After a looooong wait (original deposit on the frame was in August), the Gryphon has landed.
In my quest for my ultimate commuter/dirt tourer, I had several key criteria that I wanted.
- 29er mountain bike/gravel grinder, designed around a rigid-only fork and relaxed geometry
- rack mounts and capable of mounting standard fenders
- clearance for up to 2.4" tires for offroad fun (singletrack, bikepacking, fire road touring)
- Ability to use an IGH without a tensioner (sliding dropouts or EBB)
- Ability to use flat or "dirt drop" bars
- Chromoly or titanium
- 100mm front spacing for dynamo hub (I eliminated several contenders with 135mm front spacing)
I considered many options, and my final list included the Surly Ogre/Karate Monkey (geometry was steeper than I wanted, and both are designed around a suspension fork), Jeff Jones "diamond frame" with custom fork (or NOS Salsa V1 fork), On One Inbred 29er, and a few others that dropped off the list pretty quickly.
I was somewhat familiar with a small company based in the UK by the name of Singular, who has a small but passionate following in the 29er world, and their Gryphon model fit the bill for my needs. When I learned of their intentions to integrate rack mounts in their 2012 lineup, I deposited my money for a pre-order in August 2011.
The bike is VERY similar to the Salsa Fargo, but with an EBB, with the tradeoff of having fewer braze-ons for stuff.
In the mean time, I was riding my son's Motobecane 29er with scabbed on rack, saddle, handlebars, daynamo lighting, etc in hopes of a new ride in the fall.
After a slightly slower than planned fabrication process (the frames are designed in the UK and fabbed in Taiwan) and an unprecedented (for them) 2 month delay in customs, the frames were ready to ship from Marty's Shop (The Prarie Peddler) last week. Marty was great to work with, and was beside himself with all of the shipping issues. I think we're both releived!
So, when my wife called me yesterday with the words "there's something on the porch for you", I took the rest of the day off, and was greeted with this:
I got right to work, installing the headset and playing with the Phil Wood licensed Eccentric Bottom Bracket:
According to marty, these frames shipped without head badges for some reason, and mine is on the way.
Ready to build!
I had done the geo and knew a shorter stem would be in order, so I installed a Thomson 80mm instead of the 120mm that was nearby.
Fast forward, and here she is, ready for action!
I used a mix of on-hand and new parts. The Brooks, lighting/dynamo wheel, brakes, grips, pedals, and rack have all been around for a couple of years on other unsuccessful versions of my ideal commuter/all-rounder.
I chose the Nuvinci over the Alfine 11 due to concerns with the Alfine 1-2 gears blowing out in off road use. Possibly unfounded fear, but I've been curious about the Nuvinci for a while now, so it was a $1000 cheaper option than a Rohloff <cough>.
All built up and ready to go!
I took the bike out for a little spin to dial everything in, and it rides GREAT. Super smooth, not jarring at all (like my Norco Vesta was), and the Nuvinci is really nice.
I'll give her a trial by fire in the morning, as it is raining (yeah, this is Salt Lake City - it SHOULD be snowing).
I'll post more as I settle in to the new ride.
Here's a rundown of the build
- Frame/fork: XL Singular Gryphon
- Handlebar: Jeff Jones Loop bar
- Stem Thomson X4 80mm
- Crank Truvative Stylo 1.1 180mm
- Seatpost: Salsa
- Brakes: Avid BB7, 185mm rotors - Shimano XTR front, Avid G3 rear
- Saddle Brooks B-17 Narrow
- Front wheel: Alfine Dynamo hub with Velocity Dyad rim (soon to be replaced with Salsa Gordo)
- Tires Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 700x50 (28/29x2.0)
- Cables: Jagwire ripcord
- Chain Wippermann 3/8"
- Rack: Civia
- Rear Wheel: Nuvinci N360 hub, Salsa Gordo rim