I have just joined the Arkose club with a s/h Arkose A8. It will be primarily be for an 8 mile commute. I have been out for a wee ride today and I need to un-learn the STI gearchange asap.

Hi all,
I would appreciate a bit of help with my 2019 Arkose X. For the winter I am intending to use the bike mainly on the road. Before buying some (narrower) road suitable 650b tyres I thought I would give the wheels from my 2019 Diverge a try. Unfortunately when I put the Arkose cassette on the DT wheels from the Diverge I have a spacing issue (the smallest cog rubs the inside of the frame). Does anyone know how I can get around this? Both appear to be 142mm axle length and both cassettes (11 speed Shimano on the Diverge and 11 speed SRAM on the Arkose) have spacers behind the cassettes. Is it a matter of simply removing the cassette spacer when I fit the DT wheel? Thanks in advance.

11 speed cassette doesn’t normally need a spacer – if its a 1.85mm cassette spacer its usually to convert an 11 speed freehub to a 10 speed cassette.

@Winston – thanks for your advice. The spacers both appear to be 1.25mm approx rather than 1.85mm. However, I removed the spacer and the issue appears to be resolved. Who knows why the spacer was actually fitted but all good now. Cheers.

@jameso That is very kind of you. It’s not urgent though as it’s to have a spare as I’ve just used the spare that came with the bike. I’m happy to leave it for someone who really needs it :)

Anyone know where I can get BGRD-8 from? (Arkose 2018)
Evans singularly useless!

@mikertroid, do keep up : ) go back a few posts onto the bottom of prev page… PM me.

Will be the last ‘cut the middleman’ job I can do like this though as I’ve left Evans now, might be time for the thread to be renamed.

Hi all,

I’ve tried to skim through all pages of this thread and have managed to find a few useful comments on the bike sizing for a height of 5’7 (just a tad over 5’7 with 30inch leg inseam).

Just to be sure, for whoever is the same height as me? Did you opt for Small or Medium?

Just looking for a few more comments before I commit.

Much appreciated

Considering selling the roadie and buying a wheel to go on the back of the Arkose (D3) for trainer duties.

Assuming I buy a standard road wheel with the right shimano cassette, I shouldn’t run into any issues should I?

Anyone done the same?

Hi flipsonic

I’m about 5’8, but I’m never sure how to measure my inseam – pretty average I’d guess.

I’ve had my Arkose for coming up to two years now, and I’m happy with it. It was a hard choice between small and medium as either would have worked. I chose small because it felt a bit more agile, saved a couple of ounces, and coming from a mtb the standover height seemed quite high even on the small.
I’ve not regretted it: Once or twice on long rides I’ve wished I could stretch a little, and when I put mud-guards on in the winter I’ve banged my toes a couple of times till I’ve got used to it … that’s it. The rest of the time it’s felt right.

After a few months I slightly changed the handlebar angle, tilting them down a bit, and I altered the brake levers to the ‘small reach’ setting which I found much more useable, especially when riding in the hooks. This is a bit odd as I have quite large hands, but it definitely works better for me. I guess you’ll have to make similar adjustments to get it right for yourself, which you’ll only be able to do after you’ve ridden for a while.

I think I made the right choice, though I also reckon I could have made the medium work.

It’s a great bike. I don’t think you’ll find better value (I got mine in the sales for 950).

Let us know what you decide.

After doing a lot more biking recently, getting a new road bike and a fit, I’ve come to the conclusion that my Arkose is too big for me (large)

I have tried to find a medium but Evans have basically nothing. Does anyone know if they will ever get Arkose models back in?

^ from what I remember they had some due into production in December, 2021 models. Essentially the same frame and forks with the seat stay bridge put back in to avoid the spares faff of the separate mount.

@chrisdb

I have a medium Arkose 4 2018 I’m selling soon. Might need a new rear shifter.

@jameso thank you for the info

@mikertroid thank you but I’m going to smash the cycle to work to get a new one. I’m also going to go 2x for better road cadence.

With no Arkose on the horizon I think I’m going to go for a Trek Checkpoint ALR5 which seems pretty similar.

It’s a shame as I put it the Arkose into gravel trim and had a great ride at the weekend, but it’s just too big :(

Enjoy! I’m hanging on now for the winter…33mm tyres and mudguards going on soon….

Anyone know how far I can drop the cassette range on a 2020 D3 before I run into chain length issues?

Ta

I’ll be putting my Arkose X in the classifieds early next week once it’s had a clean, in case anyone wants dibs on it.
Amazing bike and very sad to get rid of it but got a new beast on the way.

Will be the last ‘cut the middleman’ job I can do like this though as I’ve left Evans now, might be time for the thread to be renamed.

Sorry to hear this although think they have been going downhill since Sports Direct took them over. Maybe you’re leaving a sinking ship. Their website got worse too, cannot get previous arkose models info. Thanks for all your input on here. You helped many people. Hope we see more bikes that you have had input on, who-ever and wherever that might be!

Evening. I have a 2015 Arkose One which I think, probably needs a new headset. The current headset is made by FSA. Could anyone let me know which FSA headset I need to buy to replace the old one, please? TIA

Its presumably sealed headset bearings like mine so save yourself some £ and pull the bearings out – read the codes and order on ebay for a few quid a pop.

