English Gravel Build *Arrived*

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RyanH
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by RyanH

That's hot, more pics please!

by Weenie


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Mr.Gib
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by Mr.Gib

That is very nice. I wonder about the gearing though. Sooner or later you're going to be on steep rooty single track and wishing you had a 1:1 ratio or better. The big tires effectively "steal" your easiest gear. The nice thing about the Sram levers is that all you need to do is bolt on a Sram 10 speed long cage mtb derailleur and you can run a 36 tooth cog.
wheelsONfire wrote: When we ride disc brakes the whole deal of braking is just like a leaving a fart. It happens and then it's over. Nothing planned and nothing to get nervous for.

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nickf
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by nickf

Mr.Gib wrote:
Wed Nov 17, 2021 4:58 am
That is very nice. I wonder about the gearing though. Sooner or later you're going to be on steep rooty single track and wishing you had a 1:1 ratio or better. The big tires effectively "steal" your easiest gear. The nice thing about the Sram levers is that all you need to do is bolt on a Sram 10 speed long cage mtb derailleur and you can run a 36 tooth cog.
Depending on the course I do have a 32 tooth cassette I can throw on the rear. Used it for a few events this year, comes in handy having that bailout gear on hand. That combined with the compact setup on the front has been just enough gearing. There are times where I would love just one more gear but isn't that always the case. This poor group has now been on 3 bikes but it's still kickin. I always travel with my gravel bike and I insist on a full mechanical group. Any bike shop no matter where I'm at can get me sorted if needed.

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nickf
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by nickf

Road setup. 28c Bontrager r3 tires. Rides and handles like my road bike, exactly what I was after. Also compliance is excellent much smoother then my checkpoint with the same wheels and tires mounted.

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gorkypl
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by gorkypl

How does such low trail work on gravel and rougher terrain? I'm debating on how much trail do I want in my next frame, and I'm quite tempted to go with something around 58mm (so 72.5HTA and 50mm rake).

Fuji Cross 1.5 - Shimano 105 5800 | Cinelli Superstar Disc - Record 12s | Custom steel Karamba - Ekar 13s

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cerro
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by cerro

Haven't thought about that before but your frame is in perfect size for me too ;) I'm waiting for an custom steel frame very close to your geo :) But not as nice as an English.

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nickf
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by nickf

gorkypl wrote:
Tue Dec 21, 2021 1:00 pm
How does such low trail work on gravel and rougher terrain? I'm debating on how much trail do I want in my next frame, and I'm quite tempted to go with something around 58mm (so 72.5HTA and 50mm rake).
On gravel it's handles just fine for me. I don't feel like it's twitchy, plenty stable. I'm not a pro bike handler but compared to most of the other guys I'm riding with they severely lack off-road skills so those longer wheelbase gravel bikes suit them well. I'm not doing epic multi day bike packing trips with 50lbs of gear. Just 2 bottles and a bare minimum saddle bag. The bike feels great at speed and climbing out of the saddle feels so much better. With my checkpoint it just felt sluggish, even though the geo isn't too "gravel" specific.

apr46
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by apr46

nickf wrote:
Sun Oct 31, 2021 9:12 pm
Gotta change up the lower headset cup. The Extralite lower doesn't have enough skirt on the cup to cover the integrated race on the U-turn fork. Going to go with a cane creek aer lower, only a 5g weight penalty. Still going to use the ultratop hd, with the stack height on it being next to nothing it won't look out of place with the aer lower.

Little sneak peak of the color.

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Amazing bike. English is one of those builders that make dreams.

I am working on solving a similar issue re: sourcing the right lower headset for the Open U Turn fork. Did you swap the bearing for the 45/45 from Cane Creek? Hopefully you can help me also avoid the gap.

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nickf
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by nickf

apr46 wrote:
Wed Nov 23, 2022 4:59 pm
Amazing bike. English is one of those builders that make dreams.

I am working on solving a similar issue re: sourcing the right lower headset for the Open U Turn fork. Did you swap the bearing for the 45/45 from Cane Creek? Hopefully you can help me also avoid the gap.
I ended up just using the entire Cane Creek AER lower cup and bearing. Only weighed a couple of grams more than the extralight. If your frame is internal/integrated you are kind of at the mercy of the frame and how deep the bearings sit in the headtube. The Cane Creek bearing and the Extralight Enduro bearings are the same size, the difference was the external cup on the Cane Creek was deeper.

apr46
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by apr46

Thanks!

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tarmackev
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by tarmackev

I love English cycles, still the dream bike for me. I love what you've gone with. Great build.

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nickf
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by nickf

Small update.

Went with red 22 finally. Makes swapping cassettes and wheels easier.

Went with a Easton ec70ax 40cm bar. I use the drops a lot and the extra width is nice when things get technical.

Upgraded to a set of Growtac equal brakes. Leaps and bounds better then the trp spyers. Dumped the ashima rotors, experienced major fade on a steep downhill, rotors were completely heat soaked. Shimano rotors really are great, better braking, no fade, almost no noise. 45g. Lighter then the spyers.

Farsports 40 deep/30 wide hookless wheels with Novatec hubs. 1326g Setup tubeless with 40c conti terra speed tires.

Right at 7.79kg with no computer, lights, or bar bag.
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Don't mind the chain, it's cut short. I swap to a smaller cassette from time to time. Currently 50/34 with a 11-34.

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