Originally Posted by
Newspaper_Nick
My two cents:
Short answer: No, if we think speed, lightness and aerodynamics are the main factors of a road bike. If you want a road bike, get a road bike. If you want gravel, get a gravel. If you want both, buy two bikes.
I'll test that premise and let you know. I have a Redline CX bike that I've ridden pretty hard off-road. In everything but very fast downhills I was faster tan full-suspension bikes. On any climbs steeper than, say, 25% or more I had to push but full suspension bikes had heavy enough front ends so that you could carry a very tiny gear without lifting the front wheel and losing control. So as a CX bike that Redline is hard to beat. I'm changing it over to a road bike since it is the right size for a friend who will be visiting in the spring and won't ride a bike with any carbon fiber on it.
Just guessing before it is together and tested but I would say it would work well for both with only a change in wheels. But you would have to know how to ride CX and, surprisingly, few Americans can. That's probably because they started on MTB's and that is a completely different sort of ride.