Suggestions for a Gravel Bike?

Hi,

I’m in the market for a gravel bike that I can use for riding the hills around my home in Santa Cruz, CA, and for some longer bikepacking touring.  I’m five foot eight inches tall and am in shape for my 63 revs around the Sun.

I discovered gravel bikes after riding my Surly LHT on the trails and dirt roads around Santa Cruz, and after just getting beat up on the bike, began searching for alternatives that have drop bars.  The local geology here is quite angular and there are many roots, so I just am getting beat on the Surly.  I also have a mtb, but the flat bars and shifters were ruining my hands and I’m not convinced that the full suspension mtb would be the best choice for bikepacking on multiple days of mixed roads.  I like all the mounting points that many gravel bikes have and my LHT has and most mtbs don't have these.

I like the idea of a light(er) frame and something that can climb relatively steep dirt roads/trails (15%+ grades) that are common here.  One thing that I like about my Surly is the wide range of gearing available (18.5 gear inches – 116 gear inches).  I have found that I use the 20 inch and even 18.5 inch gears from time to time on the steeper grades I ride.  I can’t imagine climbing steep hills when loaded for bikepacking with the 25+ inch lowest gears found on many of the production bike setups out there on the market.  It seems that even the GRX 2x options still have relatively high gearing for my needs and have constraints on the max size of cog, so don’t allow the addition of a granny gear.  I’m thinking that a bike with a SRAM eTap Force mullet build with a 12 speed 10-50t cassette may be the way to go, but we’re talking big bucks and the only bike I can find on the market that offers this is a Rodeo Labs Traildonkey.  At $7K+ this bike looks great but is on the sky-high end of my budget.

So my criteria are:

- Multiple mounting points, extra credit for top tube and fork mounts.

- Carbon/Carbon frame/fork, though I could be talked out of this is there are setups that are light and compliant that are not carbon.

- Can take wide (2.1 inch or greater) tires.  I have been told that 650b is the way to go for me due to my height (5’8”) and for comfort.  I like wider tires for sand and loose gravel.  I have never ridden on 700c, but am not totally against them, as I see them on most gravel bikes on the market.

- Has low gearing for climbing.  Like I said above, I’d like to have a granny gear that is not much higher than 20 to 22 inch gear.  Though maybe with a lighter bike than my LHT, I may be able to be a bit higher, but hey, I’m not getting any younger!

Any suggestions for a bike would be greatly appreciated.