Tell me about your dream gravel bike

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by prototoast

Can you provide any more details about the types of failures they had and the bikes they were riding? Would be useful input to know what to engineer around.

Three were chainstays. Cracked in the middle, crack at the junction of the BB IIRC, and the las one was from a spoke breaking and the tire and rim cutting into the chainstays. The other was a head tube crack from stress.

[robt57]

Originally Posted by morrisericd

Remember that Speedvagen sale? I just couldn't help myself. The only issue is we're in the dead of winter here in Vermont and all I can do is look at it on my stand for the next two months!

Getting some studded tires and breaking out the snow boarding clothes not an option?

[happycampyer]

My ti/carbon all-road Firefly was built after Firefly switched to the 3D-printed dropouts, but before they introduced the 3D-printed yoke, which permits wider tires with shorter chainstays and standard chainrings.



At about the same time the above bike was delivered, Jamie built an all-road bike with super skinny stays and a 1" seatpost. I ended up spec'ing those features on a disc road bike:



So if I were starting from scratch today to spec an all-road bike, I would get either a ti or ti/carbon Firefly with the 3D printed yoke, skinny seatstays and 1" seatpost. Baum has a similar 3D-printed yoke on their all-road bike—not sure if anyone else has anything similar.

Another alternative would be to get a Routt YBB disc and swap the Lefty onto it... And as others have noted above, the Hampsten Strada Bianca ti with mid-reach brakes is still a fantastic bike for dirt/gravel. Not sure that there is one dream bike, it's more like Baskin-Robbins...

[SlowPokePete]

FWIW I've had zero problems with my Lynskey.

And I've put almost 15,000 miles on it now...

SPP

[Ttx1]

The whole gravel thing is fracturing into niches quickly. Bikepacking or enduroracing or farm road touring or rando or or or or...

We've gone from "700x30-32 is a revelation" to "must have clearance for 650x70 EL greyskin knobbies or GTFO".

Dropper, suspension, etc.

Sample size = 1, but I'm pleased with my "master of most" FF allroad...

This one has 1:1 gearing, and the yoke for the short stays more than for clearance, so it's slightly more road oriented and it climbs like a goat.

Perfectly happy riding on the road or rough road or dirt road or trail, and I don't feel like I'm giving up much if anything vs. my prior pure road FF when on pavement.

Wheel swaps are where it's at.

[robin3mj]

I've had mine for about 2 years now, and loving it.
(Also have a Cannondale Slate that is probably redundant, but I love that one too.)

Max K. builds a quality bicycle...

[d_douglas]

Originally Posted by cp43

I ordered it from Kris Henry at 44 bikes ~5 years ago:
https://www.44bikes.com/huntsman-super-trail/

It's been everything I asked for.

Chris

I would love to see a photo of that. I was (at one point) looking at this bike, but finances dictated a far cheaper solution. He gets rave reviews and this seems like it has a bit of everything wrapped into it!

[madsciencenow]

Tons of cool bikes and good advice above. Your question to me reads like, “tell me about your favorite shovel.” If you want me to answer this I need a few more details like, favorite shovel for what? Are we talking about moving snow, digging a trench or ? Anyway, point being, the advice is only useful if you know what you wanna do with your gravel bike. If you can’t answer this question then I wouldn’t break the bank on a new rig until you sort out where you are riding the bike and what type of geo you like for your particular brand of gravel.

The point about wheels and tires is also spot on in my experience. My Moots Routt was a completely different bike with CF 650b 42s as compared to AL 700c 35s or 28s.




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[jtakeda]

Mine should be coming pretty soon. But I have a feeling it might be taking a trip to Dallas in March....

[scoobydrew]

Fortunate enough to work with Justin @ Black Oak Velo to work out the details on my "dream" gravel bike (Mosaic GT-2).

Titanium with bead blasted finish, ENVE gravel fork, 3 water bottle bosses (with the positions optimized to open up space for a frame bag), and enough clearance for 650x48 or 700x50.

[weaponsgrade]

Clearance for 700x42s, double chain ring, dropper.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by scoobydrew

Fortunate enough to work with Justin @ Black Oak Velo to work out the details on my "dream" gravel bike (Mosaic GT-2).

Titanium with bead blasted finish, ENVE gravel fork, 3 water bottle bosses (with the positions optimized to open up space for a frame bag), and enough clearance for 650x48 or 700x50.

How do you end up with more clearance for 700 than 650? Curvy/aggressively dimpled chainstays?

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

How do you end up with more clearance for 700 than 650? Curvy chainstays?

Probably a typo.

[cp43]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

I would love to see a photo of that. I was (at one point) looking at this bike, but finances dictated a far cheaper solution. He gets rave reviews and this seems like it has a bit of everything wrapped into it!

The photos in the blog entry I linked are of my bike.

Here is the latest photo I have of it, from 2017:


Since then I've changed the rear fender to a black Planet Bike one, and added a Tubus Vega rear rack. With the rack, I moved the tail light to be mounted on the back of the rack. I also changed the rear derailleur, to be able to remove the Jetk adapter. Otherwise, it's as it was in the pics Kris posted.

I can grab some pics if there's something specific you're curious about. I can also answer any questions you have.

Thanks,

Chris

[John H.]

If you got a Moots would you go custom?

I ask that because the Moots RSL and the Open could not be more different in terms of geometry.
Open is a low stack bike with fairly short reach, short top tube, short front center and a 71 degree head angle.
Moots Routt RSL is quite a bit taller in a similar size- But at the same time head angles are 72.5 or so- Too steep in my opinion.

I would think about how you will use the bike and how much durability will come into play.

I have an Open UPPER- It has worked well for me, but I do realize that it has limitations. It is kind of like a "road bike" of gravel bikes.
The finish on my frame spider-webbed. So I had it re-painted.

I also have a Seven Evergreen XV with the cut and welded chainstay- This bike is great for almost everything. I even use it as a fender bike in the winter. Only drawback to a titanium bike (if you care) is that it will weigh about 2 lb. more than a comparable carbon bike (like an Open).
This is partly due to frame weight. But also due to using a substantial headset and bottom bracket.