Was doing research on reasonable priced framesets and stumbled upon this bike. Looks like a cool bike/frame. 2k CAN is about 1500 usd with free shipping.
Anyone has an experience or feedback on the geometry? I've contacted them via Facebook and they been pretty responsive to my questions.
The frame is approximately 1350g and the fork 520g
Looks like a fine bike -- stay off the bargain basement and it's tough to find one that isn't these days. Whether it's perfect for you or not only a test ride can tell, of course. But I have to say, I get a little leery when I can't understand what they're talking about. I mean: "Exclusive to Panorama Cycles, and an industry first, a unique composite lamination is designed for the untapped and unpredictable wilderness adventures. This construction incorporates an advanced material, the Xantu.Layr™, which bring the Katahdin performance and durability to new heights." Does that actually mean something?
(It does look rather like the Carbonda 696 which people seem to like a lot here, but maybe the 696 doesn't have the special Xantu.Layr(TM).)
sincos wrote:Looks like a fine bike -- stay off the bargain basement and it's tough to find one that isn't these days. Whether it's perfect for you or not only a test ride can tell, of course. But I have to say, I get a little leery when I can't understand what they're talking about. I mean: "Exclusive to Panorama Cycles, and an industry first, a unique composite lamination is designed for the untapped and unpredictable wilderness adventures. This construction incorporates an advanced material, the Xantu.Layr™, which bring the Katahdin performance and durability to new heights." Does that actually mean something?
(It does look rather like the Carbonda 696 which people seem to like a lot here, but maybe the 696 doesn't have the special Xantu.Layr(TM).)
I own a Carbonda 696, and that is a Carbonda 696. All the geometry lines up, except for reach for some reason, but it looks identical to my bike. Which is also the same as the Ocoee Boundary.
I have no idea what a Xantu.Layr could mean, unless its something special that Carbonda does for them. Either way, it looks like another brand that's using a Carbonda open mould frame. That doesn't mean its bad, as I love my bike, but just know what you're getting.
CasualGravel wrote: Either way, it looks like another brand that's using a Carbonda open mould frame. That doesn't mean its bad, as I love my bike, but just know what you're getting.
Again, no idea whether the Katahdin is a 696 or something else but it would not be surprising if Carbonda (or its parent) OEMs catalog and custom designs for many mfrs. And no reason to sound apologetic: do Jamis, Niner, Salsa etc make their own CF frames, and would it matter either way? Nearly everybody offering affordable frames uses Asian manufacture, offshored or outsourced. The only exceptions I can think of that don't are in France and Italy (Time, Look, Alan) or don't qualify as affordable.
It looks like they've changed the frame for 2021 and it no longer matches the Carbonda 696. They claim "TOOLING/DESIGN: 100% PROPRIETARY PANORAMA CYCLES" on their web site, and the geometry is different as well. It has a slacker head angle, longer reach, and shorter chainstays.
I haven't been able to find anything on the new Katahdin other than some press releases - anyone have any experience with it?
One concern I would have with the Katahdin: BB drop is about 5mm more than most gravel bikes which have more BB drop than CX bikes.
The reason for my concern is I sometimes setup my gravel/CX bikes with 32 or 28 mm tires for road riding. Going from a 40 mm tire to 28 drops the BB. A lot! So if you're looking for a single bike where you'll be using some race tires for road rides just be aware of pedal clearance while cornering.
Conversely the maximum tire clearance is 700x48... So if you'll be riding 48's you'll probably appreciate the lower BB.
My current road bike has a 75mm bb drop. I don't have any pedal clearance issues. This geometry would be a definite + for me. The previous version Specialized Diverge had an 85mm bb drop. The only thing I don't like is the tall head tube length, but that's a personal preference.
