r/gravelcycling

Cannondale Topstone Carbon 2 GRX 2x <> Trek checkpoint sl5 AXS gen 3

https://www.cannondale.com/de-de/bikes/road/gravel/topstone-carbon/topstone-carbon-2-grx-2x

https://www.trekbikes.com/de/de\_DE/bikes/touren-und-bikepacking-fahrräder/checkpoint/checkpoint-sl/f/F224-1/checkpoint-sl-5-axs-gen-3/47071/5321634/

Both bikes I can order to a local store. The Cannondale is reduced to €3200 and the Trek is not reduced at €3000.

The bike won’t normally be used for gravel riding, but for city commuting along flat cycle paths and roads. I mention this as the Cannondale with its 2x drivetrain offers tighter gear ratios and may have the advantage here over the Trek. It also has a higher gear ratio: 2x 48-31T chainring and 11-34T cassette. Unlike the Trek, here I have zero concerns about cross chaining whilst crazing at speed. That said the Trek’s 1x 42T chainring and 11-44T cassette electronic shifting looks high-tech.

Is there something here that would simplify my choice but I’m overlooking?
Between these bikes, if you were in my shoes, what’d you go for and why?

Thank you.

Coming from MTB, this bike has opened my eyes that road and gravel riding can be so much fun!

After a stroke of luck, I have won a free pair of tires from a contest, but my choices are the following colors in GravelKing SK or X1 by Panaracer. Need to replace mine anyway, so let me know which is less obnoxious. Note: Pic is the exact bike I ride.

35km ride out into the countryside for some cider and pizzas with friends, sorry no pictures of the cider of pizza as we were too hungry/thirsty and they got devoured before I thought about pictures!

First time riding the D&R and the D&L trail awesome time beautiful day

It’s comfy chunky and pretty light. 22lb!
Had to sell the procal I built to pay for a broken collarbone. Couple weeks left of healing and we’ll be riding!

Installed a Wilde Wayfinder fork on the Gorilla Monsoon because apparently spending money is easier than improving fitness.

Washed the bike before the photos too, which means this is the cleanest it’ll look for the next 8 months.

29x2.2 Race Kings because I believe in speed and poor line choices.

Being car free is actually my dream. The infrastructure where I live sucks and I work 45 miles away from home so it’s not a reality for me. My car wouldn’t start on Sunday so I was off Monday-Wednesday.

I joined the group at Seek No Further cidery in Granville on Monday for mountain bike Mondays. Biked there from my house in Heath. I explored a lot of back roads over my days off and was glad the rain held out for most of that time.

I love this section of bike path at a local park on my way to the roads I wanted to ride. This bridge was just an old railroad bridge when I was in high school. Now it’s rail trail that goes above this little section of path. Sadly, the tree in photo 3 collapsed last year. I always loved that tree and even saw a southern flying squirrel in it while out one night photographing spiders. The last slide is from February 2019 to show the tree before it fell.

Hey y'all! I need your help, expertise, and experience for my current bike setup.

Growing up on the country side I used to only ride heavy basic hard tail mountain bikes in my youth. I've been living in an urban environment since I moved out with like 20 yo.

Soon after I got my first bike which was not an MTB. A simple fitness bike I'd say. Perfect for commuting / urban environments. Since I have this bike I don't use my MTB anymore... It just feels so slow and heavy now.

I needed a bike which allows me to actually ride on gravel but isn't as heavy as a MTB and works well for light bikepacking. So, naturally I gravited towards gravel bikes to find a compromise. However, I don't like the seating angle and drop handlebar of gravel bikes.

I recently bought a Spacialized Sirrus X 4.0 which sometimes gets labelled as a flatbar gravel bike, hybrid bike, fitness bike. After riding ot for a bit I'd say it is definitely a hybrid/fitness bike not a gravel bike. I love the stock tires (Specialized Pathfinder Sport, 38mm) but they are just not enough for gravel cycling. If the pressure is right I can ride light gravel but even the. I feel every bump since it's stills bike with 38mm tires and no real suspension, only light "future shock" suspension stem right below the handlebar. Also it doesn't have that many mounting bolts. Attached yoou find a picture of my bike.

It's still a great bike! But I need to upgrade it and turn it into a REAL flatbar gravel bike

1. New Tires

From what I know the bike officially supports tires up until 42mm. I'm sure 45mm tires would fit as well, but I guess then I would have not enough tire clearance? Attached you find pictures of the tires I'm considering buying. I really like one thing about the stock tires: the smooth middle part. It really makes a difference on road. So maybe just buying the same tires but 42 or 45 mm? clearance if I install 45mm tires tubeless the tire clearance is better then with tube? I don't know much about that to be honest. I don't even know if I should mount the tires tubeless or not when I have the option. I found other similar tires that could work. But considering 42mm is kot that thick either, maybe I should use something like the Specialized Rhombus tires (attached) to have a better experience on gravel but sacrificibg that smooth road feel. As long as I can ride on gravel medium gravel with ease and occasional short heavy gravel distances without the fear of destroying my tires I'm good. For real heavy gravel action / off-road I still have my MTB and I plan to buy a new MTB as well.

