Shimano was the first of the big three groupset manufacturers to release a gravel-specific drivetrain. It brought a wider spread of gears to drop-bar bikes, allowing riders to cope more readily with the demands of the then-fledgling discipline. But although Shimano was first to the gravel groupset party, in recent years Sram has been stealing the limelight with its popular XPLR range, and Campagnolo’s Ekar has muscled in too.
At 12-speed and 13-speed respectively, both competitors offered 1x gearing ranges that were wider than even GRX’s 2x setups, so it’s little surprise that the main upgrade to
