Shifters & Derailleurs for your Gravel Bike - An Overview

The Best Groupset for Your Gravel Bike

Initially, gravel bikes were mainly equipped with road bike components. However, it quickly became clear that gravel gearing has somewhat different requirements. While precise gear ratios are crucial on a road bike, gravel bike gearing needs to offer more: Turning off-road, lighter ratios make sense, for example, for bikepacking. Gravel bike gearing should also be robust and dirt resistant. Today, you no longer need to mix mountain bike and road bike parts: Gravel gearing combines the essential aspects from both worlds. If you want, the whole mullet world with MTB and road bike parts is still open to you. Either way, with our tips, you'll find the right gearing for your gravel bike.

How Many Sprockets and Chainrings Does a Gravel Bike Need?

The range of usage for gravel bikes is broad, and so are the possible gear ranges and gradations. Groups with a single crankset offer advantages off-road: They're quiet, lightweight, perform better in dirt, and look neater. With ten to thirteen sprockets cassettes, you can choose between fine gradation and wide range. This way, you can tailor the group to your needs. Chainrings with alternating narrow and wide teeth (narrow-wide) ensure your chain doesn't drop. Eliminating the second chainring and the front derailleur leaves more room for wide tires and allows for shorter chainstays. Because of this, some gravel frames are only compatible with single cranksets. If your frame allows for installing a double crankset and a front derailleur, you then have the option of fine gradation and a wide gear range. Use the filters in our shop to narrow down the selection by gear levels at the crankset and cassette.

Shimano GRX

The complete Shimano GRX groupset comes in several variants, differing in the number of gears, shifting system, price, weight, and quality of materials. GRX RX825, RX820, RX815, and RX810 are the light top groups, using the highest quality materials. The crank arms are hollow to save weight. Just below the top groups, you'll find the GRX RX600. It shares the rear derailleur and front derailleur with the 800 series but saves on other parts for the sake of a better price-performance ratio. The crank arms, for example, are not hollow. With slightly cheaper materials and manufacturing methods, the groupset is a bit heavier – but makes no functional compromises. For an affordable entry into the world of gravel groups, Shimano also offers the GRX RX400.

Here's a table showing which GRX variants are available as electronic Di2 and the options for the number of gears:

Note: Please be aware that some variants may be temporarily out of stock.

SRAM XPLR AXS, Eagle-Mullet, and All-Road

SRAM divides its gravel bike groupsets into three categories with different gear ranges:

• 1x-XPLR – With XPLR (pronounced like "explore"), SRAM offers universal 1x13 and 1x12 groups specifically for gravel bikes. The range and gradation of the cassettes with 10-44/46 teeth combine the best of both worlds: a range almost as wide as on an MTB and gears as finely spaced as on a road bike cassette. Thanks to the single crank, the XPLR groups are simple, robust, quiet, and smooth.
• 1x-Eagle – The “Mullet” drive combines the robustness of an MTB derailleur and the huge range of a twelve-speed Eagle cassette with 10-50/52 teeth with a single crank and AXS shift/brake levers. This option is ideal if you often ride your gravel bike in rough terrain. The lighter gears are also a big help with bikepacking.
• 2x-All-Road – Two chainrings on the crank, with 46/33 or 43/30 smaller than on pure road bikes, combined by SRAM in the All-Road groups with 10-36 or 10-33 twelve-speed cassettes. This gives you a very fine gradation to ride at your exact cadence on the road. At the same time, you have more reserves for the mountains and light terrain.

The top groupset for gravel bikes is the SRAM Red XPLR AXS 1x13. Here, you get the latest technologies, the highest quality materials, and the most precise craftsmanship. The main differences from the 1x12 Red are the wider range and adjusted gradation of the cassette, as well as the UDH mounting (Universal Derailleur Hanger) of the derailleur. The twelve-speed Red groups (1x12-XPLR and 2x12-All-Road) are second to none in quality, lightweight construction, and craftsmanship. The Force groups also come with high-quality materials (such as carbon cranks), but are not quite as light. Below that is the Rival – slightly cheaper since it forgoes the most expensive materials. Apex is the entry into the world of gravel shifting from SRAM. It's available not only in the wireless AXS version but also mechanically with a cable.

A Mullet drive with Eagle components is not available as a pure groupset, but only as an individual assembly of parts from the worlds of MTB, road bike, and gravel biking. You can mix quality levels – but always pay attention to compatibility when making your choice.

Attention: SRAM uses different mounting standards for derailleurs. Some, like the new 1x13 Red AXS and the Eagle Transmission MTB derailleurs require frames with UDH dropouts. SRAM also calls this „Full Mount“. The new technology is more robust and precise, but not compatible with frames with classic hanger eyes.

Variants and versions of gravel gearings

In the shop, you'll usually find several variants of the gravel groups. If you look closely, you'll see the differences in the product name. For Shimano, it's the chainring size and groups with or without a front derailleur. For Campagnolo, it's just the chainring size. With SRAM, the addition of „Wide“ in the title means the groupset has a crank with a slightly more outward chain line, to provide more space for wide tires. In some cases, the chainring size is also mentioned. Once you've picked a groupset, you often still have a choice of configuration. Options here include crank length and cassette gradation. With Shimano Di2, in some cases, you also have the option between internal and external junction boxes.

Scope of delivery and completion

You should carefully read the product description and the listed contents. In many cases, we've provided links to products that you need to order separately to complete your setup. For instance, brake disks and adapters for mounting the brakes are not usually included in the complete groupset. The same goes for bottom brackets. For electronic shifting from Shimano, the cables need to be ordered separately.

Tools for installing the gearing

To install a groupset, you'll need a few specific tools besides Allen and Torx wrenches. For swapping the cassette, you need the right cassette remover and a chain whip. To disassemble the old chain and size the new one correctly, you'll need a chain tool. A chain pliers might come in handy as well. For the perfect derailleur adjustment, SRAM includes a super helpful setup gauge. If you want to shorten the brake lines, you'll need the right bleeding kit. Also, with tools, pay close attention! Your old chain tool might not be compatible with the narrow chains of the 1x13 group. The same goes for the chain whip or cassette remover.