I'm in the process of buying a new gravel bike and would like to support my LBS. They are a Rocky Mountain dealer and have a Solo Alloy 50 (2022) still on stock that they would give me at a greatly reduced price – it also fits me very well. The bike mechanic cautioned me however against the installed GRX 1×11 (and the handlebar) as climbing some of the steep Swiss hills around would be exhausting. I'm going to use it for a mix of tarmac and gravel, but not as a dropbar MTB and not as a racing gravel bike. He said he would check for options on installing a 2by shift but mentioned that the new GRX x12 are incompatible and require many changes on the bike. Alternatively, he is also checking for reduced Solo Carbon 50 (2023, with SRAM 1×11) bikes since I originally wanted a carbon frame.
Maybe someone can help me with the following questions so that I have a second opinion to my LBS:
* Any experiences with the 1×11 GRX set and steep hills (and medium fitness)? Should I just go for 1by anyway?
* Any experiences with upgrading the 1×11 GRX shift to a setup with a wider rear cassette or 2by on that bike?
* Would changing to 2by or a different cassette be easier with the SRAM set on the Carbon Solo 50?
* Any experience on the difference between the Alu and Carbon version of the Solo 50 – mostly regarding comfort?
Thanks in advance for any insights!
by eternalpanic
1 Comment
Re 1x, you could consider this [hack](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynpFsE8snww) if you find 1x grx stock cassette range to be too limited for you. Of course you can avoid all this by just going with 2x.