Italuminium

Looking forward to see that build Grady, those swiss crosses are nice.

For me, weight is not much of an issue, but strength and endurance. I mean, I can ride a 10 pound bike made of pure unobtanium, but as long as I spend more hours yakking about bikes on the internet instead of riding, it won't help me

gomango

It's a neat frameset, but hardly pristine.

It was raced hard the last two seasons and I picked it up from a friend that had it hanging on a hook for a great price.

I agree on the yakking part as well.

Fun to do though, especially when a person is stuck in airports.

ColonelJLloyd 

Love it.

Same here.

I built this up last year and it was fun, but I wasn't happy with the fit and have stripped it. Frame and fork are still hanging in the basement.


Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

KonAaron Snake 

Normally I'd agree, but when you're also carrying it over obstacles, getting it 4 lbs lighter is a definite advantage. I think my Vanilla checks in at around 23 lbs (never weighed it)...granted, I didn't build it for weight, or CX. Dyad rims, heavy spokes, clinchers, 3 lace pattern, leather saddle, SPDs and pauls = not a weight weenie. I'd guess it has a pound or two on my old JTS, and that bike was a bit heavy for cross-x.

It's GREAT as an all 'rounder and gravel bike though.

gomango

Aaron,

You could easily pull pounds off that Vanilla at a price.

As for weight of the frame, my buddy Peter was one of the top tier finishers at Almanzo this spring.

He rode a Cross Check!

He'll be riding an All City next year, but they still aren't that light.

They are reasonable for the money.

For me, it's all in the legs and lungs.

As long as the overall weight of the bike is reasonable, the guy who can go hard the whole way gets the flag.

fietsbob

By AlAn Cross Super had all the shiny aluminum you could want, i Have pictures somewhere, on C&V 35mm film.

KonAaron Snake 

No doubt...and call me a wimp, but if I were actually doing another cross ex, I'd want a much lighter bike.

gomango

Not wimpy at all.

Just for reference though Aaron, we did a 85 kilometer ride a week ago in Austria.

That's no biggie, but 7,000' of total climbing was, for sure.

What did I ride?

A Rivendell Rambouillet.

Not too heavy, not too light.

Again, conditioning and base miles were the reason I had a successful ride.

...and let's not forget, weight or lack of it, on a bicycle comes at a price!

So, for me, an 18-20 pound bike will have to suffice.

Elev12k

My Batavus Professional

531 butted tubing, Bocama lugs, Zeus crown
Dura-Ace EX, apart from the Suntour shifter and rear mech
Cinelli cockpit with custom routing for the front (MAFAC) brakes

shoota 

In you guys' opinion what makes a gravel grinder different than a cross bike?

KonAaron Snake 

To me a gravel grinder usually doesn't have to be carried - so durability is more critical and weight less so. Cross ex needs something lighter in my mind. Gravel grinders are going to see less extremity in obstacles, so a lower BB is probably preferable with more road'ish manners.

Italuminium

gear range, equipment, position, fit, saddle choice, luggage capacity, bottle capacity. Think of GG's as rando/light touring bikes with more or less knobby tires.

ColonelJLloyd 

Cyclocross bikes typically have more aggressive geometry. I'd prefer a gravel grinder to be more of a "fat tire century bike". Aaron, WTF is "cross ex"?

shoota 

Ah ok this brings it home. True cross bikes are intended for racing so they don't need the luggage capacity, but need to be light (relatively speaking) and have a little different geo. Got it. So I'm actually looking at turning an old steel bike into a GG, not a cross bike.

KonAaron Snake 

A cell phone auto correct.

Most of the time when I use the word cross, it's related to cross examination...so it auto corrected.

Italuminium

yup, that's it. When I did the build I started out with creature comfort in mind, so I read up a lot on bicycle fit and cycling related injuries and watched many youtube vids explaining fit. I also went with a slightly more padded saddle than on my road bike. I'm happy to report that 60 km+ rides over mixed terrain pose little problem, so mission accomplished!

Italuminium

yeah, I hate it when my ex gets cross!

shoota 

Thanks I'll do the same!

I do have a question about wheels though. I have a pair of tri-color hubs laced to your typical 32h rim. Would these be sufficient for a gg? How wide of a tire can be installed on a typical road rim?

guzziee

Need to find some parts to complete this one (Litespeed Appalachian)

Orrery

Here's my Gunnar Crosshairs, with a Vicious Cycles fork. This is my most modern bike, but it rides swell! Mostly Campy Veloce components.

RFC

I am confident that Niagara Cycles will have a fork that will work.

Sixty Fiver

Riding on gravel is different from tearing up what are usually grassy /wet courses and because of the obstacles a cross bike needs to be light enough to be carried easily.

My Pugsley is the penultimate gravel grinder but my older road bikes that run wider tyres are also very competent on gravel and clay (we have a good mix of this) and the Moulden was built as an XC racing bike and when it was built, a lot of folks used mountain bikes in cross racing... it curbs out at 23 pounds so it is pretty tossable.

My '51 CCM runs 700:38 Avocet cross tyres which are simply brilliant on gravel and bad roads, I am tempted to use these tyres on another build which will essentially be a 29'r light.

gomango

I want a road frame that will take 700x30s.

I tend to ride distances on farm roads in the 40-75 mile range several times a week.

I love Challenge Eroicas. They handle packed gravel beautifully at lower psi, roll well on blacktop and have been crazy durable.

I don't need cross geo, I like more a traditional sport touring geo to smooth out washboard roads.

I like plenty of headtube to sit more upright.

Plenty of sights to see in the countryside.

I want braze ons for water bottles and fenders.

Nothing worse than riding in slurry in Minnesota's springtime.

Wet gravel turns into a fine muck that gets everywhere when wet.

I want a frame that can fit a bag or two.

For instance, Revelate frame bags and a Banjo Bros. top tube bag for my Garmin/iPhone/snacks.

I just picked up a Revelate frame bag that fits three of my bikes to carry rain gear/select tools/a tube or two and co2.

I also carry two el cheapo Cree 2300 lumen spotlights in case we stay out late on the ride.

If I am riding shorter rides I hang my Revelate Viscacha on the saddle.

Cross bikes?

Get rid of the braze ons, fenders, bags etc.

Carry the bare min. of crapola.

I treat cross bikes pretty much like I treat my mtbs.

Muck, sand, some single track, logs, decent sized rocks and surprises!

Fast and aggressive.

They should handle a little more tire and it should have an aggressive knobby pattern.

The Grigo XS works well for me.

I like fairly quick handling.

Water bottles are fine and a tool roll if I am riding down on our river trails.

Travel light with the cross bikes!

ThermionicScott 

It seems like every subgenre in bicycling gets highly-specific quickly these days. On the gravel rides (last I checked, "gravel grinding" meant any kind of rides on primarily-gravel roads, competitive or not) I've done around the Midwest, you'll see anything from MTBs, to cross bikes, to Pugsleys, to any other kind of mutant that people slap together. I like the grassroots, independent, ride-what-ya-got ethos, and would be very sad if it turned into yet another thing where some sanctioning body told you what you could or couldn't ride.

/rant

gomango

They are fine.

I have run 700 x 35s on an Open Pro and they worked great.