Can You Make One Bike Do It All?

Recently with the advent of gravel bikes people have wanted their bike to be more versatile, rather than having two separate bikes. A great way to enhance its versatility is by having two different wheelsets, one for gravel riding, and one for the road. So does this really mean you only need one bike? Alex finds out!

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Would you have two separate bikes, or two separate wheelsets? let us know in the comments! 👇

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[gcntech]

Would you have two separate bikes, or two separate wheelsets? let us know in the comments! 👇

[stefaankiekeman]

When buying a 2nd set of wheels, keep in mind you need to buy an extra set of brake disks and an extra cassette. If using a much bigger cassette, you have to change the chain every time you switch wheels. Even might have to adjust the callipers if the pads are rubbing against the disks. So it’s still an investment and you might have to spend some time on setting it up after each swap.

[sandrochiavaroBeerCircles]

I only ride one bike. A Cannondale Synapse. I ride 32mm that register at 34mm on my Hunt carbon gravel wheels. I ride gravel and road, aka mixed terrain . It’s not perfect for either, but it’s great in both. No changing tires, no changing cassette. I run a 2 by with compact 50/34 and an 11/34 in the back. This is more of a financial driven decision, but it’s great for me. I develop my handling skills on loose terrain, and work out a slightly more on road. If I do a longer dirt ride, I drop pressure from 65 psi on road to 30-40 on dirt.

[matthewvelo]

My first 'road' bike was a CX with road wheels and tyres. If you can afford two sets of wheels, and aren't planning on competitive racing, this is a great way to get the best of both worlds. Cheers Alex.

[originalkontrol]

This is the way! I have a 2020 Giant Revolt, and bought it with a spare 650B Hunt Adventure Sport wheelset right off the bat. Zipp 303s wheelset for road. Plenty fast on road (I'm not that fast anyway!) and super fun on gravel/singletrack! You hit the nail on the head here! Always love your vids!

[Liberace]

That is exactly what I did in 2021. Coming from mountainbiking originally, my brother introduced me to Zwift and Road-Bikes during the Pandemic. I then chose the following set-Up : A Cyclocross bike (Cube CX Pro) because of the sturdier material, ZIPP 303s with Schwalbe G-One and a Wahoo Kickr. After a couple of month indoor and outdoors with hundreds of km and spring looming, i then killed the piggy bank and got myself a second wheelset of ZIPPs 303s and outfitted them with Continental GP5000STRs. Did some tinkering with the components ( the shifting is now Ultegra and important parts swapped to carbon, complete bike at 8 Kg) here and there over time and I love the flexibility. It doesn´t take as much space (and money) as 2 or 3 bikes would, but I always am able to ride as I like...

[HP_Rounds]

Please keep the GCN videos going! I love the videos and they are always on point for the questions that all of our bike shop customers are asking. Thank you so much!

[matt_m]

If we can get a follow on, I would really be interested in seeing the difference in performance between a gravel bike with road tires vs. an endurance road bike.

[nigelwatson]

I got a Trek Checkpoint6 recently (400mm tyres as default)…love it. 40front…10–44 cassette
I got a pair of Kysrium road wheels (28mm) with identical cassette…us it once a week when doing Friday morning road spin with mates…
Absolutely love it…works soooo well and as an aside…when I travel I take this “1 bike - 2 wheels” with me & I have effectively 2 bikes
Best decision ever…also as I’m enjoying it so much…I’m riding more…so getting fitter/faster

[rikkiola]

Been running this for a couple of years now as a winter road bike / all-year off-road. Trek Checkpoint SL6: extra set of Vittoria 42mm carbon wheels with Panaracer Gravelking 35mm for road plus the standard wheels with WTB Resolute 42mm. 2x set-up for best of both. Wheel change is done in literally less than 1 minute, no disc rubbing. Bike is plenty quick enough in 'road-form', allowing a little light gravel with 35mm and super-fun in off-road 42mm wheel mode.

[juanpique]

This is what I've done too. In addition to the wheels, you'll need to buy a new cassette and discs, tyres and (if using) inner tubes, but it's still cheaper than a second bike! I'm using the same cassette (gravel) on both wheels though, it offers enough range and it makes swapping wheels a simpler process with less derailleur adjustment, though some is still needed. The swap takes me ~5 minutes

[bbartvanwijk]

The Trek domane is the ultimate gravel and road bike combo. Comfortable on gravel with 38mm tires and fast on the road with 28mm tires. It’s awesome, only a bit heavy.

