loheiman

I bought my bike a set of 650b wheels fitted with 48mm gravelking SKs. Also got a pair of avid Centerline rotors and a Sram 10-42 cassette.

HTupolev

Purchase not yet made, but my plan as it stands:

-Get a BSA ST BB that has a flangeless NDS cup, a few millimeters narrower than the current 118mm BB. (115mm IRD QB-75?)
-Get a 4mm BB spacer, stick it on the NDS.

Should hack 5.5mm off the NDS and add 2.5mm to the DS.

hmm

mstateglfr 

a few things for my upcoming new frame.

Some new tires- going out on a limb and trying something besides my Clement MSO 120tpi 40mm tires that have been so reliable and nice. Gonna get wild and run the WTB Resolute tubeless.

An r7000 front derailleur since my current front derailleur is a top pull CX model.

An Ultegra RX rear derailleur for the clutch feature.


Hopefully this all ends up being worthwhile and not just money spent to try something lateral.

richard.susanto

New wheelset and smooth tubeless 28mm tyres for my local group ride. Swap it back to the factory default 40mm tyres for weekend gravel rides.

Rides4Beer

It's a great way to go so your gravel bike can pull double duty.

richard.susanto

Nice Wheelset. I almost got the same one, but decided to go cheap

Rides4Beer

Merlin has a good deal on them: https://www.merlincycles.com/dt-swis...0c-112361.html

I wanted the 350 hubs and 20mm internal width, the 28's measure 30mm on these. Might bump up to the 32's when these wear out, since there's room.

mstateglfr 

I have these on all my bikes- the style with the bolt they then right eye. Went with orange outer and a black bolt.
If it matches the orange on the new frame, great. If it doesnt, I'll move it to a road bike with some orange on it and use the black caps currently on that bike for my new gravel bike with a spare orange bolt.

sugar skulls have been a long time fascination.

Chi_Z

correction, tan sidewalls looks good with any wheels

mstateglfr 

Flatmount juintech. Wanted something compatible with my 11sp Gevenalle shifters.

Prodigy4299

Changed the 100mm stem that came with my Topstone to a 80mm, to accommodate my relatively short reach. After just one ride i can feel a huge difference.

tangerineowl

Using the R1 at the moment but will probably get the 4pot at some stage.
There's a guy on WeightWeenies who machined an adaptor to fit a 180mm rotor on the front (160mm rear) with the 4pot. Would be a nice combo to run, I'd think.

mstateglfr 

I thought about going with the 4piston, but the cheapest i found was $90 more and without discs. I wont use the included discs, but they could be good to have as spares for other bikes in our family(admittedly not a big reason to buy the f1 2 piston).

$150 vs $240 once all costs were applied. I wish there was more detail online about the 4 piston. They are apparently lighter too?...detailed pics are nearly nonexistent. Unfortunate.

Wilmingtech

Blue Competition Cycles is not associated with Norco. Norco is a Canadian company and Blue was formed in Norcross, Georgia (USA) at around 2003. It started with 3 guys who saw that the costs of Carbon Fiber bikes (In the early 2000's) was very high and that they could make better bikes for both women and men at a lower cost. Once on the market their bikes would retail at about 1000usd less than most retail CF bikes. Blue put quite a bit of thought and engineering into the design and manufacture of the bikes. Because of this there were a lot of triathletes on the east coast riding Blue bikes in the mid to late 2000's. It was the best bike you could get for your dollar.

In 2008 Ryan Barnett who was their chief marketing officer at the time got into a wreck (Hit by a trailer behind a truck) and was paralyzed. Shortly after that in 2010-2011 the company was up for sale and purchased by an investment company (Lake Rudd Capitol Partners) in 2012 and shelved off the market for almost 2 years. I can't confirm that Ryan's accident is what caused this but Ryan was "The Guy" that everyone knew and he was who you went to when you wanted to by Blue Bikes. In that 2 year span a company called "Divine" attempted to purchase Blue Competition but could not get their finances in order and went bankrupt. After Divine went bankrupt another investment group (Minds Group, LLC led by Steven Harad who was acting CEO and may have had some past history with Blue Competition) purchased Blue Competition in 2014 and Steven got the bikes back to market and started production on designs that Blue Competition had in the works and went back to the company in Taiwan (Asahi) that was manufacturing bikes for Blue Competition.

