It’s finally time to outfit my “do it all” bike with a gravel/all-terrain setup. But the options are a little overwhelming. I’m a lifelong roadie and so intentionally prioritized a road config. for my “quiver killer” bike (OPEN UP; 2x 52/36 di2). I’m dipping my toes into gravel now and plan to do a local event later this fall. I hope to add in some occasional bikepacking, and would like to set up wheels and tires to cover the rugged end of the spectrum. I have no MTB experience, and so my knowledge of bikes on gravel is, shall we say: dirt poor.
I’m pretty sure I want a 650b though if the wheel/tire selection is too limited, maybe I need to reconsider. I’m on the shorter, lighter, and less powerful side of average cyclist (well, at 5’6” = avg for females).
Can you recommend a wheel (bonus for tire rec.) prioritizing:
no fuss. I won’t break it in a rut, seats tubeless readily, stays true, durable, comfortable, moveable. I don’t even know what high maintenance would look like, which is why I want to avoid it!
Plays well for lighter-riding, longer efforts without violating #1. I don’t need marginal aero gains here, but I would love to avoid moving a tank from a standstill. I’m not a powerful climber. Would the wheels really matter? Dunno, you tell me.
Whatever works. Alloy or carbon, any brand. I care about reliability and I prefer to consume less where possible, so used market is def. an option. Lower cost is a pro, but will go over $1000 if it makes a significant difference in the criteria above.
Recommendations ? What are the features to look for or avoid?
They’re not sexy, glamorous or carbon but I really like the DT Swiss GR1600 wheels. So much so, that I’ve got three sets of them in our stable, all 650b.
They are very reasonably priced (about $750), moderate weight (about 1600gr), and virtually bomb proof with DT Swiss 350 hubs.
@logella that sounds promising, thanks. I have DTswiss wheels on my tri bike, too. What tires have you tried/liked? Hoping to find a vetted combo that seat well (tubeless).
My gravel grinder runs DT Swiss GR 1600s with Schwalbe 700x45s. I like the way it rides so much I find myself on it every week. It’s going to traverse the Katy trail from St Louis to KC next May too. I love riding it gadget free.
No specific recommendations, but some generalized advice
When you say gravel, can you expand on the terrain you expect?
Dirt Roads & rail trail? (e.g. you can drive a normal sedan down)
Chunky 4x4 roads (e.g. a sedan would get stuck)
Smooth singletrack (minimal but some rocks, roots)
Technical Singletrack (rocks and roots limit your speed and forward progress).
Is your soil naturally sandy, clay (hard packed), or organic (brown dirt)?
In my experience, 650b is worthwhile for chunkier terrain as it allows wider tires that absorb better. However, aside from this, 700c is superior almost everywhere else. One thing to consider is that 650b wheels tend to be more over-built (are heavier) and have a larger rotating mass (heavier tires). This can make them both heavier and more sluggish.
40c tires are good all-around width - again IMO. Wider can help if traction / bump control matters - narrow can be beneficial if you’re riding a high % of paved surfaces.
If 40c is a width you intend to go with, you are looking for wheels that are between 20 and 24mm in internal width. This will provide appropriate sidewall support and volume. Narrow rims make tires too round and unsupported, wider will make them too square.
Do you plan to upgrade to 12sp in the future? It would be good to get a rear hub that allows you to exchange freehub bodies for future compatibility.
Do you intend to swap this wheelset with another - (e.g. for on-road use)? If so, keep the hubs the same for easy swapping and have them built with a different rim that’s better for gravel tires.
I have never broken a carbon wheel with an impact that wouldn’t have also destroyed an aluminum rim. But, I’ve dented aluminum rims with impacts that carbon wheels laugh at. Most carbon rims have life-times warranties. They also tend to be lighter, stay more true, etc.
When you say gravel, can you expand on the terrain you expect? 1. Dirt Roads & rail trail -yes
2. Chunky 4x4 roads - some 3. Smooth singletrack - yes
4. Technical Singletrack -hopefully not. As best I can avoid it, at least.
Is your soil naturally sandy, clay (hard packed), or organic (brown dirt)?
organic and rocky. they call it “cherty” - there’s limestone and shale in the bedrock, but the topsoil is loamy, forest, not gritty sandy like southwest/west.
Do you plan to upgrade to 12sp in the future? It would be good to get a rear hub that allows you to exchange freehub bodies for future compatibility.
I don’t - I hope to manage with 11sp, in 2x config. But I’m curious - what would examples of such an futureproof rear hub be? I mean, all things equal, I may as well search for rear hubs that allow more flexibility.
