Mongrel spec (TBC): Frame: Yoeleo G21 58cm marketing sample Shifters: 5yr old Ultegra R8020 (came on my old 2nd hand supersix) Mechs: 5yr old 2nd hand Dura Ace R9100 (came on my old 2nd hand supersix) Rotors: 180mm with PT adapters BB: Hambini t47 Crank: non series forged shimano 50/34 or 1x with 39T 105 inmer ring used as the 1c option Number of gears: 11, 22 of 44... Tyres: Schwalbe hans dampf 2.35 F, Racing Ralph R, or Conti Race king 2.0 F and R Chain: 105 Cassette: 11-34 when on 2x or 4x
Mongrel bikes are one of the reasons gravel bikes are awesome. I have an alu frame/carbon fork with 73mm BB, race face MTB cranks, a GRX RD with an extended knuckle to fit a 50t cassette with mechanical shifting, 29x2.0 Race Kings. I sold my road bike. Granted, I live near the heart of gravel cycling in central US.
If you plan to run 1x without a narrow wide tooth chainring and without a clutch rear derailleur you will for certain have a frustratingly high amount of front chain drops. Over rough surfaces you need decent chain retention. At a minimum you need at least one. Ideally you have both.
Not sure about 2.35" enduro tires on a gravel bike (weight and RR), but I'm mulling some 2.35" Thunder Burts or 2.4" Aspens. On super steep climbs with loose surfaces, fat tires mean no walking, and you can rail descents that don't have dropoffs or obstacles. Amazed they fit though, that's miles out of what they spec for the frame.
Nice livery! I've been trying to add Vatanen's MkII to my rally models for ages... it's a hard one to come by. Looking forward to the full reveal on the bike.
Phwooooaaaaarr I did not expect the intro to be a singing forest spec Mk2 Escort, brilliant. My Dad always tells me he rallied one, until I came along. Soz.
I bought the same frame off the back of the usual social media and influencer "reviews". Really wish I had waited for your take, as I came across all the same annoyances (rusted rivets, chainset incompatibility, and infuriating cable routing in the handlebars). I also had issues with headset slop, which required shimming. Overall, the build process made me realise why I love steel rim brake bikes. As you said, "aero" is an absurd design aim on a gravel bike, and carbon is arguably pretty ill-suited to a scenario where you are fairly likely to come off. Sigh.
The press fit BB of my wilier Jena grinded itself loose in the frame, I don't know if it's fixable. Was really thinking about this frame or the Lightcarbon one to eventually replace it. I'm looking forward for your opinion on this.
A tip If you end up with a bit too much chain slack with the dura-ace rd, put the spring of the derailleur in the increased tension hole (2nd hole) and it will be perfect.
Gotta love the tire clearance on that frame. I would love to run 2.1" Mezcals on my frame, but then I'd be down to 3 mm clearance to the chainstays. Is that fine, do you think? I've got a Ti frame FWIW, so no paint to worry about. Will you betg putting any protective layer between tire and frame?
Brilliant content, thanks a lot. Myself, I've been using my CX bike since 2012, Ritchey Swiss Cross, and the only thing I've changed is the carbon fork for a custom more compliant steel fork and wider wheels. 100% 10-years old road components and proper gearing, you don't need anything else for fun or touring. Abrazo cordial!
the seatpost saddle clamp is seriously going to be a major factor in my next bike purchase...I have a single-bolt mess on my otherwise-lovely Emonda and it drives me mad. I often have to disassemble the whole thing just to make a slight tilt adjustment 🤦♂
In an earlier journalism era I would have laughed and said "biting the hand that feeds". You've made clear what a quality control engineer does and along with Hambini you're holding manufacturers to standards they should care about and do themselves. That statement doesn't apply to China maybe? Been fascinated by discussions of various failures but the lack of clear versioning and random changes in product iterations is most revealing.
I had the same issue with the crank width on my Giant revolt, wanted to use an ultegra power meter I had but can't as the frame needs a wider chain line to accommodate the max tyre size it can fit. The bike can only take cranksets with a chainline of 47mm or more which doesn't leave as many options. I ended up with a shimano GRX crankset but if I was going down the sram route I would have needed a DUB road wide crankset. A lot of gravel bikes that can fit 700x50c tyres will have this issue.
