I’m looking to convert my Trek Domane into more of a gravel bike, can anyone help with parts?? I want to put a single chainring on the front, new cassette on the rear and run a 1x, plus new tyres and possibly handlebars
However, fully unsure as to which parts to get and which will be compatible without having to spend a fortune on extra bits
Any advice, tips, tricks would be much appreciated, pictures of similar conversions would also be sick
Thanks
by Any-Butterscotch-206
21 Comments
Put the widest tires on there you can (38mm probably) and ride it. What are you looking for in bars, and don’t change the drivetrain until you wear something out. You’ll have saved more money by then!
Personally, I wouldn’t change anything but the tires. Put the biggest tires on you can safely fit and go have fun!
i had some 700×40 on my domane al2 so i think that’ll fit yours. you’re going to need an entire new drivetrain. if you want cheap, try microshift advent x or a sensah gravel groupset. if you can find out what bcd your crankset is on the smaller chainring you might be able to just add a narrow wide chainring for the front and ditch the outer chainring and front derailleur
Biggest tires you can and rip it. I wouldnt bother with a new groupset or anything unless you want to build something up from scratch woth a new frame.
I just put 2x back on my gravel bike.
1x won’t make your bike a gravel bike. Wider tires will. Get the widest you can fit, and ride your bike.
Swapping 8 speed claris for 11 speed grx will cost you too much, only to be limited by the frame geometry and tire clearance in the end. It would be better to just sell the bike and buy a gravel bike then.
Why exactly do you want a new drivetrain? Just put some gravel tires on and try it out!
Don’t need to go 1x. Take off the dork disc. Get some good gravel tires. Maybe consider upgrading brakes.
I would just sell the bike and get a gravel bike. Going to cost you more than this bike is worth
I would go rear derailleur 10 spd grx 400 and biggest cassette you can fit (11-36 is officially the biggest) buy the rear tiagra shifter and that’ll make the rear brake hydraulic. I think that would be the cheapest and best drive train upgrade first step though is biggest tires you can
Other than tires the only thing I would think about doing is swapping the handlebars out for something a little wider with a touch of flare.
Biggest tires that fit.
Biggest cassette your derailleur can handle.
Go ride and try it.
Don’t spend more than that, because you might find you actually want to do a whole different type of gravel riding, maybe want more tire clearance, or slacker angles, etc, and hen you need a new frame anyway.
If you ride it for a while, and like it, then you can always consider swapping to 1x at that point, once you know what gearing you need, and whether you like the rest of the bike.
Just try changing the tires first. You could get a 1x crankset cheap used but id wait until you know that ur road bike rides fine enough on the trails you intend riding.
It absolutely can be done.
Somebody did it on the same bike here..
https://www.reddit.com/r/TrekBikes/s/c5oZhcDWzw
Changing an entire groupset out can get expensive, but you can often get decent second hand / cheap parts on eBay etc, which I’ve regularly done for my old backup bike and friends.
Some people here will always say don’t do it, and it is true it may not always be cheaper than simply selling it and getting another bike second hand.. but not always.. plus it can also be a great way to learn. I love upgrading / rebuilding old bikes.
A good local indy bike shop will also often help advise you on what you can and cannot fit on your frame, and you can always pay them to fit any parts you’re not comfortable doing yourself.
You can go with Microshift Sword if you are fine with staying with mech disc. But Hydraulic Shimano Cues would probably be night and day change.
Just put the fattest tires that fit on the frame and call it a day. Save the rest of the money for a real gravel bike that has good tire clearance personally I won’t even consider a bike that can’t take at least 40 mm 700 C tires and 2 inch 27.5 tires.
You’ll basically end up with an all road bike.
Not a great road bike and not a great gravel bike.
Waste of money.
Just put the biggest tires that will fit on it for now and save up for a proper gravel build.
I converted my domane to a gravel bike
I wouldn’t suggest it but it was a fun project for me
I have a 38c Donnelly up front
A 40c maxxis rambler in the back
I added some salsa flared bars and changed the tiagra 2x up front to a GRX 1x and converted my left side brifter to work as an actuator for a PNW dropper post instead.
You can check my post history for some photos of the build and the how to of how I converted the stock tiagra brifter into a dropper post actuator.
Overall it’s not a great gravel bike but it’s fun to ride and it was my old road bike and a fun project. Ultimately, I’d rather have a purpose built gravel bike with better geo that takes bigger tires and can run fenders.
If you ride it on gravel it is a gravel bike
Just throw some fatter gravel tires on it and call it a day. I think your frame will fit up to 38’s.
It’s almost identical in dimensions to the Checkpoint. Tires and/ or tires and wheels. Done.
It’s already a gravel bike. Just change the tires.