wheelsmcgee

Bought a BD 29+ bike this Spring and been very happy. Been kind of thinking about upgrading my stealthier cross/gravel rig, and got excited when I saw this.

It checks a lot of personal boxes: good (Reynolds 520) steel, good cable actuated disc brakes, 2x front, 11 speed rear, fork mounts, decent clearance for gravel. Price is right. Did I mention my favorite color is orange?

Thoughts? My only concern is based on the pic, that fork looks a little thin for a disc brakes, but hard to tell what's going on at the caliper side.



linky

Barrettscv 

It's a good value and well equipped. I'd be concerned that the steel frame and the large tires indicate a rugged but slightly sluggish performer. More Monstercross than Cyclocross.

wheelsmcgee

It's got my name written all over it Seriously though, I enjoy my current steel frame cross bike but want a little more clearance...a few extra pounds over a more modern Al or carbon race bike isn't my biggest worry...I don't race cross, just gravel grind. I've also been eyeing the Kona Sutra (clearance is even better, every bit as orange) but I'm not really excited about the available configurations or building up from the frameset. Plus, it might be a little more rugged than I need...no plans.for loaded touring.

blitzo

Interesting bike. Looks very similar to the Sutra, I think the tire clearance is the same.

Hiro11

The fork is steel and likely plenty strong for discs. I like the reverse entry drop outs, that's a good idea with discs.

This looks like a very compelling bike for $1k. If you're looking for a steel gravel bike with huge tire clearance it's going to be really tough to beat at that price. I also like that it has a full set of rack and fender mounts making the bike that much more versatile.

A few fairly minor reservations:
- It's not going to be a cross race bike and it's likely pretty heavy. 520 is heavy stuff.
- Cable discs + QR = a bit of a pain to refit the wheels without disc rub.
- I have a bike with those wheels (Turino Pro) and the Joytech hubs are, in a word, crap. Lots of LBS brand bikes use them too so this isn't a knock on BD. But they are crap.
- WTB Nano tires have fairly high rolling resistance on pavement when compared to some other tires. Great for rough gravel though and they work well tubeless.
- That Biomax bar is really weird. I actually like it but it's not for everyone. There's a reason Ritchey stopped making them years ago.

wheelsmcgee

Great observations, thanks. For $1699, they have a similar Ti framed bike that is open for preorder which will have thru axles and presumably a lighter frame, but again, not sure how big of a priority those things are for me personally.

Another reservation is that BD says clearance for up to 45mm tires (a statement they seem to make for several bikes having a variety of different frames). That's about the minimum I want...so if it means any 45mm tire and still room for mud, that's great. If it means there exists a few 45mm slicks that won't rub when the bike is in the bike stand, I'm not so sure.

Hiro11, I think you're turino pro is one of those bikes BD says will clear 45mm tires. Does that seem accurate?

Hiro11

Yeah, I think it's possible.

Hiro11

My mistake, I have the Turino Team not the Turino Pro. I have the alloy frame, Ultegra, drop bar bike. Still, my point on the hubs hold. The hubs are an inexpensive cup and cone model with a slightly suspect freehub mechanism. We'll see how long they last. I've not been impressed by Joytech / Novatec hubs.

Also, BD is offering a ridiculous profusion of gravel / CX bikes these days. They have probably 50 different models on at least 10 different frames. They've done the same thing with fatbikes: a ludicrous number of models all with small differences in frames or spec. I don't even see the model in this thread on their gravel / cx page. You really have to plow through their absurdly 1997 website to figure out what they're selling.

wheelsmcgee

Yea, their website is a bit of a mess...I dont mind 1997 web tech as much as the inconsistent organization. Given how they have so much variety and turnover in the inventory, I'd think a "what's new" page is in order. I would have missed the Strada CM entirely except they post most new bikes on their Facebook page. They also have a claris-equipped and a flat bar version...I think they are all listed on the main "road bikes" page.

mrsoltys

Did you end up getting the Motobecane Strada CM COMP? I'm curious what it weighs in at compared to the Motobecane Omni Strada PRO...

wheelsmcgee

Nah, not yet...but still in the market and still considering the strada comp. I had hoped more info would have surfaced here or on some other forum, as well as some additional pics showing tire clearance.

Jarrett2

Neat bike. Had no idea they had that one in their offerings.

I suspect it will be heavy as a mofo. I built up a Gran Premio Elite for a friend which has what looks to be the same frame (sans discs) but with a carbon fork and it weighed 21 lbs. without pedals. I was a little stunned by that. My steel frame/steel fork bike weighs 20 lbs. sans pedals. I assumed the Gran Premio with a carbon fork would have been less.

I say all of that just to say, based on the weight of the Gran Premio and looking at the components on this bike, it may come in weighing 28 lbs. or so.

wheelsmcgee

That weight wouldn't surprise me at all...I figure it would weigh similar to something like the (steel-forked version) salsa vaya, salsa claims the 55cm deore vaya weighs 27lbs. Bet the wheels on the strada weigh a ton.

I don't know that it's identical frame to the gran premio, Bikesdirect says the gran premio clears tires up to 25c, but up to 45c on the strada comp. The paint job and profile are very similar though.