Open U.P. or U.P.P.E.R. only bike?

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by cribbit

The vast majority of thru axle wheels are 12mm thru axle. While many of those are convertible that means acquiring a conversion kit. It's not the end of the world, it's just an annoying extra step because they're using a standard that lost the standards war. It's comparable to having a car with a betamax player.

Unless I'm missing something, isn't the x12 a 12x142mm thru axle system? It just has its own particular thread pitch for the dropouts, but there are a variety of thread pitches across the thru axle world, and every frame comes with the correct axles for its dropouts. Works with pretty much any wheel/hub you'd ever want to put on an OPEN.

[GonaSovereign]

Originally Posted by cribbit

Reading thru their website, they use X12 thru axles. Ewwww. For a bike that seems to have thought out so many things that seems... iffy.

Why? What's iffy?

(A glance at the list of bikes using X12 suggests it's pretty solid.)

[John H.]

Any worry about the thru axles is unfounded.
My UPPER came with 12mm Ti-Carbon bolt on thru axles 12x100 front and 12x142mm rear.
They are as easy to use as any other thru axles that I own (and I am 100% disc these days so I have two other bikes with same standard and I mix the wheels).

[cribbit]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Unless I'm missing something, isn't the x12 a 12x142mm thru axle system? It just has its own particular thread pitch for the dropouts, but there are a variety of thread pitches across the thru axle world, and every frame comes with the correct axles for its dropouts. Works with pretty much any wheel/hub you'd ever want to put on an OPEN.

Maybe I'm totally mistaken. I had a wheel that I was told was Syntace X-12. It was not 12mm, but was thru axle. It was a Vision Metron 55 SL. I later swapped the axle for a proper 12mm axle, I still have the "X-12" axle. Perhaps it was actually through-bolt?

EDIT: I am totally mistaken. Not sure *** was on it.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by cribbit

Maybe I'm totally mistaken. I had a wheel that I was told was Syntace X-12. It was not 12mm, but was thru axle. It was a Vision Metron 55 SL. I later swapped the axle for a proper 12mm axle, I still have the "X-12" axle. Perhaps it was actually through-bolt?

EDIT: I am totally mistaken. Not sure *** was on it.

yeah I was confused when you mentioned it.

OPEN is TI Carbon 12mm TA.... Just a normal TA


This bike is pretty great, great little details.

The 2 crappy things about OPEN... but I understand.

1- Press Fit BB - Have had 0 problems with it but you know.... I prefer a T47.

2- Internal Routing. Its a pain unless you have etap. That said, its a bike in 2019 and every fancy carbon bike is like this so it is what is.

[Jsafran]

I completely downsized and went the 1 Gravel Bike route almost 3 years ago and have been very happy with it. I have an TrailDonkey 2.0 and love it. I am technically on my third fork and second frame from crashes/getting hit, but I still say I've been on the same bike the whole time.

To be fair N+1 still applies as I am building another gravel bike up right now. The only reason I am building a second gravel bike is because I am converting the Donkey to a gravel-touring rig and was tired of swapping tires/wheels/racks/bags several times a week. It was also painful to be rebuilding your only bike and have nothing else to ride.

Gravel bikes might not be optimized for road or trails, but I still enjoy them beyond the handful of gravel races I do per year. I ride more now and so my "slow" gravel bike has a much stronger motor than my aero road bike did. I find technical challenges in the forest to be fun, but I can see why a lot of people might not.

[SpeedyChix]

Originally Posted by charliedid

Sell the Spectrum for an UPPER? You're drunk.

LOL Way too much rain around here this spring. It's more of a hypothetical ? than any chance of it happening. The Spectrum is safe and is a great all day rider.
I DO need to work out some wheelset solutions though. Get a 27.5 x big back in the mix for some rough surface riding.

[dieonthishill]

I have done it. It’s my only drop bar bike and does everything. Sometimes even replaces my hardtail MTB...

[Clean39T]

First of all, bikes are fun, and ride whatever you want.

But since you asked, I can't imagine ever giving up having a "real" road bike in my stable. They are just too much fun, and really nothing can compare to zipping around on efficient fast-feeling tires, darting over little hills, sprinting up steep ones, carving corners, or motoring on long flats at 22-24mph solo. I would never give that up in favor of one bike that is kinda okay at being a mountain bike, but is a total slog on the road from a position and squishy-tire standpoint - no matter what the folks trying to sell us on gravel and 650b and fat tires on the road say. But I live in a place with decent to good roads and don't have access out my door to a million miles of the type of gravel that requires fatter than 32mm tires (or even 28s really). So, it makes sense that if I was to go to "one bike" it would be a bike that is optimized for the conditions I ride most frequently and most enjoy, not for the conditions that I sometimes think I want to ride but never really get around to being out on.. Plus, the only reason I could see for going to "one bike" would be if I only had space for one - and that would only happen if I was living in a studio apartment with no storage, which, if that were the case, there's no way I'd have a bike optimized for going off-road, because I'd have nowhere to clean, store, or maintain it - and therefore would never use it for its intended purpose - which seems like a waste.

Ergo, my priorities for bikes are:

1. An all-ROADs bike - my Kirk MRB - that can get me around comfortably for 100mi or more, take 32s if I'm doing really rough pave or lighter gravel, but also take 28s for spirited road rides and training, and fit fenders to get me through the winter.

2. An unapologetic ROAD bike - for riding fast and hard, and enjoying speed and efficiency above all-day comfort. Optimized for 25c tires, because they feel great in and out of the saddle, are enough cush (at my 180lbs) with 80psi in them and provide adequate traction without squirming on 99% of the paved roads I ride.