Seems like a drop-bar MTB if you have to file the tires down. Why bother? Perhaps I missed something but I thought gravel bikes were supposed to be kind of jack-of-all-trades rather than just MTB's with drop bars. OTOH that's what I'm riding on unpaved roads...but it was almost free since I already had an ancient 26" wheeled, V-braked, Rockshocked aluminum MTB collecting dust.
your thumbnail, you look like prime Lance Armstrong in look. haha jus noticed it. consider this a shitpost. i love your work, dont get me wrong my dude. cheers.
@@PeakTorqueAs someone who used to live in Twickenham I'm sure your familiar with the two royal parks and river Thames paths. A gravel bike is perfect around here switching between road and trails. It's too bumpy for a road tyre and overkill for a hardtail which limits your ability to keep cadence and power consistent.
As someone who rides both road and hardtail XC bikes, 'Gravel Bikes' don't make any sense to me at all, specifically in the UK, where we don't have long off-road gravel tracks like they do in the US. TBH, I consider gravel bikes as just another marketing gimmick. Not to mention internal cable routing (whilst aesthetically pleasing) is completely illogical from an engineering standpoint.
@@siy01 If that works for you great, but for me I know that I could ride it faster on a hardtail compared to a drop handlebar gravel bike. The aerodynamic advantage of drop handle bars means zilch on cycle tracks like those at Surrey Hills, especially considering they are only 10mile long off-road loops.
I completely agree. A hardtail, on the same tyres is just more capable. Better geometry for climbing and descending. We have roads or mostly single track (with exceptions like Grizedale forest). There are no huge open gravel road plains like the americas have.
@@PeakTorque The funny thing is we had these so called "gravel bikes" in the UK decades ago, we just called them hybrid bikes, I still have a set of drop bar ends in my garage that will fit onto flat bars lol. Not to mention that way over a century ago the first road racing style bikes in the UK had much wider tyres.
Even with full length housing and internal routing--the soup will get in, IMHO. Yea electronic is expensive AF, especially for a discipline like CX or unpaved-road riding that tends to chew up parts--but it holds its indexing in all kinds of weather. One of my mates ruined $500 worth of sealed BBs in one year of doing unpaved rides/races on his gravel bike. But...those rides, the entry fee alone is nearly $200, today. NVM the cost of hotel and your own private SAG vehicle (as there's zero support) and crew and nuitrition all for one day of torture. Between parts getting chewed up, and absurd entry fees for literally just a number on your handlebar--I got out of that race/ride scene and enjoy my own. But people who can afford the entry fees and the ruined parts, can spring for the blingier more mud-proof electronic parts. And can afford to eat the cost when the parts die.
@@cjohnson3836 So what. cycle cross bikes are designed to go fast. If you don't want to go fast then ride a mountain bike. A cycle cross bike can handle 90% of gravel roads in the USA and off rode bike paths that don't have a lot of crazy rocks and tree roots. They can even handle a good amount of mud and sand.
Agreed. Wish I'd kept my steel LeMond Poprad. Never did any "cross" on it but enjoyed a fair amount of gravel + use as a winter bike with fenders. Gravel bikes seem to be either road bikes with room for fat tires (like the pre short-reach brake daze) or drop-bar MTB's. @@donwinston
Gravel bikes are a marketing gimmick. There are bikes designed for off road, they're called mountain bikes. Ten times the comfort level and 50 times the capabilities of a grovel (sic) bike.
I'm went vintage steel v brake and my bike is faster than 90 percent of the bikes I come across aside from the 10k plus full carbon bikes but I'm usually faster than those posers anyway.
That's what I run, think it's perfect, not into these super low gearing options that the brands bring out these days, only hills I can't ride on this is where I lose traction.
Considering Keegan Swenson uses a 52 in a 1x and spend 95% of his race between 10 to 21t this isn’t that bad. As long as your easiest gears get to around a 1:1 ratio in the rear you’ll get up anything.
Are you serious?? 50-34 is bang on for me - I’ve been using this gearing for many years on my gravel bike (paired with an 11-32). Not sure what issue you have with this gearing?
Mongrel spec (TBC):
Frame: Yoeleo G21 58cm marketing sample
Shifters: 5yr old Ultegra R8020 (came on my old 2nd hand supersix)
Mechs: 5yr old 2nd hand Dura Ace R9100 (came on my old 2nd hand supersix)
Rotors: 180mm with PT adapters
BB: Hambini t47
Crank: non series forged shimano 50/34 or 1x with 39T 105 inmer ring used as the 1c option
Number of gears: 11, 22 of 44...
