I am looking at buying a Charge Plug frame, but I am being really indecisive about what size to get. What sizes are scandal42 and yokaiser’s frames?
The trouble with buying this way is that there is no way of trying one to see how it fits. I saw the suggestion to buy both sizes and send back the unwanted one, but I’d rather avoid the faff.
I’m 5’11” but I don’t want a very long reach. I’m swaying towards a large, because the top tube is relatively short compared with more modern designs and I intend to use a shortish stem and compact bars. I built up a Cotic Roadrat medium long but never got on with it, then I bought a Kaffenback medium, but that is a very compact frame design and I didn’t even bother building it up. So now I’m going to try a Plug. It definitely isn’t a cheap way to get a bike.
All suggestions welcome, including the name of a good therapist.

Here’s a link to wiggle which contains the geometry for each size.

I can’t help with size recommendations as my Plug 3 is a size small, which fits me fine at 5’5″. Perhaps you can cross reference the size of the Kaffenback for comparison?

Mine is a large and I’m 5’10. I wanted a biggish frame to take advantage of the taller head tube and hopefully a bit more comfort. The bike will be used for a bit of touring, commuter and for some of the back roads. I was slightly concerned that it may be too long and ordered an 80mm stem but it looks like a 100 I have will fit perfectly with a nice upright position. The seat post is a couple of inches lower than in the above pic.

My XS in commute mode, wheels were a great buy, assuming you can live with the graphics!
Pro-lite Revo’s (wide rim and tubeless compatible) are £360 on Wiggle but had them price matched to Ribble, plus my discount they came out at £145! I’ve some Specialised Terra’s on order to run tubeless for cross
Pleased with weight for a steel frame bike at 21.7lbs

That looks great. Is the Plug the answer for me? I have a Fargo in bimbly plush touring mode (MTB drivetrain, bar end shifters etc) but want something a bit nippier for shorter tours with soft luggage and the odd road ride. A Shand Stoater seems like the gold standard but is a lot of money for an n+1, while the Cotic Escapade seems quite expensive for what it is.

That looks flipping super,

Some good Plugs here.

I’m loving mine and will hopefully get an hour in tomorrow before watching my Foxes lift the trophy

Had a lovely little blast out last night, perfect evening for it. Got a little bit wild on some of the rocky sections 😀

this thread has me soooo tempted, bloody forum. I’m currently sometimes commuting (on-road) on an old Specialized Hardrock which does the job but is a bit unsuited really. On the other hand, this commute happens less than once a week on average and it’s only 5 miles or so each way so it hardly matters. N+1 (well not really, I’d sell the Hardrock I think) versus I Don’t Really Need It.

I know it’s a bit of a length of string question but how could I go about building this thing up, what sort of money would it need for a fairly basic build? I not long ago replaced the disc brakes on the Hardrock, so I’ve some new 160mm rotor brakes that I could use if they fit and aren’t colossal overkill. I think I’d need to get everything else new though.

Then I see things like this CX bike in the classifieds and if it was a bit nearer to me in West London it’d make far more sense for me surely. Ignore me, this was a silly request.

scandal42 Good photos. Looks like mine unsurprisingly! Have you zip tied the front brake cable to the forks? That’s what I have done, only down side on my bike I think.

milko9000 that looks a good deal for £250. Not disc brake though, not sure if that bothers you or not.

Has everyone else built their’s up now? Lets see more pictures…

Coomber

yes I have zip tied it. I’ll probably use 3 fairly chunky ones lined up with a bit of tape under, looks quite tidy like that.

Could always use some orange ones.

Love riding this bike, probably going to do a nice big local loop this weekend incorporating the Ticknal loop from the forum trail guide.

More pics may follow 🙂

If I didn’t already have the previous incarnation of this i’d be all over it like a rash at that price & probably look out for a s/h Kinesis DC37 or similar fork to lighten the package a bit – much like maxlite’s in fact.

