chas58

I find head tube angle is the biggest factor on whether a bike will be agile or stable.
Trail is probably more important, but its hard to get good consistent measurements between manufacturers.
I don't need a high BB, but personally I have pedal strike issues below 70mm.
I can change the wheelbase a bit on my fixed gear bikes, but can't say that I have ever noticed much of a difference there, other than maybe turning radius. Certainly my short wheelbased bikes can do a tighter slalom than my long wheelbased bikes, but the long wheel base bikes do like to go straight with more stability

cs1

The analogy is so very inappropriate. While some might consider bicycles a tool in this case it just isn't so. What manufactures are doing is telling the consumer they need a specialized bike to do a job a good steel bike can do. Once the great gravel craze is gone some other odd ball niche will pop up just like cross bikes, fixes and gravel bikes did. And in the end guys on LHTs will be riding their bikes everywhere just as well as the so called niche machines do.

Metieval

Interesting that you call my analogy inappropriate, yet drop the LHT comment.

I mean of all the bikes for pleasure riding, the LHT isn't one of them. It is by far the biggest TOOL cycle of them all. LOL

riding them down the GCDT I highly doubt it. Riding them down some Single track just as well as a Cannondale Slate? I doubt it! Being Nimble in traffic like a short wheel based bike? I Doubt it!
You know there might be a reason city Messengers don't ride LHT's. Like it or not Bikes are tools.
some are for employment (messengers), some are for exercise, some are for touring, some are for pleasure, etc...

Banzai

It's a new marketing term for a frame that Nashbar started selling more than a decade ago for like $99.

Metieval

@johngwheeler

btw you might find this interesting, (if you can read it)

Goldsprint Berlin dropped the link along with this comment.




https://www.rennrad-news.de/news/test-giant-tcx-slr2/

chas58

Seems like they liked it. They commented on the more relaxed geometry (wheelbase, chainstays), but low head tube (for racing). They seemed a little miffed about the semi-hydraulic brakes though.

chas58

Wow, some nice reviews there. I love the analysis that only German magazines seem to do.

One part that lost me:

Schwächen
Übersetzungsbandbreite in manchen Fällen zu gering

What the heck is that supposed to mean in relation to a bicycle? I'm missing the context I guess.
(source: https://www.mtb-news.de/news/2017/11...pro-race-test/ )

Metieval

that Canyon has a 40t chainring, I wouldn't like it either. too low IMO

as in translated
"Weaknesses of gear ratios in some cases too low"
I suppose if all I did was race cross that canyon would suffice, but as a daily rider and looking at it... that fame and my eyes

Metieval

It's so hard to translate and keep it all in context!!!!

Well they pretty much sold me on it for other reasons... well and I love the 2018 color!

I like a cyclocross geo, but I hate the higher stand over of them. I also like riding my blur the line between road/track geo single speed bikes.

So where I am sold on the TCX SLR is PF30 bb (for eccentric BB), front/rear thru axle, the Al frame has smaller looking tubes than the advanced CF, flat mount, and it totally fits a 650b+ not so plus though as I'd choose the lighter weight 650bx42. and totally rock this as a SS alrounder. the 60 mm bb drop totally plays a part in allowing this and still maintain a good bb height after dropping the bike 1/2 "

I can get a 1300 gram CF 650 wheelset, GK 650x42 are 350g tubeless... most Flipflop wheels alone are in the 2,000+ gram range. most like 2300-2400 lol and a street drop bar fixie/singlespeed gets dicey on gravel and pinch flats suck!

the Real question is $2,000 (or more) for a SS? do I really want to go there? I think yes, but I think no.

Especially when this Norco Threshold does a nice job at blurring lines between cross, smoother singletrack, gravel, all round riding. for less than it's cost me to make a SS.
https://www.norco.com/bikes/road/cyc...hold-a-apex-1/



I need more $ and need more storage space!

Sullalto

They know exactly what they're selling-the boone, domane and crockett have a higher price ceiling. Now that they know the market supports that, they're going to serve it. In a way that doesn't require the design and tooling of a new bike.

iowa mark

For years now I've ridden gravel on what bike I had. My biggest take away is the rider seeing ahead of the tires. It is a constant set of adjustments based on moisture content of the fluff, size of the rocks, compaction of the roadbed, holes, tire grooves, crown of the road......blah blah blah. My cheap mountain bike was so much more forgiving of a miscalculation than my old skinny tired road machine. My full suspension downhill creature is lots nicer to my tired old body. One more or less tooth on the crank or half a degree difference in rake is nothing compared to three inches of talcum covering a nice smooth baseball sized rock coming down a 15% grade at 20mph.