Tyres: Schwalbe hans dampf 2.35 F, Racing Ralph R, or Conti Race king 2.0 F and R
Chain: 105
Cassette: 11-34 when on 2x or 4x
Mongrel bikes are one of the reasons gravel bikes are awesome. I have an alu frame/carbon fork with 73mm BB, race face MTB cranks, a GRX RD with an extended knuckle to fit a 50t cassette with mechanical shifting, 29x2.0 Race Kings. I sold my road bike. Granted, I live near the heart of gravel cycling in central US.
If you plan to run 1x without a narrow wide tooth chainring and without a clutch rear derailleur you will for certain have a frustratingly high amount of front chain drops. Over rough surfaces you need decent chain retention. At a minimum you need at least one. Ideally you have both.
Just make sure those cranks don't break on you!
Those tyres are massive. Are you sure your gravel bike isn't misidentifying as a rigid MTB 😂
4x & 1c option = big Classified hub hint? Not bad for a cheap mongrel build 😉
When I have these difficulties I always think its my fault
Hambini coming out🤣
Good i am done with hambin as well!
Who new that the sound of BDA 16 valve ford engine is the same sound as the lugs on the 2.3 MTB tyre rubbing on a carbon fibre chain stay..😅
Say it how it is. That's why I watch. I'm sure the brand will think this and come back all the better for it
I find the Ford Escort RS Rothmans paint job very appropriate for a gravel bike 👌🔥
Not sure about 2.35" enduro tires on a gravel bike (weight and RR), but I'm mulling some 2.35" Thunder Burts or 2.4" Aspens. On super steep climbs with loose surfaces, fat tires mean no walking, and you can rail descents that don't have dropoffs or obstacles. Amazed they fit though, that's miles out of what they spec for the frame.
Absolutely. The RR penalty when high pressured is minimal. Although you do notice the added rotational weight.
Thanks for the honesty. Been considering a yoeleo frame, but having rusting bolts is quite off putting.
Nice, thanks, looks a weapon
Nice livery! I've been trying to add Vatanen's MkII to my rally models for ages... it's a hard one to come by. Looking forward to the full reveal on the bike.
I even felt your frustrations 🤪
Phwooooaaaaarr I did not expect the intro to be a singing forest spec Mk2 Escort, brilliant. My Dad always tells me he rallied one, until I came along. Soz.
I bought the same frame off the back of the usual social media and influencer "reviews". Really wish I had waited for your take, as I came across all the same annoyances (rusted rivets, chainset incompatibility, and infuriating cable routing in the handlebars). I also had issues with headset slop, which required shimming. Overall, the build process made me realise why I love steel rim brake bikes. As you said, "aero" is an absurd design aim on a gravel bike, and carbon is arguably pretty ill-suited to a scenario where you are fairly likely to come off. Sigh.
thanks - that helps to decide what to buy and what not ....
The press fit BB of my wilier Jena grinded itself loose in the frame, I don't know if it's fixable. Was really thinking about this frame or the Lightcarbon one to eventually replace it. I'm looking forward for your opinion on this.
A tip If you end up with a bit too much chain slack with the dura-ace rd, put the spring of the derailleur in the increased tension hole (2nd hole) and it will be perfect.
That's a really good tip. I had completely forgotten that you could do that! Cheers
Sick b-roll on the intro 🤙
Proper rally slag of a bike you've built there 👌
The rally sounds gets the better of me m8 :D
This is just how I started a frankenbike that became the only bike I rode and now I only ride my gravel bike, good luck.
That b-roll tho 🤤
narration was great
Awesome INTRO! 💯👍 I can see its a 1981 Ford Escort RS1800 Mk.II Rally car inspired paint job! 😎
Gotta love the tire clearance on that frame. I would love to run 2.1" Mezcals on my frame, but then I'd be down to 3 mm clearance to the chainstays. Is that fine, do you think? I've got a Ti frame FWIW, so no paint to worry about. Will you betg putting any protective layer between tire and frame?
Brilliant content, thanks a lot.
Myself, I've been using my CX bike since 2012, Ritchey Swiss Cross, and the only thing I've changed is the carbon fork for a custom more compliant steel fork and wider wheels. 100% 10-years old road components and proper gearing, you don't need anything else for fun or touring.
Abrazo cordial!
