Originally Posted by
Wildwood
Not only ugly, but contrived, heavy and fragile.
Derailleur so far offset from axle looks like a poor engineering decision analysis effort, especially given gravel riding and the bumps and pounding it takes. Fat and almost flat probably cushions much of the blow.
The future of road bike cycling = mechanically challenged, but fat and nearly flat will absorb the lack of sophistication (and make us all faster in the long run?). Probably applies to sub-900gm CF frames, as well.
?How large a spoke protector is needed? Maybe the gravel wheel spoke protector is a disc wheel. The next great product in the evolution of 1X drivetrains = tough gravel disc rear wheels! Made out of lightweight CF = the newest $5000 component.
Actually no, this is just a Shimano "direct mount" RD. that ends up about in the same physical alignment as a traditional RD with hanger (and mounting knuckle). The DM mounting is stiffer and more precisely standardized than RD hangers to boot. The odd visual is purely camera alignment and gearing. Sadly the DM standard hasn't caught on, but it is superior....so it is probably going away in the dustbin of history.
That frameset having slider dropouts--you could change the wheel/axle to a fixed SS or IGH or just about anything. It is a very flexible platform.
Spoke protectors are great...if you're the sort that ignores your low-limit screw.