Ender686

Cross posted to Commuters as that's my purpose for it.

I just recieved my XRL Frame from Performance. $250 before any rebates.

Out of the box it's well packed with dropout spacers in between both the front and rear forks. The carbon fork is zipped tied to the frame. In a seperate box comes the integrated FSA headset and brake cable carrier.

Once I took it out I started looking around. Welds are pretty neat, but larger (~1/4") especially at the botttom bracket.

The main graphics on the frame and fork are under the clearcoat, but the "Made in China", frame size and tubing info are on top and removeable. There are plenty of bosses: Two frame/fender bosses on the rear dropout, rack mounts on the seat stays, threaded brake bridge and chainstay bridge, two bottle cages, fender bosses on the fork with a hole on the crown as well.

The downtube is triangular or teardrop shaped, but the rest of the tubing is round. The cable rounting is mountain style on the top tube, which requires a top pull derailer or a cross pulley and guess what? There's a boss for that, too.

The fork is carbon with an aluminum steerer that sticks up ~6" above the top of the headtube uncut. The finish is smooth with no noticeable inperfections. It's black where it meets the frame and fades to show the natural carbon weave next to the raw aluminum dropouts.

Sorry, no photos for now, or weight. I'll try to add those later.

I'm retiring my '90s Trek 2300 7 tube CF frame and swapping all the gear to this new frame. I'm looking forward to having a go fast that I can switch between my fully rigged LHT for the 16 mile commute.

thunderzy

I have been looking at the XRL frame also. Im planning on building a cyclocross over the winter months. Have you completed and taken the bike for a ride? How did it feel on the road, and off road?

Thanks
Zack

Banzai

I'm in the middle of building one of these right now for my wife as a "utility" bike. It seems like a nice enough frame, and I got it for wicked cheap since it's discontinued and there are limited sizes remaining.

I don't actually do cyclocross, and if I did I wouldn't use this frame. The top-tube has a bladed/oval shape, with the sharpest edge being on the underside. The exact OPPOSITE of what you want in an actual cyclocross frame.

thunderzy

Banzai, I have no clue why that is a bad thing. Can you explain why the top tube is not a good thing for cyclocross bikes?

Cynikal 

The point on the bottom of the top tube makes it painful to shoulder the bike in the traditional CX way.

thunderzy

I see! Thanks for clearing that up for me Cynilkal. While you guys are giving advice what is your opinion on the Nashbar cyclocross frame?

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...Frames%2FBikes

Thanks

Banzai

I use that frame for my utility/commuter bicycle. I LOVE it. Great frame.

By the way, the Scattante XRL frame looks like it's going to work out great...I just wouldn't do actual Cyclocross racing on it due to the top tube shape.

thunderzy

Thanks Banzai. Im planning on building up a bike for the road, gravel paths, and easier off road trails. Im not planning on actually cyclocross racing. So Im looking for opinions on both the scattante xrl cross and the nashbar x aluminum frames!

Thanks again

sfcrossrider

My wife has one. Aside from the tt it's an amazing frame (for the money). She did some shouldering with it, and it didn't bother her... it would drive me nuts.

Banzai

Well, like I said, I built up the Nashbar X frame. It's a great "do everything" bike. I commute on it on "laundry days". I raced it in the partially off road "Adventure Race" that the base sponsors. (2nd place!)

It's not the lightest, but it's light enough. It has lots of attach points, and the geometry is good for long rides.

Some "gotchas" are the 135mm rear hub spacing. That gives you more options to use with the disc tabs, but you'll likely need to build your own wheels if you want to run 700c. I run Deore disc hubs with Mavic A317 Disc hubs, self built.

The frame is STIFF. So ride 32mm width tires; you'll be happier that way.

I also got Nashbar's carbon fork to go with it. Not to save weight really, because it's a tank of a fork...mostly because it looked nice, and all the steel disc forks looked ugly.

I'm partway through the build of the Scattante frame. It's coming along really nicely, and the fork is actually pretty light considering how overbuilt it is for purposes of CX. Mrs Banzai is really excited about it.

climbhoser

Overbuilt is right! Mine feels like a freakin' mountain bike sometimes.

FWIW, this year's model does NOT have an ovalized TT. I would totally race 'cross on mine. I will admit that I have a bit of self-consciousness about the name, though...

Banzai

Interesting. I just looked at the website, and it appears that they have TWO models on there...one with and one without an ovalized TT. Interestingly enough, the ovalized TT is now more expensive.

