Hey everyone,
I’m building up a Scott Addict Gravel RC 2025 from scratch and trying to find the best balance of price/performance, looks, and efficiency.
My riding profile:
• 80% road / paved paths (flat terrain, Northern Germany)
• 20% light gravel
• Sporty, high cadence, like to ride hard sometimes
• No bikepacking, just training and spirited rides
• Occasionally some climbing when traveling
Current plan (open to discussion):
• Drivetrain: 1×13 SRAM XPLR, 46T Aero chainring (SRAM Red, 4610 Aero)
• Cassette: definitely Force XPLR 10–46 (for the weight savings)
• Other components: still undecided → Rival or Force for rear derailleur & shifters/brakes?
(Functionally the same, just heavier – does Force really make sense here?)
• Bottom bracket: DUB PF86.5 Road
• Rotors: 160 mm front, 140 mm rear
Tires & wheels:
• I definitely want to run Hutchinson Caracal Race
• Unsure: 35 mm or 40 mm width?
• With the Caracal Race, I guess a 23–25 mm internal rim width is ideal, right?
My questions to the community:
1. Rival E1 + Red crank + Force cassette → best price/performance mix, or go full Force for components?
2. What rim internal width is best for Caracal Race 35–40 mm?
3. For my road-focused riding, would 40 mm tires still make sense, or better stick to 35–38 mm?
4. Which rims should i choose?
Would love to hear your experiences, comparisons, and even pics of similar setups!
by TheBubldo
7 Comments
No offense, but maybe you should go to your local bike shop and talk to them about your needs and purchase/build the bike with them. Feels like you’re too biased on your needs and parts to get a good response on here.
I’d go with the new rival + force crank with powermeter. Zipp 303 SW as they allow for a wide range of tire width. As for the cockpit, consult a bike fitter to help determine your needs.
35mm will be perfect choice
If you’re doing 80% roads/paved paths on flat terrain it might be worth it to consider a 2x setup.
And concerning your actual question (3): with the amount of road riding you’re planning to do I would definitely go for the 35mm.
The force shifter have the button on them the rival do not and the plastic is not as nice. I am building up an even mog have been deciding between get the force or red. I am going to run a 48t aero chainring with powermeter. The wider tires are more comfortable and are just as fast on pavement. I will probably get the 50mm schwalbe g-one rs or the 2.1 thunder Burt on a 25mm internal rim. I would save some cash by just getting the force components with the red crank arms the force ones are ugly imo. The zip xplr sw are awesome looking wheels for the price. Light bicycle makes really nice affordable wheels as well in 25mm internal.
The Caracal Race does not come in 35mms I think, only 40mm and 45mm. 35mm would be the Caracal Allroad, which has a puncture protection strip added underneath. So far there are very few reviews and data out there to conclusively compare how it performs compared to the Race.
Those internal widths with probably around 32-35mm outer sounds good for what you are looking for. Something like the Reserve 42/49 or 52/63.
I’d run the 38/40s. Won’t be much slower on the road (if at all) and much better off road. Doesn’t sound much bigger but they are a lot wider (which will look better in the fork) and you can get slicks from a few brands in that size now. For the group I’d go for full force but with an off brand crank (I run a garbaruk crank which is very light and very stiff).
You should get a 10-52 cassette. Why would you ever choose less range on a 1by?