Ben I.

I have a Ridley Fenix road bike that I love but ride on limestone and other very non pavement paths a lot on longer rides and centuries so I finally decided to look at a gravel bike and have never regretted getting one. I got a Ridley X-Trail and absolutely love it. Not as quick as my road bike but more comfortable when I'm riding long distance, can fit bigger tires for comfort and grip, disc brake so my pads (from the road bike) don't get covered with limestone dust and a little more relaxed geometry for longer rides.

Chandne

I can't tell you how much I love my gravel bike. I really never thought I would. Got 20 miles on gravel yesterday and 20 miles today. I'd have taken my mtn bike but if I don't want to do the tougher single track, the gravel bike just flies...and I can ride from home. I do not ride my road bikes on gravel. The tires seem to cut up too fast and it can be a bit too dusty/wet at times.

tangerineowl

You could just purchase the frame and get a RodeoLabs Spork (fork) for around the same price as the Lynskey frameset.

dalava

My "gravel" bike is coming together via USPS/FedEx/UPS/Royal Mail/etc, all I have in my hands are some spokes and nipples

So here are the parts that will be coming together in the next a few days/weeks:

Frame/Fork/BB: Santa Cruz Stigmata CC 56cm (with PF30/24mm conversion BB)
Drivetrain: Shimano RS685 shifters, Shimano RT99 140mm brake rotors, Dura Ace 9000 FD (parts bin), 6800 mid-cage RD (parts bin), Rotor 3D compact 50x34t crankset (parts bin)
Wheelset: Easton R90SL with DT Swiss 350 hubs and CX-Ray spokes/nipples, with 6800 11sp 11-32t cassette (parts bin), Panaracer Gravelking SK 35c tubeless
Handlebar/Stem/Seaptpost: 3T team level stuff (parts bin)
Shoes/Pedals: Specialized XC Pro/Speedplay SYZR

Can't wait to build this up and getting lost in the "off roads"

Marcus_Ti

Damn you forum enablers.

The Flaanimal | Rodeo Adventure Labs, LLC




Nice looking build. Already leveraged ProWheelBuilder's 20% off NY/XMas sale to score some Bitex/Pacenti SL25 centerlock disc wheels

Chandne

That Stigmata is going to be fantastic. When I upgrade my CruX, it will either be that Stigmata, the Turner Cyclosis, or a semi-custom (taller head tube mainly) Ti from Moots maybe (primarily since they are a Colorado company).

Seattle Forrest

I can never complain about having nipples in my hands.

UnfilteredDregs

I've heard that Northern VA can be quite challenging in terms of gravel dirt...where at?

The big thing for me is...you need to be low-geared enough to sit and climb where you'd normally stand on road, and you need to be able to spin smoother (IOW higher RPM) because if you're laying down torque in a loose surface than you're going to slip unless you're really paying attention and that saps energy.

Hence...smaller chainring combos up front on gravel builds being something you see...

Looks like a great build though, enjoy!

dalava

you dirty old man

dalava

Yes indeed, we have no shortage of challenging gravel roads. I am in Loudoun, and here is a database of gravel roads in our area (Gravel Road Maps and Biking Routes - Gravelmap). People don't normally assume NoVA to be very hilly, but it's in fact a quite rolling terrain. I am in a suburb near Leesburg, and I can easily get 3000ft of climbing in a 50mi road ride door to door.

As for gearing, I am going to start with the 50x34t front and 11-32t rear. I hope that should give me wide enough range.

Marcus_Ti

Re: gearing...remember that when you go up in tire size, you change development (or gear inches, however you want to think about it)

E.g. a 34/32 on a 38mm tire is a taller gear than a 34/32 on a 23mm tire.

UnfilteredDregs

Another good reason to go with 650b versus 700c...

tangerineowl

The Moots Routt 45 has a pretty tall stack relative to its reach.
If its not high enough you could just get a Baxter

tangerineowl

Yeah that new Flaanimal has bigger tire clearance than what I'm getting (Curve Grovel v2), but it'll do.

I'm sure that frameset however would be big $$$$.

Spending that kind of money, I'd want to be sure the frame geo suits me bang on, which the Curve does.

Marcus_Ti

Rodeo's TrailDonkey is like a $2600 frameset...so yea it'll probably be bucks. OTOH just about anything else on my radar is too. I'm stuck between wanting Ti, thru axles, fenders (and preferable rack mounts), Di2 routing, threaded BB, and tire clearance. Just about everything that mostly ticks those boxes is a CX geometry with 700x40 tire clearance capped. And both of those bug me a bit, being a roadie I'm thinking I could deal with agile handling but the clearance issue bugs me. Especially since the hoops I ordered will probably lock up a 700x40 GravelRacerSK due to 20mm internal width rather than 15-17mm.

Actually funny thing...I email Rodeo (just this morning after seeing your linky), Curve, Foundry and a few other outfits in the last 48 hours with Qs. First and only company to get back to me was Rodeo so far. And their answer made me quite happy (they also told me some info that isn't public yet while they were at it).

WhyFi

kydeadhead

Waterton?

Chandne

Yes indeed! I live about 15-20 mins drive from there. I used to just mtn bike there but now that I have a cross bike....

kydeadhead

Thought it looked familiar, rode it with my wife last November on MTBs when we were visiting our daughter in Denver. If that was my neighborhood I'd definitely have a gravel bike, it's perfect for one.

tangerineowl

The Curve guys are back on the 9th.

I'm seriously considering just getting a frame and purchasing that Spork fork due to its slightly larger tire clearance along with the two mounts on each leg (the Grovel fork only has one for racks).

Chandne

Very cool that you recognized it. This gravel road connects to the Colorado Trail and a few hundred miles of it actually. It's a gem of an area. There are mountain lions in the area beyond the gravel road but they only become active in the evening. Don't ask me how I know. I don't do solo late evening mtn bike rides there anymore.

Marcus_Ti

From some light reading...rodeo has done some revisioning and has a new version of the spork...with more mount points, 3 now per side instead of two.

TenSpeedV2

Since everyone seemed to miss it, that 3T bike is HOT!!

topslop1

I don't know what that is, but I like it.

WhyFi

It's a Vroomen 3T bike - the Exploro (cheesy name, sweet bike).