Might have a better chance with going toe to toe with Crosstown than 10kg. Realised that reading foldingtale, the 650b frame is already heavier than 700c by 0.2kg, then rim brakes over disk brakes, top of the line road components plus adding on to the heavier wheels and tyres would easily be another 1 - 1.5kg
>> Good find on the differences
Disc vs calipers would be at least 1kg in difference
The SRAM Rival is actually more than a match weight wise to Campagnolo offerings, especially if one changes out the Rival crank for a lighter one (eg. Red crank )


I am not competitive cyclist and i riding is more about the freedom to explore more like foldingtales but your Titanium breakaway bike sounds sexy and would love to see it in flesh. I would have loved to get my hands on the Helix folding bike to see if its possible to tour with but hearing how slow the delivery is, makes me unsure if I want to wait that long.
>> You can always contact me via FB (same user name as here) if you want to view the bike on the weekends.
My Ti breakaway is my N=1 (taking away fully loaded touring; folding for multi-modal commute)
After touring quite a bit and long distance rides w/ 18" and 451, my findings are that when the road is really chewed or its a trail with enough rocks/roots, its better with 26"/650b (probably 700c) with wider tires and maybe even just a MTB.


Makes sense and fully understood now - sorry for the ignorance. I will see test it first if i can get this work without the shim. I reckon local rides are ok for me with 44T - i am certain i will drop to 38T or 34T like you i calculated the gear inches are too high even with the wide cassette. BTW I saw the Campagnolo Ekar 1X13 cassette which goes down to 9 - 42T! Looks exciting!
>> I do think Ekar is the one that got it right with the gear spacing. Its also 13sp, which is where I think 1x needs to be to meet the requirements of wide gearing and closer gear spacings.

Most grateful for the feedback - maybe i go with 42mm first and figure if i want a second wheelset. Last question - I saw the flatbike with their Thinstem and popoff pedals. Your views on them? Thinstem seems interesting so i might be able to make the bike more compact.
>> Too clunky looking for my preferences.