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Riding your gravel bike also on the road: 2 wheelsets

Many riders use their gravel bike also on asphalt. Either to link various gravel/dirt sectors together or because they continue to do pure road rides too. How to optimize your setup for pavement and gravel?

Posted by Gerard Vroomen - 08 January 2020

[updated April 2022]

A bike like the Exploro performs so well on such a wide range of terrains. It can feel daunting to figure out how to best spec a gravel bike for on-road and off-road performance.

To a great extent, that’s my job when I create the complete bike specifications, and that’s why I always put a small synopsis at the top of the specification listings for all our bike models so you know what the bike is spec’d for. Some may be more race-oriented, some more for the toughest terrain, etc. But you can also do some further tweaking yourself, based on your riding style and locations.

How do you ride?

How you ride determines which approach is best:

  • If you often mix on- and off-road within the same ride, you need one setup that can do it all, which I write about here.
  • If you’re more the type of rider who rides off-road one day and on-road another, setting up two wheelsets as described in this post would be a great solution.

Wheelset 1: Road tires

This one may seem easy, for your road setup you get road tires. I often see people spec 28mm or even 25mm tires on their “road wheels”. Seems logical, but I would argue that most paved roads are not that smooth and comfortable. They’re can be worse than gravel roads. So now that you have all that clearance on your gravel bike, why not use it to give yourself some more paved comfort? Going to a 32mm or 35mm road tire, you will actually DECREASE your rolling resistance.

Aerodynamics will worsen a bit, so that is the trade-off, but unless you’re racing, neither of these changes (which even partially cancel each other out) will make a meaningful difference. And so you’re left with more comfort, more puncture protection, more grip, and a 35mm tire that even gives you some off-road capabilities – should you not be able to control yourself at the sight of that beautiful trail you ride by every morning.

Want better on-road performance than you’ve ever had? Don’t put standard 25/28mm road tires on your bike!

Great “pure road” tires to consider are the Pirelli Cinturato 35mm, the WTB Exposure (in a variety of widths), the Continental GP 5000 (Tubeless) 32mm (it fits big, 34.2mm on our Discus 45 | 32 carbon wheels) or the Schwalbe Durano 32mm. But also some “slick” gravel tires could work. For all the options we like on- and off-road, check out our tire recommendations here:

Best tires for Exploro Racemax

Best tires for Exploro Ultra

Wheelset 2: Off-road tires

There are many choices and I won’t discuss them here in detail as they are all listed in the links just above for Ultra and Racemax (and those also fit on the Exploro PRO, TEAM and LTD). You can match them to the particular area you live in. One general comment is that I would urge you to consider 650b wheels and tires for this setup if you live in an area with tough terrain (or travel to such places regularly). After all, you will already have a 700c wheelset for your road riding, so having 650b as a second set gives you the most options. Maybe you regularly ride a 47mm tire “around the house”, but you now have the option to throw on 2.1″ mountain bike tires for the really crazy rides.

Wheelset 1: road wheels

Again many choices, alloy or carbon, aero or light, some of which are a matter of budget. Zipp, Fulcrum, Hed or WTB, there are plenty of good brands to choose from, some with more road pedigree and some more towards the rougher stuff.

Just make sure the rims have a large inner width to match wider tires. Especially if you go for carbon rims, get at least a 23mm rim, so you can use a 28mm tire but also a 40mm tire if you ever want to.

I may be biased (I am!), but we designed our Discus 45 | 32 carbon wheelset specifically to be aerodynamic with wider road tires (for the Strada) so it is a great option for an Exploro in road set-up too. In alloy, wider rims quickly get very heavy, so there it’s more of a balancing act between rim width and weight.

Wheelset 2: off-road wheels

If you have some budget but not unlimited, put your money in the road wheels, save some money on the off-road wheels. While your off-road wheels are arguably more important, the things that are important here are not necessarily expensive. Expense often equals weight savings, and for your 650b setup you likely want durability more than lightweight. So focus on a bigger rim width (there are still mountain bike wheels with 19mm inner rim width (you don’t want those!!) and focus on the quality of the bearings and seals quality rather than saving a few grams.

Bearing & seal quality

How do you test bearings and seals? That’s tough if you’re not an expert, but for starters inquire if the bearings are stainless. That will increase their durability with the sort of riding an Exploro lets you do.

Don’t waste your money on ceramic bearings. “Oh, but they spin so smoothly in my hands”. Right, so if you are buying a set of wheels to spin in your hands, do that test.

Wheels that spin forever don’t have tight seals. So dirt can enter easily

If you are looking for wheels to spin well even when dirty, do the “opposite spin test”. Spin the wheels and see which wheel stops the quickest. There is no guarantee, but more than likely that’s the wheel you want. First a caveat, if the wheel stops spinning quickly because the bearings feel rough, that’s bad. but if the spinning slows down quickly and uniformly, it means the seals are tight.

And that’s what you want. If the seals are tight when you buy the wheels, they will settle in during the first 100km and seal well for a long time. If the wheels already spin freely in the shop, it means the seals already leave a gap and will let through muck and water from the start. Need I say it: not a good thing. Of course this applies to your road wheels too.

Some common sense is needed here; lousy seals can bind too. But forget about the “oooh this spins so nicely” approach.

Adjustments when switching wheels

When you switch the wheels, you want to make sure the brake rotor doesn’t rub in the caliper. I would say that in 80% of the cases, no adjustment is necessary and the bike will be fine to ride as soon as you swap the wheels

But if you have two wheel sets with different hubs that happen to sit on the opposite ends of the tolerance spectrum for the disc position, then you may have to adjust the caliper position.

Ideally, you’re able to do that with a thin spacer behind the disc rotor of the wheel where it sits closest to the center line. The spacers moves the rotor outward a bit, just where the rotor already sits on the other wheelset.

