Kevensjase

Hi, I have a gravel bike. Love it, but use it to do max speed sprints and laps on a F1 race track. I want something that with the same wattage will have a noticeably higher top speed. The only caveat is it needs to be at least comfortable and robust enough to do 10km city /paved path to to get to the track. Currently considering Argon krypton or Giant Defy Advanced. Thanks

RPK79

Have you considered swapping motors on the gravel bike?

PepeM

A little over your budget, but probably this:

https://www.orbea.com/gb-en/brands/gain-road/

Doctor Morbius

Get a lighter set of wheels and tires for your gravel bike.

redfooj

whos gonna have to break the bad news to him?

HTupolev

Depending on how the gravel bike is set up, and what's considered "noticeable", there might not be bad news. Many gravel bikes are set up in ways that I would consider quite not-optimal for road; overbuilt tires, not ergonomically optimized for being aero while droping the hamer, poor gear spacing. And they almost never use stuff like aero road racing wheels, which can have tangible gains.

I would say that it's generally possible to get a gravel bike performing extremely close to a good road bike. On the other hand, that's not necessarily the most convenient way to go about things, depending on your needs.

jch3n

What is your current gravel bike? The Argon Krypton and Giant Defy are both granfondo/endurance geometry bikes that wouldn't necessarily be any better than your gravel bike with lighter wheels and better road tires.

Heck, even if you got an all out race/aero bike, it probably wouldn't be a big difference unless your current bike weighs a ton or something...

Kevensjase

Well, I was a 20 year trail MTBer. When I switched to the gravel bike I loved the feeling of speed. Obviously significantly higher than my MTB on paved. So I figured if I bought a bike intended for performance, once again I would see an increase in speed. It is a compliment to my 5 days/week weight training regiment. I don't sight see or long distance ride. It's about fitness and personal challenges. My Gravel bike (Devinci hatchet w/sora) is heavy 24 lbs with 40mm tires so no doubt I can do better for what I intend.

12strings

1. No doubt road wheels with 25mm road tires will have the biggest impact, more than switching frames.

2. My road bike is 23lbs with Sora, and I don't plan on replacing it any time soon. It is fine for fast group rides. (Also one of our fastest riders, and no doubt best climbers rides a 29lb 1988 touring bike.) He does have thin, smooth tires, though.

If you aren't racing, I would get a second wheelset, road tires, and a second cassette, for easy wheel switches.

jch3n

Honestly, that's not a bad bike and it's probably not holding you back much. If you upgrade a few parts to make it lighter and get a second set of wheels with skinnier road tires, it'll still serve you well.

If you really want "fastest", look into race bikes. CAAD 12, Giant TCR, Trek Emonda ALR, etc.

pdedes

any properly fitting road bike for $2000 will get you about 2% faster. good luck with this.

superdex

what are y'all, chicken?

$1899 (though not with the wheels pictured, boo)

https://www.racycles.com/triathlon/a...105-bike-11031




Or this, and use the leftover $1k for deep carbon wheels: https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...-talon-105.htm


OR, spend $2k on some Boyd 90s, tires and a cassette.

TimothyH

^^

He said comfortable for 10k city bike path.

That rules out TT bikes.

Kevensjase

That argon tri bike is on sale for $1600 next to my home. I would imagine it is not a practical ride the 10km to and back from the track, or am I wrong?

RPK79

My TT bike is perfectly comfortable.

Kevensjase

Well the wheel swap for my Devinci or possibly check out that Argon TT are both appealing options to me that are not particularly costly..... as for the one or two nay-sayers, I'm here for your expert advice. If I come across as a dummy, your right I am and in 10 or 20 years of road riding I won't be. So lighten up, my choice will not affect you.

superdex

wait wait wait



You ride a gravel bike on a paved road track to do sprints? You realize that's the totally wrong use for the bike, right?

10k of paved MUP to an F1 track, then riding on the smooth unencumbered auto race track is a perfect use for a TT bike.

Kevensjase

Yes, the gravel bike was my test bike away from MTBing and towards road. I love speed so....

redfooj

i dont know what any of this means. is it fast or not?

shelbyfv

Duh, 10k (6.2 miles) you can ride anything. Get the aero bike if you want (as you said) max speed. Another inexpensive option that might be fun on the track would be a track bike!

superdex

For your budget, you're looking at an aero road bike with some carbon hoops. Like a Kestrel Talon from Bikesdirect (Save Up to 60% Off Kestrel Talon Shimano Ultegra equipped Road Bikes - NEW Kestrel Talon Ultegra Carbon Road Bikes) and then spend the rest of the budget on some 60mm or deeper carbon wheels, like these 80s on sale: https://www.performancebike.com/weba...551_1227007_-1 or some Flo 90s (FLO Cycling - Store).

Or you could blow your whole budget on just wheels. Up to you...

TimothyH

Is it comfortable on 10k city bike paths?

What I really want to know is about riding on an F1 track. Where can I do that?

I once ran a 5k on Atlanta Motor Speedway.


-Tim-

RPK79

That's my specialty.

superdex

oh! don't forget the helmet:

u235

Confused. Do you work out with less weight because you can do more faster? Same concept applies to a bike.