Non-ovalized: $260

Ovalized: $330

TehK

Can anyone post pictures of their builds?

popsicleian

So it's not so good on the road? I've been thinking about buying one and transferring the parts from my Gunnar, which is a little too small.

climbhoser

Well, think about bikes in a simple, un-influenced way for a second. Really all we're talking about is geometry. The cockpit can be setup so you are positioned like you would on your road bike, and you are in similar relation to your wheels, too (give or take a few half-degrees and mm). Bottom line is that if you were blind, you could probably feel like you were riding your road bike.

It's as good on the road as anything. It's just overbuilt, with super sturdy tubing and welds, and looks a little "thick" to the eye (which is an aesthetic thing). I kind of think 'cross bikes with cantis have a certain non-roadie look that's hard to express anyways, and the Scat just takes it a bit further. It's burly tubing, and burly carbon on the fork, too.

Compared to my super lightweight alu C'dale with flimsy carbon fork and calipers it really does look like a drop bar mountain bike.

But, I was riding with a leg shaver guy, full team kit and a ti Independent Fabrications with full Campy Record and making him feel like a wannabe Seriously, not to brag, but just to show that the name on your bike and the aesthetics aren't all there is.

I have mine even more mtb rigged with an XTR rear mech and 11-33 rear cluster. No triple, prefer the compact double, but it's still a mean mountain pass machine! So, yeah, if I had fat tires on it then I would essentially have a drop bar mtb. Oh yeah, one more thing that makes it more mtb than 'cross bike is the compact geometry. More than the ovalized top tube, the compact geometry is annoying for carrying on your shoulder.

This is all to say I think the Scat makes an AWESOME commuter frame, and it's perfect for multi-use riding dirt roads, some light singletrack, and longer paved rides, too. And it's hella-light, to make it all awesome. And hey, that's why I have a superlight roadie in the stable, too

Ender686

I'm still in the middle of my build. I had to order a bottom bracket and the first shop screwed that up (yea for the LBS). The fork has a preliminary cut for the steerer and about four or five inches of spacers on it untill I ride it and try the positioning out.

I don't remember completely, but I think the downtube is the teardrop shaped tube, not the top tube. The top tube was round.

Pics maybe in the coming week? I'll have to stop on my commute through the burbs in order to find a white garage door, though...

btasquared

I'm psyched to read all of your posts about what a great commuter frame this is. I just got my build back from the LBS, and although I haven't had a chance to ride it yet, it's really a great looking bike. A bit heavy, but that's not really a big consideration for the uses I have intended for it.

I bought it specifically for commuting and riding the dirt roads around my home and it sounds from everyone on this thread that it was a good choice. I got the frame and fork (delivered) for $219.00 from Performance and swapped over an Ultegra gruppo from my old road bike and I ended up with a complete bike for less than $400.00.

I don't know if I'll ever do a cross race, but I have it if that ever comes to pass.

Hope everyone else's builds work out well.

BTA2

seat_boy

Any idea how big a tire the Scattante frame can take?

Thanks,

Eric

Barrettscv 

I emailed Performance, they gave 35 as a reply. However, tires larger than 28 won't clear the brakes upfront on removal without deflation, according to some users.

OnTheRivet

I'm not getting every bodies complaints about this frame being a tank. I pulled mine apart to strip the frame and the weight was very comparable to much higher priced frames at 3.4 lbs for the 57cm frame and the fork was a surprising 650g with the steerer cut. My bike is 19 lbs even as shown.

Aeroplane

I got one of these and built it up this summer. I've got it running a 1x8 setup, and I'm pretty happy with it ride-wise. I've been commuting with it on-and-off (between my track bike and this), and it's handled well for that. First cross race (ever) this week, will report back if need be. Mine is the round TT version.

climbhoser

For me weight is no issue...heck, I've had true MTB frames that weigh less than that! The tank-ishness is just the aesthetic, the look, and yours has it too. Like I said, ride it blind and you'd think you were on a roadie.

Of course, my road frameset weighs in at 2.8 lbs, so there is some discrepancy, but more is going to come from the components than the frameset. Wheels, heavy rings and cassettes, heavy tires, etc...all add up to 19 lbs when a lightweight, flimsy roadie can clock in at 15.

climbhoser

Whaddaya think?

btasquared

Climbhoser? The Climbhoser from telemarktips.com??

Barrettscv 

Nice bike