It’s important to make sure there are enough threads on the lock ring to let it clamp down securely. Furthermore, the lock ring has to have enough clearance with the fork & frame. That usually won’t be a problem. With 6 bolt, it’s a little more challenging. but the same principle applies.

Gearing issues

If you have two wheelset, the gearing you put on each of them can make the process of swapping back and forth easy or difficult. Your minimum climbing speed will be lower on gravel, so you need a “smaller smallest” gear on your off-road wheelset.

You can argue (I usually do) that you can afford a smaller top gear on gravel too, and thus the range you need remains the same off-road and on-road. But the resulting outcome of that complicates your life.

Let’s say the difference you need in gears is 10%, so a 10% smaller lowest gear and a 10% smaller top gear. It is very difficult to find a set of cassettes that achieve this. The only practical solution is to change your chainring, for example by running a 46T on the road and a 42T off-road. But who wants to change their chainring all the time? Plus in all likelihood, you’ll need to adjust your chain length too. Not fun.

Gearing solutions

Therefore, it is more practical to stick with the same top gear and only change your smallest gear between on- and off-road. The beauty of this solution is that it’s all in the cassette, which is affixed to the wheels you’re changing out anyway (you have two separate wheel sets for this, remember). And with a bit of planning, it won’t require a chain length change either.

For example, you might run a 1x setup with an 11-36T cassette on the road, and then switch to an 11-40 or 11-42T off-road. As long as you set up the chain length for the 11-42T, you won’t have much trouble running the 11-36T cassette using the same length.

What that chain length should be depends on your rear derailleur. Even your medium cage derailleur can do a lot if the chain length is adjusted accordingly. Officially this may require an adjustment of the B-gap, but you can get away with one setting if you’re careful.

If you plan to swap wheels regularly, a setup that keeps the same chainring and chain length is preferred

Depending on the range you need you may have to experiment a bit, since not every cassette ratio you want exists. And that may also mean that you modify that top gear a little bit after all. Much more on gearing can be found on my post about 1x drivetrains for tough terrain.

Other parts:

The above covers the main points to consider when you ride on-road one day and off-road the next. The only other part you could spend/waste some time fussing over are your handlebars and your pedals. Will you get a standard road bar or a gravel bar? The answer is probably most often a road bar, but if your gravel riding is so tricky that you want a gravel drop bar, then at least make sure the flare starts below the brake/shift levers, so that your hand position on the hoods reflects a true road position and is comfortable. See more about this on the Superghiaia page or check out its aero sibling, the Aeroghiaia.

As for pedals, I personally always ride with MTB pedals and light MTB shoes. So much more comfortable if you ever have to walk your bike or stroll across a terrace with your (Italian!) espresso.

Synopsis for a two wheelset solution

As described there are a lot of options, but below is an overview to show the general direction. I also try to include some less-than-standard options here that you may not otherwise think of.

ComponentRoad setupOff-road setup
Wheel700c (put your money here)650b (focus on durable)
Tire35mm road tire50-61mm gravel/MTB
1×11 cassette (flat/rolling)11-36T11-42T
1×11 cassette (mountainous)11-40T11-42T
1×12 cassette (flat/rolling) with Force AXS WIDE rear derailleur10-33T (SRAM)10-36T (SRAM)
1×12 cassette (hilly) with XPLR AXS rear derailleur10-36T (SRAM)10-44T (SRAM)
1×12 (mountainous) with Eagle AXS RD & Rotor cassette11-39T (Rotor)11-52T (Rotor) *
1×12 (mountainous) with Eagle AXS RD & SRAM cassette10-44T (SRAM)11-50T/10-50T/10-52 (SRAM)
1×13 cassette (flat/rolling) with Campagnolo Ekar9-36T (Campagnolo)9-36T (Campagnolo)
1×13 cassette (hilly) with Campagnolo Ekar9-36T (Campagnolo)9-42T (Campagnolo) **
1×13 cassette (mountainous) with Campagnolo Ekar9-36T (Campagnolo)10-44T (Campagnolo) **

* Note that according to Rotor, their cassettes function better with KMC chains than with SRAM chains, while SRAM recommends SRAM chains. so this combination is easier if you use SRAM or Rotor for both setups, not mix them.
** If set up properly, all these cassettes can be shifted with the same chain length (just make sure there is the minimum required clearance on the 9T cassette between the chain on the pulleys and the chain returning from the front chainring and the rest will work with the same chain length)

You can finetune it for your specific ride location and strength. The latter also determines what chainring size you would use. A cassette starting with a 9t cog needs a smaller chainring for the same top gear.

If you run 2x, you can find a similar gear range easily; there are too many options from various manufacturers to list them all concisely.

If you are not sure which cassette works with which derailleur (you would be surprised what works even if the manufacturers say it doesn’t), then I would recommend to check out the other Gravel Bike Tech articles.

Our tire recommendations

In the text above I mention some tires as examples. Remember that we have to lists for all the tires we recommend in the various styles:

Best tires for Exploro Racemax

Best tires for Exploro Ultra

As always, if you have comments or questions, let me know in the comments below.

One setup for everything

As mentioned, the two wheelset solution is great if each ride you do is clearly compartmentalized. Paved road one day, off-road the next. That said, you can do some pretty impressive gravel rides with a 35mm Cinturato tire despite its road credentials.

However, if you are constantly mixing surfaces within your rides, you may need a different solution: the one setup for everything. I will discuss that in the next installment.

◄ Previous Story XPDTN3: LESOTHO
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106 responses to “Riding your gravel bike also on the road: 2 wheelsets”

  1. T

    Tim T says:

    07 April 2022

    I am looking at 2 different wheelsets and I am wondering if you have any thoughts. This would be my 700c road set-up. I am looking at the Enve AG25 and the other is the Campagnolo Shamal. I am running the Ekar groupset and I am trying to decide between these 2. Thanks for any advice that you might be able to offer. As a side note, I currently have 650b on my bike, so the rough stuff is covered. Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      07 April 2022

      They’re both nice wheel sets but for pure road I’d probably go with the Shamals.