I would ditch the crank set. Maybe think about gluing a composite washer on the frame around the bb to keep the notches from digging in
The hand,bears, and the difficulty routing cables look pretty much identical e to the elves Falath evo, as well as the rubber cover for the stem lock,
Stepped up the production value huh? Nice cinematic intro!
You won’t regret it. Frame is good-geometry, clearance etc. Great gravel/bikepacking bike.
Looking forward to seeing the results of classified hub + front derailleur
too many gears to choose
No "hello" in the intro made me think the audio wasn't working 😢
I was thinking during your intro with the dope rally sounds that you’d do a quick cut to you…futzing around on gravel with your TCR…
Also just received my chinese frame (carbona) Any other things other than in the video that you should really really look for before you build it?
I've always loosely equated gravel bikes to rally cars
the seatpost saddle clamp is seriously going to be a major factor in my next bike purchase...I have a single-bolt mess on my otherwise-lovely Emonda and it drives me mad. I often have to disassemble the whole thing just to make a slight tilt adjustment 🤦♂
It is a non-issue really. Works just fine.
Great detailed analysis. I noticed a crack at 6:45 on the bearing cover. Is this likely to cause any issues? i don't know much about bearings.
it looks to me just a little hair or string
The bearing seals are rubber, so it's unlikely to be a crack.
Cossie BDA 😍
Cable routing should be ok on the head it looks quite chamfered off as you said. I usually have to resort to fine filing. Those tyres though mate.
In an earlier journalism era I would have laughed and said "biting the hand that feeds". You've made clear what a quality control engineer does and along with Hambini you're holding manufacturers to standards they should care about and do themselves.
That statement doesn't apply to China maybe? Been fascinated by discussions of various failures but the lack of clear versioning and random changes in product iterations is most revealing.
Where should you position your cleats for most power on the road?
what region do you live in? you're always out an about in remote hills
Nice vid
3:40, is that a chip being glued back in?
such a tease. looking forward to the next video. do you have a classified hub then?
1c & 4x options in the build spec would suggest so
the narrow roads and traffic in your country would drive me to gravel or mnt bikes.
I'd bung on a 600 series GRX chain set, cheap (not free granted), and the extra 2.5mm of clearance would be blooming useful here.
Is there enough clearance on the left side between crankarm and frame to have a powermeter (Stages, 4iiii,...)?
How moch is a hambini bb?
I had the same issue with the crank width on my Giant revolt, wanted to use an ultegra power meter I had but can't as the frame needs a wider chain line to accommodate the max tyre size it can fit. The bike can only take cranksets with a chainline of 47mm or more which doesn't leave as many options. I ended up with a shimano GRX crankset but if I was going down the sram route I would have needed a DUB road wide crankset. A lot of gravel bikes that can fit 700x50c tyres will have this issue.
@2:47 is that a classified thru axle ? have you finally managed to get one from them to test ?!
Good eye.
well spotted.....
He talks about 44 gears
@@Membrillo81 dang missed that, also would explain the full road crankset as well
It might be an old man rant, but carbon is a stupid choice for a gravel bike. Love the tyres though. (and the hints on paint job)
obviously intended for 1-by only. Bike looks good though, through the Gaussian blur anyway
Production quality go vrooooom
They probably want you to build it 1x11 or 1x12 spd
It literally says 2x compatible on the spec
For some reason I'm not surprised you had a a Dura Ace rear mech "just lying around" lmao
Loved the MK2 Escort soundtrack, one of the greatest sounding engines I think!
Seems like a drop-bar MTB if you have to file the tires down. Why bother? Perhaps I missed something but I thought gravel bikes were supposed to be kind of jack-of-all-trades rather than just MTB's with drop bars. OTOH that's what I'm riding on unpaved roads...but it was almost free since I already had an ancient 26" wheeled, V-braked, Rockshocked aluminum MTB collecting dust.
These Chinese frames are looking much more attractive to me. Prices are out of control for mainstream.
your thumbnail, you look like prime Lance Armstrong in look. haha jus noticed it. consider this a shitpost. i love your work, dont get me wrong my dude. cheers.
This is total tragedy in gravel history.
Gravel was a tragedy in cycling history
@@PeakTorque yes, I agree my friend but you are now inherent in this tragedy, arent you ?
@@PeakTorqueAs someone who used to live in Twickenham I'm sure your familiar with the two royal parks and river Thames paths. A gravel bike is perfect around here switching between road and trails. It's too bumpy for a road tyre and overkill for a hardtail which limits your ability to keep cadence and power consistent.
