aren’t I……

Yup : )

The only drawback is a tad more weight but it’s minor, more than an average road disc bike at that level and not an amount that bothers me. The geometry differences aren’t something I notice on the flats or climbs, no clunkiness or sluggish feel imo. When I hit 40+ on a descent with loads of random corners it feels a world away from a 73 parallel race bike.

I did my first ever 100miler on an arkose a few weeks ago. It was fine but on the club runs I notice the extra weight when the speed picks up. It also has a wheelbase over 20mm longer than my race bike which makes it very stable but I don’t think its as good on corners – seems to understeer a bit.

Fantastic versatility though and the hyrdo discs on my Four are amazing!

I have clocked in just shy of 1200 miles on my ’14 Arkose 3 that I got late last summer, best thing I have bought in years. About to swap front and back tyres due to some wear on the and have been looking at some schwalbe marathon plus tyres to take the summer riding.
I don’t notice any weight issues to be honest, at 12 stone and being 43 speed is never an issue anyway especially on the tracks I take it, that and the fact my other bike is a Camber and not the carbon version. Only thing I didn’t like was the cheap rim tape which cost me 2-3 punctures in the early days but all in all its not much to worry about! Have done plenty 40+ milers and a couple of 50’s without any issues

Still tempted by this but the three looks to be the one. Is there anyone out there that can compare the ride quality with a steel or titanium frame? Being alloy, is it quite harsh and rigid? I do like a compliant frame and don’t mind a bit of flex, so not sure this is the right bike for me.

Cheers.

Is there anyone out there that can compare the ride quality with a steel or titanium frame?

I wouldn’t ride one as much as I do if it was a harsh ride. ime compared to a whippy skinny steel bike it’s rigid, compared to a quite oversized al frame it’s nice and smooth. All very subjective though. Alu frames will take a long time to shake off the traditional harsh associations, the Arkose is one of those bikes that’s had me reconsidering my steel vs alu opinions. 35-40C tyres also make it less of a concern. Pop some 25Cs on the bike at 85 PSI and it’s still not jarring imo.

Thanks for the input. I really should get down to Evans and ride the thing. The trouble is its hard to evaluate everything in 15 minutes but I guess if it’s smooth I’ll pick that up.
Cheers.

what’s the story with frame*-only options?

especially in that nice blue of the current #4?

Pity the front mudguard holes aren’t proper front rack mounts!

ahwiles – we have F+F+HS in blue, but the website uploads are running behind.

Duntstick, carbon forks and racks .. not a great idea imo. The crmo Arkose will have a crmo fork with mounts though.

any prices on above frame fork combos please jameso ? … annoyingly ive just bought a lime green london road from planet x as wanted a brighter frame instead of my grey arkose 🙁 .. would of preferred a blue arkose 🙂

£350

And while James is in the house for colour discussion…..

What is the deal with all the neon Pinnacles – is it proving popular? I just had the “what bike should I get?” quiz from a work colleague and we decided a Lithium Five was one of very few bikes that met all criteria (many compliments on the design and spec if it is one of yours). He would have bought one at weekend but couldn’t face the reality of matt neon glow in the dark blue! In contrast all black Cannondale Bad Boys seem to attract a premium price (and poor spec).

couldn’t face the reality of matt neon glow in the dark blue

Some of us just can’t carry it off ..

: )

Joking. Thanks, shame the colour was a deal-breaker though, it can be divisive. Whatever we do it’s better to be a bit love/hate than ” ‘s ok, I guess”. Maybe it’s about getting more confident with what we’re doing and I like the stronger colours. The brighter bikes do sell well at the moment, seems that commuters want to be seen and that influences the colour preference, it used to be matt black for theft prevention a number of years ago but I don’t hear that request as much now. Making the bikes stand out and get noticed is a good thing, since we have about £10 for marketing each year.

(fwiw most of my own bikes are black, except the Ti one and the Arkose 2)

Frameset is tempting. Does anyone have any feedback on the wheelset? Was planning on upgrading to stans/novatech combo, but not sure if it’s worth it if the stick ones are lasting and not too heavy. Has anybody weighed the wheels on their own? The ones I’m looking at are about 1700g.

Cheers.

Arkose 4 wheels use really nice SB hubs from KT and TLR 470g rims, butted spokes. About 1750g I think.

And whilst we are hassling James 🙂

Did you end up with a stockpile of surplus non-drilled Arkose carbon forks? I’m just brazing a CX frame for my mrs and need to finalise fork length. Current favourite is a Columbus Mud disc at 400g. There are no Arkose forks listed on Evans at the moment and seem to remember they were a bit heavier (but better mud clearance). Other option is the latest Ritchey fork but can’t decide if non tapered is a backward step (using a 44mm ht regardless so can always change later).

Wheels quite light then. Are they the same spec as on the 3?

Non-drilled forks, there may be a few about, will ask. They’re 450g or so iirc, 397.5mm height.

root-n-5th, the 3 has a lower spec front c+c hub and PG spokes. Same rims and rear hub. Rims may be 490g actually, the name is –490 so that may be it.

Thanks James – most forks seem to be around 395-400 a-c so can probably get building the front end regardless of what I fit in the end. Drop me a mail if you find anything.

Cheers

Mick

Couple of months in and I’m still loving my 4, my hardtail has only been used for night rides since I got it. The only issue I’ve had is a bit of paint flaking off on the back of the fork, at the crown race area. I’ll keep my eye on and hope it doesn’t get any worse.

Wheels on my 2015 Arkose 3 are about 1880g

According to the website the rims on the 4 are the same as the 2, hubs different though

Thanks for info on wheels. They are meant to be tubeless but anyone tried them?

Out of interest, how do I get hold of a frameset?

Cheers.

Jameso – ta!

