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I’ve got a carbon road bike for when I want to Lycra up and go fast/far and a fixed gear for getting around town, commuting to work, and just generally terrifying myself on.
Been toying with the idea of selling the fixed gear (Francis Xavier, I think we’re close by and I’m also 6’1) and potentially going full retro grouch and getting a Rivendell to take over getaround/long ride duties. Since I’ve sold my gravel bike I’ve really missed having something with bigger tires to go climb some fire roads on.
Anyone have a Riv? Worth it in your opinion? Any recommendations/experience with other steel frames with good tire clearance i.e. Surly or Crust?
I have a SOMA Wolverine which is my do-anything gravel bike, which I would say is similar to some Surly models, dunno about Crust though. I personally love it. I have some 44mm gravel king panaracer tires and I can basically go anywhere except for extremely rocky or otherwise technical single track. I could get a set of 650b wheels and run actual mtb tires and increase that capability. With the 700c wheels I can probably get as big as 48mm for tires. Over the winter I put 35mm tires on and added some velo orange fenders (45mm) for commuting. It sounds like you already had a gravel bike though, so why'd you get rid of it?
Glad to hear you're stoked on the Wolverine. Decided no on Riv, no on Crust. Looking at the Wolverine, Black Mountain Cycles MCD or Monstercross, Surly Straggler and Kona Rove ST right now, seeing if anything pops up in my local CL or on Ebay.
Last "gravel bike" was a CX bike that was a size down from my standard frame size. Did a couple of races and long rides on it, but ultimately the geo was so similar to my road bike I just kept taking out the road bike and doing paved rides. It was also a little too nice for me to want to leave outside at a bar or friend's house (hence my no Rivendell no Crust decision), so I sold it knowing I'd likely get something in the future. Don't have much interest in doing any more races (biking community blows skaters out of the water for being elitist and vibey), just want something I can commute to work on and then take out for a day trip into the hills on the weekend.
Crust look amazing if you have the $s. I have two Surlys (they are in this thread somewhere). A steamroller currently set up with brakes and single speed freewheel. I've had it for fourteen years or so as my daily driver around town. And a Straggler I use for longer mixed terrain adventure rides. I've done a road century on it and also tackled some single track on it. I love it. Its heavy as shit but that's fine by me. I usually roll with Bruce Gordon Rock and Roads 700 x 43 tires.
Totally agree, Crusts look sweet but likely out of my budget and, as noted above, don't want to be stressed about leaving it locked up etc. Glad to hear you like your Straggler, love that colorway. Sounds like the long top tube isn't much of an issue for you, did you go with your standard size for it?
Topic: bikes (Read 309142 times)