I thought about hacking the rear fender somehow to fit them with 37mm tyres. Two problems.

First, even without the fenders the clearance is tiny with 37 tyres. If I maintain that same clearance but make the fenders somehow work, snow or mud is going to fill up that tiny gap very quick.

Second, toe overlap. I’m using a Genesis Croix De Fer fork with a large frame and size 44 shoes. With 32mm tyres and fenders the toe overlap is horrible, with 37 tyres and fenders it would be even worse.

I’m pretty happy right now with 32mm GKs. The tyres are amazing, yeah because they’re small the ride is a bit more harsh compared to 37s. But I don’t ride that much in the winter, and I ride much less offroad.

I’ll hope for the best but i’ve tried some 26×2.25 knobbies and the knobs were rubbing the inside of the chainstay. :(

@monkeyboyjc
That’s awesome, i’m super curious!

Yeah the counter sunk bolt might have done the trick, when I tried to fit the fenders with the 37s I just couldn’t see it working even though I was using a low profile allen bolt. I could barely slide in the fenders between the bridge and the tyre.

My wheels have a 19-20mm ID, that might make the tyre a bit more tall. With the 32 GKs I have enough room so riding on wet dirt roads (not super thick mud) or light snow is not a problem.

Yeah moving the bridges would open up so much space… I love this frame but the tyre clearance is the only thing that’s annoying.

How did you manage to fit fenders with the 37 Voyagers? I have the same tyres, I can fit the fender itself in the back with about 0.5mm clearance, but getting even a low profile a screw in there is impossible.

Although the GravelKings are much better winter tyres, with the Voyagers I did way too many unintentional skids in the wet. :D

Thanks!

I think i’m going to play it safe and get 38mm GravelKings for the back and 43s for the front. I gathered some info and the new 38s measure more like 40mm so it’s gonna be a pretty good setup. If it turns out the 43s somehow fit in the back i’ll get another one later on…

I’m going to file down the bosses too if it’s necessary. Right now i’m on 32mm GKs with fenders, but with my 37mm Vittoria Voyager Hypers the bridges were super close. (No fenders with 37s of course)

Now I just need to wait for spring/summer so the fenders can go. :)

I’m still really curious about 650b too.

Nice work joshvegas!

What is the actual width of that tyre?

My dream would be to fit 43 mil GravelKings front and back…

How much clearance is there side to side with the Horizons? Any pictures? Is there room for fenders with them?

And just to be sure, you’re talking about this generation of Plug, right?

http://road.cc/sites/default/files/styles/main_width/public/images/Charge%20Plug%205/Charge%20Plug%205.jpg?itok=VmfJApOO

I’m very curious too… Tried doing some measuring and I don’t see 650x47s fitting in the back width wise.

Don’t want to jump the gun on an expensive 27.5 wheelset, I might get a super cheap 27.5 rear wheel/wheelset in the summer just to try if 650x47s would fit.

Imagine the tyre clearance if Charge would have just dimpled the chainstays and moved the bridges a bit more… :(

Well if you fit flat bars on a CX bike you pretty much made a hybrid/fitness bike…

You get more control over the bike with flats and it’s a more natural position if you go on rougher terrain, do jumps etc.

But yeah CX = drop bar with 32mm tyres max. It’s not the bike industry, that’s just the way it is with that sport. :-)

I think the key is actually riding your bike first…

Holding the hoods and holding a flat bar is completely different. Your hands are at a completely different angle and a drop bar is much narrower than a flat bar (unless you cut it of course).

Bar ends are somewhat similar if you tilt them horizontal but again you’re holding a much wider bar, and every time you want to shift or use the brake you have to move your hands.

I barely use the drops, I run drop bars because I find them more comfortable over long distances when holding the hoods.

If you do convert you will have to buy flat bar shifters with a road specific pull ratio, and of course V-brake levers won’t work with Spyres (if you don’t switch to hydraulic).

Yep, but there is chain growth when the rear suspension compresses.

Get chemical toe warmers.

https://www.amazon.com/HotHands-Toe-Warmers-Odorless-Activated/dp/B0007ZF4PE

You can buy them at Decathlon too.