[markreams]

I ride a titanium gravel bike with two sets of wheels. This set up is ideal if you have limited storage space. I ride the gravel wheels most of the time with a hard pack gravel tire like the Panaracer gravel king ss or the Pirelli cinturado gravel h. With these tires you really don’t lose a lot of speed and they really take the edge off of rough or chip sealed pavement. If I’m doing a fast group ride or an event that I want to do fast, I can always switch to the road wheels.

[jpconstantineau]

Great video. One point that really favor the twin wheelset/one bike setup is when you want to go away with a few bikes on the car, it's far easier to load bikes at the back and a few more wheels in the trunk.

[Rick-B]

Always a pleasure to watch your videos. And a pleasure to see that what I’ve been doing for a year is now reinforced by the experts. I ride a Specialized Diverge with two sets; DT Swiss gravel & Zipp 303FC for my road. Thanks GCN!

[mattengle]

Great video, I’ve used this approach for a few years when traveling in my camper van. I’d love to bring 2 bikes but just don’t have the room. Only issue I find is the need for small adjustments to the disc brakes to prevent rubbing with the different rotors. I really can’t see swapping tires as a viable option given the glue mess.

[mikhailway]

I have a Specialized Diverge (1 front chain ring that I swapped out from 40T to 42T) and run the default gravel wheels+tires and a 11-42t. I also have a 2nd set of Hunt wheels that I put slicks on and run a 11-32t cassette. I DO NOT have to change out the chain, or make anything than very minor adjustments to my rotors on occasion. The GRX derailleur with clutch makes that possible and not an option on a race bike unless you get a different derailleur. But I have the 1st gen future shock and the bike’s more compliant frame/setup means that even with the road setup its still slower than my old 2018 Scott Speedster 20. Still, it’s great fun and when I travel I only have to take my extra set of wheels.

[frazergoodwin]

Same set up I have for my one bike - and it means I can tell my wife I only have ONE bike!
Its a 2020 Specialized Diverge Sport Gravel bike. Except, having bought two nice wheel sets:
Road wheels - Hunt Aerowide 34s shod with Conti GP5000 32mm tires - for riding on roads, with my club or on tarmac only training rides
Gravel wheels - Roval Terra C wheels shod with WTB ByWay 40mm tires - which I use for "all road" rides, light gravel and bikepacking
This means I have a third set - the DTSwiss R470s the bike was originally equipped with. These are shod with HutchinsonTundra 40mm tires which I use as a "mudd" / extreme gravel set up. One bike to do it all!

[maytersandwich]

Enjoyed the video. Occasional gravel rider with a 2020 Domane SL7. Has 38c clearance. Much cheaper for me to just go with the extra set of tires. Run some road specific GP5K 32c tires normally. For gravel switch out to some 35c Gravel Kings.

[Digi]

I like my two bikes because they can be specific for what i want them to do - the roadbike has a more aggressive position, casette with less jumps between the cogs, lightweight carbon components etc. its super fun to go one hour flat out in speed, while the gravelbike is setup a bit more relaxed for longer touring, i rarely bother to remove rack, bags, additional bottle cages, pump etc, it has more robust components and it has always some mud on it, the roadbike on the other hand is always clean and lean and i simply love to look at it because its a machine of beauty.

BUT if i would buy new from the get go i also might get a little bit more race oriented lighter gravel bike with two wheelsets. its a great option for when you dont want either of the bikes to fit to extreme a niche and not bother with storing and maintaining two bikes.

Also, if you have always been a road cyclist, and now want to explore some new territory without the need for a full bananas MTB like gravelbike with really chunky tires for the gnarly stuff, even one nice wheelset might be enough. a 35-45mm slick (like a challenge stada bianca pro) on a nice light wheelset on a sportier gravelbike will open up any cycle path, forest road etc. as long as its not extremely muddy, while your road speed will not degrade in a noticable way compared to a non-aero midrange roadbike. if you dont do competetive cycling this one option is also totally fine nowadays. dont hold on to stupid old ways of thinking.