Ah sweet, thanks a lot!

Is this for the cheap charge plug frames that were on ebay? I think most people struggled to find anything suitable as there are very few straight steeirer disk fork options.

I think bike discount .de had some listed under touring/trekking?

Yes. Sadly I know that these kinds of forks are not that common. I’ve been riding the thing for about 2 years now with a Genesis Croix de Fer fork that I bought new on eBay. But i’m 99% sure either the dropouts and/or the brake mounts are out of whack, and i’d like to fix that.

I’ve seen the bike discount forks. To be honest I don’t trust them that much. While i’m not afraid at all of carbon stuff, sometimes I ride this bike on terrain that it wasn’t exactly meant/designed for. So a no-name trekking carbon fork would kinda freak me out, and anyways that thing is so heavy! Thanks for the tip tho.

Luckily Surly makes a bunch of forks. I can get a new Surly Straggler Disc fork for ~125 pounds, or a Midnight Special fork for a bit more. But i’ve spent so much money on this build already that I would like to fix the little problems here and there for cheap and then move on. If I could find a nice and decent used fork for around 50-60 i’d be happy. I’ve seen a sold Straggler fork on lfgss for 50 pounds.

Bear in mind that there is very little thats cx (or latterly gravel) specific. Its mostly just repurposed road stuff.

I’m well aware of that, but as I said i’m mainly looking for a fork. ~400mm AC and clearance for 45mm tyres, so I can’t exactly look at road stuff. You will only see those kinds of forks on CX, gravel, and touring bikes, at least as far as I know.
If I find a good deal I might just get a frameset, and i’m not looking for a road frameset.

The title meant to say “2nd hand”, whoops…

People still running their Plugs?

Mine is still going strong, being used for everything from local bridleways to commuting, might even do a bit of a light tour on it.

I still ride mine, unfortunately i’m not happy with a lot of things on my build, especially considering how much money i’ve spent on it. I think mine will be replaced with an XC MTB, the only thing missing are the funds… :D

@vincienup

I’m very sorry for using that word. I hope you’re okay, no serious injuries.

I’ll call them STi next time as in SRAM Total Integration.

I disagree. Right now I have my friends bike here with a Tiagra 10spd groupset and my bike with a Rival 1.
Even the sound the SRAM shifter makes is SO MUCH louder than the Shimano one. The Shimano is quiet and feels soft while the SRAM makes a huge bang when you click it. Also don’t forget that when shifting up the cassette with SRAM there are two clicks because of Double Tap, with Shimano it’s only one.

Doesn’t matter how I hold the brifter, what fingers I use, the SRAM feels a 100x more “tactile”. Some people like this, some don’t.

The cable pull and pull ratio between SRAM and Shimano road stuff is different, you can’t mix them. Nowadays you can’t even mix road and MTB derailleurs and shifters even if you stay in the same brand.

In my experiene all Shimano STIs have been like this, I got a Rival 1 groupset a year ago and I too love the very “clicky” feel.

A stronger spring in the rear derailleur might help somewhat. Usually there are two different settings for the cage spring tension on Shimano road RDs, try the stronger setting first, it’s free after all. I did it recently on an old Tiagra RD and it made the shifter feel a bit more “clicky” and “responsive”, slightly harder to move.
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-derailleur-overhaul

Or you could go with an Ultegra RX derailleur that has a cluch, that would also make the main lever a bit harder to move, and clutch RDs are awesome.

@hooli

A lot depends on the tyre. They’re slower for sure, but with a good quality tyre they’re not as much slower as people would think. For 90% of people that are not actually racing they’re perfectly fine and the big tyres have a few other advantages.

Way too much overthinking going on these days as unless you are racing what difference does a few minutes make from not being on the best bike for the surface ridden on.

This. I might be in the minority, but to me just because one bike is faster than the other that doesn’t automatically mean it’s more fun. To be honest I don’t understand why it is more fun to do the same distance in let’s say 5 less minutes.

