Well I've come to a predicament. Yesterday I was out and about with my daughter and went a bike shop just to see the new stuff and talking to the manager we got to talking about gravel bikes etc. He then asked me how tall I was and said I have one santa cruz stigmata left and it's your size. Told him that's way out of my price range but then he looked at some paperwork and said I'll give it to you for $2k. Bike is brand new never even been test ridden.
Problem is the stig can't do 650 wheels in the back but it can take a up to 700x43 no problem.
Now I don't know what to do. I've been stewing over this all day yesterday and thinking it would be foolish to pass this up.
Got to thinking about it some more and since I am going to run a fox ax fork I could run 650x2.1 in the front and keep the 700x40 in the rear. The fox ax raises the front by 2cm but putting 650x2.1 in the front would nullify it because that would lower it 2cm.
If a 43 in the back will carry you across the roughest/softest terrain you ride then I'd go for it if you like the frame colour!
You're planning on running the AX, so in my mind your gravel bike is going to be a bit different than others out there. Slap a Thunderburt on the front perhaps.
gus6464 wrote:Well I've come to a predicament. Yesterday I was out and about with my daughter and went a bike shop just to see the new stuff and talking to the manager we got to talking about gravel bikes etc. He then asked me how tall I was and said I have one santa cruz stigmata left and it's your size. Told him that's way out of my price range but then he looked at some paperwork and said I'll give it to you for $2k. Bike is brand new never even been test ridden.
Problem is the stig can't do 650 wheels in the back but it can take a up to 700x43 no problem.
Now I don't know what to do. I've been stewing over this all day yesterday and thinking it would be foolish to pass this up.
Got to thinking about it some more and since I am going to run a fox ax fork I could run 650x2.1 in the front and keep the 700x40 in the rear. The fox ax raises the front by 2cm but putting 650x2.1 in the front would nullify it because that would lower it 2cm.
Not sure what to do 🙁
i did the exact same thing with a Lynskey Cooper I used to have. It does not work well. The larger tire in front let’s you ride harder and faster in rough terrain, but the rear gets beat to hell because it can’t keep up. I got lots of pinging rear spokesand rim strikes. I ended up trading the Cooper in on a GR250 to get the rear clearance I needed.
sparshall wrote:The Haanjo Exp is a really fun bike. I bought one last year and converted it to Shimano 2x11. Might be selling it, as I normally ride a bike for a year or two and then try something new. However, it’s been a lot of fun, so I may just keep it
How did you find the sizing with the tall top tube and standover? And the handling? Was it a more nimble road feel or more slack gravel feel? Would you use it for road rides or don't feel quite right with that?
??? Are you looking for a carbon frame? The 2019 Norco Search XR steel frame set is $1,050. My 2018 Search XR steel bike came with 700c x 40, and i now have 650b wheels, with 47 tires on it. I could easily fit 2.1 or 2.2 tires...
eric/fresno, ca.
How do you like the Search XR in steel? I've got my eye on this bike and trying to suss it out. I'm down to the Norco Threshold and the Search XR. Clearance up to 40mm was what I was looking for. And for use of gravel, road and some cross races. The only reason I'm not 100% sold on the Threshold is I'm worried the 570mm stack might be too aggressive for longer rides. I currently ride a 2013 Giant Defy with a 586mm stack and not sure if that's a big difference
