Russ Roth

I stumbled across these bikes from this forum but no one had an opinion of them so for anyone thinking of looking at them I thought I'd give more details. I went all in on this and bought one bike and one frameset since its for me at the wife. We went with this since it had a reasonable price for a starter bike and for a frameset. Only bought a complete since we wanted the Microshift Advent X for a kid's bike and this made it fairly affordable.



Packaging was mostly what you'd expect except both showed up in boxes that claimed to be TVs with the bike details on the side. Frame showed separately and same thing in a frame sized box. Kids got real excited at two new boxes proclaiming they were TVs. The other is that someone must have stock in a zip tie company, this thing was covered in them.
Because I have one, I had to get out the scale once built.
Frame sz. Small 4.48lbs
Fork which appears cut to match, haven't fit it yet 2.72lbs, this is 100% aluminum
Total bike weight, built with pedals 29.52lbs, this sucker is no lightweight.
Bike with both wheels removed 15.25, ready to ride wheelset was 14.27lbs.

Build was straight forward, actually one of the easier builds as it seems the brakes and rear der were pre-setup, cable tension on the brakes was less then I liked but an easy adjust while the rear der was practically spot on needing only a touch more tension as well. Even the limit screws were fine where they were. Both wheels only needed the slightest of touches, really, being disc the amount they were out wouldn't be noticeable and I only did it since they were in the stand. The were probably 97-98% round, not perfect but close enough to not warrant pulling the tires.

The Good:
Cost, seriously 900.00 shipped
Advent X shifts flawlessly and the 11-48 cassette gives plenty of range.
Tektro cable brakes move both pads like a TRP Spyre
Does hold a 27.5x2.5 tire or a 29x2.1
Cam thru axles, why don't more companies do these?
The fork is friggin stout with 3 mounting bolts per side.
Easy set up and ready to tackle the trails no problem
The chainring is a narrow/wide and the prowheel crank is relieved in the back to reduce weight. Probably as good as any FSA omega crank.

The Bad:
Heavy parts
The wheels, the rims look like they were designed to be rim brake and someone slapped paint on the braking surface. The tires are cheap and heavy
The disc rotors seem a little flimsy compared to some.
No cable stop to add a later front der.


Wife took it out for a spin at the local state park mtb trails. She liked the handling but the fit needs work, said her hands went completely numb after 1/2 hour. A comparison to her cross bike showed the stem needs to go from a 50mm to a 100mm and the bars have to come up another 13mm to match the position. Wondering if being to compressed isn't causing too much weight and pressure on the hands. The bar is comes with is also angled at the end which made the levers uncomfortable while also being too wide for her. I've got a Thomson 100mm 10* stem on the way for her. Might also need a carbon bar to counter the stiffness of the aluminum fork. She happily rolled over anything in the trail with confidence.



This is where it currently stands. We've swapped the wheels from her old touring bike. 32h White Industry built with butted spokes, 3x. I haven't figured out what 29x2.1 tire to toss on there but will have to find something. Really want faster on pavement and gravel with some side tread for when the gravel turns to singletrack. Cassette will stay the 11-34 but have a Truvative XO 39/26 crankset showing up on mon if it doesn't get lost. Still trying to figure out what front der to use that will work. Using the tiagra will require filing a dropper post cable guide off which I don't like the thought of. A mtb front der will struggle to work with the Tiagra shifters and with the 16t range if I put a 42t ring in place of the 39t which I would like to do. I suspect filing will be required. Swapping the wheels to these brought it into the 25lb range and the tires on there aren't light, something like schwalbe racing ralphs or rocket rons will only add about a 1/2 lb. So anticipating a 25lb tourer meant to ride wherever.

mtnbud

That's a nice looking bike. Thanks for sharing!

Russ Roth

Did a test fit today with 29x2.25 Schwalbe Rocket Ron tires on Stans rims which are only .5mm wider then the purple velocity, result inflated to 40psi was about a half inch per side at the chain stays and no risk of rub anywhere else. 29x2.1 conti cross kings are on order from bike24 for more general use and faster pavement riding.

jbernaeyge

Just wondering how the 29c2.1 fit. I'm running a small frame