While under the ownership of Minds Group LLC, Blue Competition was unable to sell enough bikes to cover it's debt with Asahi in Tawain (This is the factory that had been manufacturing Blue Competition Bikes from the beginning). Tommy Chen (the CEO of Asahi) being familiar with the Blue designs and engineering, saw an opportunity and bought ownership of Blue Competition in 2016.. Tommy Chen/Asahi now owns Blue Competition and has put Orli Chinea who has been the marketing person from Asahi, working with Blue Competition from the beginning, in charge of marketing Blue Competition bikes in the USA. They are now based in Boulder Colorado.

Take this all with a grain of salt as it was compiled from a bunch of online articles -
Ryan Barnett "On the Move"
Blue Competition bought by investment firm
Blue Competition has new owners
Asahi Quality over Quantity
Asahi Rebuilds Marketplace
New Bikes & New Ownership


Here is a online interview with Blue Competition in 2011 that covers the engineering that goes into their designs -
Fredcast Episode 181
Fredcast Cycling - Press Camp w/Blue Competition (Start @ 10:50)


Sorry to sidebar.... SO lets get back to the topic -
Here is my Blue with recently added - Deda Superzero Bars, Superzero 130mm Ste, Vsteo "Floating" Rotors (With some Color), Fizik Bartape, Rokform phone holder, Cables, Cut steerer and F30 saddle.



VSTEO Rotors


Deda Cockpit & Rokform Mount


Clean Drivetrain


F30 Saddle


You Like?

Wilmingtech

Oh - And the Token Ridley

HTupolev

So this is pretty much what I did.

mstateglfr 

Nice- based on website description, that looks like a Tange Sekei 7922 model. Hollow spindle, aluminum cups, etc.
Way nicer than the lowly Tange Sekei models that I snag for $11 in ebay!

I should pick up a top level bb like this the next time I need one to check it out. The $ difference isn't too much and itd be neat to see the difference in weight, seals, etc

chief9245

Today was a good day. Added a Thomson seat post and stem, WTB Byways, and The Robert Axle Project thru axles. Gets rid of the thru axle handles for a nice clean look. There's cheaper out there but these are some beautifully crafted pieces.

jeremybart

Which road wheelset did people buy as second set for gravel bikes?
When I look for road wheels they aren't 100 and 142mm sizes and cx wheels seem heavier or for off road.

Thanks!

gravelfan

I picked up a set of SES 4.5 ENVE 4.5 AR that are currently sitting in my town waiting for UPS to deliver them to the shop. I had a lot of extra cash from summer work that the best cycling wife I know said to spend on something for my bikes. Setting them up with Continental 5000TL and let the fun begin.

websterrr

nice super sport! I have a tempo from that era

mstateglfr 

Budget? What spoke count do you want? Aluminum or carbon rim?

There are so many choices out there.

A road wheelset that's 100/142 can be built by prowheelbuilder for anywhere from $375 to $2k(guessing on the high end...I haven't bothered to price out what i would never buy).

My gravel wheelset is the same as what's on one of my road bikes, the only difference is rim brake vs disc hubs.
Go to that site and poke around. You can choose preselected builds where options are limited, or select whatever parts you want from the menu.
Sapim double butted spokes are lighter and 'stronger' than plain gauge spokes. Brass nipples are cheaper and heavier than aluminum, but wont seize a few years down the line.
Bitex hubs are elatively inexpensive, relatively light, and relatively quick to engage. I love em and choose to use them over.kore expensive options, but some on here view them as bottom of the barrel. Hope hubs are a well regarded brand.
For rims- there are lots. I have multiple bikes with h plus son rims. Boys altamonte lite is another rim that the builder recommends.

Noctilux.95

Just picked up a 2020 Easton EC90 SL 46-30 carbon crankset.

Wilmingtech

Ha! I was wondering if anyone would notice

It's my winter project. Hopefully will keep a rebuild thread here @BF

websterrr

nice, excited to see how that turns out