Feaduin

Since there will be no riding with the massive amounts of snow hitting the Mid-Atlantic, I figured I would take the time to share my newly completed Gunnar Hyper-X with you. From the little I have been able to ride it, it has been an amazing bike and I can't wait to hit up some gravel and race CX on it in September. When the snow thaws and I can ride some more, I will try to post a comprehensive review.

With this build I tried to choose a selection of light but reasonable components. The gruppo is Campagnolo Chorus with the exception of the TRP Spyre mechanical disc brakes. I swapped out the stock 52/36 chainrings for TA Nerius 48/36 to provide a more useful gear range for conditions one will encounter on rougher roads and CX racing when paired with the 11-29 cassette. The wheels were built using DT Swiss XR331 rims laced to White Industries CLD hubs with Sapim CX-Ray spokes. Clement MXP tires are mounted on those rims and converted to tubeless, they are labeled as 33 mm but they measure out to 36 mm wide. The cockpit consists of Zipp Service Course SL bars and stem mounted to a 12 mm thru axle Enve CX disc fork. The seat post is a vintage Campy Record post that I had lying around and clamps on to a Fizik Antares saddle.

The whole build tips the scales at 19.6 lbs with pedals and bottle cages installed, so this steel steed is pretty comparable to carbon offerings like the Trek Boone or Specialized Crux. I know that the choice of Campagnolo is unconventional in the CX/gravel world, but I have put thousands of miles on my previous Athena gruppo and have come to favor the ergonomics of Campy in addition to the corporate philosophy of producing components meant to be rebuilt and maintained instead of simply being replaced.

flargle

That is a really good-looking bike.

gomango

Agreed.

I run Campy on my Merckx cross bike.

For the same reasons as you.

I have a new BMC Monstercross on order and I'm going Athena on that one as well.

Ronsonic 

Don't think Campy is all that strange for a cross bike. Even the guys who want cheap and easy shimano compatible wheels will often enough work up a Shimergo setup to get the better levers.

Feaduin

Thanks for the comments
@gomango if it is in your budget and you don't mind the carbon vs. polished aluminum aesthetic, I would consider going with the new chorus derailleurs and levers. Campagnolo did a major revamp of their top 3 gruppos in 2015 (changing pull ratios, lever and derailleur design) and it feels pretty darn nice.
@Ronsonic yeah, I have seen a few Shimergo setups but the local racing scene is definitely dominated by SRAM builds with Shimano coming in second anything else is a very distant third. Of course this is just talking about purpose built 'cross bikes, half of the 4/5 field is usually people pulling whatever bike they own out of the garage.

chaadster

I run Campy Athena 11 on both my road and gravel bikes...just because it looks better than most anything else!

It is a bit surprising how rare Campagnolo has become, even here in my home town where I might expect it to be more popular (for a variety of reasons). Relatedly, I did a ride this past weekend which drew around 500 riders, 150-200 of which went out with me on the long ride. Of those 200, two commented on the unusual nature of my Campagnolo, and another, a fellow Campagnolo rider on '09 Chorus, said how nice it was to see!

Kind of unfortunate pix, Feaduin, as it's hard to make out details.

Do enjoy the ride.