      Reply
  2. R

    Richard says:

    07 February 2022

    Your synopsis only shows examples for 1x drive trains. I’m planning to get the Exploro race with the Sram Rival AXS 2x drive train. Would everything above for 2 wheelsets still apply to a 2x setup? This will be my main gravel race bike. But would like to have a road wheelset to use this bike for my weekly group rides on the pavement.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      07 February 2022

      Yes everything for the wheels and tires would still apply.

      Reply
  3. Ben says:

    21 December 2021

    Hi Gerard,
    Thanks for this article. I am a little confused on what derailleur would be best to give the most amount of versatility. I was planning to go with a SRAM eagle axs with 11-50T cassette on the exploro max and then pair that with a sram 11-36T cassette for the race set up.
    However your other post on gearing said that the eagle doesn’t work well with that set up for road.
    https://blog.3t.bike/2020/01/12405/gravel-bike-tech-gears-for-tough-climbs-part-1/
    I’m looking to get the most versatility with minimal adjustments, when I swap wheel sets.

    Reply
    1. Ben says:

      21 December 2021

      Hi Gerard,
      Thanks for this article. I am a little confused on what derailleur would be best to give the most amount of versatility. I was planning to go with a SRAM eagle axs with 11-50T cassette on the exploro max and then pair that with a sram 10-36T cassette for the race set up.
      However your other post on gearing said that the eagle doesn’t work well with that set up for road.
      https://blog.3t.bike/2020/01/12405/gravel-bike-tech-gears-for-tough-climbs-part-1/
      I’m looking to get the most versatility with minimal adjustments, when I swap wheel sets.

      Reply
      1. Gerard Vroomen says:

        21 December 2021

        Correct, that cassette won’t work with Eagle. There are some options, I am just gathering the info and trying to find the time to write about it. Please bear with me.

        Reply
  4. G

    Garet says:

    17 September 2021

    Love this article! Now im planning to upgrade my gravel bike set up from 40 m and getting those 32m tires for on-road rides!! Thanks so much

    Reply
  5. M

    Mark says:

    02 September 2021

    Sorry, I received an error message, so please erase this 2nd try as the first went through.

    Reply
  6. M

    Mark H. says:

    02 September 2021

    Hi Gerard, again a very good blog. You really point out the important details and do not leave out the tricky parts. A for the later I want to share my experience and would be glad about your thoughts….
    As addition to my Strada I lately received my Exploro Max with Discus i28, Torno 40t and SRAM AXS eTap with 10-52 cassette. And it really goes anywhere with that setup. I also ordered a Discus 45/40 and put a Rotor 11-39 cassette on it. Now I am trying both wheelsets on my rides around Lucca. As most of the changing of the two wheelsets works well and I only have to make little adjustments to calibrate the breaks, the gearing is not yet satisfying. When the rear derailleur is set to perfectly match the SRAM cassette on the i28 and I switch to the Rotor on the 45/40 I still have not found the right adjustment to the rear derailleur to match the gearing of the Rotor cassette. I use the micro adjustments on the eTap, but either the lower gears work well or the higher gears. Do you have any ideas what I could try, because apart from that it’s great to have the two wheelsets and easily switch to reflect the expected conditions on the next ride. Thanks and regards, Mark

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      22 October 2021

      Rotor recommends the KMC 12-speed chain for their cassettes, not SRAM chains. SRAM obviously recommends SRAM (and we’ve had varying success with KMC chains in combination with SRAM cassettes). But switching to the Rotor cassette while keeping the Eagle (I presume) chain will be tough.

      Reply
    2. Gerard Vroomen says:

      22 October 2021

      BTW Mark, there are now some more options for these cassettes than when the original article was written, also allowing you to keep both cassettes from the same manufacturer and thus limiting the chain issue. I’ve updated them in the main article (and also added the new Campagnolo options).

      Reply
  7. B

    Bill Brooks says:

    26 August 2021

    Hi Gerard, this is great information, exactly how I hope to use my Exploro as soon as it arrives. I’m having trouble getting delivery here in the US and sent you an email yesterday, any help is appreciated! Thanks

    Reply
  8. G

    Gary M says:

    20 August 2021

    Hi Gerard ,as always great blog . Quick question around the same theme , I have a Strada 1 x , with Axs force wide rear derailleur and 10-36 cassette. Can I fit 650b wheels to allow gravel riding and if so what the widest tyre I can run ?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      20 August 2021

      No there is no tire clearance for a wider tire. So your 650b tire would be just as small as you 700c and the wheel diameter would be too small, you would hit the ground with your pedals all the time, etc.

      Reply
  9. Héctor Coss says:

    04 July 2021

    Is it possible to upgrade the fork of a 2018 LTD model to the 2019 onwards? What’s the difference between the two?… It seems the old one (the one I have) has more clearance. Thanks.

    Reply
  10. S

    Simon K says:

    17 June 2021

    How common are indexing problems when switching between wheelsets? Should I have to re-index gears each time? I have been trying to use a pair of Zipp 303S for road with an 11-42 Shimano cassette, and some stock Easton wheels for gravel (that came with the bike) also with an 11-42 SRAM cassette for gravel. On face value one would imagine the wheel switch should work perfectly, same cassette ratio etc. however the gears need major adjustments to the indexing when switching between wheelsets, both the limit screws and barrel adjusters. Is this common, as it is hugely inconvenient to switch wheels, when of course one just wants to switch wheels and go! Is there any way to ensure better gearing compatibility? Should the hubs be the same?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      18 June 2021

      It all depends. If the 2 hubs are the same model and the cassettes the same brand, then the need to adjust is rare. If you have two hubs of different brand and model and two cassettes of different brands, it’s fairly common. But usually you can find a position for the limit screws that works with both with a bit of trying, so then we’re just talking about the barrel adjuster.

