Wanted to share a build I just finished, since I know some folks are curious about this frame. I picked one up just a few days after they were available on the site and finally got around to finishing the build yesterday. It's built up with 10-speed SRAM Force from another bike, Hunt 650B wheels, WTB Byway tires, and Salsa Cowbell bars (which are fantastic). With everything on it, it sits at right about 22 pounds for a 58cm frame.
I took a 10-mile shakedown ride on it this morning to try to beat the Nor'easter headed for northern New England (or more particularly, Central Vermont).
A few quick thoughts: first, it really feels great. The downtube's even beefier than I expected, so the BB will definitely be nice and stiff. I need to dial the fit in, but it's just one of those bikes that feels natural right from the start, like classic steel should. The build went together perfectly, and the QA on the frame was excellent. The BB was nicely chased and faced, integrated HS dropped right in, and the bike also included thru-axles, which the site doesn't say are included. I was considering one of the Chinese carbon frames for a while, but the combination of some of the QA issues I read about and the indeterminate wait times definitely sealed the deal for the Rockitship once it became available. Fairdale was quick and responsive to questions, as well.
The bike itself feels much more like a regular road bike than some of the newer ride-anywhere bikes that'll take mountain tires (and make me swoon with memories of the Bridgestone MB-0). The angles are a bit steeper and it straddles the line between quick and stable perfectly. I spend probably 60-70% of my time on dirt and gravel roads, some of them pretty chunky, so I was really looking for an endurance-ish geometry that could fit Road Plus tires and this feels like exactly what I was looking for.
Even after a quick ride when I'm totally out of shape, the 650B wheels feel amazing. I was running 700x40c Panaracer Gravel King SKs on my previous bike (a Salsa Vaya,. and the combination of the light Hunt wheels and smaller size feel really quick. I'm already totally sold on the Road Plus thing. Really looking forward to some long gravel rides with the combination of the steel frame and wheel size.
Chainstay clearance: it looks perfectly designed for the WTB Road Plus tires; there's plenty of room, but I definitely wouldn't go any bigger.
Part of today's ride. The bike was rock solid in some sections that got a little slippery.