It's a strong no from me,I'd rather have winspaces offering
As someone who rides both road and hardtail XC bikes, 'Gravel Bikes' don't make any sense to me at all, specifically in the UK, where we don't have long off-road gravel tracks like they do in the US.
TBH, I consider gravel bikes as just another marketing gimmick.
Not to mention internal cable routing (whilst aesthetically pleasing) is completely illogical from an engineering standpoint.
Not a gimmick at all. I'm close to Surrey Hills where there's countless routes and trails best suited to gravel over a hardtail.
@@siy01 If that works for you great, but for me I know that I could ride it faster on a hardtail compared to a drop handlebar gravel bike. The aerodynamic advantage of drop handle bars means zilch on cycle tracks like those at Surrey Hills, especially considering they are only 10mile long off-road loops.
I completely agree. A hardtail, on the same tyres is just more capable. Better geometry for climbing and descending. We have roads or mostly single track (with exceptions like Grizedale forest). There are no huge open gravel road plains like the americas have.
@@PeakTorque The funny thing is we had these so called "gravel bikes" in the UK decades ago, we just called them hybrid bikes, I still have a set of drop bar ends in my garage that will fit onto flat bars lol. Not to mention that way over a century ago the first road racing style bikes in the UK had much wider tyres.
Lost me at "on the cheap" and then free frame and Dura ace
The reason Gravel bikes have internal cable routing is thanks to the racers at events like UNBOUND.
Even with full length housing and internal routing--the soup will get in, IMHO. Yea electronic is expensive AF, especially for a discipline like CX or unpaved-road riding that tends to chew up parts--but it holds its indexing in all kinds of weather. One of my mates ruined $500 worth of sealed BBs in one year of doing unpaved rides/races on his gravel bike.
But...those rides, the entry fee alone is nearly $200, today. NVM the cost of hotel and your own private SAG vehicle (as there's zero support) and crew and nuitrition all for one day of torture. Between parts getting chewed up, and absurd entry fees for literally just a number on your handlebar--I got out of that race/ride scene and enjoy my own. But people who can afford the entry fees and the ruined parts, can spring for the blingier more mud-proof electronic parts. And can afford to eat the cost when the parts die.
Never go full gravel
Nice fatbike
Working with Yoeleo? I hope you don't go killing your neighbours' dog.
The groll returns
You temptress
Calling 2.3 Racing Ralph enduro... lol
I did have hans dampf front and rear to start but it was too thick
I might consider a cycle cross bike but never a gravel bike. If I need tires bigger than 40mm I'd use a mountain bike.
The difference between the two is far more than tire width. Its BB drop, HTA, wheelbase. They are bikes for completely different uses.
@@cjohnson3836 So what. cycle cross bikes are designed to go fast. If you don't want to go fast then ride a mountain bike. A cycle cross bike can handle 90% of gravel roads in the USA and off rode bike paths that don't have a lot of crazy rocks and tree roots. They can even handle a good amount of mud and sand.
Agreed. Wish I'd kept my steel LeMond Poprad. Never did any "cross" on it but enjoyed a fair amount of gravel + use as a winter bike with fenders. Gravel bikes seem to be either road bikes with room for fat tires (like the pre short-reach brake daze) or drop-bar MTB's. @@donwinston
That seatpost is ugly as sin. They should offer inline or setback options when ordering instead.
He may be building a gravel bike but 2.35 tyre aint gravel
Gravel bikes are a marketing gimmick. There are bikes designed for off road, they're called mountain bikes. Ten times the comfort level and 50 times the capabilities of a grovel (sic) bike.
I'm went vintage steel v brake and my bike is faster than 90 percent of the bikes I come across aside from the 10k plus full carbon bikes but I'm usually faster than those posers anyway.
yolo
50/34 on a gravel bike must be a joke right?
My thoughts to
That's what I run, think it's perfect, not into these super low gearing options that the brands bring out these days, only hills I can't ride on this is where I lose traction.
Considering Keegan Swenson uses a 52 in a 1x and spend 95% of his race between 10 to 21t this isn’t that bad. As long as your easiest gears get to around a 1:1 ratio in the rear you’ll get up anything.
50/34 Is perfect on a gravel bike if your NP is 200+ watts. Most gravel bikes are under geared.
Are you serious?? 50-34 is bang on for me - I’ve been using this gearing for many years on my gravel bike (paired with an 11-32). Not sure what issue you have with this gearing?