…er… how would an interested party go about buying a frameset? just out of curiousity you understand…

(my wife might be watching)

would my local Evans be able to order it for me?

Yes, but they may not be able to find codes yet, a call to Scott D at head office or myself will sort that.

anyone tried them

Use tape + sealant and all’s well. Not as tight as Stans but the Alex TLR profile is good. I do have a method of ‘pre-seating’ tyres by hand and it was a bit trickier on narrower CX rims than something like P35s, but it doesn’t need anything more than a std track pump after that.

Wheels on my Arkose 4 were about 1850g. Not too bad, but I swapped them for Kinesis CX wheels at closer to 1600g.

I’ve looked at those kinesis wheels and they do seem light. So they are that light in real life too?

I’m looking at a million options for a new bike but keep coming back to the Arkose for value and being exactly what I want. Just seen the Planet X London Road with full sram rival hydro for 999.99, which is great value. The frame looks like the geometry is ideal, better than the arkose for me, but I’m concerned it is more road focused and would be a bit harsh in the bumps. Can’t ride it so won’t know. I’m hopefully testing an Arkose 3 on Friday, and if it fits like I want it to – able to get the bars up high enough to be almost level with the seat in a large frame with a 75cm seat height – then it should be a choice between the three or four.

Well, I managed to get a test ride on an Arkose Three yesterday. Probably the lamest test route ever around the back streets of Wimbledon, but I got a feel for the handling and ride position as well as the controls.

Impressions:

– Despite the tyres being pumped up to a brutal 100PSI (I only run 90/80 on my 23C road bike!), the ride was surprisingly good on the speed-bump infested, potholed roads. Not a harsh alloy frame then – nice.

– Ride position was good for me – the bars were almost level with the saddle with room to go a few cm lower, so all positions catered for. I like the higher bars off road – good stuff.

– Wasn’t sure about the bars – prefer Salsa Cowbell, but they could be levelled a bit so my hands don’t slip off the drops.

– BB7-SL brakes – very disappointing. It was probably the setup, but I did a test mega-stop and could squeeze the levers right onto the bar. More impressive braking with my dual-pivot Ultegra callipers too. I also kept kicking the back caliper – big hoofs.

Overall I was very impressed, so have ordered a Four in with the Hydro brakes to test. I’m just not sure about that blue and really like the green, so a bit of a quandary.

I’m off the idea of the Planet-X London Road, as the geometry on the web site is incorrect. It states a stack of 620 for the large frame with a 160mm head tube. It seemed odd, and someone has measured a medium and found it much lower than stated. I found another, US based Geo table, and the sack is stated at about 575, which seems more likely, and is too low for me. Glad I didn’t go down that road.

I’ll also be testing a GT Grade Alloy 105, with alloy steerer. Perhaps the ugliest bike on the planet, but there is something about that which appeals. It is without the hundred pound trade-in as it’s priced at 999.99 as opposed to the Arkose at exactly 1000. Fair enough to Evans wanting us to buy their brand!

That was all probably of absolutely no interest to anyone, but it made me feel better and I’m not deleting it now! Sorry.

Cheers.

I’m sure you’ll love it. I have a 6 month old 1 and even though it’s the base model, I’m still really pleased with it. Decent handling and very comfy. Great to be able to mix road with trail.

root-n-5th: I don’t have an issue with the power of the BB7-SL on my Arkose 3 (maybe your test bike brakes were just not bedded in), however still find that they tend to make a weird noise and give uneven braking. Not sure if it’s a caliper alignment thing, I’ve messed repeatedly and followed various guides on google to no avail (so far). The hydros would be a very good option!

I also swapped saddle, chainset and tyres to save a bit of weight, otherwise happy with mine.

I’ve looked at those kinesis wheels and they do seem light. So they are that light in real life too?

they are close enough to the quoted weights to be within manufacturing tolerances rather than be pie-in-the-sky optimism. Mine were about 1620grms, the same as my 6700 Ultregra road wheels, which I still cant get my head around!

Only problem I’ve had with them was a single (alloy) nipple failing mid ride quite early on in ownership. Replaced nipple and spoke, and then road the Paris-Roubaix sportif on them with no issues.

To be fair 1850g is pretty blummin’ tidy for OE wheels, the OE on my Saracen Hack were more like 2200g 😯

Nre: interesting about the bb7-sl brakes. I’ve heard a few things about alignment problems so might be something to look out for, although I have no idea what I need to look for to check. I’ll see how the hydros feel in comparison.

Yes, the oe wheels don’t seem too bad atall. Seems almost silly dropping 350 quid on some stans/novatec for the sake of 100 grams and a couple of cool labels. In fact, it’s madness for a bike at this price point. The three didn’t feel too heavy to the arm.

Yes, the oe wheels don’t seem too bad atall. Seems almost silly dropping 350 quid on some stans/novatec for the sake of 100 grams

agreed which is why I made the comment, replacing the truck wheels on my Hack dropped ~£600grm which was a bit easier to justify! I’d have been happy with OE wheels of the weight suggested for some of the Arkose models.

So now the hack is a truck with light wheels 😉

Arkose 2 ordered. 🙂 fingers crossed here tomorrow.

This thread has been a great help.

Clink: did the Two arrive? They do seem good value with the offer at the moment. Be interesting to know how you get on with the shifter. I can never decide on these things.

Yep first ride Sunday. Shifter is fine – but I usually ride ss and have used bar end shifters before. Colour is bright!

Took a test ride on an arkose 2 yesterday and really enjoyed it. Despite only being allowed on roads I did manage some proper cyclocross carrying when I got lost in the university grounds…

Was surprised how not weird the bar end shifter was and love the colour 😛

Hoping to get an order in before the trade in runs out!

I found it really comfy – big tyres make a real difference.