak to long mountain ascents (yet).
Takes care of everything for me except the aero/tri bike, so except for that +1 quiver-sibling, I’m set.
I did both Unbound 200 and road races with 10k of climbing, and even Mauna Kea on an UPPER. Haven’t ridden a Crux so can’t speak to geometry but I’ve heard people say the ride is a bit harsh. I imagine it climbs well but might get a more comfortable ride on gravel from Open
My Aspero is really slow up hills. But so are all my other bikes, I’m beginning to wonder whether they’re not at fault. My Tri bike won’t even go near hills.
Aside from that, with skinny tyres on it feels like a road bike, with fat tyres on it feels like a gravel bike. Definitely on the stiffer end of the gravel spectrum.
The Argon 18 Dark Matter has worked well for a few clients - offers a softer ride but still feels fast
Same as any other bike, there are lots of good frames - how you build it will determine most of the behaviour. Build it light with low CRR tyres and it will feel fast.
Choose the right gears for your use case and it will climb well.
I had a hand built steel frame built up. It’s perfect Road geometry (with a couple small tweaks for gravel) and space for 40 tires, which is more than enough for around here
I’ve had great results on gravel, road races and crits on the bike.
Highly recommend it, or something similar
I’ve got a Crux with Pathfinder Pro 38s (they came stock with the bike) that works well as an all-arounder. Noticeably faster that the SuperX that I’d been using previously. With a good set of road wheels, I think it would be race worthy if you don’t mind a 1x.
Depends how chunky the gravel is. If it’s on the tamer side (i.e. not mtb-worthy), then the Cervélo Caledonia is an awesome bike for road + gravel. On mine I swapped the DI2 Ultegra STI and rear mech for GRX, and installed a Zipp gravel handlebar, and like this it really can do everything.
I am going to give a shoutout to the OBED GVR as well.
In the last week alone I’ve taken that bike on everything from some aggressively steep and loose fire roads and light single track to biking the going to the sun road in Glacier, now doing a bit of road riding in the rockies and I have not been left wanting anything in any scenerio.
It has handled everything absolutely flawlessly.
I am going to give a shoutout to the OBED GVR as well.
In the last week alone I’ve taken that bike on everything from some aggressively steep and loose fire roads and light single track to biking the going to the sun road in Glacier, now doing a bit of road riding in the rockies and I have not been left wanting anything in any scenerio.
It has handled everything absolutely flawlessly.
It’s a damn great quiver of one option. (Yes, they’re a partner. No, I’m not paid to say that).
And PSA – they’re on sale again. Not as much as some of the other models in the line-up, but a discount is a discount: https://obedbikes.com/collections/gvr
what bike(s) is best for climbing (and then descending) road AND gravel? CruX? Open UP(PER)?
Depends what the descents look like. You want more “twitch” the tighter the corners are because some gravel bikes are designed to be stable and stay on a line, meaning if you need to carve a canyon like a TdF pro on a descent…that ain’t happening.
A cross bike in general will be the better jack of all trades for that IMO if and only if you put in the time to be able to handle the bike on loose surfaces.
I have a TCX and that thing can fit 650b with some bit tires these days, as a cross bike. And the handling is a LOT snappier than the 3T Exploro I rode. I can only assume a Crux or Boone or whatever cross bike to be similar to the TCX.
I have an Open UP with Ultegra Di2. Road-form is Bontrager Aeolus 3V wheels, Conti GP 5000, speedplay pedals. At size XL/58cm I weighted it a while back and I believe it was right at 18 lbs (which includes, pedals, bottle cages, a PM). It climbs well - previously had an R3 as well as an S2 and if I compare different Strava climbs I have done on each bike a number of my best times are on the Open.
A couple years ago I road a local climb (a little over 5 miles, 6% the whole way, takes me ~25 minutes) a half dozen or so times ‘all out’ and tried on 3 different bikes (S2, Open UP, Speed Concept). My best time with the Open was 30 seconds slower than my best time with the S2 (with Hed Jet 6 wheels). They were about a month apart with a similar FTP. Unfortunately the S2 didn’t have a PM so I was pedaling based on feel. No not the most scientifically tight comparison, but it showed me I wasn’t giving too much up with the Open and 32 mm wide tires.
As for descending, it seems fine. I am a pretty cautious descender so I can’t say if the geometry holds me back versus other bikes. The wider tires do give me a little bit more confidence compared to what my S2 and R3 had.
I swap the wheels for some Hed Emporia with a Conti Terra speed when riding dirt/gravel that is too much for a 32mm slick tire. It’s been good for me which is to be expected since that is what it was designed for.
So overall I think it’s been a good N-1 bike for me (ended up selling all the other bikes I had to buy a cargo ebike). That being said, I do sometimes get an itch for an true road racer bike. Something more aero that I would set up a little more aggressively fit wise. And just have the Open be in gravel-form all the time. Waiting for the new Giant Propel to officially drop (next month?) to see if the price is reasonable enough to pull the trigger.
And I’m totally in the same move right now… I actually only have two bikes: My Obed Boundary (which will be replaced by a new Litespeed Ultimate Gravel in the next few months), and my OG 1979 Mongoose cromoly BMX bike (which doesn’t get ridden at all). Sold my all my road bikes, and my MTB went to my brother. In no uncertain terms, a gravel bike is the ultimate quiver killer.
And agree, I think wheels (and tires) are going to be the things that make a bike a climber or not. I’m gonna have my Spinergy GXX wheels with 42mm Boken Doublecross for singletrack smashing, but if I want to do a sustained road or fireroad climb and want to save weight, I have a set of HED Emporia GAs that I’m building with lighter, lower volume file treads that will make it ride more like a road bike.
Ridley Kanzo Fast, as long are you’re okay with running 1x. Amazing bike though, love mine
Trek Domane
That’s what I was going to suggest. My wife has an SL5 (105 drivetrain), and I just installed an 11-40 cassette to provide more climbing gears. It fit without the need for a Roadlink, just an adjustment of the B screw.