Salsa Casseroll as Brevet/Commuter/All-Around Bike?

[buffettologie]

I'm trying to determine the best Brevet/Commuter/Club Ride/All-Around Bike for me at a $1300 (or so) pricepoint. I also looked at the Bleriot, but when built up becomes a little too expensive for me (and I'm not crazy about 650B). I like the Surly LHT, but I get the impression that it's much more a touring bike and not as zippy as the Casseroll.

I really like the Casseroll and can get one through my LBS (via QBP) at around my pricepoint (via club pricing). The only thing my LBS said was that the tires would probably need upgrading soon, but other than that, the bike was pretty solid. In addition, it comes with fenders and is ready to roll.

Any thoughts? Agreement or disagreement?

[old_school]

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=37190&highlight=salsa+casseroll

[buffettologie]

I read that thread, but the people that responded seemed singly interest in commuting on the bike. I'm more interested in its usefulness as a brevet/double century bike as well with commuting a distant second.

[sjbraun]

Readytoride.biz will be reviewing a Casseroll soon.
Their interest in the bike was its usefulness as a brevet/randoneur bike.

Their review will appear in Roadbikerider.com before it appears on the readytoride site.

[staggerwing]

May I suggest that you figure out first what you want to roll, in the way of tires. Once you start talking 28's, 32's, or bigger, the options narrow.

I started commuting on an, mid-80's Fuji. It came with substantial 27" wheels, and I rocked that way some 1 1/4" wide tire for a time. Then, I made up some decent 36 spoke, 700c wheels, and started running Panaracer T-Serv 28x700c. FWIW, this tire is only 25mm in width, but close to size in height. The next upgrade was to early 90's, lugged steel, Allez Comp. Those tires barely fit, and they for certain don't fit on many of the current 'racier' type rigs.

The Casseroll certainly looks like a nice option, but I wouldn't rule the LHT out either, as a budget ride. A Soma Smoothie ES would merit a look too, in that class. And, as a final suggestion, you might find love in a well treated piece of vintage steel. I recently grabbed a nice Paramount, which is certainly more generous in clearances than my Allez Comp, for well under $400, on this very forum.

[buffettologie]

As far as tires go, I think somewhere between 28 and 32 would be perfect, leaning towards the 28 end of that spectrum. The vast majority of my riding is on a 35-mile paved path, so a slightly cushier ride than my current 23c racing bike would be great.

[dwightskin]

The Surly products are thoughfully designed - but you get what you pay for.

When the Casseroll came out, the first batch of frames had a nasty little issue of the headtube cracking open when inserting a headset.

This reveals a couple issues:

1) Questionable quality control. These frames are made in China (probably by Maxicar).

2) They are using seamed tubing on the headtube. Talk about hitting a price point! How much more would it cost to go seamless for that short length - 75cents? Where else are there "cost savings"?

But the design of the product is great and those rear dropouts are really cool. But you aren't going to get a frame that is as well spec'ed and built as what you'd get for Gunnar, for instance.

Anyway, on the built-in-china front, check out the offereings from Soma, Bianchi and Jamis, too.

But, certainly, the used market has some great values in ubiquitous japanese-made sport-touring bikes that would be good rando bikes.


Dwight

[MarcusPless]

I haven't looked at these bikes in several years, but you might want to check out a Lemond Poprad (their "cross" bike). I bought one a few years ago when I was specifically looking for a bike that could handle fenders/rack/wider tires with ease. I don't do brevets, but I wouldn't hesitate to ride it on a century. In the past I've run full fenders along with some pretty beefy 700x32 tires without any clearance issues.

--Marcus

[Alexi]

first off the casserole is a salsa not a surly, secondly it's maxway not maxicar

The Surly products are thoughfully designed - but you get what you pay for.

When the Casseroll came out, the first batch of frames had a nasty little issue of the headtube cracking open when inserting a headset.

This reveals a couple issues:

1) Questionable quality control. These frames are made in China (probably by Maxicar).

2) They are using seamed tubing on the headtube. Talk about hitting a price point! How much more would it cost to go seamless for that short length - 75cents? Where else are there "cost savings"?

But the design of the product is great and those rear dropouts are really cool. But you aren't going to get a frame that is as well spec'ed and built as what you'd get for Gunnar, for instance.

Anyway, on the built-in-china front, check out the offereings from Soma, Bianchi and Jamis, too.

But, certainly, the used market has some great values in ubiquitous japanese-made sport-touring bikes that would be good rando bikes.


Dwight

[Rick Finch]

I've been commuting primarily, about a 20 mile ride, on my Casseroll for the last 6 months. It is the first road bike upgrade for me in 35 years, from my Raleigh Grand Sport, a Reynolds 531 frame and forks bike; which I loved.

The local "worker owned" bike shop guys talked me into this one, I'd looked at Rivendell (too expensive but liked the philosophy) and Soma pretty seriously, and considered a Serotta cross bike but it was also too expensive in a triple. The basic bike was fitted out with an 11-34 cassette and 26-36-48 triple crankset, which I LOVE. It has also been wonderful having the convenience of indexed 9 speed shifting after my down tube shifting on the Raleigh 10 speed.

I'm delighted with the ride during my commute, and the hill climbing and stability on descents during some 50 mile longer rides. It's not the lightest bike, but I am kind of a pack rat and find that I want to carry way more "stuff" than any carbon bike could handle. I wish I had a solution for flat tires from our local rural roads, but haven't solved that one yet.

In summary, I think this bike is a great compromise for the kind of riding it sounds like you are interested in.

[Alan]

Sounds like you are headed in the right direction but you may want to ck out the kogswell frame at www.kogswell.com

It looks to a pretty authentic design.

Alan

[markie]

I wish I had a solution for flat tires from our local rural roads, but haven't solved that one yet.


What tyres are you using?

If you get a lot of flats try something like a panaracer pasela. They come with tan sidewalls which look nice on the casseroll. They are heavier and slower than race tires, but it takes something special to flat them.

[bfd]

Sounds like you are headed in the right direction but you may want to ck out the kogswell frame at www.kogswell.com

It looks to a pretty authentic design.

Alan

Kogswell is an interesting company. They started out producing lugged steel frames for 622mm (700c) size tires from Taiwan. However, they're really into the whole 650B thing now, which the OP isn't too crazy about. That said, I recall hearing they might sell their frames in both 559 and 622 size. However, their website sucks as it only shows the 650B stuff. Too bad, they use to make a nice lugged steel frameset.....

[MarcusPless]

I wish I had a solution for flat tires from our local rural roads, but haven't solved that one yet.



I commuted on Bontrager 700x32 slicks for a few years. I think they were called the Race-Lite Hardcase, but I wouldn't exactly call them light. They were, however, virtually bomb proof. If you really want flat resistance you might want to see if you can find a pair.

--Marcus