Hello! I just wanted to tell everyone what i thought about my straggler that I recently built up. I've gone on several 50 mile gravel rides and it's a dream! The frames come powder coated not painted which I like, especially for gravel. It keeps the finish looking good longer. The build was pretty smooth, although I'm not the biggest fan of the drop outs. They are a little strange but thy allow single speed or geared use. The steel frame softens up rough roads some but not so much that it feels weird ( I found the vaya and fargo are to "springy " feeling for me). I built it up with road front gearing and mtb rear using sram parts. the build is as follows: -straggler size 54 -stans grail 32h with hope pro 2 evo hubs (these hubs are amazing, affordable, rebuild-able, seriously the buzz of the free hub is great) -Bruce Gordon Rock n roads ( love them, set up tubeless quite easy on the grails) -salsa 17 degree stem -on one midge handlebars ( i like but my try some cowbells) -sram tt500 shifter (flawless shifter, set up very easy) -sram apex 36/46 crankset -sram force front d - sram x9 type 2 rear derailleur - sram 11-36 cassette ( i dont remember which model) -avid bb7's with tektro levers -brooks b17 saddle (kind of wish i would have got a selle anatomica but the brooks should break in fine)
So far I love the bike. One thing I will say is that the straggler is long. If you normally ride a 56 then on a straggler you will fit on a 54, and so on. On single track it is quite fun only getting sketchy on a steeper decents or very rocky sections. The rock n road tires do much better in the rocks than you would think.
Things i might change: I'm thinking about going 1x10 with a wolf tooth components 42T chainring and adding their 42t cog to my cassette for loaded steep climbs (after 10 hours in the saddle i need the gearing) because I'm still a newb! Also as stated before i might try some salsa cowbells. I like the drops on the Midges off road, but the hoods aren't as usable as I'd like. if you have any questions just ask!
Also if you live in the Manhattan Kansas are give me a shout! I'm looking for people to ride with!
Nice. I ride a Cross-Check with a Straggler fork, and a Hayes CX-5 front disc. I also went with a Shimano XTR 9-speed rear derailleur, and an XT 11-34 cassette.
Nice! I'm about to build my wife a hot pink cross Check With gevenalle shifters and a 1x. I'm Gunna try the new challenge gravel grinder tires on it as well.
howdy! the hoods arent un-usable completely theyre just a little lower than normal. they are actually quite comfortable almost like little pockets but theyre low like middle drops if that makes any sense
side note to the hoods: if you use them on a mtb and angle the drops parallel to the top tube and slide the levers down they would be much more flat. ive just got them in a happy medium between hoods and drops. hope this helps! oh and if you have a sloping top tube or a taller stem they would be perfect
I love love LOVE my Straggler! I also have a Cross Check with cowbells for road/gravel commuting. The CC is a blast, but the Straggler is my favorite. I put Woodchippers on the Straggler, which have been pretty comfortable, but after riding the CC with the cowbells, I may switch the Straggler over to the Cowchippers. Best of both worlds?
