100%
More tire options, more clearance for fenders, less issues with mud buildup…
Tyres are everything (well, almost). As a roadie you will likely be more irritated than others with tyre buzz on tar (I know I am) and unless you live in the bush you will be riding some tar roads, even if just to get to the gravel. So go for a supple tyre with minimalist tread, starting with 45mm width. My go-to tyre is the Schwalbe G1 RS Pro. It feels pretty close to a road tyre on the tar but performs really well in everything except mud. Make sure your pressure is low enough - use the Wolf Tooth tyre pressure calculator app and get a gauge that measures half a psi accuracy. When you’re down to 22psi or lower in a gravel tyre, 0.5 psi makes a difference in feel & performance. If your gravel is chunky, maybe go 50mm or more, but 45mm is ideal if it is comfortable enough for your local gravel. The wider the tyre the more wheel flop and vague handling on good surfaces.
For the bike itself, I agree with the Crux 4 suggestion or something with similar geo. Not too racy but not in MTB territory. That will help the bike to still feel a bit like a road bike. Good luck!
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Wow. That’s big (in my race bike mind) - I am now considering an endurance bike that can clear 40mm so I can do some (maybe?) gravel on the roads in the Eastern Townships that aren’t rocky but are more chopped-up and smaller gravel, if that makes sense, but then still also ride on the roads in a fun way…I read online that 40mm can manage smoother rocks, but now wondering if that’s just talk.
Thanks @Paul_van_Woudenberg all this advice is very helpful. And the tire pressure wisdom is a huge bonus. If I get a Giant Defy (Endurance bike that has really good reviews, surprisingly, lol) that sounds like a spicier endurance bike, that has 40mm clearance, would that be sufficient for some gravel riding in Quebec on roads that aren’t huge rocks but more like packed down dirt/small gravel? It seems from this feed 45mm is the minimum to ride on gravel well…
Look at Silca’s gravel categorisation (though I gather that might have been taken from what @Dave_Rome and co came up with at Cycling Tips). Tyre suggestions are mine.
Cat 1 - Hardpack, smooth gravel (think paved, but not), then 40c will be fine, and slick also fine
Cat 2 - freshly graded or rural rail-trail surfaces with moderate loose gravel and minor rough patches - 40c also fine, if you are happy to take the hits on the rougher bits.
Cat 3 - Harsh, abrasive, and unpredictable rough terrain with chunky rocks and sharp flints, typical of major endurance races like Unbound or The Rift. - 45c minumum, with tread knobs to greater or lesser extent.
Cat 4 - Extreme off-road conditions featuring deep mud, loose sand, sticky loam, and technical singletrack - 50c+, knobby
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I’m glad you like the color. The free custom paint on Orbea bikes is a blessing and a curse. The blessing: You get to choose a bike with your personal BEST COLOR. The curse: Between this bike and my incoming Orca Aero, I have spent so many hours agonizing over what that best color actually is…and it seems to change from day to day, or hour to hour, sometimes. But for the Orca, I finally settled on a Wario-inspired color scheme. Good luck with your bike search!
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Hey Kit - turns out we hail from the same homeland (I’m from Sherbrooke, but live in Chelsea now). A few more thoughts to keep in mind in your shopping - and don’t forget, shopping is the next best thing after riding, so enjoy it:-). Having built a gravel bike that used to serve as my only bike (call it all-road), but is now only doing gravel duty, I would make sure to look at the frame geometry of the bikes you’re considering carefully. Aside from comfort noted by others (and which I agree is probably most important) and which generally corresponds to the stack and reach, if you’re into speed, I would not overlook wheelbase, chainstay length, and front center; basically a longer bike is more confident (read stable) at speed going down hills. An endurance bike like the defy will feel great climbing, accelerate well, and feel really responsive, but it is still relatively short in the dimensions I mention above, has a steep head tube angle, and high bottom bracket. Comparatively, most modern gravel bikes (of the fast variety) are long, either in the front end (slack head tube angle <72, and more fork rake = longer front center) or back (long chainstays). Some brands will keep one end on the shorter, more snappy side (e.g., a steeper head tube angle, less fork rake, or alternately short chainstays), but usually long is the way. As for tire size, I have only got room for 45s, but if I was buying now, echo the other commenters in saying at least 50mm clearance is a good thing to aim for. You need to consider that the max tire clearance is not necessarily what the frame was designed around, and I would say you don’t want to be right at the max (e.g., a 45 or 48 on a frame with 50mm clearance). I also echo the other comments on threaded bottom bracket (look for T47), external cables in the headset/bar/stem if possible, a UDH so you can use SRAM XPLR if you want and just for future-proofing. And last bit of buying advice: aim for something with a mid-level component spec (e.g., SRAM Rival, Shimano GRX600, and with the basic aluminum bits like stem and bars) and expect to replace cranks, bar, stem to dial in your fit. It sucks to replace high end (e.g., carbon) components and you will spend less starting with a mid-range build and upgrading. Chris
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You can go a lot of places on 40mm tires; you’ll just be going slower than on bigger tires.
I agree with the earlier post about focusing on geo/fit. IMO the Crux is more on the racy side. The Fairlight is a good suggestion because each size is available in two geometries, so it’s easy to find one that works. And they are incredibly versatile—mine has worn both 32mm GP5ks and 650x2.2” Race Kings, and currently has a 60mm MRP fork. I’m also going to convert it from standard dropouts to UDH. They are very reasonably priced and extremely well made.