      Reply
  11. Héctor Coss M says:

    03 June 2021

    Great article Gerard, thank you very much! I just got a 3T Exploro LTD black, pre-owned, I believe its a 2018 or 19 not sure, a very good friend has 4 gravel bikes and fortunately for me this is the one he let go!… I’ve alway wanted an Exploro! I’m a big fan of your design and engineering. I think the original Exploro is already a cult bike. I also have the two wheel sets he had for road and gravel, one (road) with the 3T 35 Discus wheels, no it has 28mm Vittoria corsa control types but after reading I’ll upgrade to 32mm or so. The gravel set has 2.0 Rodeo Labs wheels with WTB 40mm… I’ve already use them gravel / single track and feel very good so far. Tomorrow I’ll ride it for the first time as a road bike!!! I’m very excited!… My other road bike is a Stelbel (both from Bergamo!) XCr steel frame so I’m coming back to carbon, etc. Great to be with 3T again! I was brand ambassador in Mexico some years ago for the wheels. Congrats and I’ll post my thoughts soon. Cheers!

    Reply
  12. N

    NJ says:

    30 May 2021

    Hello Gerrad, quick question if my road wheelset use XDR freehub body 10-36t 11sp while the gravel wheelset use shimano body 11-42t 11sp, should I re-align RD everytime I change wheelsets?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      31 May 2021

      Impossible to say, depends on the exact dimensions of the hubs.

      Reply
      1. R

        Randy says:

        09 November 2021

        This article was shared on my local FB group, very helpful. I will ask the same question that I asked in the group.
        So I just bought the new S-Works Crux and built it with a mix of AXS Force and Rival, 46/33 front and 10-36 rear. It currently has Roval C38 wheels with 700×30/32 Roubaix Pro tires.
        I am planning to get another wheel set for gravel, I’m eyeing on the Zipp 303S and will put 45 or 47 tires.
        My question is, can I use 2 different cassettes on 2 different wheel sets? (10-36 and 10-44)
        My rd is max to 36 but planning to change the rd to max 44 to accommodate the 10-44 (Sram XPL)

        If that’s too complicated, would it be easier if I get another wheel set with the same cassette? Thanks!

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          11 November 2021

          Hi Randy, I don’t know. All these solutions go beyond the SRAM recommendations, and their recommendations are based on making it work for any bike. Our recommendations serve a more narrow purpose, we have tried them on our own bikes. As geometries and other factors are different, I can’t say if your bike is closer to our bikes or to SRAM’s worst case scenario.

          Reply
  13. M

    Meg Gordon says:

    21 May 2021

    Another question: can I stick with the 11-42 that the bike comes with when changing out 700’s for 650b’s? I’ll re-read but it’s looking like that’s okay. I’m in New Zealand so we’vd got everything one might throw at a ride.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      21 May 2021

      Absolutely. You can use the same cassette (swap the cassette), get 2 identical cassettes or with a bit of finessing also two different cassettes without needing to change the chain length.

      Reply
  14. M

    Meg Gordon says:

    21 May 2021

    THANK-YOU!! Just about to buy a 3T Exploro Race to do Ironman (60’s plus age grouper) but I love trails too. I’m not a techie so need as little crappage as possible changing for 700’s to 650b’s. I’m buying two wheelsets but had thought maybe 25mm on the 700’s but I think I’ll just bite the bullet and get decent carbons with 32mm – I’m picnic not podium so this will be brilliant. Again, I think the most helpful blog I’ve ever read. Kia ora!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      21 May 2021

      Glad you liked it.

      Reply
  15. H

    Huib Luijendijk says:

    20 May 2021

    Hi Gerard,

    Thanks for the nice info!

    I have a question regarding the setup using the rotor 11-39 cassette for road use one my road wheels and the SRAM 11-50 for off road use on the other wheelset. With this set up would it be possible to run both wheelsets with a single chain length and if so would it be better to use a kmc or SRAM 12 speed chain? I am using a Eagle GX rear derailleur and a 42 tooth chainring in case that matters

    Thanks!

    Huib

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      21 May 2021

      In principle yes, if you set up the chain for the 11-50T. We’ve had mixed results with the KMC chains, so maybe first try it with an Eagle 12-speed chain (not flattop).

      Reply
  16. C

    Curly Joe says:

    27 February 2021

    I have a 48x38x26 and a 9spd 11×32. I have two sets of wheels. Road 700×28 and Gravel with 29x 2.125. I simply remove the cassette and install on the other set of wheels. Keeping the the drivetrain the same, to wear the same.
    With this “antique” gearing. It handles everything! Much better than the new SH##!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      28 February 2021

      Of course that works too. Not sure why it is *better* though, for example the Q factor is much wider with a triple crankset than with a 1x or 2x, which lowers the biomechanics efficiency. But don’t take this the wrong way, I certainly like using products as long as possible and not upgrading at every tiny improvement. And if it works for you, don’t change.

      Reply
  17. M

    Marco Calabrese says:

    23 February 2021

    Hi Gerard!

    I ride an Exploro and I’ve two wheelset.
    I live in the Apls, in Italy, and I do gravel and road ride separately.

    I have a SRAM eagle derailleur with a 11-50 cassette 12v on my 650b wheel. I also have a SRAM 10-36 cassette 12v and I’m planning to put it on the 700c wheel, do you think it would be possible?

    Tnx for the advices!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      23 February 2021

      An Eagle rear derailleur with a 10-36T cassette is not a good combination unfortunately.

      Reply
  18. S

    Sid Sangal says:

    28 January 2021

    Gerard, great article! Quick question: Where does one get the thin spacer to put under a center lock brake rotor for alignment? Is it an off-the-shelf item, or are we talking about fabricating something? Thanks.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      28 January 2021

      Those are off-the-shelf items, just search for “centerlock rotor shims” and something will pop up that is local to you.

