The spirit of Grav-lo-cross. No but seriously, cyclocross and gravel go here!
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Conza
- Posts: 244
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- Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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by Conza on Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:44 am
Hi all,
Looking for some advice and recommendations.
I have my
dream road bike—18' BMC Team Machine SLR01 One Disc, but I am now thinking about a more general purpose bike. An all-rounder of sorts.
Breakdown:
- Want something I am ok with being thrown around, getting supremely dirty, riding in the wet, gravel, mud etc.
- If it could keep up with others on a slow shop ride that would be even better
- Don't want to have a high end premium mentality (but want it to last; thinking Shimano 105 at least?). Aim is to not be entirely paranoid leaving it locked up at the shops/pub/work bike cage.
- Don't care about weight per se.
- Frame: aluminium, titanium?
- Discs.
- Fenders/Asssaver.
- I don't do CX yet, but looks a whole lot of fun.
- Very flat in Melbourne (mostly).
Use:- Raining, or big chance of rain
- Trails
- Commuting to work
- Ride around town, shops, to the pub
- Maybe CX
Recommendations/suggestions:
I am sure there are others out there who have had similar plans. Really not sure what path to go down.
(1) Single speed
(2) CX
(3) Gravel Grinder
(4) Adventure
Feel free to shoot me some links, post your bike, or the one you are thinking about etc. Any help greatly appreciated.
It's all about the adventure
.
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NickJHP
- Posts: 462
- Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2018 2:22 am
- Location: Canberra, Australia
by NickJHP on Sat Feb 24, 2018 9:46 am
I put together one based on a Kinesis Tripster ATR v2 Ti frame. The frame is rated for 700c tyres up to 40mm with guards or 45mm without or 650b up to 2.1 inch. I went with 650b 48mm tyres on DT Swiss MTB wheels, as I could comfortably fit guards over them with plenty of clearance, and there are some really nice 650b balloon tyres available (I used Compass Switchback Hill tyres). It uses flat mount discs, 12mm thru axles front/rear, rack and mudguard mounts, three waterbottle cage mounts, etc.
Here it is pristine before it ever saw dirt. I've also had it out on some of the medium pace bunch rides around here - the fat tyres roll out pretty well, though the extra weight of mudguards, rack, saddlebag, etc can definitely be noticed on hills.
Nick
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Marin
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- Location: Vienna Austria
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jemima
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:36 am
- Location: Perth
by jemima on Sat Feb 24, 2018 11:42 am
My first thought was that ti and locking? it up at the shop doesn't compute.
May as well look through Curve's ti offerings, as they're in Melbourne.
For an alu option I'll suggest a Mason Bokeh frameset, or the soon to be released alu frameset from Bowman Cycles.
1x with a narrow range cassette if its fairly flat in your area.
Curve Grovel ti.
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dim
- Posts: 596
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- Location: Cambridge UK
by dim on Sat Feb 24, 2018 2:38 pm
if you are in Australia, look at the Curve Belgie (There were a few in last years Indian Pacific Wheel Race in Oz:
If you something cheaper, look at Specialized Diverge Comp:
If you can get Whyte in Australia, look at the Whyte Wessex:
I've just bought a used Whyte Suffolk for commuting (alu frame with carbon fork) , but the full carbon Whyte Wessex is on my wishlist for some Audax rides
Trek Emonda SL6
Miyata One Thousand
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Multebear
- Posts: 1395
- Joined: Sat May 02, 2015 10:11 pm
by Multebear on Sun Feb 25, 2018 11:43 pm
Riding around town = you need gears
Raining, or big chance of rain = clearance for fenders
Trails = clearance for bigger tires
Commuting to work = gears
Ride around town, shops, to the pub = cheap and not too flashy -> aluminum or steel frame with inexpensive groupset and garniture
Maybe CX = clearance for bigger tires and mud -> cx bike
The Cannondale Caad X with Sora or 105 would be a excellent choice for that. Ticks all the boxes.
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zmjones
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emotive
- Posts: 615
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- Location: Melbourne, Australia
by emotive on Tue May 29, 2018 5:05 am
I bought a used alloy Focus Mares with Rival, mounted some 35mm Compass slicks for smooth commuting, and on a $300 second set of wheels I put some 40mm Clement MSO's for weekend gravel riding.
It weights 9.7kg, so I see a 1km/h slower commute than the 2kg lighter road bike with 28mm tyres, but I find myself more often choosing comfort over speed when riding solo, and getting to work 1 minute later.
I've really enjoyed riding fire trails, rail trails, and the Amys Gravel Fondo route too, and can see more weekends exploring off road. Now I want a bike with 45mm tyre clearance and 7.5kg weight. There isn't anything on the market unless you build it yourself, so that's the plan, starting with a Carbonda CFR696 gravel frame.
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nickf
- Posts: 1435
- Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:34 pm
by nickf on Sat Jun 02, 2018 9:04 pm
I need something with a air conditioner and a shower built in. I couldn't imagine commuting in 100% humidity and 95 degrees. I don't see how you guys pull it off. I can easy pedal 5 miles and be drenched in sweat.
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ultimobici
- in the industry
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by ultimobici on Sun Jun 03, 2018 11:24 am
Had this to play with last summer. It’s currently getting tweaked to allow mudguards to be fitted, as well as a repaint. Not keen on green!
Clearances are enough to allow 650B tyres up to 2” without guards or 1.75 with guards.
The plan is to have 650B for road & bridleway use, with or without guards, and 700c cross tyres for hacking about Epping Forest.
Currently it’s having mudguard fittings added as well as a respray as I’m not keen on green!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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jemima
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:36 am
- Location: Perth
by jemima on Mon Jun 04, 2018 9:23 am
emotive wrote: ↑Tue May 29, 2018 5:05 am
I bought a used alloy Focus Mares with Rival, mounted some 35mm Compass slicks for smooth commuting, and on a $300 second set of wheels I put some 40mm Clement MSO's for weekend gravel riding.
It weights 9.7kg, so I see a 1km/h slower commute than the 2kg lighter road bike with 28mm tyres, but I find myself more often choosing comfort over speed when riding solo, and getting to work 1 minute later.
I've really enjoyed riding fire trails, rail trails, and the Amys Gravel Fondo route too, and can see more weekends exploring off road. Now I want a bike with 45mm tyre clearance and 7.5kg weight. There isn't anything on the market unless you build it yourself, so that's the plan, starting with a Carbonda CFR696 gravel frame.
Don't forget the build list and final pics.
Curve Grovel ti.
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Conza
- Posts: 244
- Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2017 3:28 am
- Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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by Conza on Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:05 pm
Thanks all! Haven't forgotten about this. Currently prospecting.
Feel free to throw more ideas, your own builds etc, my way.
Belt drive though - thoughts? More commuter specific obviously. Long term savings? Benefits?
It's all about the adventure
.
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jemima
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:36 am
- Location: Perth
by jemima on Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:44 pm
Conza wrote: ↑Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:05 pm
Thanks all! Haven't forgotten about this. Currently prospecting.
Feel free to throw more ideas, your own builds etc, my way.
Belt drive though - thoughts? More commuter specific obviously. Long term savings? Benefits?
My top options:-
1. Go visit the Curve guys.
2. Purchase a Bowman Pilgrim's Disk frameset or an alu Mason Bokeh frameset and build it up
3. Purchase a Crust Lightning Bolt v2 frameset from the .au Crust site (frames ship from Syd) and build it up.
Curve Grovel ti.