Update On The Gravel Mutt v3

I've been doing a litle bit of experimentation with the Gravel Mutt v3 here. What have I learned so far? 

First off, I need a bigger bike!

Theoretically, the Schwinn World Sport should fit me. It is a 23" frame, which equates to a 58cm bike, and that's my ideal size. However; Schwinn used a very short top tube and a short head tube. The bike fits more like a 55cm or a 56cm bike would on me. 

While I had already dismissed this bike as being a "keeper" (see HERE) I thought a taller/steeper stem might save it. But after trying it out, I am just not seeing why I should invest into this project further when it inevitably will come to a dead end. 

That said, I feel that some of the ideas this bike represents are worth while. (See my initial take on the bike HERE) The head tube angle and seat tube angle specifically are what I find to be attractive. This would all be relevant to my earlier posts on gravel bike geometry. (See HERE) That all interests me because I could see doing a modernized take on that old track bike from the last link there. 

So, this project with the Gravel Mutt v3 was not without merit. It did serve as a kind of "proof of concept" to a degree. I find it fascinating that the Honeman track bike was ridden across country at times, and on rough and unpaved roads. My thought being that these bikes could have been the basis of what constitutes "gravel bicycle geometry" today.

This has prompted me to recently have been looking into a custom made, modernized replica Honeman-style single speed gravel bike. That fell through the cracks. But I thought about this and figured out that perhaps there are stock bikes that would fit the mold already made. I was correct in my assumptions.

The Twin Six Standard Rando would be a very close replica, and the Singular Cycles Peregrine even more so with its lugged head and seat tubes. It kind of doesn't make sense then to spend a bunch of money on a custom when you have these choices already at hand.

The Singular Cycles Peregrine. Image courtesy of Singular Cycles

I've already tried the Twin six Standard Rando as a single speed, and it is great, but that frame can only handle a 42mm tire with any sort of mud clearance. This makes it a bit of a limited choice for me and my needs. 

The Peregrine, on the other hand, has loads of clearance and can go up to a 29" X 2.1" tire. The head tube and seat tube angles are spot on. The bottom bracket drop is right. Plus, it looks the part. The fork crown being the icing on the cake here. Since the Peregrine is essentially what I would have a custom be made like, why bother? 

Now, a lot will have to go right for me to afford a $1400.00 frame set. And maybe nothing will go right. But if the stars aligned, I could see getting this and doing a single speed set-up to tie up the story from the Honeman track bike. 

And Gravel Mutt v3 would have been a key step in getting me to that point.