Milko – if I were building one of these up on a budget & already had brakes i’d probably bung on a Tiagra 4700 groupset to give a wider choice of cheap 10 speed only wheels – some of the factory options are pretty light & unless you’re set on 11 speed gearing there’s a few bargains to be had. Frame & Forks you could probably get for under £200 / Tiagra 4700 £230 or less (sell the calipers = less again) and then it just depends whether you want new wheels & finishing kit or pick up some bargains on ebay.

Here’s a crap photo of my old Filter, Sram Apex (38/46), Spyres, Novatec hubs on Halo Aerotrack rims with Halo hex skewers, Thomson post, seatpost clamp & stem, Deda RHM01 bars, Charge Pan saddle – comes in around 25 lbs – thought about lightening it but in reality it would take serious intervention to knock more than 2 lbs off it!

Still, ahem taking my time. Fit feels good so far and I’ll cut the steerer soon. Had a bit of faffing with the front mech, bought a roller and bought a shim kit for a Shimano mech which doesn’t look like it’ll work without some modifications, should have just bought a top pull. Still considering rack options, I’ve a few rear racks that will work but fancy trying a low rider arrangement, only thing is I’ll hardly ever use it, not sure I want to fork out for something that’ll sit in the cupboard.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/GBVGpb]Charge Plug[/url] by Bigbroondug, on Flickr
[url=https://flic.kr/p/H35fdB]Charge Plug[/url] by Bigbroondug, on Flickr

I’ve gone for all 10 speed Tiagra 4600 (not sure on number), new stuff, was given chainset that helped a lot, cheap wheels and tyres off here, finishing kit is cheap as chips if you buy second hand/jumble or nick stuff off mates like I did. Reckon mine came in (with the kaffenback forks at £20) at about £450 tops, maybe nearer £400.

^^^ those two above look great with the black forks.

Almost finished mine but need to get rid of the roller and down pull front mech tomorrow evening.

Done. Just need to oil the chain and find some Allen bolts.

Was hoping for a 9-10kg, but I wanted a tougher do it all instead of a road bike build but will weigh soon.
Managed to get a brand new original fork £77.
CX wheels and tyres (32c).
Transferred my older 10spd Rival gear.
Used a CX70 top pull FD and Spesh Phat bar gel tape.
TPR Hy/Rd. Hope Headset.
11-28 and 50/34T compact.
Carbon post and Ritchey bars and stem.
Was a pain to set the pads rub free.

My old man likes it and I finished it on his birthday phew.

Cheers to Terry Wright Cycles for the bar tape and Bristows Cycles for getting me the fork.

Big shout to the folks on the forum who helped with a ton of advice including Mr Barrow 😉

Need some more Allen bolts to Plug (ahem) up remaining bottle hole threads.

Needs better pics but that’s another day when I have time.

I got dropped on a hill by my 67 year old unfit Dad and I had my mtb hybrid slick tyres with a 34 cog on the back.

Definitely rides light and smooth. 😀

Your dad’s Plug looks very smart, must be something about Plugs and 67 year olds, had mine for my 67th…..
I agree ‘Definitely rides light and smooth’

Thanks Maxlite.

67 is nothing if you keep your mind and body challenged.

I want a Plug myself now.

Finally finished 😀 Got it complete today and verything is looking good so far. Test rides tomorrow and the next day before a 4 day tour! Just need to fit a rack now. And get a black bolt for that fork leg.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/GhRLmL]Charge Plug[/url] by Bigbroondug, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/HdmJsk]Charge Plug[/url] by Bigbroondug, on Flickr

Nice.

Are you running carbon forks?

Anybody else set it up for CX or Road specific?

Yes, carbon fork from a Genesis CDF. Available from 18bikes. Good price, rack ready and hopefully saved a lb or so.

Nice forks, its great to have the option for front pannier fitting.

Love the b/grd…sea wall?