      Reply
  19. P

    Paddy says:

    17 January 2021

    Thanks for this really helpful. Is it possible to change between an 11-42 cassette on my off road wheels, and a 3t’s 9-32 cassette on my road wheels? If it makes any difference I have a 36t chainring. Thanks

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      20 January 2021

      Possible but probably not without exchanging the chain as well.

      Reply
  20. C

    Cornel says:

    23 December 2020

    Great explanation.Thank you.

    Reply
  21. G

    Glen says:

    11 November 2020

    Glad to see an article about 2 wheelsets, I have been doing it for 2 years, pure gravel tires on one and road/commuters on the other, the reason the second one is if it’s getting late I can use the canal trail system that runs for a long way and usually dumps out near where I’m parked. I’ve done a metric century on the road/commuters and being 32’s there wasn’t any issues.

    Reply
  22. R

    Rox says:

    29 October 2020

    What a faff…. fulfil N+1 and just get another bike… 👍🏻

    Reply
  23. D

    Daniel S says:

    29 September 2020

    Hoping you may answer this question: Which is a faster road slick tire on average road surfaces, 32mm or 38mm?
    I have a road bike with 28s. I go for rides with my mates and know what it takes to keep up. I have a gravel bike, with geometry leaning towards the road, and have to burn myself out to keep up with 38mm treaded tires, even though they have a slick center.
    So, I’d like to get my gravel bike out there on the road rides with some road slicks to see if I can keep up and avoid having to get a new road bike. So, will 38s be just as fast as 32s? May as well go for the wider tire if it will be just as fast. My rims won’t allow for less than 30mm.
    Thanks.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      29 September 2020

      Well, with equal tire design and pressure the 38mm tire has a lower rolling resistance. but the aero drag is a little higher. The net effect depends on the rim and other influences so hard to say (if you use a skinny rim, the 38mm tire will be terrible aerodynamically, if you use a dedicated wide rim (the Discus 45|40 LTD, it’s a different story).

      Reply
  24. Chris Dornsife says:

    16 September 2020

    Gerard,

    I have an Open U.P. XX1 rear mech. X01 chain. 42t chainring.

    I have three wheelsets.
    Road: 700c Enve SES AR 4.5 w/28c Schwalbe pro one. 11-39 Rotor cassette.
    Adventure: 650b Roval CX32 w/48c Rene Herse Juniper Ridge. 10-50t X01 Eagle AXS XG-1295 Cassette
    Gravel: 700c Reynolds Attack w/38c Rene Herse Barlow Pass. I have been swapping the 10-50 between the adventure wheels and gravel.

    The question is about the 11-39 setup. I have been experiencing poor shifting in two spots and at times the chain skips when out of the saddle in gear 5. I am pretty good at tuning, I have been working on my own bikes for a very long time. I can’t seem to get the 11-39 to behave.

    My setup was done as follows: I installed the chain with the 10-50t on the bike. I then assumed that the 11-39 would work with a b screw adjustment even though the chain might be a little long. The b screw stops contacting the hangar (no more range) before the pulley can get close enough to the cassette. I use the provided plastic b screw template to determine b screw adjustment. With the 11-39 it appears it can only get close enough to where it 2-3mm too far away.

    Would it be a good idea to have a dedicated chain for each cassette on my Open? Would that help me with my 11-39 shifting problems? I want to put something like a sram 11-42 on the Gravel wheelset since I live in a very flat area of the world. I could use a dedicated chain for that cassette if it makes sense. I don’t mind buying more chains (I keep track and measure them or wear).

    Reply
    1. Chris Dornsife says:

      17 September 2020

      I figured it out. My rear derailleur was tightened down where the b-stop wasn’t touching the hangar. That should sort me out.

      Reply
  25. W

    Wendell says:

    16 September 2020

    Could someone explain the reasoning for a smaller rear cluster for road? I get that you don’t necessarily need the lower gears, but what are the benefits? Weight? Smaller gaps between gears?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      16 September 2020

      Exactly, smaller steps. Which is handy on road, particularly when you ride in a group and you may not exactly get to pick your own pace. So having more closely spaced gears allows you to dial in your cadence better. And of course in general, on the road you have a more even pace, so you may spend a long time in a particular speed and dialing in the cadence has merit. On gravel, your speed may change more often anyway, so spending a little time with your cadence off isn’t such a big deal. Around the next bend all is different anyway.

      Reply
  26. J

    Jacques Tejeda says:

    27 July 2020

    Hi guys, here’s my question: I bought a gravel bike with 650b wheels. I would like to buy a 700c road wheelset for that bike (my bike does take both). Should I buy a second set of rotors for the road wheelset or swap the rotor when swapping wheelset? My rotors are center lock. Thank you,
    Jacques

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      12 August 2020

      Swapping rotors won’t help or hurt, it’s just work. If you get a second set of the same model rotors on your second wheelset, you end up with the same situation. With some luck, you can swap wheels without the need for any adjustment on the brake caliper. If that’s not the case, then you can use some spacers to realign the rotors on one of the wheelsets to match the other.

      Reply
  27. J

    James says:

    19 July 2020

    Good article! I’ve gotten a second set of wheels for my gravel bike for road use with slicks. The only issue I seem to have is disc brake squeak when I switch back and forth. Given that the pads are bedded in to one rotor, how do I ensure they are good with different rotors?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      22 July 2020

      So this is not an alignment issue, the pads do not touch the rotors without the brake lever applied (that sometimes happens too if the two wheel sets you have are different brands – there are spacers that can solve that so you can move one rotor over a bit until it matches the position of the other rotor). If it is just a matter of the matching of rotor and pad, then usually this issue goes away when both rotors are worn in (I presume they are similar rotors, not that one of them is carbon or something else crazy).