Yeah, a road bike is faster than my gravel bike. But for example with my gravel bike I don’t have to pay as much attention to potholes/cracks/etc in the road because of the bigger tyres, it’s more stable and confidence inspiring, the position is more comfortable, and the ride is less jarring. For winter riding there is room for fenders and bigger tyres so I can stay dry and have actual grip. To me just these properties make the gravel bike more enjoyable even on pavement.

Yeah, riding pavement on a DH bike is torture, and riding rocky singletrack on a road bike is torture, but we are not talking about extremes like these.

IMO 1x starts at a 10-42. That kind of range can work, if you’re not sensitive to bigger jumps in the gearing, or if you’re not trying to ride pavement and then climb singletrack on the same ride. But I don’t know about an out of the box 2x drop bar solution for the latter.

@mick_r

What’s Torq? :D

Thanks everyone. I thought about it, looked at a few different geometry charts. I’m gonna have the funds in about two weeks, if the Cube is still there by then, i’m gonna go with it.

If not, i’ll probably go the used route, get a cheap alu frame, powdercoat it and give it a new life.

The 23″ Cube is probably gonna look dumb because of the long (compared to modern slack bikes) seattube, but the standover should be similar to my gravel bike. :)

Yeah, in modern geo that 23″ would be just a large, although I think the slack head angle also brings the bars a bit closer to you?

I’ll compare a few frames and i’ll think about it. What I know is that one thing I really hate is feeling stretched out.

Looking at the geometry tables the difference in TT length between the 21 and 23 is 11mm… Hmm. That’s not much and I gain a bunch of stack. I like being upright and i’m also planning a bar with more than usual backsweep for comfort.

Decisions, decisions…

@djflexure: Thanks, still on the fence about going the used route.

I’m 184-185cm that I guess is 6 feet and 0.8 inches according to google? :D My inseam is around 34-35″, I think I have long legs. I think in terms of standover and saddle height the 23″ would be good but i’m afraid of that 640mm top tube. And i’m sure it looks a bit dumb… Which I know is a dumb thing to consider.

Yeah I know that it’s just a naked frame but still even with the few extras I still think it’s a killer deal. I could only find carbon frames straight from China for this kind of money. Even some aluminium frames cost more from small direct to consumer brands.

My gravel bike has 43mm GravelKing SKs (and a Rival 1 drivetrain) and i’ll happily go on a 4 hour pavement ride if i’m in the mood.
Unless you’re the race-y Strava KOM type i’d say a gravel bike would be perfectly fine with one wheelset.

I ride for fun, i’m not racing anybody, and personally I don’t feel like my 43mm tires are holding me back on pavement that much. It’s still perfectly enjoyable and doesn’t feel like I shot myself in the leg. I’ll happily trade in the added comfort for a bit of lost speed. Now after owning a gravel bike i’m pretty sure i’ll never have a bike with smaller than 35mm tyres again, even if my plan was to only ride pavement. Now when I try a road bike with 25-28mm tyres I just don’t understand why did I even bother torturing myself in the past on those things.
All IMO.

@johnw1984

That’s one of the frames that I posted, it’s literally perfect, but they only have it in a size 23″ which I think would be a size too large for me. Although i’ve thought about just calling it modern geo and going with something like a 40mm stem… :D

Do you know where these Cube frames come from? Is it possible that they’re gonna have more stock in the future? Because that GTC is exactly what i’m looking for and it’s dirt cheap for what it is IMO.

Gravel/Cyclocross bikes normally come with drop bars, I guess it must be possible to change bars and shifters though.

It is possible but drop bar bikes usually have shorter top tubes compared to flat bar frames so I wouldn’t recommend it.

Yup, looks spot on, great tyre clearance and since it’s a Lynskey it’s probably good stuff. Not expensive either.

I’d go with this over the Bontrager for sure. Awesome deal IMO.

The rear is supposed to be 10mm, and the front is supposed to be 9mm.

That just gave me an idea… The problem with my Croix de Fer fork are the dropouts.

