Well, I think I am abandoning those plans to go with a fixed gear set up. The wheel set I was going to use is set up for 1/8th inch pitch chains and chain rings. That means I'd have to spend a bit of money on a chain ring and a chain and..... Well, I rode the bike again recently and thought I'd like to keep it as it is as far as the drive train goes.
The plan a year ago was to make this bike a flat bar bike, and that fizzled out as well. I still have the brakes and levers for that project in the basement still in their boxes. So, why has it been so hard for me to get going with....anything, having to do with this bike?
The answer: Progress in this gravel bike field. The bikes I have now are light years better at what I am using them for and the Orange Crush is 'just okay'. That breeds apathy for the bike and that's not good. It makes it hard for me to find a purpose for the bike to hang around here.
The big thing on this bike is the geometry. That's the deal-killer for me. The bottom bracket drop is 65mm, and that's ridiculously high these days. The front stack height is pretty low as well. To be perfectly fair, Mike Varley wasn't designing a "gravel bike" when he designed the Monstercross. It was, as the name might suggest, a variant of cyclo-cross bikes with wider tire capability allowing this bike to do some MTB-like trails.
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| Before there were "gravel bikes" this was my gravel bike. |
But I got the Monstercross because there weren't any gravel bikes in 2011. You used whatever you could get that made sense at the time to ride gravel with. I used the Orange Crush. At the time, it made sense. Now?
I would love the bike if it had about 10mm more bottom bracket drop and a degree slacker head tube angle, but it does not and will not ever be like modern gravel bikes.
So I have spent the better part of three years trying to find purpose for this bike. I just cannot justify spending any money anymore on the bike. It has become an antique, of sorts, and even newer Monstercross bikes are not like mine. They changed, got better with the times, and maybe if I had one of those frames I'd just transfer over the parts and then ride on. But that would also be a big investment into a bike that still isn't quite what I'd want these days.
Maybe it is time to retire this frame and fork. I might have to look into something I could transfer the parts to, or just get out of it altogether. I mean, it isn't like it is 2011 anymore around here. I've got plenty of gravel bikes. I don't really need a rim brake gravel bike. But if the right thing came along?
Maybe then.
4 comments:
It’s pretty crazy to think how different newer bikes are from the Monstercross you have. I only have one drop bar bike from that era – the Bike With No Name – and today it’s manifesting its original destiny as a drop bar MTB. It was never really built as a gravel bike, but that didn’t stop me from using it as one for a long time. Thankfully that’s no longer necessary.
Last month I bought a Mod-Zero from Mike. Haven't been able to spend to much time on it yet but looking forward to more rides.
@GuitarTed what is the front bag on this bike?
@Daniel - That is an evolution of my Black Mountain Cycles MCD. I bet you will really like that bike. I love my MCD!
@Daniel - Oops! I forgot to answer the question! That bag is as old as the Monstercross. It is from a company that went out of business long ago. It was from a company named Cristobal and the name of the bag is the El Cofrecito. It is made from leather and convertible car top material and has held up quite well since 2012.
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