Trying to fill a void in my quiver

[john_n]

Good morning,

This is my first post on the forum and I look forward to being a part of the community. I recently got into bikepacking and selected a Jamis Dragonslayer (27.5+) as my trusted rig (steel, flatbar, rigid w/ front suspension, 1x11-46, sporting 27.5 x 3.0 Maxxis Chronicles). The bike has proved to be a great companion for bikepacking and exploring the backcountry of San Diego on singletrack/fire roads/desert sand. Between this bike and my full suspension, I have most of my bases covered for my cycling needs, however, I am yearning for a modification or additional bike that will help me with commuting to work, and days on the weekend where I want to spend time exclusively on pavement/gravel roads. The plus wheels are too doggy for me in this regard.

Looking for advice as to whether I should invest in a 29" wheelset for my Jamis and slap on some gravel/touring tires, or should I invest in a dedicated gravel grinder for commuting, gravel road exploring, and mixed gravel/pavement touring. I would like to do some touring /bikepacking on surfaces that are exclusively pavement / gravel roads, so I am wondering if it is smart to have a bike dedicated to these surfaces, and would be great for commuting, or should I simply buy a second wheelset. If I got a second wheelset to fill this void, I might want to swap out the suspension fork for a rigid carbon fork, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. Also, I might want to make the Jamis a 2x, given that the current 1x setup is geared low (30x11-46) and well suited for singletrack. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
John

[vermont]

If you have the money, then a bike for the road is better.  Its more than just the tires, its the position too.  With that being said, this summer I am going to "experiment" with my fat bike with skinny tires for a dirt/road tour.  The route is dictating the switch.  I suspect it will be considerably slower but still do-able.  I'm also not getting rid of my dirt road bike any time soon.
Other things you mentioned...  Suspension bob is not fun on the road.  The gearing is going to be the difference between keeping up with other people on the road vs slow but steady and cool with that.  Both of these comments seem to give the impression that you really want a road/gravel bike and are just hoping we tell you to do so.  Its your wallet, not ours...

[john_n]

Thanks for the input. Still mulling over possibilities. I am interested to see what your experience is with skinny tires on your fat bike.

I am tempted to swap the 1x for 2x to give myself more gear range on mixed terrain when bikepacking. Also, the suspension fork has not felt like a key component of my setup and wouldn't mind giving a carbon fork a try. With those two modifications, a second wheelset with skinny (29 x 2.0 ish) tires might make for a good commuting / gravel road setup, while retaining the 27.5+ wheelset for bikepacking.

[Marc40a]

You could get into a low cost tourer for relatively short money. Fuji Touring, Jamis Aurora, or even something more sporty or CX oriented. That and a set of Ortlieb rear bags and you're off to the races.

I use my tourer more than any other bike.

[john_n]

That is indeed where my thoughts are right now. The Jamis Renegade series looks appealing, and the Expat version offers a lot of bang for the buck.

[white pass]

For the cost of buying new rims, tires, and gears, and the headache of swapping that in and out all the time, you could into a cheap gravel bike easily.

Haven't ridden them, but our LBS just got a full line of Kona Roves that look like fun and are ~$1000 CDN at the low end.