2. Suspension

Since the bike doesn't have real suspension besides the future shock thing, I'm thinking of option to add some sort of suspension. I know I won't be able to add sohnificant suspension but if I can add a little bit combined with thicker tires with the right pressure I should be fine. So the only options as far as I know are seatposts / saddle with shock suspension. However, I I fear that I could not really use my saddle bag then. Though the saddle bag also works with dropper seatposts if I mount it the right way. So, maybe it should also work with suspended seatposts / saddles?

3. Other changes

I'm thinking of adding togs / thumb over grips or inner bar end grips to be able to change my grip for comfort on long rides.

Getting fitment comfortable on this bike has been a challenge compared to my old Diverge. And I’ve had some issues with the future shock headset coming loose a lot, but maybe I haven’t cranked it down enough. Who knows. It feels pretty dialed now though.

In late 2025, Vittoria introduced the XC Trail variants of its popular XC Race tires, bringing along a totally new construction for the XC Trail tires that is also shared with the knobbier Trail lineup. Per Vittoria the Trail casing "is a durable 60-TPI nylon casing built for exploration. It resists abrasion and punctures while maintaining your connection to the trail with a mid-tier suppleness." The 4Compound Formulation "strategically places 4 optimized compounds where they are needed for an unparalleled blend of speed, grip, and durability."

The 29 x 2.1 Peyote XC Trail tires I tested have a 1.7 mm sidewall thickness, so about twice the XC Race construction thickness and quite similar to the EXO+ casing from Maxxis in thickness. My set was an average of 780 grams and blew up to 52 mm wide and 49 mm tall on a 25 mm internal width Reserve carbon rim. In general, I have found it a good idea to give tires some break in miles before any racing, but even for testing…and this tends to take a bit longer when tires have a thick casing like these!

After lots of riding and testing with the Peyote XC Trails, I can see these as a totally viable choice when you are in rougher, more flat prone areas…even moreso if you are racing in a group where you can't see every sharp rock in the road! These are certainly not the fastest tire I have tested, but I think it's good to keep the beefy construction in mind here as sometimes you can't have it all! For a direct comparison, these are a similar speed everywhere to the Race King 29 x 2.0 Pure Grip and have a much thicker construction.

The Peyote XC Trails have quite a good ride feel everywhere and notably good handling on pavement when run at off road pressures. Given the thickness of these, many will find happiness with lower pressure everywhere than what your favorite calculator might suggest.

All testing my own via outdoor Chung Method/ VE.

Everyone wants to know…what pressure am I using? Obviously, larger tires will require lower pressure than smaller ones to get the best speed and handling in general…especially off road. The Wolf Tooth Advanced calculator is very good in my usage for gravel and mtb tires. The Rough Gravel setting seems to get quite close to best pressure for not only rolling efficiency (yes, even on gravel that’s not super rough) but also comfort and handling. I will start with that based on the measured tire size, go ride some, recheck pressure once the tire warms up, then reasess the setting based on how the tire is riding. If it feels obviously harsh, go down 1 psi…. If it feels squirmy or I am smacking the rim on hard hits, I will go up 1 psi, maybe 2 in that situation. Often I end up sticking quite close to what the calculator says initially but it isn't written in stone. Rolling efficiency is actually almost identical (reference some testing I posted spring 2025 for this graphically) across a bigger span of tire pressures off road than most realize, which means it is quite easy to get the pressure where the tire will be fastest…the rest is fine tuning to rider preference. Even though I’m testing, I am also enjoying being out there so take the extra steps to see how the tire performs best. Ultimately there is no magic “best” pressure… it is up to rider preference with no real speed penalty unless you really mess it up one way or another, and that is a big reason I am explaining this in such detail. It’s not to justify my results, it’s to encourage folks to keep an open mind about how they set their tires and get the best ride possible. All the Smooth Pavement testing I do is with the tires set to the PSI I would use for riding on average pavement, so in practice about 5-7 psi higher than I would use for off road riding.

I only have a MTB but since there's no mountains nearby I just use it however I want to. I think this terrain consider gravel right?

Excited to rip some gravel! :)

We finally built the gf a proper gravel and bikepacking rig! Comfort was priority, though it ended up being pretty light and quick too. Build was a mix of new parts and things sourced at local co-ops:

• Journeyer aluminum frame (got through the 1/2 off clearance of last year's models on Salsa's site!)
• Microshift Sword 2x9 full mechanical drivetrain
• TRP Spyre SLC brakes
• 42cm Ritchey Beacon bars wrapped w/Camp and Go Slow 'Great Horned Owl' tape
• 50c Soma Cazaderos tubeless on 650b Hunt wheels
• Vintage Selle Italia Flite saddle
• baby blue Giant Pinner Elite pedals
• Braided silver VO brake housing + 'salmon' Nissen stainless shift housing
• ...and that charming Specialized/Fjall Raven frame bag. :-)

She comes to this from a 80s mountain bike drop-bar conversion on tubed 26" tires...we love our old and retro builds, but she is definitely noticing the utility of some newer parts and tech.

Happy Friday all!

I'm a nerd, and I'm racing the Unbound 200, so I'm obviously deep in the mud, trying to compare different weather forecasts, soil saturation, wind, and temperature. Here's the latest snapshot with a detailed breakdown for race day and a forecast for the days leading up. If people like this I'll create another snapshot like this on Monday.