Hot on the heals of another couple of steel bikes from Brother and Sven Cycles (don’t worry, we’ve a few test bikes made out of other materials currently getting taken through the wringer), we have just received this Stayer Groadinger. We ran through Stayer’s approach to building bikes a few months ago, and were intrigued enough to call one in for test.
Off-the-peg
While Stayer started making custom bikes, the Groadinger is available as an off-the-peg frame, a frame/fork combo with a Whisky No.9 Fork, or a rolling chassis with Stayer’s own handbuilt carbon wheels. If the off-the-peg sizing doesn’t work for you, then a full custom frame is available at an up-charge of £250.
The steel (the main frame is Columbus Zona, although the Head Tube, BB and stainless drop outs are Bear Frame Works and the wishbone is T45) 650b gravel frame has a distinctive bent seat tube, and short chain stays, tucking the rear wheel in. This should give a lively and engaging ride, potentially at the price of a bit of stability, but only time will tell.
The bike also features a lovely mono-stay rear, with skinny seat stays. This large frame is owner Sam’s own bike, and was actually a prototype. So, while the geometry hasn’t changed, the welds aren’t quite as tidy as the finished version and it has taken a bit of a beating.
The “swamp dip” paint job is still looking pretty tidy though – a subtle fade from swampy green to, er swampy green.
Our bike is as per the rolling chassis build, using a full carbon Whisky No. 9 CX fork and Stayer’s own deep-section carbon adventure 650b wheels, laced to DT Swiss hubs.
The finishing touches
As the rest of a build will be up to you, we won’t spend long on Sam’s set up, but it’s an interesting and eclectic set of components, so we may as well have a look. Shifting duties are probably the most standard option: SRAM Force.
The levers are paired up to a set of Paul Component Klamper cable disc brakes. We’ve not used them before, and we are intrigued to see whether they live up to the $220 price tag. The crankset is another piece of crafted aluminium, this time from Ingrid.
The WTB Sendero 47mm tyres, with their pronounced knobs, only just clear the inside of the chainstays. If you want to fit something wider, Stayer will manufacture you a Groadinger with boost spacing to allow a little more clearance.
Full spec
Frame:
- 12mm Stainless through axle dropouts
- Two bottle cage mount
- Built for 1X drive chain systems only
- 44mm head tube
- Super strong TIG welded and filet brazed construction
- T47 BB in 68mm
- External cable routing
Fork and Frame option:
- Stayer Groadinger 650b steel frame
- Whisky No9 CX fork
- 15mm thru axle
- Hope headset
- Wheels Manufacturing T47 BB
Rolling chassis option:
- Stayer Groadinger 650b steel frame
- Whisky No9 CX fork
- 15mm thru axle
- Hope headset
- Wheels Manufacturing T47 BB
- Stayer 650b on DT 350 Gravel Wheel set
Testing
We are diving in at the deep-end with a week-long gravel bikepacking trip through Slovakia on the Groadinger. Once we are back and have done some hot laps of the local trails, we’ll report back.
Comments (4)
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I do like a wishbone seatstay.
Interesting about a cable activated disk brake – “Klampers” eh.
He tends to make excellent stuff, I wonder how they compare to quality hydraulics?
Klampers are absolutely standard on the bikes featured over on The Radavist. I suspect they’re decent, but also that they appeal to a particular sort of person…
This got my vote at the Bristol cycle show. I thought it lovely.
Those rear clearances do look tight…
I’m still not sure why these kind of bikes aren’t being made with clearance for at least a 27.5 x 2.1″ tyre, as that’s by far the most common size for fast rolling MTB things like Mezcal’s or Thunder Burt’s.