Rodeo Labs Trail Donkey 3.0
 

2 inch tires with 700c wheels, mounts up the wazoo, threaded bottom bracket...

The more I look at this thing the more I like it.

https://www.rodeo-labs.com/td3/

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5f90c04f3c.jpg

That looks good, but I have to ask myself..... why not get MTB... XC mountain bike and run 2 inch tires
It seems more people want to take their gravel grinders on ruff singletrack now.
Only thing left would be to put flat bars on it.... no?

Rodeo Labs makes some fun looking frames. The TD and Flannimal have well thought out versatility.

what they lack is wide frame sizes.

Is 65mm a good BB drop for a bike with 2" 700c tires? Seems a tad tall?

Add a dropper post?

My gravel bike has 700x50 tires and a 80mm dropper. It's fun as hell on mixed singletrack/gravel rides but I'm sure an XC 29er hardtail would work just as well, if not better. Still, I like the aesthetics of my bike and that counts. For smooth gravel, I'd want something like a road bike with 38s, personally.

From the product page...

The bottom bracket on Traildonkey is slightly higher than some other bikes in the gravel segment because we prioritize function across wheelsets. A bike with a low bottom bracket may perform well on 700c wheels, but will drop to become excessively low on 650b wheels. This would result in more pedal strikes or chainring dings when riding aggressively. Clearance matters off-road and TD3 prioritizes off-road performance.


-Tim-

I wouldn't kick it out of my garage.

Looks good but I have an issue with tiny companies like these charging thousands for a frame made in China for a couple hundred bucks. You pay a premium to the big guys because 5 years from now it's pretty much guaranteed they will be around and you get warranty. With small shops like these it's never a guarantee. If anything nowadays you are more likely to succeed selling a great affordable frame vs an expensive one.

I do not know how many prototypes they made and how they tested the carbon laying compositions but making a bike in a single type of carbon (T800 in this case) would result in a poor ride quality. A good carbon bike requires stiff high modulus carbon in the BB and softer low modulus carbon in headtube and seat stays. Also laying thickness, epoxy composition, require large amount of R&D investment to perfect. There is a considerable ride quality difference from a $500 Chinese open mold to a $4000 S-Work, I have a feeling this frame will be closer to the $500 open mold

So who has actually ridden one?

I'd like to hear feedback from someone who has laid hands on it.

I'm afraid to test ride one as I might wind up buying it.


-Tim-

That's quite a bit of speculation. They claim to have done a lot of testing so I'm guesing it's more in the middle of that spectrum than towards the $500 end.

bring the bike to a few gravel races is not really R&D, what actual scientific test did they do? A proper composite testing facility would be very expensive. Which factory in Taiwan are the bike produced? There are state of the art factories like Quest composite that make Trek and Canyon frames, there are also no name factories that makes $500 open mold with questionable QC. Every time I hear T700 or T800 carbon it gives a indication of the latter.

the problem with test rides... they are not long enough.

your (anyone) body can lie for a little bit, but it can't lie forever.
I bet it rides like a log wagon and needs every bit of that 700x50 tire volume to make up for it. But hey we all ride different and for a different purpose. If it fits your purpose, go for it.

When you are pretty unknown brand selling a Taiwanese carbon frame for more than an Open UP Classic there might be a problem with your choices.

Ok you're all haters. Got it.

It would be excellent...if you actually followed Rodeo Adventure Labs and how they do things...before typing.

If you're in the Denver area, give Steve a ring. They're more open about how they do things than basically any other frame maker I've ever heard of, and are happy to talk about it.

Nope nope, they used the word "T800", they're garbage.

at $2600 for the frameset, it cost more than Trek checkpoint, Specialized Diverge, Canyon Grail, Giant Revolt, I simply trust the QC and R&D of these big brands more than someone came from nowhere with limited composite engineering experience. But hey if you want to spend $2600 for a generic T800 frame with cool paintjob, go for it.

Do you know it is generic? Of course you don't. You've already admitted you know nothing about the firm or their operations. How about you just stop and troll elsewhere?

Small firm frames cost more than big firm frames. This is basic economics.

WGH, I'm planning to attend the Rodeo Rally in Helen, Georgia on March 30.

https://www.rodeo-labs.com/georgia-r...-das-boot-cup/

Should be a good time riding gravel and there will be three or maybe four Trail Donkey 3.0 bikes present to eyeball and touch. One person has already offered a test ride on actual gravel roads but his bike is a bit big for me.

Back to the bike itself, I like how they provide the Di2 wiring diagram and actual Shimano part numbers. https://www.rodeo-labs.com/td3-di2-wiring-diagrams/

I'm going to be experimenting with Absolute Black subcompact 46-30 chainrings and an XT 11-42 cassette with Ultegra RX-805 GS derailleur. At least one person says it works "Like a champ" on his Lynskey. If it works on my Niner then everything could be swapped to a TD3.0 frame pretty easily from a mechanical perspective.

Not so easy to swap from a financial perspective. Damn, that thing is expensive.


-Tim-

Now that part I can understand. Should've just left it at that if you aren't familiar with the brand you're trashing.

Maybe because flat bars hurt my hands? Having listened to an interview with the founder of Rodeo Labs and his goals with this frame, I do get that calling this a rigid drop bar MTB would be a fair description. It's really up on the offroad/MTB side of gravel biking.

Fair point about the (potential) lack of future warranty. But, that's the reality of a smaller volume manufacturer. Their costs to develop the mold, layup, etc are spread over a smaller number of bikes, driving up the cost when compared to the "big guys" who can spread their costs over far more sales. What the small companies do provide is a niche product though, something that offers some combination of features that the big guys aren't providing. Sure, you can debate whether you need those features or not, but that's just how the market works out.