I saw the carbon CdF forks for £100 at 18bike, but when I went back to buy them they had gone up to £150 which isn’t such a good deal. I hope yokaiser got them at the lower price.
I bought a pair of CdF steel forks for £50 but I couldn’t believe how heavy they are. They only weigh in at 1.15kg but feel like girders in comparison to every other set of steel road forks I have. They are the latest model with the curved leg, but I can’t see them offering much compliance.
I know disc forks have to be stronger because of the torque on the legs, but this seems like massive overkill.
I looked on fleaBay for carbon forks, but most are for tapered steerers and very few of the sellers bother including details on axle-to-crown measurement and offset.

Winstanleys have the Kinesis DC37 for £100, 625g

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/51770/Kinesis_DC37_Carbon_Forks_KXLDC37?gclid=CM6I_LykscsCFc1uGwodGWYAAQ

That looks really nice, enjoy the tour

Thanks for the link for the DC37, not seen them that cheap before. Bought but it is on preorder though. Going to get rid of the planet-x ones on mine as they are a bit heavy and I quite like the bike.

Does anyone know the Reynolds equivalent of Tange Prestige?

Also wondering if anyone else used the original fork? as some came as Pristige instead of Infinity.

£80 if you track one down.

Thinking of buying one of these and moving my 105 11 speed groupset over from my broken Specialized Tarmac frame.

Not actually built a bike before however so it could be quite a challenge.

Obsidian, I did manage to pick them up for 100, not sure why the price has went up. Tour is going well and the bike is impeccable…. mostly. Should have considered it beforehand but with the luggage loaded on the back there is an almost comical amount of flexing going on back there. I’ve adapted my out of the seat efforts and it’s not so bad but in the future a lowrider on the fork and or bikepacking luggage would be better. I’ve 7kg of panniers and stuff on just for reference.

Couldn’t resist all the nice opinions/pics on here and just clicked the button on the XL frame. Should hopefully be with me before the weekend.
Question regarding the forks: is there a suitable matt carbon disc fork that has plenty of clearance and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and some? Or should I just stick with my old Surly LHT fork?

Looking forward to build it with the 1×10 mtb gearing and 38c tyres. Friend of mine that has the same year version(Plug 4) reckons that with some cutting and re-welding the rear triangle bridges there is a chance of fitting the 45ish tyres…but is it really worth it(circa £40 without the paint)?

Cheers,
T

I did look about quite a bit for a matt fork, it was really only ebay/Chinese stuff that was available.

Many thanks, I’m a fugly face anyway so maybe I’ll give it a go..?

I should post an update within a few weeks time with some pictures. In the meantime please keep them coming – I need some inspiration for my build.

I think I only discounted the Chinese and ebay stuff because I couldn’t get lowrider mounts. The CDF fork ticked most of the boxes apart from the finish. Now its fitted I’m quite liking the shiny and matt mix, I just want to blank off the lowrider mounts when they are not in use.

Next will be to fit a pair mudgaurds. The CDF fork will present a problem for getting a nice and close fit, some bracket manufacture might be in order.

I’ve had time to ruminate on the recent trip I had on the Plug. Overall very happy between the fit and comfort of the tyres and frame I had no trouble at all. My gearing could have been a bit wider, I had a 12/27 cassette and a 48/36 pair of rings. The route was steep in parts and a slightly easier gear would have been welcome even at the expense of a top gear. When the bike is next pressed into touring duties I’ll have a look at it again. Apart from that it’ll just be a tidy up aesthetically, some black bolts and remove the decals on the wheels, may try some lighter tubes to try to get the most from the tyres (I’ve given up on tubeless for now).

I caved in and my frame arrived today too, going to create something Frankenstein-like from the parts lying on my garage floor. Will also post pics…

Frankenstein – I bought an XL and wouldn’t mind getting a pair of the original forks. Did the shop have these in stock? Worth me giving them a ring you think?

Cheers.

Andrew

I’m almost ready for Plug’s maiden voyage! Just need to trim the cables and sort out the missing guts for lh shifter that will operate the dropper. Can’t wait!

Now that’s different, but totally awesome.

What rubber is that?