      Reply
  28. U

    Ulli says:

    21 June 2020

    Hello Gerard,

    I just re-read your article and found a new detail…

    You suggest the Rotor 11-39 cassette with the Force AXS WIDE rear derailleur. Didn‘t know that this works together. Anything special to consider in this combination? How is the shifting quality?

    Thanks a lot for your great articles!

    Reply
    1. U

      Ulli says:

      21 June 2020

      In combination with a 10-33 SRAM cassette, do you have to switch chains from flattop to KMC if you switch wheelset?

      Reply
      1. Gerard Vroomen says:

        22 June 2020

        It was an error in the table. It’s corrected now. Anyway, we’ll have some more information about these setups in a future post, still testing.

        Reply
    2. Gerard Vroomen says:

      22 June 2020

      Hi Ulli, sorry, that was an editing error. It’s corrected now, so 10-33T for road, 10-36T for off-road.

      Reply
  29. P

    Peter Van Puyvelde says:

    12 June 2020

    Hello Gerard,
    I have a XS gravel bike, it comes standard with 650c wheels and 40 mm G-one bite tyres. I also bought 30mm G-one speed tyres to put on the same 27,5 rims. Is this a bad idea after all? I really need a set of 700C tyres for that? Will it alther the geometry too much or is it still possible?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      15 June 2020

      Depends on the bike. The steering geometry will change, whether you’ll like it you’d have to see. The bigger issue could be that your pedals are getting closer to the ground. But again, you can see if that is an issue for you or not.

      Reply
  30. J

    John says:

    01 June 2020

    I’ve heard of people having to readjust disk calipers every time they change wheels. I *think* that this issue is one you solve with spacers for the disks but have never faced this myself. Was hoping this would have been mentioned.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      03 June 2020

      I would say in 80% of the cases this is not necessary. But if you have two wheel sets with different hubs that happen to sit on the opposite ends of the tolerance spectrum for the disc position, then that can be the case. You might be able to put a thin spacer behind the disc rotor that sits closest to the center line of the two wheel sets, just make sure there are enough threads on the lock ring to make sure it still clamps down securely (and that the lock ring has enough clearance with the fork & frame although that usually won’t be a problem. With 6 bolt, it’s a little more challenging. but the same principle applies.

      Reply
      1. R

        RUDY ZUNIGA says:

        09 September 2020

        Hi Gerard –

        I have two wheelsets that i swap on my Specialized Diverge (hydraulic brakes), one for road and another for gravel. I had issues with the brake pads rubbing on the rotors when i switched to aftermarket wheelset (Fulcrum quattro DB). I tried adjusting the calipers but was not successful. Do you think the spacer would be my solution? Are there other methods i can try, it is a 6-bolt so as you mentioned it’s more challenging. How so?

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          10 September 2020

          For sure spacing over the rotor slightly so they align the same for both wheel sets is an option. You can do it with 6-bolt too, you just need the appropriate spacers and of course make sure the bolts are still long enough (but since the spacers are usually very thin, this may not be an issue).

          Alternatively you could put a small spacer between the hub endcap and the fork leg, on the OTHER wheel set (so the wheelset that had the rotor farther outward). That’s a little bit more hassle if you switch often (the spacer is not fixed to anything, it just slides over the thru axle). It also depends on how big the delta between the two positions is, I wouldn’t do the latter with a big spacer.

          Reply
  31. m

    miki says:

    31 May 2020

    Hello. how are you ?
    quick question. i have 3t exploro team force 1 with gravel setup.
    my wheelset is Fulcrum 650 racing disk. im looking for a slick tires working good on it. preferably tan wall ones. wanting to ride in group +100 km weekend rides.
    the groupset is sram force 1x and i need oval chainring of 46 or 48 T since im riding always in flat roads.
    thanks in advance and waiting for your anwer to do the order.

    Reply
    1. m

      miki says:

      31 May 2020

      whats thin tyre that fit well in that 650b fulcrum

      Reply
      1. Gerard Vroomen says:

        31 May 2020

        Well, you can’t really put too small a tire on it because then the overall diameter of the wheel will be too small, your pedal will be too close to the ground, etc. The whole principle of the two different rim sizes is that the small 650b rim with the big tire gets you the same tire radius as the big 700c rim with the small tire. So the smallest I would go would be 47mm for the 650b tire, and you could get a WTB Horizon as a pure road tire, or the Rene Herse Switchback Hill TC. Both also have tan sidewalls.

        Reply
  32. j

    jakob says:

    15 May 2020

    Hi Gerard,
    Jakob from Nijmegen once again! I’ve been testing wheel sets now (650b and 700c) and found out that the 650b works good for me, but I need more rim inner width, preferably somewhere between 25 an 30 mm. It is hard to find the right rim for a custom build set, so I’m looking into the 3T i28 discusplus option. As a DT Swiss ratchet enthousiast I would like your opinion on the 3T hubs (engagement, stiffness, durability). And how about the rim weight? Since this is quite important in terms of acceleration dynamics. Thanks again in advance!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      15 May 2020

      Well, the rim weight is important but relatively low compared to the tire when we’re talking these type of bikes. Once you have a 50 or 54mm tire on there, they are usually 50-100% heavier than the rim. As for the hubs, I like the newest generation of hubs. We really went all-out on the bearing quality (which doesn’t mean ceramic, it means the roundness of the balls, the seals, etc). Our goal is pretty simple, we never want to see a wheel back. It’s bad for the customer, but also for us, it takes time away from doing productive things.

      What can I say, I like the wheels but of course I am a bit biased.

      Reply
      1. J

        Jakob says:

        23 May 2020

        Well Gerard, in the end I spent my money on the Discusplus wheelset! Today actually, and couldn’t wait to try them out. What a ride it was! Really love the 28mm inner rim width matching a 50mm tire G-one speed tyre set. Engagement of the hubs feels similar to a 36t DT Swiss ratchet, which is good. Stability and acceleration of the wheels are awesome. Stiff but forgiving. Since I ride the Exploro LTD frameset, the Torno cranks and these wheels, it feels like a good holistic design. Credits to Bikesuperior.nl (Jochem Paalman) for selling me these precious parts. A 3T worthy shop! Happy customer. Greets Jakob

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          24 May 2020

          Enjoy the ride!

