zachv81

Has anyone ridden one of these on a tour or long ride before? I am looking specifically at the aluminum version. Any input or comments welcomed!

veganbikes

I haven't ridden it before but have heard many good things about the steel version which really why would you want aluminum at that point?

I do want to put a plug in for the new Specialized Sequoia which is making a triumphant return and should be quite awesome for medium touring/bikepacking and just awesomeness. The middle to the end of the Sequoia was mediocre at best but the beginning was awesome and the new one should be quite a fun ride. 1x drivetrain, hydro discs, room for 47mm tires and also swappable with 650b, 3 bottle cage mounts on the lovely steel frame and two on the carbon fork as well as rack and fender mounts. It has got some commonality with bikes like the Jamis Renegade and the RLT 9s but I think has some refinements and improvements from what I have seen in the recent peeks at it on various sites.

PDKL45

The alloy version of the RLT 9 is pretty awesome. It has a carbon fork, which, with the alloy frame would make for a nice light bike, as well as a decent Tiagra drivetrain. I would put a wolftooth roadlink on it and one of the new extended range sunrace cassettes with some bike packing bags or a Tubus Vega rear rack. It would also be a good candidate for the WTB Road Plus Horizon tire on 650B Alex rims, but you would have to check for clearance.

The stance may be a little aggressive for really long rides, but that's just me, and I would like to see a little more clearance for fatter 700c tires, but all in all, I think it's a really decent bike for the money.

DropBarFan

RTL 9 looks quite interesting, very light & complete bike avail for $2k. 9.5 kg/21 lb, wow. Specialized Sequoias are all-steel or steel/carbon fork but still 11 kg/24 lb, not too shabby. AFAIK only the Sequoia Elite has the single chainwheel & the mid/lower-price versions are 2X. Makes one think twice about trad 13 kg/28 lb traditional steel tourer. RTL 9 & Sequoia both drop-bar (nice) but I'd like to see triple-chainring version with even a bit more tire/fender clearance. No reason why non-suspension bikes intended for off-road can't allow for 57 mm/2.25" tires. RTL 9/Sequoia are techier-type bikes so why not have Gates belt-compatible rear dropout?

PDKL45

These are all good points, but the AWOL, designed by the same guy as the Sequoia, Erik Nohlin, had problems with the rear rocker dropouts (anecdotal reports on the Internet). People had problems getting them to align properly and then found it difficult to keep them properly in place once they were aligned.

Also, the AWOL was designed for Shimano Alfine IGH with a belt, rather than a Rohloff. Rohloff compatible dropout chips were released for the AWOL, but they don't seem to have taken off in a big way. I think the designer--or a product manager at the big S--was a little bit sick of the rocker dropouts, as the 2016 range of AWOLS largely avoided them, except for the frameset AFAIK. Maybe there is a lack of enthusiasm for rocker dropouts at Specialized at the moment?

edthesped

I've had an AWOL Comp for almost 2 years now. The dropouts came out of alignment the first week I had the bike, I torqued them according to the sheet and haven't had an issue since. FWIW, I built this up from a frameset and never checked the dropouts so they may not have been properly tightened at the factory. Aligning them is a freaking PITA. They have a scale on the swinger portion and there's nothing on the rounded chainstay to use as a reference so it's eyeball all of the way. Overall I have no complaints about the AWOL.

Also, the Sequoya doesn't have swinger dropouts so dismissing it due to the dropout design on the AWOL would be like dismissing the Vaya because of the dropout design on the Vaya Travel.

edit: Being that I have no intentions of running IGH or belt drive the swinger dropouts are a waste. The only reason I would buy the AWOL elite is for the 825 steel. I digress, sorry to hijack the thread but I'm in need of an n+1 and the RLT, Warbird and now Sequoya are on my list. I want fat tires, fenders and speed.

PDKL45

I'm not dismissing it at all. I was looking at the Sequoia Elite specs earlier and thinking that the Sequoia Elite is pretty much specced how I would like my AWOL to be. I would buy the Elite, over the top model, in a heartbeat if I had the money.

edthesped

Sorry, I misunderstood. It seems many are not very keen on the AWOL but I have to say I've been quite pleased with it. My daughter claimed mine, then took an internship out of country so I re-claimed it for the summer. In any event I'm looking for a replacement and am wondering if I should look for something a little livelier and the Sequoia, Warbird, RLT and to some extent Rove look interesting.

veganbikes

I think a 1x set up is pretty nice especially with the newer ridiculously wide range cassettes and derailleur mount options from folks like Wolf Tooth. Keep it simple off road. Though I do like triples, I think the triple would make most sense on the AWOL.

It would be cool to see a Rohloff/Gates version with a hydro disc integrated shifter but I don't know if Rohloff has that in their plans or if they can get around all the patents and such.

I think going to a 2.25 tire is a little crazy but everyone seems to be going fat these days so maybe it would be kinda cool to have that in a drop bar.

fietsbob

Tour on Any Bike You Like , It's the activity not the hardware.

I've seen all sorts of bikes on the road, here, a very Popular tour destination & waypoint.

PDKL45

No problem. I love my AWOL Deluxe dearly, but I really understand the desire for something a little more lively.

You mention the Rove. Kona sell a Rove Ti frameset that I would love to build up as a minimalist speed machine with a 1x11 drive train, WTB or Compass 650bx47 tires and fenders.