You could also consider a Rodeo Labs Flaanimal in either steel or Ti.
Another great carbon option is a Time ADHX45—IMO one of the best “do it all” bikes out there.
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To this point - I run two sets of wheels on my gravel bike. One set with medium-deep rims (Zipp 303s) with 40cc Schalbe G-One RS (i.e. smaller with smooth center) and one set that has wider internal, low profile rims (Reynolds Pro Gravel) with 45cc Schwalbe G-One R (i.e. bigger and knobbier).
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What do you have at the moment? If you have a road bike, I’d say an endurance bike that will take 40s may on the road feel a bit too close but not as good as the road bike, while on the gravel quickly feel out of its depth. I.e not really one thing or the other. Fine if it’s your only road bike, but potentially disappointing if a second bike.
Far better would be a gravel bike on which you could fit 40mm slicks, but that would also take bigger should you find you quite enjoy the gravel and want to explore further out and onto the rougher roads.
As I said before, with a gravel bike, it’s better to have the option to run bigger, than want to but not be able to.
As another poster said, you can always have two pairs of wheels. I have. Fairlight Secan, with 45c on one wheelset and 2.2 (650b in my case) on another. The Secan is fast - faster than my MTB on certain woodland single track trails, and plenty fast enough on the road - despite (maybe because of) having a long chain stay length and a fairly ‘soft’ ride feel.
But, if I want to go fast on road, that’s what my road bike is for.
But where I live I have great road riding and great gravel riding, meaning I can separate the two. The route options where you are may change the equation.
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I would echo a lot of what has already been said as someone who’s been through a few gravel bikes over the last five years looking for the right one:
- Room for wide tires, with the best options providing room for a 2.25 MTB tire
- Don’t worry about aero on the frame, fit and comfort is much more important
- If you want some aero speed, aftermarket wheels are a great option and also give you the ability to leave two sets of tires mounted and just swap between them
GIven that you’re in Quebec, I would suggest that you also consider a local option, the Argon18 Dark Matter: https://www.argon18.com/en-us/bikes/gravel/dark-matter/rival-xplr-axs
They are very adaptable size-wise because of Argon18’s clever headset solution, and I can confirm that a set of Conti Dubnitals 2.25s will fit with plenty of room to spare. It’s a lot of bike for the money.
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THANK YOU for the detailed response. Everyone here is so gracious in their sharing of wisdom. I really really appreciate it!!!
Yeah I hear you about “not really one thing or the other” for sure - part of my interest in the endurance bike is not just road, or gravel, but to be able to do road for longer stretches more comfortably (I am realizing this as I get more advice and info from helpful EC peeps on this thread).
I don’t race and I don’t do group rides (although maybe that will change) - but I DO love long distance (200km+) and so am thinking maybe an endurance bike is the best option, if it has 40mm clearance for the Eastern Township vibes (which are a mix of asphalt and gravel, and lots of gravel that isn’t intensely so)
Lots to think about!! Thanks very much for all you’ve given me to consider. It’s very appreciated.
Love it - and I TOTALLY see how picking the colour would be a nightmare of a dream choice. Awesome picks on both. Well played.
Hey @Christopher_Rose thanks so much for the detailed info - Are you saying carbon components aren’t good on gravel, basically? I am a newbie to gravel so a bit confused by all the factors to consider. Right now I am still thinking: a) I like punchy b) I like road c) I like long distance d) I want to do some gravel stuff but want a bike that can do both as I am not going all in all gravel right away, and I can’t afford a road AND gravel bike so that the Defy would give me the chance to have a bit of all worlds. But I WAS thinking about the carbon version and am now a bit confused about carbon vs aluminum…All this to say, food for thought and your widsom has been much appreciated.
Just my two cents: I would choose a bike that I could test-ride beforehand. (Unless you already know what you need in terms of frame geometry).
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Yup I’ve been thinking about that a lot. In Canada we don’t get all the options that the USA gets - for example Canyon is totally unavailable here (it seems) unless you get it shipped and build it yourself which is my kryptonite (if I just want to try something out). But the feel of a bike isn’t something you can sense from a picture or a spec list, and it’s that je ne sais quoi that is the ultimate dealbreaker.
I think he was saying that it might not make sense to splurge on a higher-end build for your first bike b/c you might wind up changing out components like bars, seatpost, etc. So spending more up front on, say, carbon bars might not make sense if you end up wanting to change them out for a different size, shape, etc. as you figure out what you like. Carbon frames, components, wheels are definitely fine for gravel use.
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Ok cool, thanks for the clarification. I didn’t think I was getting the point! 
Hi again Kit - no, wasn’t saying carbon components aren’t good for gravel - just that your best value for a complete bike is probably in the mid-range build (e.g., sram rival, shimano grx mechanical) and will usually come with stock aluminum bars, stem, seatpost, which you can then upgrade with components that fit you better: likely a narrower bar, shorter or longer stem, zero offset seatpost, short cranks, etc. Carbon components are definitely good for gravel, especially upgrading to a carbon seatpost which will improve comfort on a stiff frame. If you are looking at a one-bike solution though, like others have said the Specialized Crux would be a good benchmark that tends to bridge road and gravel pretty well. Another in that category to consider would be an OPEN U.P./U.P.P.E.R. If you’re wanting to compare bike geo between different bikes, try using the Bikeinsights tool here: Compare - Bike Insights . Maybe plug in the Crux as a baseline to compare others to!
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