Transform Your cyclo-cross bike to a gravel beast!

If you look out your window you may be surprised if I tell you winter is over, but it is! What makes me say that, as the rain pours down out of a leaden sky? Winter is over because the cyclo-cross season is over. It’s all sunshine and rainbows from now on.

If you’re a cyclo-cross rider the end of the season used to mean it was time to put your ‘cross bike away. You would give it a final clean, maybe strip it and sort those crunchy bearings. Then it would be hung up in the garage, waiting for the next season, but not anymore!

Now there’s no reason to mothball your ‘cross bike for the summer. With a few simple changes your faithful muddy race monster can be switched to summer gravel duties. While some purists may claim that older cyclo-cross bikes are too fast and twitchy for longer gravel adventures, that’s not the case with modern bikes that cover the ‘cross/gravel category, like the CEXevo.

Tyres first

First up are tyres. While most ‘cross riders are happy with 35mm tyres, when it comes to gravel, bigger is better. Larger tyres offer increased comfort and grip over skinny competition rubber. Both grip and comfort are better thanks to the larger volume of air in the tyre.

It works like this. With a greater volume of air, you can run lower pressures than a narrower tyre. This will increase the tyre’s contact patch, which is the amount of tyre actually in contact with the ground. Increasing the contact patch will give you more grip in loose or wet conditions, which is good!

Those lower pressures also allow the larger tyre to deform more as you pass over rocks and roots. By deforming, they absorb some of the shock that would normally be translated to your hands and derriere! While this isn’t as much as you would get from a suspension fork, it does make a big difference. It’s also a lot lighter, cheaper and easier to maintain.

When it comes to which tyres, there’s a huge range to choose from. If you want an all-round tyre that can handle a bit of everything try Schwalbe’s Bite. Alternatively if you’re after something racier try Schwalbe’s new  R-Pro line,  Vittoria Terreno Dry  or  Hutchinson Caracal.

Gearing

Take a look around at a cyclo-cross race and you’ll see that the majority of riders are now riding 1x. What is 1x and why would you use it? A 1x (pronounced one-by) set up is quite simply running a single chainring. This has a number of advantages over the traditional road transmission where you have two chainrings.

The first advantage of 1x is simplicity. With only one chainring you no longer need a front derailleur, so no need for cables or shifter. Which makes maintenance that much easier and sheds a little bit of weight.

Chainrings that are 1x specific have a special thick-thin tooth profile that meshes with your chain, making it harder to unship. Also helping to keep your chain in place will be your rear derailleur, which will have stronger springs. These two features make it harder for the chain to jump off the chainring when you're bouncing over rough terrain.

Removing the front derailleur also means there’s less surface for mud to build up around the bottom-bracket and chain-stays. That’s a big advantage when racing in thick mud.  

You choose

Personally, although I use a 1x set-up for cyclo-cross, I prefer the wider range of gears I get with a 2x system. This is because I still like to think I’m a racer, despite my less than stellar results! I also think that it extends chain life, as you are less likely to be in a ‘cross-chaining’ situation, but that’s just my opinion! 

However running 1x is so simple and you don’t get any gear duplication with it. Every gear on a 1x set-up is unique, whereas on a 2x set up you will get certain gears that are identical. So where you may think you have 24 gears (12x2) you may find that some of them are duplicated, so in reality you might have only twenty.

If you spend a lot of time on the road, then a 2x set-up makes a lot of sense. It will make it easier to keep up with faster riders on the flat and downhill. However if you’re going to spend more time off-road, perhaps bikepacking, then your legs will thank you for the lower gears on a 1x set-up!

Cassettes

Do you need to change your rear cassette when swapping from ‘cross to gravel? Well, it depends on what type of riding you’ll be doing. Generally ‘cross gearing doesn’t have such a wide range as gravel. The climbs tend to be short, steep ramps. You can either blast up them, or jump off and run. Consequently massive low gears aren’t a feature on cyclo-cross bikes.

Head off on a gravel ride however and you’ll often find yourself grinding up long climbs. Add in luggage and you’re going to need some help. Modern gravel groupsets come with up to 52 teeth, while chainrings smaller than 40 teeth are available. Combine the two and conquering those climbs becomes a lot easier.

Any other changes?

Well, you‘ll want bottle cages, not much use in a muddy hour-long race, but a must on longer rides. I would recommend some way to carry tools as well; and more than just a puncture kit. Riding off-road puts your bike under a lot of stress and that’s without any unexpected falls. So having some way of holding all your kit like Muc-Off’s saddle bag  is worth investing in.

What bike?

If you are looking at a bike that can handle an hour of intense ‘cross action, a 100 mile gravel sportive, or a UCI Gravel World Series event, look no further than the CEXevo.

I’ve ridden all of those on my CEXevo and it has yet to let me down. Fast, light, responsive and able to handle the rough and tumble of off-road; thoroughly recommended! 

The major advantage with buying your bike from Handsling Bikes is that you can have it specced out exactly as you want. Head over to the customisation page and you can choose your groupset, wheels, tyres, saddle, bars and stem. You can even pick the colour!