Frostbike ’15: Foundry Debuts Titanium Overland Model


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Minneapolis, Minnesota: Frostbike is Quality Bicycle Products dealer only appreciation open house event, but over the years, it has taken on an “industry trade show” flavor. The event doesn’t really kick off until Friday, but QBP brand Foundry Cycles has decided to preempt the festivities with a little bit of a surprise- a metal framed bicycle dubbed the Overland.

Foundry Overland
Foundry Cycles breaks the carbon fiber mold with a titanium framed adventure/cyclo cross hybrid.

Foundry Cycles has heretofore been primarily known as a carbon fiber bicycle brand, however now they are “living up” to their metallic brand name and offering the Overland as a titanium framed bicycle with a carbon fiber fork. Featuring geometry that Foundry claims will carry its rider through early season gravel events, cyclo cross, and even some “ultra-cross events”, the Overland also strikes a bit of a different intention than previous Foundry offerings which were marketed as “specific tools” for the job and often featured names of tools as an underscoring point.

Details of the Overland all point to a bike that is thoroughly modern.

From the Foundry Cycles press release:

“The Overland was developed to be the only bike you need when it comes to gravel and cyclocross. We knew that in order for a bike to help you tackle the demands of a 6 hour gravel race or an hour long cross race it had to be responsive, compliant and stable,” explains Foundry Brand Manager Todd Schmidt. “We also believe in building bikes that will stand the test of time. For that reason, Ti was an obvious choice for the Overland. With Ti, it is recognized that you get a high strength-to-weight ratio, a near infinite fatigue life, and a very lively feel that no other bicycle materiel can match in ride quality.”

Details of the Overland’s geometry were not available in the press release we received ahead of today’s announcement, but we will be digging into this more in the coming days as we will be in Minneapolis covering the Frostbike show. However; we do know that the bike is spec’ed to clear up to 41mm tires, and will be offered as a frame set in limited quantities and as a complete featuring a SRAM Force 22 Hydraulic group. Retail pricing has been set at $2495.00USD for the frame set and $4695.00USD for the complete. The bike is “future-proofed” with ports for electronic shifting groups and with the use of disc brakes and through axle “drop outs”. (They need to come up with a different name for the axle attachment points since they are not really “drop outs” any longer.)

FND_Overland PostMount-720x480 (1)

Foundry Cycles also has debuted a new marketing strategy and calls it “Racing Matters”.  Saying that, “We’ve made it our goal to change the way people think about racing.”, we can expect to see more coming from this QBP brand in the competitive cycling categories. Stay tuned for more information on the Overland, Foundry Cycles, and the Frostbike show in the coming days here on Riding Gravel.com.

UPDATED: 2:00pm CST 2/18/15-

Foundry has released the geometry on this bike. Here’s the chart-

Size (cm) ……………….XS ….S …..M.. ….L….. XL
A Effective Top Tube 520 540.. 560.. 580… 600
B Chainstay …………..425  All Sizes
C BB Drop…………….. 68   All Sizes
D Headtube ………….120 …120…160….160… 200
E Headtube Angle …71.0… 71.5. 72.0. 72.5… 72.5
F Seat Tube………….. 520… 540. 560.. 580… 600
G Seat Tube Angle… 74.5… 74.5. 74.0.73.5… 73.5
H Fork Offset …………45  All Sizes
I Trail ………………….72.58.. 69.32. 66.08. 62.86. 62.86
J Reach………………. 369.38. 383.61. 392.32. 400.58. 414.93
K Stack………………. 543.13.. 563.92. 584.78.. 605.72.. 624.79
L Wheelbase…….. 1000.09. 1016.52. 1027.07. 1036.83. 1057.19
M Standover………. 730.79.. 783.06.. 794.74… 824.78…. 844.39
N Axle to Crown…. 397 All Sizes
All measurements are in millimeters unless otherwise noted. Standover measured 50mm forward of BB with 698mm tires.

Comments: Clearly, this geometry points to hard core cyclo cross uses, and it would seem that no concessions to stability for fast gravel descending or riding on loose gravel were given when this design was pursued, since it aligns quite well with many cross bikes on the market. An”Italian” geometry influence, (lower bottom bracket, slacker angles), can lend more comfort and stability to gravel road riding, but it comes as no surprise that this bike leans heavily on traditional European style CX geometry. The Overland would then appear to this commentator’s eyes to be a pure-bred cyclo cross bike. That’s where this bike will shine best.

Note: The images and some specific information in this post were provide to RidingGravel.com by Foundry Cycles.

 

Discuss and share your questions or thoughts about this bike on the Overland thread on the Riding Gravel Forum

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Author: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted hails from Iowa. Home of over 70,000 miles of gravel and back roads. An inaugural member of the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame and Co-creator of Trans Iowa in late 2004- Guitar Ted has been at the forefront of the growth of gravel events and riding since then. Creator of Gravel Grinder News in 2008, he produced the premier calendar of gravel and back road events. GT joined forces with Riding Gravel in late 2014.

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9 thoughts on “Frostbike ’15: Foundry Debuts Titanium Overland Model

  1. Looks like a nice bike. Can’t wait to hear more about it.

    Wonder if these “do it all” bikes will really be embraced by true cyclocross racers. And why not also pitch such a bike as an endurance road bike? I could see non racing road bikers not interested in gravel or cyclocross enjoying the comfort of a bike like this rolling on 32 to 35mm tires.

    And re: the first reply – I personally would not buy another frame with PF30 frame, after experienced the most amazingly short bearing life. IMO, threaded bottom brackets are still the best option, with great versatility. It seems overlooked that 30mm spindle cranks DO work in threaded bottom brackets, with the likes of Rotor, and 386Evo, and RaceFace. Makes all the different bottom bracket sizes, and all the different adapters seem silly.

  2. I agree with the bottom bracket thing…BSA and BB30 I’ve never had issues with, but got a new bike with PF30 and I’ve been having issues. But it seems everyone is doing PF30 now instead of BB30.

    I have a Rotor 3D+ on my BSA road bike using Rotor’s BSA30 threaded bottom bracket, works like a champ.

    1. And I’m using a Sram crank, though is supposed to be a BB30/PF30, is a 386 Evo in disguise. Though had to go to FSA for the BB, since SRAM doesn’t make one.

  3. Well, it looks like the warbird is back in Ti! Wonderful on the threaded BB. QBP is doing a great job covering all of their possible markets. I’m wondering why they just didn’t keep the Ti warbird alongside the new Carbon one? But I guess this one will work.

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