My current ‘cross/commuter/winter road frame has just about reached the end of it’s usefull life and needs replacing. I’m currently torn between the Planet X kaffenback and uncle john.

The majority of the time it’ll be used for my commute to work (45 mile round trip on badly surfaced country lanes) as well as a couple of cyclocross races a year (just for fun not seriously competing) the odd bit of touring and going away with the family camping and to center parcs etc. Mudguard and rack compatability is therefore a must.

What i’d like to know is from those who have either and use them for similar purposes is how they fare, i’m inclined to think that the Kaffenback is more suited to my needs, but is the steel frame going to be more comfy on the crappy roads than the UJ, or is the weight penalty for going steel not going to be worth it?

Also i’d be running this with canti brakes, if i opt for the Kaffenback am i right in thinking that i’ll need to purchase cable hangers seperately? and if so can anyone reccomend decent ones for this frame, there seems to be alot of variety on the market.

Thanks in advance.

I have a UJ, which replaced my heavy leaden flexi steel ‘CX’ bike.

It is my commuter/hack/audax bike. Perfectly comfortable, but I had to get a large to get the right reach for me (I’m used/suited to 56cm trad road bike geo) which means the front end is pretty high due to the uberlong headtube. For the money though, its great.

I’ve mostly run it with 32c’s, and it is comfy enough for 200k audaxes (possibly longer, but its been a lazy year). I’m currently running 23c’s on it and its a bit more chattery, but manageable. I’ve also run 34c spikes on it in winter …

I find it pretty versatile.

Commuting on spikes

…laden 🙂

After 200k and 4000m climb on an audax

Thanks for that mate, certainly some food for thought, any Kaffenback riders in the house?

Yip, but i am breaking it this weekend to sell. It is a great bike and i have used it everywhere. I have had 28mm gatorskins on it and and it has served me well. I used mini Vs, great brakes, a bit of a bugger to set once you got new pads but after that great. It is tough as old boots and would recommend it for a tough commute.

I use a Kaff, sorry not used an UJ, but did come from using a Pompino, wanted something with gears that I could use to commute and explore a bit with.

Also i’d be running this with canti brakes, if i opt for the Kaffenback

Now mine is an old frame and I did/still do have an issue with running canti brakes with mine, if you turn sharply the canti cable snags on the gear cables, locking the front brake!

Only done it once while commuting and not sure if its a issue with the latest batch of frames*, it was down to the gear cable lugs holding the cables being in the head tube, which would bind when you turned sharply.

*I guess not because it would have been mentioned.

Apart from that, great frame, makes for a versatile do anything commuter/cross/tourer.

[edit] found the link.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/any-kaffenback-owners-here-quick-question

I’m on my 2nd Kaff. Dunno why I sold the first. It has been my round the woods bike, a tourer and is my current road bike with 20 spoke wheels in it. I run mini V’s as they are apparently more powerful and I found my heels clipped the wide cantis. The bike is a small though. I suspect its heavier than the UJ am am tempted to fit a carbon fork. Bomb proof though and I feel less inclined to be fussy about it than my alloy CX bikes.

Thanks guys, so on balance would you say being made of steel is a positive in that it softens the ride, or a negative in that it’s a weight penalty over an alu frame?

Could any of the Kaff riders give me an idea of their height, what size frame and stem they are running please. The geometry tables on the px site comparing tt length and st height for the 2 bikes and the sl pro carbon show substantial variations.

5’7 and riding a small

I had an uj with a carbon zeroth post in that softened the rode considerably

Great bike tha I did also rats on. Wish I still had it

I’ve had both. You can JUST get a conti twister 32 in the back of a Kaff, although the new drop-out version might be different. Mine wasn’t a disc frame. I only swapped it to get bigger tyres in.

I’ve not used the Uncle John as a proper cross bike, Ive toured on it and rode some winter miles, that is about all.

If the Kaff now has better tyre clearances, then I personally would be down to picking the one I liked the look of the best.

I dont think the new kaff is any different other than the dropouts.

I’m 6′ with 33.5″ inside leg and I use a Large Kaff – same model as paulosoxo but with flat bars – for my occasional commute (feeble mental approach plus need the car for work a lot).

I have ridden no other road style bike since a gas pipe Peugeot in the 1980s so cannot offer any comparison advice.

Thanks all, still no closer to making a decision, pretty sure i want a Kaff, but i’ll have to mull it over for a couple of days.

Am I right in thinking that the Kaffenback shares the same geometry and tubes as the Pompino? And that the only difference is the ability to run gears on the Kback?

My Pompino has taken on many forms over the years, it’s extremely versatile – and comfortable, however I can’t help feeling that it feels kind of sluggish at times, although I’ve nothing to compare it to as I’ve never ridden any other type of ‘road’ bike before, and to be honest it’s more likely to be my lack of fitness.

The new kaff has larger diameter seat stays compared to mk1.

The thing that put me off a kaff as an all rounder is the headtubes are so short. Just about every one you see has got a load of spacers and a stem pointing upwards, which just looks a bit silly IMO!