I've been wanted to grab one of these for gravel riding for ages, but is the CX geometry of the frame a little too twitchy for long days? Just a little background, I'm a road rider with some long distance mtb experience and zero experience riding gravel and cyclocross so the geometries/riding characteristics are all new to me...
Also looking at building it up with gevenalle shifters if anyone has any experience with them that would be great to hear as well.. First post on here and no experience on the subject so go easy..
As a small followup to that regardless of what frame I go with I was primarily looking at canti brakes simply because I like how simple they are to maintain, I hate messing around with my mtb discs.. Is this the wrong way to go and would I regret not getting a disc gravel bike?... who brakes anymore anyway..
Rim brakes won't be a problem. You already know how to deal with wet rim brakes, and gravel riding doesn't treat them any worse than disc brakes, unless you're going to be mudding it on B-roads.
I have been riding a Ritchey Swiss Cross for 6 months now. The bike is very comfortable and doesn't feel twitchy at all. I have about 600 miles of gravel rides on it and i couldn't be happier. I race road and cross. This bike feels better on road and gravel then it does on a cross course. At least that's what I think.
I have been riding a year 2000 Swiss Cross off road for many years. Reviews have indicated that it rides more like a mtn bike than a road bike. I concur. I have done many all day off road rides on this bike and am very happy with all aspects of the ride. Right now am running 35mm tyre on rear, and 40 mm on the front (Ritchey speedmax) which works very well for me. Also, set up with shimano shifters, 8 speed cassette 11/34, and 46/34 chainrings, with XTR rear derailleur. One thing to note is that as a cross bike, the bb is higher from the ground, which effects balance just a bit as well as stand over height of top tube. Out in Pacific NW, we have some steepish and longish climbs. Feel like I am ready for everything. Enjoy
