|
|
|
|
#76
03-10-2013, 12:17 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
__________________
Be the Reason Others Succeed 
|
|
#77
03-10-2013, 12:28 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
This one is currently getting come cloths. Should be ready for prime time soon. Shown with a 35 slick and fender.
 Plenty of room when it's needed: 
|
|
#78
03-10-2013, 12:33 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
__________________
chasing waddy
|
|
#80
03-10-2013, 01:18 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
|
#81
03-10-2013, 02:32 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Serotta Concours CX
I've posted this before but you don't see many of these Serottas. The one thing I really dig is that I could get the shifter cables tucked into the handlebars, instead of sticking out from the drops.
__________________
My Bikes
|
|
#82
03-10-2013, 02:36 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Words of wisdom from Mr Tom Ritchey:
I thought all road bikes were gravel road bikes? I’ve been riding my bikes on gravel and more accurately—unpaved dirt roads and trails—for decades. It’s good to see 25c tires and wider rims coming back, and more importantly the clearance on bikes to run these bigger rims and tires. For some reason the bike industry ‘innovated’ away from this many years ago, and for a while many top-end carbon bikes haven’t even had room for 25c tires, much less a broken spoke. Now we’re ‘innovating’ back to where we started. I’m glad to see it, as this style of riding is what I like to do most and it’s what my products are designed for. [ http://reviews.roadbikereview.com/20...ritchey-design ]
__________________
GRAVELBIKE.COM - ride everything
|
|
#83
03-10-2013, 02:44 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
Nice guys, great backgrounds. Really great start for the fledgling pub!
|
|
#84
03-10-2013, 02:46 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
Looks fantastic so far, that's for sure. I'm going down a similar path with my Croll.
|
|
#85
03-10-2013, 03:24 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Ellis gravel bike evolution
I've been riding gravel roads since I was a kid in Upstate NY, but up until a few years ago, I just used my standard road bike with 25 or 28c tires. Gravel can really vary from place to place, so I've been doing more events and tweaking my personal bikes based on experience and need. I rode D2R2 in 2010 on my road bike with 28c Vittoria Rubino's and they were fine with the exception of the last descent which was mildly sketchy. With this in mind, I started working on my DRB's...
This is my first DRB (Dirt Road Bike). I made it to have the same contact points as my road bike but slightly longer chainstays and fork to allow for medium reach Tektro brakes and rubber up to 35 or even 38c depending on the brand.  My next DRB incorporated the TRP CX9 mini V's, so I could run the same wider tires that the above bike would fit, but also offer the option of fenders for winter riding. Pretty similar geometry, low bottom bracket compared to a cross bike which keeps the bike more stable than a cross bike. Still, I probably rode this bike with 28c road tires more than any other size, and I did D2R2 on it in 2011 with some 32c Grand Bois' which were nice, but frankly felt like overkill for most of D2R2 packed dirt roads. I liked this setup, but the mini V's were my only real gripe, they have great power, but if I was doing a road ride in a group they weren't great at scrubbing speed off gently and no one wants to be the herky jerky guy in a group.  My next version of the DRB was a bit more rando styled with geometry for fenders and a front bag. I'd been building and getting requests for more and more rando style bikes, so I figured I better build one myself and see what it's all about. I opted for Paul's Racer brakes on this one for a couple reasons, the offer much better modulation than the mini V's they're easy to disconnect for traveling (since this bike is coupled), and the way this bike is designed they'll accept a 40c knobby tire without fenders, (maybe wider, this is as wide a tire as I've tried) and up to a 35c with fenders, perfect for winter riding around here. I rode this one at the Almanzo 100 last year with some 40c Kenda Happy Medium's and while plenty of folks used narrower tires than this, I was pretty happy with them on the loose pea sized gravel of the Minnesota roads. Especially on downhills when I'd hit a fresh patch of loose gravel, these tires would just fly through it while the folks with 28c's were fishtailing and trying to keep upright! Here it is clean and new with 35c's and fenders.  And here she is at about the 70 mile mark of Almanzo...  Finally, this year I put together my Strada Fango, loosely translated as Road Mud. This bike was inspired by a mixed terrain event in far Northern Wisconsin not coincidentally called the Strada Fango Spring Classic. I brought my cross bike last year only to find that it was not quite enough bike for the ATV trails and singletrack that this ride covers in addition to some great road and gravel road sections. What I've found over the course of all these bikes is that if you've got clearance for fatter tires, it certainly doesn't preclude you from running skinny tires, but you gain lots of versatility with the option for fat rubber. Since I incorporated disc brakes on this bike, I can run the skinny 29'er tires as you see it here, 700c road tires, or I could even build a set of 650b wheels with some road tires which would lower the bike down, make it a bit more stable which might be nice for some light touring. The challenge when building a bike for wider tires like this is to keep the bike from becoming a super long Mack truck type thing. I had to finagle the chainstays clearances, but I kept them to a reasonable 430mm, which is perfectly fine for all the types of riding that it could possibly see. 
Last edited by Dave Wages; 03-10-2013 at 03:28 PM.
|
|
#86
03-10-2013, 03:44 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Nice layout and explanation of design Dave.
Appreciated. I agree on skinny tires and I am a little concerned about the width of the Eroicas I plan on riding at Almanzo this year. FWIW We did 47 miles this morning in sleet, snow, ice and crap gravel in the Spring Valley and Forestville area. I ran my Fargo and everyone else was on a fatbike. Let's put it this way. You simply need a lot of tread when the roads get as horrendous as they were today. You are on to something big with the Strada Fango, as there was no way my Croll would have made it even five miles today. Your design looks like a giant killer if the roads get really rough. We did a 67 mile day trip down there last fall though and the roads were bone dry. I am banking on that for this year's event. If it looks soupy, I'm bringing the Fargo.
|
|
#87
03-10-2013, 03:45 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
geez Dave, nice work. hooray for the Daves!
|
|
#88
03-10-2013, 03:46 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
My gravel ride....
    
|
|
#89
03-10-2013, 03:48 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Currently running 35c's with room for more...
    
|
|
#90
03-10-2013, 03:49 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
Another Serotta that should be mentioned is the Rapid Tour (CRT). Built for several years from 1998 on with the CSI tubeset (at least the later ones, I think the early ones used the Atlanta tubes), with lower BB and longer stays compared to the road bikes, and clearance for 35c tires. The early frames took calipers, but later ones used cantis. I'd love to find one....
|
 |
|
|
Linear Mode
