Hello out there... I bought a Raleigh Roker comp and like it. I enjoy riding Forest, singletrack, dirt and a little road/gravel with it. I don't do drops or jumps and even with a mountain bike probably would not do much so I can keep my body intact. But I like rocks and some technical stuff but not a huge amount. I like the challenge of the drop bar bike and that it limits me from killing myself since I won't risk hurting myself lol.
Should I add a 650b wheelset to the bike which will enable I believe 2.1 clearance and make it more rougher trail worthy and then maybe buy an inexpensive (Either Steel or cheap carbon 29er frame with the same hub spacing so I can interchange wheels( build it up with my spare parts from my cruddy and heavy jet stream 29er hardtail (Breezer) (Do I really even need a hardtail)?
OR
Sell my Roker and get a Cutthroat or Fargo and use that as my one be all bike.
Interested if anyone else has considered this quandary.
No, I have the wheel set (700c) but on WTB website it shows bikes that can take both sizes and the roker is one. Good idea about buying and selling wheelset. The bike is pristine as I've rapped the whole bike in protective tape and thought if I'm going to sell it for top dollar that now is the time.
Personally, I would just use a 650b in the front, and maybe a thudbuster in the rear.
Actually, what I do is use a 700c 45mm front, 40mm rear (with a thudbuster). That is what my frame will take, and I need the extra bite and cush up front, not in the rear.
Or you could just trade it in for a mountain bike. A good cross country hard tail is as fast as a gravel grinder at non race speeds (i.e. under 20mph). Heck the last cross race I went to was won by someone on a mountain bike (although his motor was stronger than mine, LOL).
chas wrote:Or you could just trade it in for a mountain bike. A good cross country hard tail is as fast as a gravel grinder at non race speeds (i.e. under 20mph). Heck the last cross race I went to was won by someone on a mountain bike (although his motor was stronger than mine, LOL).
\n\nFlat bar vs drop bar bike:\n\nFirst of, the OP said he wants to stick with drop bars “to keep himself out of trouble offroad”.\n\nSecond, as has been calculated many times now, aerodynamics matter just as much for slower riders as they do for the faster riders in a given event. The fact that the faster riders get a bigger percentage benefit is offset by the grater time that slower riders are on the course, so their total time saved is similar or greater.\n\nOf course, as terrain get more technical, and rough, increasing rolling resistance and handling ability starts to offset aerodynamic benefits, but that is not dependent on rider speed as much as on terrain.
I am the one who came up with the idea for this post. I wrote spindatt about this and he said it was a good question and he ended up doing this post on it. I am referred to as the gefster which is one of my email addresses. Can provide you the link if you are interested.
mgef2000 wrote:Should I add a 650b wheelset to the bike... OR Sell my Roker and get a Cutthroat or Fargo and use that as my one be all bike.
Yikes, going from a Roker to a Fargo would be quite a change (IMHO anyway) The Cutthroat would at least be closer in weight and would have the carbon feel.
From a technical perspective, there's nothing preventing the use of 650b's on the Roker. The smaller wheel diameter is going to drop the BB a bit so hopefully you'll be able to fit the 2.1".
As others suggested, I'd try to find someone with some 650b wheels and tires which you could use to check sizing. I've long since given up on using the manufacturer spec'd size - there are just too many variables with rim width, and tire shape/size. Even if you don't have the exact same size you should be able to get a feel for how large you could go.
The single track I ride out here has lots of rock gardens so I'd be concerned with pedal strikes on anything more than the most tame trails. Also the Roker frame/fork isn't nearly as stiff as a mountain bike. This is great for long gravel rides but I'd expect it would make more technical mountain biking more challenging.
