Ryan's Not a Gravel Bike (Crux 2022)

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RyanH
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by RyanH

So, I got these in today to test how the Crux is with proper road tires:

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I thought that clinchers would be less of a headache than tubeless but after spending 20 minutes of trying to stuff the latex tube back into it's home, I decided that tubeless isn't as bad as I thought:

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After I got them on, I measured them out as 29.2mm on a 21mm rim:

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I need to do some back to back testing but my initial impression is that these ride pretty closely to Veloflex tubulars. Also, with proper road tires on, the Crux feels like a regular road bike. Again, I need some more time on it, but I think it's splitting hairs on how this bike handles versus road specific ones. Or, let me put it this way, if you weren't going back and forth frequently between this and another road specific bike, I doubt you'll notice a difference. That's my suspicion at least.

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kode54
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by kode54

So Ryan, the big question is, what’s the bike weigh with these ‘proper’ road tires?
- Factor Ostro VAM Disc
- Factor LS Disc
- Specialized Aethos Disc
- Sturdy Ti Allroad Disc
- Guru Praemio R Disc

by Weenie


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Yoln
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by Yoln

Yes, weight please!

Also congrats Ryan, looks like this checks a lot of the boxes as the lightweight lean doitall bike with a balanced geometry, simple and reliable shifting, wide range of terrains and steepness, and a slick look. Seems like a homerun!

Also regarding shamal and campy rotors, my experience with WTOs and Campy rotors is that from time to time I'll switch to the lightbycicle+Carbon-ti wheelset to save about 200g, and will also shave 40g using Galfer rotors. But in the end, braking is significantly better (quieter, better modulation) and smoother with Campy rotors, and the WTO (or shamal in your case) are just better to ride on and much better looking that I always come back to them.

Also, campy (also applies to sram or shim, or any rotor that isn't a lightweight one made of a single piece of metal) stay true much longer. Galfer or Ashima have always been suffering from recurring truing needs in my experience...

That's it for the unsolicited advices!
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RyanH
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by RyanH

@Yoln thanks, that's useful unsolicited advice Image

I didn't update the spreadsheet for the Turbo Cotton but at 260g plus 80g latex tubes, it's only 60g lighter than the 35mm setup. Not very much, huh?

Image

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Miller
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by Miller

eurperg wrote:
Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:26 am

I just disline how steering feels with GK slicks unless they are used at pressures that are not optimal for gravel. But for mostly asphalt they're great at higher pressure.
That IS interesting. I have GK 38mm slicks on my commuting bike, not that I'm doing much of that, and every time I ride it the steering feels like it's fighting me, it's disconcerting. I find the GKs hard to love, they were an absolute pig to seat, worst tyre ever from that point of view.

Sorry, off topic.

RyanH
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by RyanH

@Miller they're easy to mount which contributes to them being hard to seat. With an air compressor it wasn't a big deal but it'd be a nightmare without.

With that being said, with the 35s I found them fine on the road. Riding back to back with my Litespeed I didn't notice a very big difference in descending. I'd say it was less agile and possibly tended to steer a little wider but I think I just needed to adjust how I steered. I think geometry plays a big role in that perception as lower trail can over come pneumatic resistance of the fat tires.

DHG01
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by DHG01

Completely agree on geo - I had the GKs 38 mm for ~ 100 km. It felt like the bike was on tip toes. The bike's geo was not the right one (higher bb CX).

Mounting was a nightmare; to the point where the wheel became untrue. But then easy to sit - at home with a CO2 canister (hope I am not getting mount/sit the wrong way around...).

DHG01
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by DHG01

RyanH wrote:
Fri Nov 05, 2021 7:42 pm
@Yoln thanks, that's useful unsolicited advice Image

I didn't update the spreadsheet for the Turbo Cotton but at 260g plus 80g latex tubes, it's only 60g lighter than the 35mm setup. Not very much, huh?

Image
This is weight is so impressive; particularly with those wheels and cassette. It would be possible to get a solid gravel ride sub 6.8 just swapping the wheels.
I don't think I am seeing any fragile parts - ¿handlebar and headset maybe?

RyanH
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by RyanH

Got a STS cover in and decided this bike needs the Sprint stem:

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That puts the saddle to bar drop at a more respectable 93mm or so.

RyanH
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by RyanH

So...Sea Sucker is a tad tricky with Through Axles, particularly when you're using the Komodo with 430 chainstays, as in I'm not sure I want to do that again and may choose the rim braked bike for the next ride that requires me to drive:

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I did have a pretty good day on the Crux though in the Santa Monica mountains. I PR'd every descent that I didn't stand around in the segment by a decent margin. While I can't say for certain I hit all those full gas in the past, I know that I've been more timid descending this year after having spent most of the last year on Zwift, so notching 29th out of 9k on one descent indicates that this bike is helping boost my confidence.


Marin
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by Marin

But yes, gravel geometry is great for going fast.

RyanH
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by RyanH

I was surprised to see that I've logged 800 miles already on this bike.

I placed an order for Campy SR EPS 12 which I'll be putting on this bike unless I change my mind last minute and decide to get an Aethos. Riding it today, I have a hard time believing the Aethos will be better, only different and not sure I want different. This bike is a perfect compliment to my Litespeed T3 (which is getting mechanical SR12).

gSporco
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by gSporco

RyanH wrote:
Fri Dec 03, 2021 3:02 am
I was surprised to see that I've logged 800 miles already on this bike.

I placed an order for Campy SR EPS 12 which I'll be putting on this bike unless I change my mind last minute and decide to get an Aethos. Riding it today, I have a hard time believing the Aethos will be better, only different and not sure I want different. This bike is a perfect compliment to my Litespeed T3 (which is getting mechanical SR12).
Out of curiosity, what was the thought process of choosing the EPS 12 over the new Shimano 12 or even Sram AXS for that matter? I purchased the new DA 12 thanks to your post that said Excel has it in stock.. Now my Red AXS will be transferred from my Aethos to whatever my Gravel/winter bike will be.. maybe, probably almost definitely a Crux :)
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RyanH
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by RyanH

My priorities are brake feel. I think Campy offers a braking package that feels better than rim brake whereas the others just feel on par to good rim braking. After that it's ergonomics and shifting and aesthetics.

Shimano is like a Lexus. It works flawlessly and does its job perfectly but it's just not sexy to me. Most of that has to do with my limited experience with its braking and semi metallic pads. Was never a fan and those experiences on 9170 kept me on rim brakes. SRAM was even worse as there were a few demo bikes I tried that I felt were worse than my rim brake setup. The latest stuff seems to be a lot better but their shifting is still subpar compared to campy and Shimano.

I've put up with etap for way too long solely due to brake feel on the rim brake setup I have.

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