Gravel bike with massive tyre clearance (2.25") for winter riding

Thanks!

The xSogn looks awesome, but it is a bit more of a tourer than what I'm looking for.

I have noticed Rawland's models before, partly due to their use of Norwegian and Nordic language names  Sogn is a scenic part of Western Norway, and their models Ravn and Ulv are Norwegian for Raven and Wolf...

Likewise, I'm running 45NRTH Gravdal, which is the name of a village on an island in beautiful Lofoten in Northern Norway. And I'm considering their new cycling glove Nøkken, which is the name of a rather scary shape shifting water spirit central to Nordic mythology. And if I ever get a fatbike, I will probably run Husker Du, which means Do You Remember. Et cetera.

Any small country loves to be remembered

The fact that some of these words are also names of rock bands is a mere coincidence

So, back to looking for the modestly priced dream bike with short, dropped chain stays and massive tyre clearance...

No dropped chainstay, but I'd try and find out the max 27.5 tyre size on the aluminium Lapierre Crosshill. Much shorter chainstay than the Giant.

Down the page, there's a pic of the chainstay with the stock 40mm tyre:- 
https://www.velochannel.com/test-du-lapierre-crosshill-500-21552

Reading around, I found a mention of max 700x50. 

The Lapierre site makes no mention of 27.5, however what stood out for me is the huge width of the fork crown, along with the big clearance at the seatstay bridge.

MERIT PLUS ADVENTURE GRAVEL BIKE

http://bike.plus/  
http://meritbikes.com/en/gravel-plus/

 

 

Ibis - Hakka MX 

https://www.ibiscycles.com/bikes/hakka_mx/

 
 

3t Exploro

https://www.3t.bike/en/3t-bikes/exploro-2.html

 
 

NS Bikes - RAG+

http://www.ns-bikes.com/rag,109,pl.html

 

 

Giant TCX 

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/tcx-advanced-pro-1

 
 

Erik, thank you for some great alternatives!

Will dive into the details of these bikes.

Actually once owned a TCX

Wilier Jaroon Plus!

 

Back in 2013 I had Erik Rolf aka ALLIANCE Cycles - http://alliancebicycles.com/ build me a custom Ti Frame that more or less can handle it all - 2.2x650b mtb tires max.

more pice here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/freakforti/albums/72157636473226883/with/15939720210/

still going strong

MARtiN

 
 
 

Awesome bike, Martin!

The NS RAG+ 2018 really hits the spot for me. Affordable, 420mm chainstays, stack to reach ratio of 1,46 in M, 45mm tyres on 700c, 2.2" on 650b, eyelets for fenders, flat mount,142x12 dropouts  ...Hell, I can live with 15mm dropouts on the fork and no eyelets for racks

All in all, just that little bit more rough than the NS spin off Rondo Ruut.

Thanks, Erik - now I must go look for a frameset...

That Rondo Ruut is cool, a Canyon "inspired" design for sure:  http://rondo.cc/

Can't open the "products" page.  Interested to see what the geometry is, and what the AL and ST frames look like.

 

Sepeda wrote:Awesome bike, Martin!

The NS RAG+ 2018 really hits the spot for me. Affordable, 420mm chainstays, stack to reach ratio of 1,46 in M, 45mm tyres on 700c, 2.2" on 650b, eyelets for fenders, flat mount,142x12 dropouts  ...Hell, I can live with 15mm dropouts on the fork and no eyelets for racks

All in all, just that little bit more rough than the NS spin off Rondo Ruut.

Thanks, Erik - now I must go look for a frameset...

Glad you found what you're after!  Thanks to all for posting ideas here...had never heard of some of these models. 

Martin--that custom Alliance looks fantastic.

The Rondo Ruut is a great success in Europe. One of the men behind it actually used to live in Oslo and I was fortunate enough to see some of the development behind the bike, including the innovative flip chip that allows switching between geometry settings...

I'm not sure that the Ruut was inspired by the Canyon Inflite CF SLX as the Ruut actually appeared earlier, if I'm not mistaken.

Erik, you may need to use another browser in order to view all info on their home page. Chrome should work fine.

Check out this GCN video - Zipp wheels on Ruut: Smaller Wheels, More Fun? 650B VS 700C

Here's the AL version:



Steel is real:

 
And here's the geometry in endurance versus racing mode:

 

I'm just looking for a tad more tyre clearance, like the Rag+

I'm wondering...

As Rondo is a child of NS Bikes, I see several references to Ruut AL and Rag+ being the same frame. Forks are different, obviously, as Rag+ does not have the twin tip to adjust geometry settings. 

When comparing the geometry of the frames, the numbers seem to be the same. Of course, the numbers affected by the different forks - stack, reach, standover, angles etc. - are different. Or am I reading the data incorrectly?

Here are the data on Rag+:

 
The frames visually also seem to be the same:

   

If buying a complete bike, the Ruut AL seems a good, if slightly more expensive choice, due to the more advanced fork with twin tip.

However, the Rag+ is sold as a framset whereas Ruut AL is not, as far as I can see. So, for a budget build, the Rag+ seems a good choice.

This is all well and good, but I wonder about the tyre clearance. Rag+ is stated to have slightly bigger clearance. This may be due to the different forks, or it may be due to Rondo not differentiating between their Ruut models in al, steel and carbon when it comes to tyre clearance...

That fork is pretty slick.  The ENVE 29er fork I have has a similar tip, but is horizontal, so adjusts trail only, I think.  That said, I've only run it in one position.  I wonder if folks would really want to tweak the geometry for different types of rides.  Regardless, it's an interesting idea.

Out of curiosity, what are the little rubber band looking things hanging on the RUUT's hubs?

Good question

See the same rubbery thingy on the other models, also on pictures taken outside of the studio...

It's probably a vital component.

Hi! I'm digging up this old thread because I too am living in Oslo and in need of a gravel bike that I can fit ice spiker pros. How did you get on with your search in the end? The best option I have found so far is the nukeproof digger which will fit them on some 27.5 wheels, but I'd prefer something that fits then on done 29er wheels if possible.

Thanks

Dave

Hi, Dave!

I ended up with a Kinesis Tripster AT. It does not take Ice Spiker Pro (ISP), but I make do with 45NRTH Gravdal.

Now, as you are in Oslo, an obvious option is the Norwegian model Hard Rocx GTRS which actually takes 27.5" ISP 2.25", even under fenders. 

See Sørensen Sykler: https://www.sorensensykler.no/produkt/hard-rocx-gtrs/

If you want 29" ISP, you will find some alternatives here: https://bikepacking.com/index/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er/

Not much snow these days, but riding in the forested area of Marka surrounding Oslo in true winter conditions is an amazing experience.

 

Dave,
If you search for "drop bar mountain bikes" you'll probably find more options.  Yeah these are the beasts of the gravel bike offerings. They're also marketed as "adventure touring" bikes.

Salsa has long offered the Fargo so you can find it in the used market. The current model spec's a 29"x3" as an optional wheel size but 29"x2.4" is the intended wheel size. 

For higher performance Salsa has the Cutthroat which takes 29"x2.4" and has a carbon frame.  

I've sure Surly has something with a steel frame and room for wide tires as well.  Just be careful with toptube length as traditional flat bar top tubes will be 4 (ish) cm longer than a drop bar mountain bike.  The shorter top tube compensates for the added reach of the drop bars.

Happy shopping,
Greg