Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

Have no idea if you'd be able to get one as they don't sell it separately like some of their other forks, but the Salsa Colossal has a very nice looking one.

http://salsacycles.com/culture/2015_colossal_updates

Could always contact QBP and see if they can get one for you.

Nice ! Is that your bike ?
Could you give some details about the fork ?

Update of my ride :

http://www.pedalroom.com/bike/on-one-pompetamine-25728

Rohloff on a pompetamine? That surly must be a first. Good job.

Cheers. It certainly is. Fork is just a cheap aftermarket chromo fork.

http://www.mec.ca/product/5032-160/mec-urban-chromoly-steel-fork/

Slick ride by the way. Shame the Pompetamine isn't made anymore, solid little disc capable SS frame.

I admit not an economic build ! Tried it with a 1x9 setup but the rohloff is very confortable and since I'm not a racer ...

Thanks @DarkShot. Looked like a carbon fork ;)

Yep pompet is a good frame ! Would love to go with a custom made frame for some details but I'm reluctant to leave this frame.

So I've been riding a rigid 29er Inbred for the last three years - basically everything from the daily commute to touring to bikepacking to spur-of-the-moment XC rides. It's a great practical bike, but it's a bit heavy and burly for 95% of the riding I do on it.

Is there a reasonably-priced OTP bike/frameset that'll fulfill the same duties whilst being lighter and looking more civilised? Disc brakes are a must; 45c+ tyres preferable.

I already have a proper trail bike, so I don't want anything too aggressive off road.

I have looked at:
Surly Straggler - nice, but seems a bit expensive for what you get, and I have test-ridden one on-road and didn't particularly like it (seemed flexy)
Salsa offerings - ditto the above, except I haven't ridden one
Spesh AWOL - only 35c tyre clearance

I'm also interested in:
Genesis Vagabond - great tyre clearance, cheap-ish, but heavier than my Inbred, and higher BB when I probably want lower, probably not the best on road
Pinnacle Arkose - light, cheap, unfortunately a bit ugly
Genesis CdA - light, cheap, looks like it'll be good on road, tapered headtube, perhaps not quite as well-specced as the Arkose but much more handsome
Genesis CdF - doesn't seem as good value as the CdA, heavier, probably less fun on-road

I'm heading towards a CdA 20, but what do we think about having a second 650b wheelset for it, for touring or rougher routes? 700c for road/path/credit-card tours, 650b tubeless for bridleways/footpaths/gentler bikepacking.

Are there any other bikes I should be considering? My budget's about 1000-1200GBP.

aliexpress...
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Carbon-Fork-Cyclocross-Disc-Post-Mount-1-1-8-1-1-2-Tapered-UD-Glossy/32529878852.html?spm=2114.01020208.3.9.ryq9n8&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_6_79_78_77_80,searchweb201644_0,searchweb201560_6

I've got on well with my Arkose, but can see why it might be ugly.

You might like the Marin 30th anniversary bikes if you're into AWOL/CDF
http://www.marinbikes.com/gb/bikes/all

^ yeah it's mainly the colour choices, the Arkose 5 is acceptably subtle although at the top end of my budget.

Those Marins look well thought out... unfortunately the cheaper one is some 3kg heavier than the Arkose and actually heavier than my Inbred! This'll hinder its performance on road I suspect.

Incidentally my Inbred is running 32h Stans 355 rims and Racing Ralph Liteskins, tubeless, never had a puncture or ripped sidewall or broken spoke in 3 years of daily, relatively hard, sometimes loaded use. Consequently I think practical bikes often come with some seriously over-built wheels.

If you could find yourself a deal and got some parts, a Soma Wolverine would be ace as an all-rounder with massive tire clearance. Frame can take at least a 2.1" 29er. Plenty of mounts for anything needed, tange steel frame with sliding dropouts, chainstay split for belt drive, etc.

I believe they only sell it only as a frameset.

Oh yep, hadn't seen that one before. Handsome.

Unfortunately, I should add, I have absolutely no parts whatsoever, I am moving back to the UK after a long period of working in NZ. Although the scenery and adventure here has inspired us to move to Edinburgh rather than back to London... hence the adventure bike.

What about the 2016 charge plug?

Haven't seen one in the flesh but 42mm tyres and looks to have plenty of clearance.