Do you intend to swap this wheelset with another - (e.g. for on-road use)? If so, keep the hubs the same for easy swapping and have them built with a different rim that’s better for gravel tires.
I’m hoping you can unpack this for me. I have a fantastic road wheelset right now. For gravel rides, I want to be able to remove the road wheels and replace with the new gravel set. I’d use a comparable shimano 11s cassette for both (ignore gearing/cog sizes for now). Why would the hub model matter at all, as long as the wheel size (12x142) fits the thru-axle?
Thanks for the info and impressions, it’s exactly what I was curious about!
The Reynolds G700 wheelset comes with a Shimano freehub body installed. They also provide an XD-R freehub body that you can swap out if you ever decide to switch to a SRAM group.
Hubs across manufacturers for the same axle dimension are very close, but they are not perfect. This is something I’ve learned through experience racing cyclocross and having 3 sets of wheels per bike.
This means that often brake calipers and shifting needs slight adjustments.
Brake rotor differences can sometimes be shimmed - ie. you shim the rotor that’s too far toward the centerline to be further out to match the wider rotor. This isn’t always an option however. Shifting is hit or miss. Sometimes it’s just a turn of the adjuster, sometimes it’s a slight reset of the limit screws.
None of this is hard, but a slightly dragging brake or skipping shifting can be quite annoying!
Because you’re planning on going this route, I’d look for wheels with the same hub as your current road wheels.
Oh, yes, that’s a sneaky detail I’d not even thought to consider. It would get annoying to have to make those little adjustments each time, esp. b/c there will invariably be other things to adjust in the routine. Who needs to add that to the pre-ride prep?
I hear you, but I knew I needed to prioritize the main use - by far - which is road. I do regularly ‘top out’ at the 52-11 gearing on my most frequent “weekend” ride, for how I like to ride. My thought was to use a 36 in back, for 1:1 ratio, which apparently is possible and adjust the synchro gear switching in Di2 software as needed (never running big-big). I also thought that constraint might be another reason to go with the 650 over 700 wheel, as long as I don’t get too wide of a tire. It may be a small difference (~2 gear inches, depending on config), but easy to implement, and I’m anyhow talking about just that little nudge towards spinnier steep ascents. Although I’m not a power climber, consider that I’m also not bearing down as much weight on those treads as a bear-on-wheels, which also figures into tire pressure for traction, if that matters.
Given that I have my bike and groupset in hand, the first step is settling on a starter gravel wheel/tire/cassette combo to get me out on the dirt, and see how far it gets me. Any insight on making the best of the current constraints is appreciated!
If you are not taking on big and/or long, steep climbs then 36x36 is probably going to be fine. I run 30x42 on my road bike because I like to climb 10K on the weekend and climbing steep grades at high altitude (Utah) requires my weak old self to have reasonable gears. I don’t use the 42 often, but when I do, it’s usually at the end of a long ride while climbing and passing people pedaling 50 rpm below the summit.
If you are running Di2 syncro then should should be fine, though I’m not sure Shimano makes a 11-36. I had to buy a SRAM cassette to get that.
As for your wheel question, if you are not going to beat them up on rough rides, aluminum rims will be fine, compared to carbon and cost a lot less. I know roadies will call heresy, but spending a ton of money on light wheels is not a big performance increase and wheel rotating weight is no more important than any other weight. Carbon wheels for purposes other than aero or extreme durability are a waste of good money.
I run WTB rims on almost all my bikes and I did a quick search and you can find complete wheelsets for well less than $500.
Just to follow up. Shimano does not make an 11-36 11-speed cassette. They do make one in 12-speed now, but that does not help you.
What rear derailleur are you running? Yours may or may not be able to handle a 11-40 and if given the choice for your usage, especially the potential bikepacking, I would definitely go 11-40 over 11-34. Or you could try a SRAM 11-36.
Regarding 650b. If it has not changed, the Open Up will take 700x40 or 650b by 2.1/54mm. How big are the tires you run on the road? A 700x32 with measure about the same as a 650bx47, so in theory should not change the handling, but in reality, the lower pressure tire in 47-54 mm will feel slower than the higher pressure tire. You get used to it.
I should issue a warning though, Most everyone I talk to or read about that tries bigger high volume tires asks themselves why they ride those uncomfortable, narrow high pressure tires.
Most everyone I talk to or read about that tries bigger high volume tires asks themselves why they ride those uncomfortable, narrow high pressure tires.