Gravel? Don’t laugh! I’m just thinking out loud. Itch scratched

[CassidyAce]

Hang on a minute, Mr @Peachy! Just yesterday, this bike was:

Awesome! Super light and responsive (at 19.6lb)
And surprisingly comfortable. A bit like an early 90’s hardtail but without the weight which was exactly what I was after.

But then, in a bizarre and perverse lust for verbal flagellation, you courted the opprobrium of the masses, the judgement of the false prophets of doom, the dogma of the steel is real Luddites, the 'herd mentality' of the Retrobike massive . . . People who probably think that a gravel bike is just the unholy and bastard offspring of a mountain bike and a road bike. And today, you have capitulated and you're talking about binning the frame and shoving all the kit onto some 531. Well . . . If you can't resist the crowd and be proud of riding a bike that's a bit weird, you'll never be a Cannondale owner. That's all I can say.

 

[Peachy!]

@CassidyAce you are quite correct. I’ve since changed my mind and also my daughter has had a go on it and wants it for a comfortable road bike
That is of course if it survives the cinder track which I’m confident it will.
The only reason why I might consider building up an old 531 touring frame for tow path duties is it will allow fatter tyres.

 

[Woz]

I can see it now. Cannondale and Specialized on a bidding war to buy Peachy's bright ideas for the next big thing in cycling.

 

[legrandefromage]

Columbus tubing was always better

 

[KermitGKona88]

Do you reckon the cf road frame is tough enough to take some offroad hits?

Also, slight offtopic - how tough are old 531 road frames? E.g. if one took a 1960-70s 531 frame, installed 35mm tyres and started riding it offroad (sensible XC, no jumps, etc), what are the chances of it falling apart?

Far less than that of a carbon fibre mountain bike frame...

 

[Imlach]

Never seen

Far less than that of a carbon fibre mountain bike frame...

Plastic is for 10p bags and the ocean, aluminium is for beer cans

Steel is real, no steel no deal.

That's enough bile for today thank you, needed to hack that up

 

[Peachy!]

Ah. As usual, people have started talking about their own understanding of bikes based upon their own experiences and what they believe they think they understand regarding what I'm talking about, always gets a bit sort of "I'm right, no I'm right, no no, I'm right and so's my wife" Which of course is normally met with answers such as "that's interesting" or the non committal "Oh ok"
If you've ever been on the receiving end of reply's like these, let me assure you, people aren't in agreement, they're just thinking something different

So anyway, just to clear up once and for all, here's an easy to understand list

Option 1, surfaces A through F inc all mentioned below & very bumpy stuff/red routes at trail parks


Option 2, surfaces B through F, inc all mentioned below & bumpy stuff, Blue routes and fire roads


Option 3, Surface C through F inc all mentioned below & gravel or fire road & mildly bumpy single track


Option 4, Surface D through F inc all mentioned below & fine gravel/cinder track with the odd lump and bump to be negotiated slowly


Option 5, Surface E through F inc all mentioned below & normal varied road


Option 6, Surface F,super smooth clean tarmac & nothing else




And I'll reiterate my original idea;
"I’m taking my winter bike (a very cheaply acquired 2009 Carbon Claud road bike) as a base, buying some rough/urban road tyres and using some parts out of the “to eBay” bucket.
All because I found my beautiful Antaeus a little pedestrian when attempting 6 mile low angle climb."

Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Imlach]

Just stick a rigid fork on option 2

 

[Peachy!]

Just stick a rigid fork on option 2

The Antaeus is sacred

 

[Imlach]

The Antaeus is sacred

It is a beauty alright