If I don’t put washers under the brake caliper, the pads will grab the rotor about 1-2mm too low. The dropouts are so much wider than the actual axle. I have to fight to get the wheel in straight, and I always have to adjust the brakes again if I take out the wheel. I know that’s common with quick release, but in the back I can take out the wheel, put it back in and everything is perfect.

My brake pads wear weird at the front and I don’t think the front brakes work as good as they should, i’m pretty sure things are misaligned no matter what I do.

But I just checked, and the 10mm end caps from my Hunt rear wheels fit perfectly in the front…

What the hell?

Wow, I checked bike-discount a few times, didn’t think to check the trekking section! It’s probably pretty dumb but i’m a bit scared of these cheaper carbon forks since I also use my bike a lot offroad in a way it was not really designed for. How is the Radon fork holding up for you?

I really want this Soma fork, but it’s so expensive here…

50mm rake, 15mm thru axle, clearance for 45s WITH fenders, could probably slap on a 180 rotor, weight is around 1050g. 150-200 bucks in the US, about €300 here in Europe… :(

I’m using a Genesis Croix de Fer fork in my Plug. Around 405mm AC, 50mm rake. The fork itself is horrible, but I didn’t notice anything weird about handling, I actually really like how my bike handles. I couldn’t find any info if the stock fork was 45 or 50mm rake. Tried to measure it but failed. :D

That Bontrager fork doesn’t look like it has a lot of tyre clearance, any info on that? This is the non disc version but it looks pretty bad. 32mm tyres:

Unfortunately it’s so hard to find a straight 1 1/8 fork, so not a lot of options. There is the Fyxation which is thru axle and has mounts but it’s much more expensive and i’m not sure if someone sells it in Europe.

Sparta All Road Carbon Fork

Won’t work. SPD Shoes that have a full sole like Five Tens for example can sort of work if you have a cleat cover, but they still suck because most of the time these shoes are much stiffer and have harder souls with much less grip. I’ve tried my Five Ten Hellcats on flat pedals and they sucked massive balls.

But if you have a pair of flat pedals slap them on your bike and go for a test ride, you’ll see.

If you’re considering switiching to flats I wouldn’t try them without a decent pedal and shoe, because you will come to the conclusion that flats suck but in reality you just have the wrong parts.

If you do do it, where are you going to hold the bars? A naked aluminium straight bar lever with a hose or cable sticking out the top is not going to be comfortable for anything more than 5-10 seconds, and you won’t have a flat transition from the lever to the bar like with a proper drop bar lever and compact handlebars.

Bar end shifters suck, and you will have to find one that’s compatible with MTB derailleurs if you have 10 or 11spd MTB stuff. I think Microshift makes one tho.

Tinkering and building bikes is fun, but to me this just sounds like a dumb idea, waste of time and money. No offense. :D I just can’t see any advantages at all, only disadvantages.

It’s gonna be horrible, but it sounds like you are still going to do it no matter what we say.

I have a 38T with a 10-42. The Rival 1 groupset came with a 42T, combined with the 10T that’s like a 46-11, so pretty high. I barely used the high end so I went down to a 38T. 38-10 is like 42-11, not that high. But when I spin it out gravity does the job anyways, i’m not in a hurry, and now I actually use the 10T. :D

42-42 was nice but I wanted something easier for offroad climbs. 38-42 is much better. Sometimes I would still like an Eagle with a 50 at the back for climbing steep singletrack.

My guess is that’s the seat collar size (i.e. the diameter of the exterior of the seat tube). It’ll be a 27.2 seatpost

The walls can’t be that thin, if the frame takes a seperate seat collar it’s usually 30.0 or 30.2 for a 27.2 seatpost.

It’s probably slightly expanded at the top and/or the seller can’t use a calliper. Both a pretty common. :D

I’ve seen it a few times. It’s gonna suck. The main position on a drop bar is holding the brake lever. If you have a regular brake lever there without rubber hoods it’s going to be horrible.

If your main position would be holding the tops, you might as well be on a flat bar.

