Rivs new entry into the making-old-men-feel-relevent-again-26er-with-NOTHING-modern-thanks category of the market is hideous.
They even know that their frame looks stupid… but gots ta have dem lugs
“The swoopy seat stays allowed us to use the seat lug we wanted and get long chainstay.”
Also you can’t fit a front mech, so just shift with a stick
I forget the reason why front mech can’t fit. I know it’s not cos of clearance to rear tyre…
my bad, not these ones, the super herp a derp ones with braze on for carrying handle right where the mech goes.
It’s easy to foot-shift down in front, but you have to get off and finger-shift back up. It’s easy, and the fingers can be a stick if you don’t want to touch grease. Basically—-easy.
I dont even…
I’m going to dig up my old repco Max tracks and convert it to a endurance road bike,
Prob just shake the haters off, I don’t even care that is was made on a pacific island.
And yet this thread lives on despite the haterz…
In my mind, the ideal candidate would be a steel stumpjumper, but when disc mounts came in (what was that, 1996?). ahead stem with road bars and hydro STi’s, 1x11. Imagine what a bike that would be. Oh and use the new Compass 50mm tires
Maxway will take your order horatio!
Plus, can you imagine how popular a basic threadless 1x8 vee or disc non sus corrected steel MTB would be for commuters? Cheap OEM build, rival the cost of a kmart bike / entry level hybrid.
Ritchey p-26 with shimano ultegra hydro you could be 2015’s John Tomac.
This is getting a little exciting
I think the bike I’ve still done the most miles on is the 2004 Giant Boulder SE that i rode for about four years. Such a sick bike.
Two options available at the moment.
29er or 650B?
I reckon an uncorrected-fork 29 or 650b mtb with gears would be fun. Like the All-city JYD but useful and better geometry.
Late to the thread, but I may have something useful to add.
I run cantis on the road where I appreciate the modulation and the resulting more comfortable fork (as old mate Sean’s argued). Off road I am exclusively a hydro disc fan. Ultimately this comes down to braking power. Off road, you’re more likely to encounter steeper grades and the sudden need to stop or change direction really quickly. Cross/gravel bikes are somewhere in the middle. Mine have cantis, occasionally I wish I had discs. If building something with fatter than 40’s it’s gotta be disc.
That changing direction quickly that I mentioned also has an effect on handling. I think Scott and Mike have effectively made the same comment. Off road low trail isn’t great (Scott), mid trail with a load is pretty ace (Mike) but is not as great as a regular high trail mtb when unloaded. Everyone’s favourite bike blogger (Prolly) had his pretty amazing Geekhouse off road tourer built mid-trail and I reckon he’s on the money there for this type of bike.
Also, on the topic of handling. Off road it’s gotta be responsive. This means stiff. 1", threaded or threadless, on an off road bike is just plain dumb. Non-super-high-performance road bikes can get away with 1", Mtb’s have gone tapered. for a “road enduro” (which is a dumb fucking name) bike just go with 1 1/8" threadless. Der.
130mm hubs only make sense to me on roadies. If you can reduce the dish on a wheel, do it. A stronger rear wheel is worth 2.5mm of potential heel clearance. Plus, the chainline on this thing is going to be ridiculous. I wouldn’t be surprised is the chain hits the tyre in the granny, nor would I be surprised if all of these bikes crack through the chainstays where Sean crimps the fuck out of them.
I’m with floody, that an uncorrected-fork mtb would be ace. Gen 1 Fargo, new VO frame (although I don’t think I’ll like the geo), not much else other than custom.
I don’t give a fuck which wheel size people like. There’s 25mm difference in diameter between a 26 and a 650. That’s sweet fuck all. Someone should develop an equation to determine optimal wheel size. Something like – Rider Height / Coefficient of Terrain * Availability of Affordable Parts + Speed of Cornering - Size When Packed Down = Wheel Size.
So yeah, this new Rawland just sounds like the pet project of a bunch of beardo’s in a massive circle jerk who are devoutly obsessed with a handful of very particular standards. I bet it rides ok, but when it comes down to it, so does a Malvern Star Mongrel. The people who buy them will bore the shit out of you telling you how great it is, but I’ll never buy one.
Oh yeah and Sean sounds like a dick.
FTFJed
riding allroad enduro before anyone even knew it was called that ;p
The dude who can notice 1mm of fixture adjustment obviously understands fork trail
Good posting luke. And prolly- loooolll
We used to do all kinds of stupid shit on zero-to-minimally suspended ‘NORBA geometry’ hardtails 2 decades ago. 7-up thrash to school 5 days a week, shopping trips, hucking loading docks, schralping walking tracks, lofting doubles at the BMX track, gapping pine tree roots in the park, 100km XC rides, XC races, DH races, Trials, VCI schoolboys criteriums (yep!) same bike, no care, no problems (eh except for breaking, like everything, like all the time, and the disapprobation of one’s parents.)
I reckon with some modern refinements (make the geo a little more playful, and update mostly the stuff that used to break, BBs, cranks, headsets, cockpit stuff, so just a few modern standards) on a pretty traditional rigid/minimal suspension hardtail, you could have a few belly laughs at a reasonable price. Even modern cantis would be a giggle on something like that.
I’ve got my old backup hardtail frame from back then still, a clutch mech drivetrain, some SS-5 levers, renthal fatbars and a gxp crankset. Might see what I can mash together with a hit of hip industrial color and a big fat rack.
Omg were we the same person as a child?
I had I diamond back no suspension cx bike I put a rst 275 triple clamp on the front of and thought I was Shaun Palmer racing 4x everywhere then would go and hit dirt jumps and do trials shit on.
Now there’s an image that is forever burnt into my brain.