          Reply
  33. S

    Stephen Linwood Smith says:

    07 May 2020

    Great article

    Reply
  34. O

    Olaf says:

    28 April 2020

    Maybe one thing. I would prefer 2 wheel set too. I would prefer to change too to get more range at the cassettes.
    I like your article and it helps me a lot.

    Reply
    1. O

      Olaf says:

      28 April 2020

      I mean, I would prefer to change the chain too.

      Reply
  35. Andre Murbach Maidl says:

    22 April 2020

    Nice article! For gearing I went the other way around. Instead of changing the smaller gear I went for a different top gear, as I wanted to keep up with road group rides on descents and still have a 1:1 gear for long climbs with double digit gradients. For that reason, I use 10-42 on my road setup and 11-42 on my off road setup. Anyway, thanks for sharing your ideas at this level of details. They are really helpful and I’m almost convinced that my off road setup should be 650b instead of 700c. 🙂

    Reply
  36. Bas Vlaskamp says:

    16 April 2020

    Looking at pictures it seems with 26 inch wheels 2.8 inch or maybe even 3.0 tires with tight clearances could fit an Exploro.
    I was wondering; would that take the Exploro to the next level, combining the aerodynamics ot the Exploro with the comfort/versatility/grip of the Open Wide?
    Or are there big constraints with 26 inch other than the limited wheel and tire availability?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      16 April 2020

      Hi Bas, that’s impossible on any gravel bike with narrow road cranks, regardless of wheel diameter. A nominal 2.8″ tire is 71mm wide, so 35.5mm on the drive side. Take a chainline of 47mm, that would leave 11.5mm of space. In that space you need to put: tire clearance to the chain stay (supposedly 6mm but at least 4mm), clearance between chainstay and chainring (at least 2mm) and half the thickness of the chainring (1.5mm). That leaves you with a 4mm wide chainstay. Clearly that would be a chainstay with no stiffness and no strength.

      The only way to do that is to go to a wider crank, so you can have wider spaced chain stays. In other words, an MTB crank on an MTB frame. But of course that also means you have your foot stance like it is on an MTB, not narrow & efficient like on a road bike.

      Reply
      1. Bas Vlaskamp says:

        16 April 2020

        Thanks for the clear explanation. It was a bit too much wishfull thinking apperently.

        Reply
  37. A

    Andrzej says:

    14 April 2020

    Hi Gerard,

    I ride 10-42 on my 650b discus wheels. I need something like ethirteen 9-39 for my road wheelset. Will this work? It is impossible to find a cassette that has 10 as a smallest cog and than something below 40 on the other side.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      14 April 2020

      I presume you want to know if you can make that work without having to adjust the chain length and rear derailleur setting? Probably you can make that work with some fiddling, but we haven’t tried that exact combo. You can always make it work with some derailleur adjustment.

      Reply
  38. R

    Ricardo Rocha says:

    06 April 2020

    Hi Gerard, very informative post, as usual. What would be the biggest tooth gap you’d consider acceptable between the lowest gears in each cassette? I saw you mentioned if the derrailleur is set for an 11-50 it would work with an 11-39. Would a gap bigger than 11 teeth leave me with too much chain slack?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      06 April 2020

      I’m not sure I can give an absolute number. In that particular case with that chain length and that derailleur, those two cassettes work. I am not sure there is a general rule to be distilled from that, sorry (if only life were simple!)

      Reply
      1. R

        Ricardo Rocha says:

        06 April 2020

        It’s still helpful, though! Thanks.

        Reply
  39. M

    Mark says:

    25 February 2020

    Hi Gerard, for the road wheels on flat/ rolling you recommend 11-36.. with what size chainring would you say ?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      17 March 2020

      That all depends on your strength. If you have a road bike right now, what is the biggest gear you really need? So not the biggest gear you have, but the biggest gear you really need. Then work from there.

      Reply
  40. D

    Dave says:

    18 February 2020

    Hey, agree, great article. Wondering if you still plan on following it up with a “one tire for everything” post – that would be great! Thanks much.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      19 February 2020

      Yes, it’s in the works

      Reply
    2. Gerard Vroomen says:

      17 March 2020

      It’s finally here: https://blog.3t.bike/2020/03/12381/gravel-bike-tech-mixing-road-gravel-1-set-up-for-everything/

      Reply
  41. c

    clifak says:

    10 January 2020

    Can one keep the same chain length when using the Rotor 11-39 and SRAM 10-50 or do both small cogs need to be the same?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      13 January 2020

      Not ideal. It would be a lot easier to go with the 11-50T and set up the derailleur that. If you do that, then it will work pretty well with the 11-39T as well.

      Reply
  42. Bernd says:

    02 January 2020

    Hi Gerard, thanks for this article. Really looking forward for your words about the “one setup for everything”. I’m in the middle of configuring my new bike and curios about your thoughts on this.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      17 March 2020

      Hi Bernd, that post is finally up: https://blog.3t.bike/2020/03/12381/gravel-bike-tech-mixing-road-gravel-1-set-up-for-everything/

      Reply
      1. Bernd says:

        17 March 2020

        Thanks, Gerard. I’m kind of in option 2 with mostly road and easy gravel and will probably go with a 38mm Rene Herse tubeless tire for more comfort.

        Reply
  43. A

    Anders Hansen says:

    16 December 2019

    Good article. I have just bought an Exploro (Eagle / Force) with 650B wheels, and I’m planning to upgrade to 700C wheels for more road/gravel use. Curious to hear what you have to say about you’re preferred wheels. The wheels my budget stretches to are DT Swiss GRC 1400, Easton EC90 AX or Hunt 30 Carbon Gravel. Any opinions on either of these, or other within same price bracket? Right now my preference are the Easton wheels..