Other than winter boots i’ve tried every trick, nothing worked.

A chain guide won’t give you the same quietness as a clutch tho since it doesn’t do anything about chain slap.

Yes, you will be able to fit 11-40 or bigger MTB cassettes.

I absolutely love clutch RDs. Now that I got used to them I can’t go back to a “normal” one. I would put them on every bike, even road bikes (actually I did that).

Now when I jump on a bike with a non clutch RD and the chain starts slapping my first thought is that something is broken.

So, CLUTCH!

I can only share my personal experience.

Straight handlebars are uncomfortable for me for any longer distance. A gravel bike with drop bars, an elevated position and huge tyres are great for longer distances when I ride over mixed terrain. 47 is a big difference compared to 35-37 in terms of comfort over rough terrain.
Also, i’m not racing anyone, and even if huge tyres slow me down a bit on ashpalt I don’t really care because bigger tyres = more fun.

What’s the biggest 622 tyre you can fit in the back with fenders? With my 37 Vittoria Voyager Hypers there is about 2mm of clearance to the chainstay and seatstay bridges so fenders are out of the question.

However riding in the winter my bike constantly looks like it just had diarrhea, I need fenders. Thinking about 32 Gravelking SKs. Thoughts?

Does anyone have photos with 27.5×47 in the back? I would love to see the clearance at the chainstay.

I’m seriously thinking about going down to 650b but i’ve done some measurements and to me it looks like the side to side clearance at the chainstay would be super tight.

I will ask a framebuilder if he could dimple the chainstays, that would help a lot.

That sounds good! I moved from 23 and 25 to 28 and now 37 and I thought that’s gonna be it but I want to try something bigger… But i’m already invested in a 700c wheelset. I wish Charge would have moved up the chainstay and seatstay bridges just about 1.5-2cm. :( But for the price I won’t complain.

(I should add that the 26×2.25 tyres I tried were knobby MTB tyres and the knobs hit the chainstay :D )

I have tried 26″ wheels with 2.25 tyres, didn’t fit. :D

Most of all i’m trying to understand their purpose.

It’s just annoying that the manual says that I HAVE TO use them, but I don’t know why. :-)

My Plug build is done!

This thing is an absolute dream. It feels so solid, and it goes over everything. But even with these big tyres the bike feels so quick on smooth roads too. I don’t feel like it’s holding me back in any way.
The handling is stable but to my surprise the whole bike feels very nimble, at least to me.

Absolutely loving it! :D

Flickr album:

Thanks a lot aldo56! I was starting to get worried.

I didn’t have any penetrating or super thin oil, only thicker stuff, but I did lube the mechanism and it helped a lot. It’s still not a 100% perfect, but it’s pretty damn close.
Will try to get some thinner stuff and do it again.

Unfortunately I don’t have a torque wrench. I’m using an open end wrench (with a cassette tool) that’s about 25cm long but I can’t tighten the cassette any more.

Will post pics tomorrow. I’m 99.9% sure it’s not cross threaded, all the threads look perfect, no metal shavings anywhere.

I also noticed that on the 10T cog the chain is really really close to the frame.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Yeah, the movement of the arm feels notchy, that’s the best word to describe it.

I don’t have the wheels yet so I only tried the brake with simply just a lever attached, with the disc in the arm probably moves so little that I won’t feel the notchiness, but I might still strip the brakes down and grease them so I sleep better at night.

So weird that the bearings come bone dry from the factory… :?:

First time posting here, i’ll start with a shameless plug. :-)

I’m selling a silver Charge Whisk fork with a 217mm steerer if anyone is interested:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/charge-whisk-road-cx-touring-disc-steel-fork-tange-tubing?replies=1#post-8611764

If everything goes right my build should be complete in the next few months, can’t wait to post about it here! I’m planning a Rival 1 group with TRP Sypres, Hunt 4 Season Gravel wheels and 35c Vittoria Voyager Hyper tyres. Should be a super sweet bike especially for me considering i’m coming from mostly low end used bikes.