The YouTuber ‘Gravel Bike des Savoies’ shares his experience of riding with a gravel bike both on roads and trails. With two sets of wheels, his gravel bike becomes either a fast road bike on asphalt or a gravel bike for more adventurous riding.
Enjoy the versatility of a gravel bike
We’re sold the gravel bike as the ultimate versatile bicycle, suitable for both road and gravel. Often fitted with 40c tires, it’s true that it becomes a jack-of-all-trades bike, excellent nowhere but good in all areas: trails, pavement, forests, etc.
However, this versatility comes with a price: that of compromise. You’ll need to choose a tire that isn’t too bad on pavement while still being good enough when leaving the road.
With a second set of wheels, the choice is no longer necessary. That’s the solution I found to optimize the versatility of my Graxx.
Here’s the configuration I’ve chosen: a bike for two sets of wheels. So, we can make much clearer choices.
For me, I’ve opted for 650b wheels with 47mm tires, and 700c wheels with 28mm road tires. There’s no longer a need to rely on the tire for versatility since it’s the wheelset that will take care of it.
A gravel bike with two sets of wheels, how does it work?
But how does it work in practice? It’s actually quite simple. The change in configuration might seem daunting, but it’s not.
Changing the front wheel takes less than a minute, and expect two to three minutes for the rear wheel if you’re not comfortable with rear derailleur manipulation. My video testifies to this.
Of course, you’ll need to have fully equipped the second set beforehand, ready to use. By this, I mean having installed the discs, cassette, and tires.
On this topic, a question I’ve been asked before: no, it’s not necessary to have the same size cassette on both sets of wheels, and fortunately so. You can mount an 11-42 on the gravel pair and an 11-30 on the road pair, for example.
Road bike or gravel bike, with two sets of Prymahl wheels
I draw your attention to the key point of this article: it’s essential to use two sets, road and gravel, from the same brand! Or at least with the same hubs.
This is a crucial factor to avoid having to readjust the transmission and brake caliper centering. Before trying it, I thought it sounded good on paper but wouldn’t work as well in practice… I was wrong. The change takes less than five minutes, and there’s no adjustment to be made; everything goes smoothly as planned. The transmission doesn’t notice the wheel change, and the brakes are the same; everything is operational. Really very pleasant!
Personally, I have a pair of Prymahl Vega A30pro wheels that I’ve repurposed for the road and a pair of Prymahl Vega A22 Pro 650B wheels that I use for gravel. The combination of these wheels with my Graxx is perfect. This way, I don’t have to choose between a road bike or a gravel bike. I have both.
More versatility, for more enjoyable rides
Bonus of this article, it’s possible to push the versatility concept even further by having a third set of wheels. Yes, you read that right. In the idea of a single bike, some add a 700c pair for soft gravel with 40mm tires. Thus, reserving the use of 650b for more adventurous gravel riding when the practice borders on mountain biking.
In conclusion, having a single bike with multiple wheelsets increases possibilities, enhances riding pleasure, saves space in the garage instead of having two or three different bikes, and reduces the budget since a pair of wheels will always be cheaper than a complete bike. In short, I see only positives.