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      16 December 2019

      Hi Anders, the wheels that have everything I like in them are the 3T wheels, for the simple reason that I was involved in the design. It doesn’t feel right for me to judge other companies’ wheels.

      Reply
      1. A

        Anders says:

        21 December 2019

        Stupid question 🙁 Should have know better.. thanks anyway

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          22 December 2019

          Not a stupid question at all. Happy Holidays.

          Reply
  44. W

    Will says:

    06 December 2019

    Hi Gerard, this is more a gearing question than a on/off road question.
    Atm my head is absolutely spinning with gear ratios and gear inches etc! I could really do with some help. I’m a road rider and I’ve just bought a 3T Strada with 1 x Sram Force 50t up front and a 11/32 cassette (it has the 3T Discus Team Carbon wheels if that info helps). Previously I have been riding a ‘sub’ compact 2x of 48/32 with an 11/30 cassette. So this new gearing is a long way off what I’m used to. I live in a hilly area and pretty happy with the setup – I wouldn’t want to loose much at the hill climbing end anyway. I’m trying to get somewhere near this with the 1x setup. Do you have any advice as to the best way to achieve this? – obviously I’d like to spend as little as possible as I’ve just bought a bike but equally I want to get it right above all else.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      06 December 2019

      Hi Will, did you check this post: https://blog.3t.bike/2019/11/12341/strada-mountain-champion/ ? That will probably answer your question. It all depends on what top gear you really want, but if I had to take a guess, I would suggest you might be best off with a 10-42 or 11-42 cassette and then a 44T chainring. Compared to your old 2x set-up, that gives you the same (actually slightly smaller) smallest gear than you had before, and as your biggest gear either a 44×11 (so 8% smaller than you had before) or 44×10 (2% bigger than you had before). Of course you can move around a few percent here and there by going with a 46T ring for example, or sticking with an 11-40 cassette, etc.

      Reply
      1. W

        Will says:

        06 December 2019

        Great thanks Gerard. I missed that article, so thanks again! – just scanning it am I right in saying I would just need a new cassette, new chainring and chain – & perhaps an xd driver? (assuming the Discus Team Carbon accept them?) I wont need a new rear derailleur?

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          06 December 2019

          No new rear derailleur and not even a new chain needed, you probably even have to shorten the current one. Just follow the instructions in that article. The xD driver you need is this one: https://www.3t.bike/en/spare-parts/xd-r-driver-kit-616.html?search_query=driver&results=3. That’s actually an xD-R driver but just add the 1.8mm spacer to make it identical to the xD dimensions.

          Reply
  45. Mikey says:

    29 November 2019

    Another great article Gerard, I’m loving these. It’s a bit scary how similar our minds think, though you may have influenced me subconsciously along the way!
    I’d like to add the 35mm Panaracer Gravel King TLC to the tyre options, if I may. I have that setup on my road wheels for the gravel bike and it’s great – rolls really well and super comfortable. The tyres are just like the Vittoria Pave’s but wider and tubeless- perfect!
    BTW, is the Bailout coming back into stock whilst it’s heavily discounted? Thanks.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      29 November 2019

      Yes, that’s a nice tire but if I have separate wheels for gravel and road, I wouldn’t use it on either. But on the “one setup for everything”, it’s definitely a contender.

      The Bailout will be back in stock soon, I would think later today you can order it again, just with a small delay in shipping.

      Reply
      1. Mikey says:

        29 November 2019

        Thanks Gerard. I’m surprised you say that about the Gravel King. Perhaps you’re thinking about the treaded version, which I’d agree with your comments. But the one I refer to is the recently released road tyre and it’s superb on the road and I’ve used it on fast club rides without disadvantage. Here’s a link to a picture of it and info:-
        https://www.panaracer.com/lineup/images/gravel/item_img04_tc.jpg
        https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Panaracer/GravelKing-Folding-TLC-Clincher-Tyre/EZ65

        Please note, I’m not connected to Panaracer or Sigma in any way!!

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          27 January 2020

          Hi Mikey, just noticed your comment was stuck in the moderation bin, no idea why. Anyway yes, that’s a very nice road tire with a very terrible name. I thought you meant the SK version.

          Or actually, the name is fine too, there is a lot of gravel where a big tire with a road tread is a great option, it’s just that most people don’t see it that way so the name puts you on the wrong foot. As it stands, this tire is a contender for both your road option but also as your one-tire-for-all option (if you don’t live in an area with very sharp gravel or tons of mud).

          Reply
  46. Gerard Vroomen says:

    28 November 2019

    Very mature Alex. BTW I’m not from Holland, that’s too exclusive. I’m from the Netherlands.

    Reply
  47. Gerard Vroomen says:

    28 November 2019

    How is it exclusive? Jumping to conclusions a bit I think. I did use Google translate but no idea what the question is. Google says “Very good article. Just the info that I needed an option to buy a set of road wheels?” What does that last question mean? I guess you know because you speak Spanish?

    I don’t so I told him and in parallel I told our Spanish customer service people to email him directly.

    Reply
  48. T

    Tomas Berg says:

    28 November 2019

    Very informative and good tips, thanks a lot for that, will bu useable. But there is some thoughts that I can’t decide about, maybe wrong forum!?!
    Which Gravel frame/bike should I focus on, Open U. P or 3T? I want comfort but speed is fun and most important 😄😄

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      28 November 2019

      Hi Tomas, I love all my children the same! You can see some answers in this interview: https://granfondo-cycling.com/3t-exploro-vs-open-u-p-interview-gerard-vroomen/. It’s about the previous generation of both bikes, but the same principles apply.

      Reply
      1. T

        Tomas Berg says:

        29 November 2019

        Thanks a lot, another very useful information.

        Reply
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