3. Literally everything else, just depending on what I have access to as far as funds, storage, and riding opportunities - vintage/classic road, MTB, cross, touring, track, TT, commuting, gravel, deep gravel, bikepacking, whatever... These are my N+3, 4, 5, ...10 bikes. And I can live without all of them.

But I'd rather not live without #2.

And if I have to live without #1... life will have taken a serious turn.

.
.
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I say all this, and yet I really want an Allied ABLE or Lauf True Grit ---->

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by SpeedyChix

LOL Way too much rain around here this spring. It's more of a hypothetical ? than any chance of it happening. The Spectrum is safe and is a great all day rider.
I DO need to work out some wheelset solutions though. Get a 27.5 x big back in the mix for some rough surface riding.

I know :-) and yes in the end they are all just bikes. Speaking of weather and you being in Michigan, I was gonna take the ferry across to Ludington Saturday and ride back down to Chicago. The weather seemed too iffy and not much fun for a tour. I looked last night and the weather app said "Flurries" in Ludington?!!! Ugh

[Hilltopperny]

I think it can be done and I had my Drifter built with this intention. I have 700c and 650b wheelsets for it and could easily get by with it as my only bike, but I love trying out other bikes and having the availability of something different to ride.

I am culling my current crop of bikes right now and will likely be moving one of my Kirks along and possibly one other as I have a few road specific bikes right now along with a few all road bikes which suit my roads out here a bit better and my dedicated gravel bike.

If I really needed to downsize I'd still have at least one dedicated road bike and a gravel specific bike.

Sent from my moto g(6) play using Tapatalk

[fa63]

I have been toying with the idea of having my Argon 18 Dark Matter as my only bike, with three sets of wheels: 700x28c for road rides, 700x45c for gravel, 650bx2" knobbies for singletrack. But I do find that I enjoy riding my pure road bike on occasion so I haven't done this yet.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

First of all, bikes are fun, and ride whatever you want.

But since you asked, I can't imagine ever giving up having a "real" road bike in my stable. They are just too much fun, and really nothing can compare to zipping around on efficient fast-feeling tires, darting over little hills, sprinting up steep ones, carving corners, or motoring on long flats at 22-24mph solo. I would never give that up in favor of one bike that is kinda okay at being a mountain bike, but is a total slog on the road from a position and squishy-tire standpoint - no matter what the folks trying to sell us on gravel and 650b and fat tires on the road say. But I live in a place with decent to good roads and don't have access out my door to a million miles of the type of gravel that requires fatter than 32mm tires (or even 28s really). So, it makes sense that if I was to go to "one bike" it would be a bike that is optimized for the conditions I ride most frequently and most enjoy, not for the conditions that I sometimes think I want to ride but never really get around to being out on.. Plus, the only reason I could see for going to "one bike" would be if I only had space for one - and that would only happen if I was living in a studio apartment with no storage, which, if that were the case, there's no way I'd have a bike optimized for going off-road, because I'd have nowhere to clean, store, or maintain it - and therefore would never use it for its intended purpose - which seems like a waste.

Ergo, my priorities for bikes are:

1. An all-ROADs bike - my Kirk MRB - that can get me around comfortably for 100mi or more, take 32s if I'm doing really rough pave or lighter gravel, but also take 28s for spirited road rides and training, and fit fenders to get me through the winter.

2. An unapologetic ROAD bike - for riding fast and hard, and enjoying speed and efficiency above all-day comfort. Optimized for 25c tires, because they feel great in and out of the saddle, are enough cush (at my 180lbs) with 80psi in them and provide adequate traction without squirming on 99% of the paved roads I ride.

3. Literally everything else, just depending on what I have access to as far as funds, storage, and riding opportunities - vintage/classic road, MTB, cross, touring, track, TT, commuting, gravel, deep gravel, bikepacking, whatever... These are my N+3, 4, 5, ...10 bikes. And I can live without all of them.

But I'd rather not live without #2.

And if I have to live without #1... life will have taken a serious turn.

.
.
.

I say all this, and yet I really want an Allied ABLE or Lauf True Grit ---->

Although I am with you and I have exactly those bikes, a bike like the OPEN can trully replace them all with just 2 sets of wheels. Don't get me wrong, its fun to take differfent bikes out, they feel different. But if you had to tell me, hey, road ride, choose English or your OPEN... I go either way and be as happy.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

Although I am with you and I have exactly those bikes, a bike like the OPEN can trully replace them all with just 2 sets of wheels. Don't get me wrong, its fun to take differfent bikes out, they feel different. But if you had to tell me, hey, road ride, choose English or your OPEN... I go either way and be as happy.

At least for me, a lot of it comes down to the relative position between the two bikes. My current gravel position is within a few mm of my preferred road position, and I could get all the way there by removing a spacer underneath the stem. I'm also not incredibly sensitive to a few mm either way. If either of those things isn't true for a rider, I can see where having the two different bikes makes a big difference.

[weisan]

Speedy pal, it seems to me that you are in an unique place of your biking evolution. You have been sifting through and getting rid of a bunch of bikes on the classifieds and riding more on bikes that "give you joy" or bring you to your happy place. I think that's good thing. I don't own an OPEN but I have gone through a period of time where I have only one bike that serves both as a road bike as well as a gravel bike, and even a touring bike.

I am not gonna lie, it was not optimal (no bike is) BUT I could live with the compromises and it was "good" enough...for me. And so I was able to stay happy and accept that arrangement for 6+ years. During that time, I was just grateful to be able to ride regularly and have a bike that takes me to many happy places...and it doesn't even have disc brakes or able to accept any tires bigger than 35mm!!!

Good luck with your decision. I say, "go ahead and do it" -- what do you have to lose?