You won’t spend long periods in the drops.

Also something to consider is that MTBs have much longer top tubes, that’s why drop bar conversions usually suck (even when the owners won’t admit it to themselves).

I have a gravel bike and I love it, but you don’t need a special bike or drop bars to go in a forward direction on gravel… Just ride the thing with flat bars, especially if it’s a budget build.

Don’t forget that you will have to put the shifters somewhere too…

The seller doesn’t know what he or she is doing.

If it’s a modern frame it’s most likely 27.2.

Why do you want to run an 11spd chain on an 8spd drivetrain? Not trolling, just curious.

Why?

I love 1x, but IMO 1x starts at a 10-42 cassette, I wouldn’t go with anything that has a smaller range. Yes that means switching to XD, but that 10T does make a difference.

I’ve been riding Rival 1 on my Plug since last October. There are some things that I like and some things that I don’t like. I love the shape of the levers, love Doubletap, I love the very positive click of the shifter, despite all the bad rep I really like GXP, and i’ll never use a non clutched derailleur again. The crankset is nice, haven’t dropped a chain yet, and I did ride the bike on terrain where I would have needed an MTB plenty of times. (Although you are familiar with most of this since you’re on Rival 22)

Things I don’t like. The gear changes could be a little quicker, the hoods ripped at the gear lever after a couple of months, and the drivetrain runs a bit loud. What I really don’t like is that the drivetrain gets really, really loud after it sees some offroad miles. I’ve tried like 6-7 different lubes from Squirt wax lube to wet lube, nothing works. If I ride in dusty conditions offroad after a few miles the drivetrain just starts making a racket like I haven’t cleaned it in 5 years.

Overall I like the groupset, but it could be definitely improved. I’m waiting for drop bar Eagle. :)

Tyre not seating = soapy water, put a tube in first, air compressor etc.

Small leaks = more shaking.

More air pressure is not the fix…

i **** hate technology………  ;o)

Yeah man technology sucks.

I put on my tubeless tyres, poured the sealant in, aired them up with a compressor, shaked the wheels a bit, and put them back in my bike. Haven’t touched them the last few months, only to change the pressure.

So much hassle right?

I don’t have a 635 bike personally, I just worked on a few. If I remember correctly both the old original tyres and new tyres always said 635 x something and 28 x 1 1/2 x something. So not just 28.

Never heard of 634, google doesn’t give me any info either. I do know about 635 tho which is labeled on the sidewall as 28 x 1 1/2.

I did the opposite, MTB levers with road brakes.

For a small amount of lever movement the brake moved a ton, the brake lever was really hard to pull and power was shite.

Get some road BB7s from eBay, they can be pretty cheap. Straight from Hong Kong or Taiwan.

Don’t do it.

I’ve been running Hunt 4 Season Gravel Discs for about half a year on my gravel bike. Sometimes I ride rocky singletrack segments, and I bottomed out the front tyre countless times.

No dings in the rim and they’re as true as when I pulled them out of the box. I run them tubeless with Panaracer GravelKing SK tyres, they were pretty easy to set up, no burps either.

Pretty good weight, price, durability ratio IMO.

I’m always amused that 700c tyres are known as both 28″ and 29″

29er is just a marketing term.

In terms of bead diameter 700c, 622, 28″, 29″ are all the same.

I’d go custom.

I have a friend who makes backpacks. He never made any kind of bike bag, but we designed and made a half frame bag for me in a few hours. It was pretty cheap, it fits perfectly on my frame, and it’s camo. :D

You need some kind of fabric for example Cordura, zipper(s), webbing, and two sided velcro.

If you don’t want to go with new wheels right now then just get any 1×11 upgrade kit with a non XD cassette. When you change the wheels just buy one with an XD driver, shouldn’t cost any extra over Shimano. Buy an XD cassette then, your current one will probably be worn anyways. You can get a lighter AND more durable cassette then, and when you will start a new thread some time from now “which 12spd groupset to go with” you’ll have an XD driver already.