Anyone care to speculate what Lauf is coming out with?
I was just watching a CyclingTips review of the new Fox gravel fork and wanted to see how much the Lauf Grit SL fork weighs, but all the links on their website are dead except this one with a countdown timer (at 66+ hours as of this posting):
I read on some site a month or so ago they had a new bike with a rear leaf spring suspension coming out. I have no way of knowing if this is true or not. I couldn’t find the article, but I found this from a few years ago.
Regarding speculation, I had the impression that rear suspension was years away, Lauf talked about that project in the Bike Rumor podcast October last year, saying it was years in the future. However as they are building quite hype, with the total site takeover, and they have confirmed that they are working on it. I think it a gravel bike with rear glassfiber suspension.
For several years, Lauf has openly talked about the MTB they have been developing. They have said it wouldn’t be announced until it was ready. Maybe it’s ready?
They went with a 73mm BSA BB to get that tire clearance. So it sounds like they worked with SRAM to make a longer BB spindle? But it still has a narrow Q-Factor somehow?
They also had to revise the fork to accomodate the big 29er tires.
As a True Grit owner, "Don't change much except add tire clearance." was roughly my entire wish list. Softening the rear end makes sense, but the fork already made for an overall more compliant ride than stem/head tube based systems.
Their head tubes could be a little longer, but that more of an anesthetic thing. Internal frame storage would be cool, but add cost and weight. Maybe I'm partial due to being a Lauf owner, but I think they did a good job here and the prices are reasonable compared to the big names.
ljsmith wrote:That bike was not really worth all the suspense. Absolutely nothing groundbreaking there.
IMHO a 17 lb bike which takes 57 mm tires and has some suspension is, if not groundbreaking, at least an achievement. If I didn't already own a fairly expensive bike I'd take a long look.
stu wrote:IMHO a 17 lb bike which takes 57 mm tires and has some suspension is, if not groundbreaking, at least an achievement. If I didn't already own a fairly expensive bike I'd take a long look.
I’d love to see this 1200g frame, 850g fork and 57mm tires built up to 17 pounds. Good luck with that,
The 17 lb model is their most expensive build with a rigid fork. The sprung fork adds about 1 lb and the cheaper Weekend Warrior build adds about 2 lbs. All of those weights are with 400 g 40-622 tires.
The 17 lb model is their most expensive build with a rigid fork. The sprung fork adds about 1 lb and the cheaper Weekend Warrior build adds about 2 lbs. All of those weights are with 400 g 40-622 tires.
So it’s not a “17lb bike that takes 57mm tires and has some suspension” which is what you said. It’s a 17lb bike with 40mm tires and no suspension. It’s no longer 17 lbs if you add 57mm tires and suspension. Specing this bike with 40mm tires makes absolutely no sense anyway.
bnystrom wrote: Is something about their head tubes making you sleepy or did you mean "aesthetic"?
Nice catch! I review clinical research for work and my wife is a surgical nurse so it's probably in the lexicon much more than aesthetic. SwiftKey has a fairly aggressive autocorrect which doesn't help much.
But the head tube is still too long for most. Ashton Lambie might have the only Lauf bike I have seen with a slammed stem. The forks are cut a little aggressively from the factory as well from the two I have seen.
