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| The BMC MCD, or as my daughter dubbed it- The Bubblegum Princess. |
To say that I was stoked would be a mild understatement. See, I had often been considering getting another Monster Cross frame and fork, especially since Mike had gravitated toward a more "gravel friendly" geometry, added a new, fancy fork, and had offered some rad colors over the ensuing years since I had purchased my frame and fork, #49 in the run, by the way.
The thing was, Mike has doggedly held to cantilever brakes, and in 2017, well, it was painfully obvious that testing wheels for Riding Gravel was going to require that I had a disc compatible frame and fork. Not only that, but 12mm through axles were also beginning to overtake quick releases as the primary form of wheel attachment. Mike addressed both of my concerns with the MCD, (Monster Cross Disc).
When I saw his prototype bike he had built for himself, I was sold. However; when he announced a limited run of pink for the first offering, I contacted him immediately. "Put my name down for a pink one!", I wasn't about to wait for pre-orders to open. I definitely wanted one of these.
I've used this for gravel events and for RidingGravel.com testing purposes since I got it built up during the Summer of 2018. The mainstays of the original build are all there, but wheels and tires change with some regularity. I won't get into the current build, that is mostly Shimano Ultegra/Whisky carbon, and TRP brakes, but I will list a few future upgrades this bike will be seeing.
- Chris King bottom bracket. Hopefully in purple!
- A purple seat collar.
- Shimano GRX rear derailleur in 11 speed.
- A little longer front through axle. The PMW one I have doesn't engage all the threads in the fork. That bugs me.
- Maybe- GRX levers, front derailleur, and crank set. (Not necessary, but GRX stuff is very good)
9 comments:
Hmm, drop the BB a few more millimeters-that sounds like the BMC Road +!
I have one shod with Compass Switchback Hill 650b x 48 Extralight tires and what a fun bike it is. Practical too!
Steve
Is upgrading beyond purple even possible.
In regards to the thru axle, is there a source you use or recommend? I have not seen much talk beyond the Robert Axle Project, which has a database of bikes. Sometimes its tough to find the manufacturer data on thread pitch and length, so if you're going to upgrade, a write up on your process would be awesome!
@Steve- Those BMC Road+ frame sets are tempting!
@Skidmark- The obvious answer is "NO". ;>)
@DT- Mike Varley has a tech page on the Black Mountain Cycles site which gives you options and part #'s for various through axles which work with his frame sets. I chose Paragon Machine Works based upon reputation and price, but again- that front axle seems a tad too short.
I think my process will involve getting some detailed measurements from the various suppliers, (or perhaps from Mike himself, since he builds up so many of these), and go from there. But yeah- I can definitely share the journey.
Hi GT, I've got a 30mmm purple wolf tooth seat post collar that I ended up not using on a project. I'll send it to you if you give me into on where to send and if that's what you're looking for.
@Ben W- Hey, thanks! Let me know what you need for it, and the address I'm having things sent to is:
Guitar Ted Productions
311 Baltimore Street
Waterloo, IA 50701
I'll get it out to you later this week after Christmas. No charge, I get a lot of enjoyment out of your blog and riding gravel articles. Merry Christmas!
Any significant issues with pedal strike when running the 650bx47 wheels? I'm about to pull the trigger on one and build it up with parts I have laying around. I will need to build wheels and so need to decide between 650b and 700. I'm temped to go with 650b.
Also, I'm an infrequent lurker on this blog but generally enjoy it. Thanks for the time and energy you put into it.
@leaf slayer - I've had no trouble at all running 650B wheels on the MCD.
Thank you for reading the blog!
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