Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

That's what i'm going to do. In the end you just add an inner ring to a stock bike and, knowing how to shift in the correct pattern, it's just like a normal 2x6 setup. Why? Because i'm stupid and i'm gonna use it for stupid things, obviously

Forks were $2000 and over complicated.

I prefer simple and cheap so I'd have to balance that with fugly.

I don't like this gravel business, it makes my bike dusty and the ride is a little bumpy.
Not what I bought sparkly paint for.

1 Attachment

Said XS Datum setup roughly the same as my 54 CAAD. Spin round the block tells me it would be as good as the CAAD on the road and can fit something like a 42c. But it looks really silly, and even if I do get the frame for free I'd need to invest in hydro shifters/brakes and a wheel set which I'm guessing will still set me back £600+. I'd sell the CAAD to cover some of that but seems like I'd be better off getting a complete bike that fits me better?

1 Attachment

looks really silly

Right, it needs festooning with luggage

42mm look silly? This isn’t the 1980’s where cyclocross bike used to run 28mm.

Honestly, I dont think it looks bad...I think it looks great! Just a very different looking geometry than you are used too.

But like you said - sell the CAAD, use the £600 part money and buying a small wouldn't be a BAD idea, not totally necessary IMO.

Not necessary at all, sizes look pretty good, the Datum stack is higher than a CAAD10.

If needed to be higher, zero degrees stem will sort this out.

Long seatpost = super comfortable

See if you can test some TRP HY/RD. They are, IMO, almost on par with hydro brakes if you set them up with compression less housing, and far less hassle

New Microshift Sword levers look perfect to for my advent X setup, any bike shop workers know when they're due to be available in the UK?

42mm would probably look a lot better, i meant it looked silly setup as a road bike with 28's.

Interesting, i'll check them out thanks.

Tbh it's growing on me but i need to strip the kit for my girlfriends other frame and have another build to do first. Think i'll hang it up and come back to it when the urge to wear flannel shirts with lycra gets too big to ignore.

No they're not, juintech are better semi hydraulic but they're nowhere near as good as full hydro.

Ah shit, here we go again...

i need to strip the kit for my girlfriend

steady on, some of us are a bit old for that sort of thing

Has it been a month already? How time flies.

Next rabbit hole, what alternatives are there to the disc Kepler or Straggler? QR, post mount, rack and guard mounts etc. Ideally 35c plus guards. I like both the Brother and Surly but don't see them coming up for sale much. Budget probably max £300 for frameset but might stretch if there's something new i can pick up quickly.

An older Fearless Warlock or Croix De Fer?

+1 for the CDF

Bombtrack Arise 2 from a couple of years ago. Selling mine in large for less than 300 if interested

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/383108/#comment16952217

Re Tried Gravel Gold today and even some rain wasn't enough to damp the spirits

https://microcosm.app/out/CYABi

Bang on if only it were smaller