CdF will feel a lots more nimble than what you're riding on at the moment, only disadvantage is the smaller tyres clearance in comparison.

Weight doesn't matter, it how the bike ride does, this is why your current bike feel heavy and slow, the geometry make it easier to be stable off road but slower on road.

My advice - test ride them all, CdF is still a good value for money in term of equipment anyway.

They look great especially for the money , despite having the old Tiagra group set (which incidentally have great feel with disc brakes especially with compressionless).

Ed I'd disagree that weight doesn't matter, I have found that 2-3kg difference is definitely noticeable at the end of those long granny-gear climbs, bearing in mind that my bikepacking gear's base weight is only about 7kg (with summer bag & tarp). It's also easier to manoeuvre a lighter bike up and over little obstacles.

The Charge looks like a contender too, I hadn't realised the 2016 one was alu/carbon. So I think I've narrowed it down to CdA 20, Arkose 5, or Plug 4. Annoyingly only the CdA seems to have a geo chart readily available, my gut feeling is that it has the least-aggressive and most comfort-oriented geo but it would be nice to confirm that.

Arkose geo

Cheers, why didn't I see that?

I've not ridden some of the others but have ridden my Alu Boardman as well as my steel CDF30.

The boardman was better as a winter road bike as it was a little lighter and stiffer, but as an all rounder/tourer/occasional off roader I would choose the CDF every time, and don't regret the purchase.

Compared to my 853 road bike te CDF does feel a little sluggish but that's no surprise, I've done some off road on it and it handled it great, and it was excellent for touring, it instills confidence whatever the scenario and handles really well, a lot of fun with a pair of 28c road tyres on, whilst it'll still clear 42 off road tyres (or even bigger? Haven't tried)

Ed I'd disagree that weight doesn't matter, I have found that 2-3kg difference is definitely noticeable at the end of those long granny-gear climbs, bearing in mind that my bikepacking gear's base weight is only about 7kg (with summer bag & tarp). It's also easier to manoeuvre a lighter bike up and over little obstacles.

Okay, we're talking about two completely different thing.

I'm talking about the bicycle weight, whether you're talking about the laden weight.

A lighter bike will not make it easier to carry load*, a bicycle designed to carry load will, the Surly LHT is a key example of this, surprisingly stiff unladen, but stable and comfortable when fully laden, while being heavier, make it easier to climb with a granny gear.

Weight still doesn't matter on an unladen bicycle, it's still the geometry, frame material, tapered or not etc. that make the biggest difference.**

When laden, you're absolutely right that you end up needing a bigger gear than usual, the other factor is the aerodynamic, which make a significant difference in how the bike ride, especially with panniers which can be very noticable in a headwind.

*bikepacking however is a good way of reducing the likeihood of the bicycle feeling noodly when laden due to the lack of panniers and rack as you well know, the worse it can do is make the bike feel numb instead of lively (feel a little softer, not much feedback from the frames), but that's a reasonable trade-off to not have that horrible noodly feel like an old Bob Jackson touring bike.

**This is something Ive notice quite a while in my old commute that I switch from the aggressive road bike to the 650b tourer (weight difference between those two are 3.5kg), add to injury the 650b have a 1.5-2kg luggage weight on the front rack, not enough to need a bigger gear.
Oddly enough, base on my Garmin data, the aggressive road bike should enable me to do all my personal best on some of the common climb on my route (Coombe Lane in Merton for example), except the performance difference is dependable on my own fitness level, not the bike, and surprisingly nor the weather.

I was going to buy the wtb nano 700x40 for my Straggler. however, everywhere seems to be sold of of the decent folding ones. So, I need an alternative. I want something fast rolling but around the 40c size and with decent offroad ability. what shall I go for?

No, I'm talking about the bike's weight and the commensurate feel. There's no point in 'spending' 2-3kg on a stiffer, heavier touring bike designed for 20+kg loads when this bike will be carrying an evenly-distributed 7-8kg at the worst, and perhaps only 1-2kg on 90% of of rides.

I got that, I'm saying that going over a bike that 1-2kg lighter won't make that muchof a difference than you think.

42c Specialized Trigger Sport look to be a fast rolling tire with some halfway decent tread.

40c Schwalbe Land Cruisers roll over everything and are reasonably fast, just not as fast as the Triggers. Probably on par with the Nanos.

Why the aversion from the non-folding version?