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| Image courtesy of Cannondale Bikes |
One of those stories is dealing with what I will get to replace the Noble GX5 and probably the Tamland Two in my stable of bicycles. I was on this thread back in February. (See HERE for a refresher) I was close to pulling te triger on a Topstone Alloy from Cannondale, (like the one in the image), but I did not because I didn't like the color the bike available at the time came in.
I know.....fickle! So, that was that as other things came up and I left the idea in limbo. That is, until recently, when I got a little intel from an undisclosed source which perked up my ears. Now I have reached out and have set something in motion which may happen at a later date.
I know......vague-blogging! But all that to say that the idea for an alloy gravel bike to replace a couple of others I have is still on the table and now things are in motion. I wouldn't look for anything to happen right away. I just thought, you know, I'd kick this story back into gear and let you know something is in the works which may result in an actual bicycle in the near future.
5 comments:
I have run an original alloy Topstone since 2019. It's been a very good gravel/allroad bike, very stable and very versatile. I have just under 10,000 miles on it.
The newer model you seem to be looking at has only detail changes to the geometry (a longer fork offset/trail figure?) and the seatstays join the seat tube lower down (assume slightly better comfort there) but is otherwise unchanged.
This would be a good budget purchase assuming 45mm clearance is acceptable. For me, it's plenty although newer frames with better geometry are tempting.
@MuddyMatt - Thanks for the feedback on the Topstone Alloy. It's one I am strongly considering. Stay tuned.....
FYI more fork offset = less trail
In thinking about modern aluminum frames and tires, does it even matter the volume of the tire if the chainstays are longer?
@teamdarb - Tire and rim combinations, air pressures, tire construction, and rider styles all figure into the equation no matter what. But when an aluminum frame can be made to be comfortable riding, instead of the stiff, unforgiving way aluminum used to have for ride quality, one would not have to rely as much on comfort coming from the tires. So, from that viewpoint, the answer is "no", it doesn't matter as much.
But that is an unknown now and even if this new aluminum frame does ride smoothly, why not have it ride even more smoothly?
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