Originally Posted by
bonsai171
Saw that a few minutes ago! Looks like the biggest change is the max tire clearance of 50mm. I recently switched my old 30lb bike from 2 inch knobby tires down to 1.75" semi-slicks, and noticed a big difference in speed. The tradeoff here is in comfort a little on washboarded roads. Tempted to put the 2 inchers back on lol. Maybe if they had just the right tire pressure?? It is a bit like driving a tank. Don't worry too much about line choice with those lol. I would like to find the perfect balance of comfort vs. Speed, esp for those longer rides that include some single track. The only thing I can think to do is mess around with tire pressure on the 2.0s and leave it, (or leave the semi-slicks on) or set the pressure high on the 2.0s and drop it for the single track, and then bump it back up.
Maybe a big reason why I feel like the 2.0s are slow is the 30lb bike weight too.
Dave
of course none of them will be as cheap as buying the 853 frame or ultegra RDO from Excel
I am more interested in seeing how much the geo changed.
where I am about now is leaving me at this conclusion, ditch the dedicated road bike. Ride something like the Niner RDO /giant revolt for fast/multi surface roads. and then picking up something like a Salsa fargo, or Bombtrack beyond 1 for bikepacking deeper exploring.