FSA C40 ACB integrated headset – pretty common size/spec. Tech spec here http://shop.fullspeedahead.com/en/files/index/download/id/627ec69c87b0442b6228ac2de5791d1897/

@waldner, thanks. The Arkose was a good part of it 👍

So @jameso thanks for the bike and thread of tips

Can you tell us what you are doing now?

@jameso

I missed the post where you told us you left Evans. I hope you’re in a good place, you did good work there. Thanks

Thanks @jameso and good luck with what ever you do next. I’ve had over 6,000 happy miles on my Arkose.

@tenburner – sounds like a good idea. I’ll see what I can find.

Thanks ampthill, easily, tenfoot. All’s good, was time for a change and something interesting came up within a great R+D team working on e-bikes and e-scooters.

I shall echo the many thanks to @jameso, on a personal level for helping me out a few years back when I had dropout issues on my Arkose frame and in general for his willingness to support riders with helpful advice and sharing his tech knowledge on this thread. I reckon it’s definitely sold a good few Arkose to STW folk.

As above, big thanks to @jameso over the years, plenty of back and forth comments on here and by email , My Arkose and Ramin 3+ are still serving me well and will be for many years to come … just great value and quality bikes.

Thanks to the advice above I bought headset bearings from Blue Seal and put them in yesterday. Feels like a new bike. Thanks.

Good stuff.
Thanks Stumpy, hope they continue to. Kept hold of my own Ramin 3+ for something good once we’re able to travel again.

I’m after some more bar tape for my Arkose 1 (2018) Model as it is rather chewed up now.

Can’t seem to find the original ‘Pinnacle Shockproof with gel’.

https://www.evanscycles.com/en-sm/fwe-shockproof-gel-4-5mm-bar-tape-ev196310

Can anyone recommend a similar replacement?

It’s Velo bar tape, they supply so many brands and make a lot of the aftermarket tapes out there so you should be able to get something similar. Arkose spec used the thicker gel base and in last couple of years the anti-slip surface material.

It’s Velo bar tape, they supply so many brands and make a lot of the aftermarket tapes out there so you should be able to get something similar. Arkose spec used the thicker gel base and in last couple of years the anti-slip surface material.

Thanks James, I’ll have a good look

Don’t suppose anyone can trace the original rear hub spec from the Evans site for the 2015 Arkose 2?

I’ve found ‘Alex ATD-490 32H rims, Joytech hubs’

I’m using mine on my turbo at the moment and I’m noticing my old Specialised hard rock (my partner is using) seems a much tighter fit on the turbo. Trying not to have to adjust/faff too much when changing bikes.

I get the feeling the Arkose may be 130mm rather than 135mm (hence it ‘compresses’ less in the turbo frame). Or am I overcomplicating a simple tape measure job?

Pretty sure it’s 135mm as I’ve swapped in a mtb hub without any issue.

In my head they are 135mm at back if we.
Certainly hope pro 4s went straight in

Discs, 135mm.

Thanks all. I’d bought a spare wheel set years ago (funnily enough my post in this thread came up on a Google search) and as that came with MTB tyres that I had to ditch, it’d make sense that it’s 135

Might start a separate thread regards the turbo then, got a third bike (hard tail) coming soon, so will see how that fits into the turbo frame first.

I’m thinking of swapping the fork on my Arkose 2016 to one with more clearance.

Probably this one https://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Catalogue/Forks/Adventure/TRIPSTER-DISC-TA

The aim being to be able to run bigger tyres. So am I thinking that I would be able to run up to 50mm on 650b and 45mm 700c?

Is 50mm 650b a big step up in “suspension”? I’m currently running 40mm 700c?

This has been prompted by a mate suggesting we try Oxduro this year (but with the reality we might have to cut our losses and head for home or cut a corner). Too far on the road for an MTB but enough off road to want a bike that is happy on Chilterns single track and the Ridgeway etc.

Any thoughts appreciated

I’m running Hope five20 and have end caps so no problem there. I think I’d have to but a new front brake which is no problem

Wondering if anyone here has bought a 2021 Arkose? The Arkose 3 is no longer on their site..

Their website descriptions of their bikes are very minimal

For example the frame description is ‘Lightweight and Durable Heat Treated Aluminium’ &’6061 heat treated Aluminium’

Is the frame the same quality/specification as the 2020 model ?

2020 Arkose Frame description:
‘6013-T6 heat treated alloy, w/Triple butted top and down tubes. 3 x bottle cage mounts, internal cable routing, interchangeable dropout & rack/mudguard mounts’
Also, the website says  ‘For 2021 we’ve simplified the line-up, updated the geometry and made it unisex to make it easier for you to find the right Arkose for you’

There is no Geometry guide on the website either, having a 2018 Arkose it would be good to compare before purchase.

It’s basically the same frame as 2020 with the seat stay bridge added back in, sizing changed a bit but the M-L-XL are pretty much the same adding XS and S to cover the womens bikes. Can’t help on geometry sorry – the same as before on the main dimensions, handling etc but I don’t have the charts now.