Mountain bike to gravel bike conversions

Question about gearing. I have a 34 chainring and an Eagle GX 12 speed cassette (I think 50). Not sure what how that compares to a typical gravel bike. I was looking at bikes the other day at the shop and there are two by and one by chainrings depending on the manufacturer and model. May be a good question for @qclabrat as he builds various bikes.
What’s the biggest front ring you can put on it? The 10 tooth helps a lot here.

34x10 at 80rpm is 22mph which seems fine for the rail trail but if that points down anymore than 1-2% you’re gonna be spinning a lot.
 
What’s the biggest front ring you can put on it? The 10 tooth helps a lot here.

34x10 at 80rpm is 22mph which seems fine for the rail trail but if that points down anymore than 1-2% you’re gonna be spinning a lot.
Unfortunately 34 appears to be the largest. Will see how it works for the gravel I will be riding as well as groups I may ride with. I don’t plan on riding 40mph on the downhills so may not be an issue as to steep descents. Not yet sure how it will work on gradual downhills for places I plan on riding… I like what @Juggernaut said as to giving it a couple of hundred miles to figure out how it works. Thanks Pearl.
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Good? 😀 Lots of low traffic gravel roads connected by fairly low traffic paved roads. Nice scenery, lots of good parking locations (River Road Park, Burnt Mills Park). Easy to put together 20-50 mile mixed surface rides.
With some decent hills, and some fairly flat areas, you can tailor your ride from minimal elevation to significantly greater than 100 feet of climbing per mile ridden. Almost all of it with low traffic fun gravel as a big part of it.
 
So competed my mountain bike to gravel conversion.

Started out with an Ibis DV9 trail bike, installed a pair of Thunder Burts (crazy fast tires) and realized it’s not going to work for 60 mile rides at Bedminster. I still wanted a drop bar setup so went drastic in my conversion…

Remolded the already light 1200 gram Ibis trail bike 29er frame to a Felt VR 900 gram all road style frame. I also changed the frame color.

Switched the 800mm Deity Riser bars to Drop bars.

Changed out the SRAM Eagle drivetrain with a single 34 chain ring to a 54/34 Shimano Ultegra Di2 electronic setup.

Took out the dropper post and installed a fixed seat post.

Switched the I9 Hydra aluminum trail wheelset for a Reynolds Carbon wheelset.

Switched the Fox 34 120 Stepcast fork for a Felt carbon fork.

Initially had 2.4 Recons then 2.25 Thunder Burts, now have Vittoria 700 by 30mm. Will probably switch to Continental GP32s.

Bike weight dropped from approximately 22.6 pounds to 17.8 pounds with tubes(tubes gotta go).

Initially was going to convert my mountain bike to a gravel bike but realized I really wanted a touring/allroad bike. This conversion took a while but was worth it.

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Yes, April Fools!!😂

P.S. the Felt is kinda sketchy to wheelie. Don’t ask me how I know
 
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So competed my mountain bike to gravel conversion.

Started out with an Ibis DV9 trail bike, installed a pair of Thunder Burts (crazy fast tires) and realized it’s not going to work for 60 mile rides at Bedminster. I still wanted a drop bar setup so went drastic in my conversion…

Remolded the already light 1200 gram Ibis trail bike 29er frame to a Felt VR 900 gram all road style frame. I also changed the frame color.

Switched the 800mm Deity Riser bars to Drop bars.

Changed out the SRAM Eagle drivetrain with a single 34 chain ring to a 54/34 Shimano Ultegra Di2 electronic setup.

Took out the dropper post and installed a fixed seat post.

Switched the I9 Hydra aluminum trail wheelset for a Reynolds Carbon wheelset.

Switched the Fox 34 120 Stepcast fork for a Felt carbon fork.

Initially had 2.4 Recons then 2.25 Thunder Burts, now have Vittoria 700 by 30mm. Will probably switch to Continental GP32s.

Bike weight dropped from approximately 22.6 pounds to 17.8 pounds with tubes(tubes gotta go).

Initially was going to convert my mountain bike to a gravel bike but realized I really wanted a touring/allroad bike. This conversion took a while but was worth it.

View attachment 258214View attachment 258215
Yes, April Fools!!😂

P.S. the Felt is kinda sketchy to wheelie
Nice house!
 
For your consideration and made for absolutely no good reason, I present Frankenstein II. Drop bar gravel SS conversion of a Tranny 29 SS Frankensteins monster. Apologies for the un—PC name. Redshift kitchen sink bars, Wolf tooth drop bar dropper trigger, rival-level brake hybrid, old lefty with 100 mm travel and kept the belt drive for now. Same geo as my ibis Hakka except slightly shorter reach.
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For your consideration and made for absolutely no good reason, I present Frankenstein II. Drop bar gravel SS conversion of a Tranny 29 SS Frankensteins monster. Apologies for the un—PC name. Redshift kitchen sink bars, Wolf tooth drop bar dropper trigger, rival-level brake hybrid, old lefty with 100 mm travel and kept the belt drive for now. Same geo as my ibis Hakka except slightly shorter reach.
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View attachment 260563
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How’s that dropper lever?
 
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