You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I think I'd need a new frame, but for me to re-use the wheels it would have to be rim brakes which would probably limit the tyre size.
Gravel bike frame with disk and caliper mounts, to allow me to use existing road wheels..? Would narrow road rims be a problem?
Frame suggestions? Perhaps a Ribble style winter bike would do.
Just get a frame that uses canti's or long drop calipers if you want to stay rim brakes, they can be had cheap enough.
Bloody hell.. Planet X London Road with carbon fork £149! Thread closed surely.
I don't want rim brakes, btw, it'd just be to keep cost down and allow me to upgrade to discs later.
Oh - wrong forum, sorry mods.
Rim width is mostly irrelevant at these pressures
You obviously have a different definition of "convert" than I do.convert a road bike
And check out the London Road thread.
Done it with my Roadrat - drops, disks and Sammy Slick Tyres. Great on gravel and cinder tracks and not too compromised on the road either. Quite a harsh ride though on the rougher tracks, would be nice to put a reduced travel Lefty on it for the sheer hell of it - but that would be a very pricy project.
You obviously have a different definition of "convert" than I do.
I cannot get any tyre larger than a 23c slick in my frame, so yeah something would need to happen!
Unless you are referring to whether or not changing the frame constitutes replacing rather than modifying a bike by definition.
Aye. Frame and forks are, I guess, the main constituents of the bike for me 🙂
Well you know what I meant 🙂
I really wish I had £149 lying around right now. Maybe time to flog some stuff.
Anyway. A man like you should be following the ATR thread. You know it makes sense.
Check dropout spacing if your hoping to go from rim brakes to disk
I put tougher, fatter tyres on my Specialized Langster Zmonaco a few years and rode on roads, dirt, gravel and similar as that was my commute to work. It was great fun with flat pedals and 750 rental bars. Not sure if that counts but I think 8 out of my 9 mile commute was on dirt tracks and gravel.
Without mudguards, 32mm tyres would fit on my old Kinesis TK3 (with long drop brakes). No mud room, but it's fine in the summer. I used to cycle home over the south downs sometimes.
No probs with narrow rims either.
Depends on your version of gravel. FC type stuff is nice on wide tyres but to be honest normal road tyres are fine. Its puncture resistance that you worry about. Grip isn't an issue on gravel and, although many disagree nor is low pressure. You don't need to drop for grip so keep it highish to avoid pinch flats and stay comfortable. Gravel is like the road but in many case without the nasty holes.
Until I bought new rims I had no issues with a variety of tyres from 23 to 38 mm on Mavic Open Pros which are fairly skinny. Very 1980's in their sizing.
Not sure about the london road relevance - from what i can tell that's disc only isn't it?
i'm in a similar position - looking for a gravel/gnarmac frame (something more relaxed than current road frame and with bigger tyre clearance) but have recently built new rim brake only wheels so want a frame that allows caliper brakes.
Seems all adventure/gravel frames are disc only?
Until I bought new rims I had no issues with a variety of tyres from 23 to 38 mm on Mavic Open Pros which are fairly skinny.
I ran 2.2" 29er tyres on Mavic MA3 rims, which I think are the old version of Mavic Open Sport, with no issues.
Oh.. couldn't tell if that frame had caliper holes or not.
No doubt higher than you're budgeting but the Van Nicholas Amazon will take rim or disk brakes. It also has a 132.5 dropout width to accommodate both 135mm disk and 130mm non-disk hubs. (I'm not sure 130mm disk hubs are still available?)
yep...i'm wishing i hadn't bothered just building up new wheels 🙁
A cyclocross / gravel frame isn't going to have caliper holes, they'll only be for mudguard mounting. For rim brakes you'd need canti' posts.
By trying to keep the costs down with a new frame you'll end up with some nasty compromises IMO. Far more sense would be to pick up a 2nd hand cross frame for cheap and stick canti's on it, then save up for new bike in a few years.
Oh and for cross racing cant's aren't dead yet, a few of the top men were running them at the worlds last weekend.
Sven:
[img] 
[/img]
Pic from Velonews.
Kinesis 4S Disc is one of the few frames that will take road calliper and disc brakes.
I have one (disc setup) and it's ace. It's more of a relaxed roadie than a gravel bike, although it will take 35c tyres.
It's more of a relaxed roadie than a gravel bike
That has to be splitting hairs, surely? I'm confused now... 😕
Where are these London Road frames at £149.99
I'm not really clear what you're asking. Are you wanting to convert an existing road bike or purchase a new gravel bike/frame?
If it's convert, then can you not put mini-vees on your existing road bike?
Forget all the labels and marketing bullshit.
Just decide what you want it for.
There's an almost infinite variety, from disc roadies to 29'ers with drops.
Decide what's most important and narrow it down.
Mounts, disc brakes, tyre width, weight, luggage?
And cost.
What do you really need?
The original idea was to replace the frame and move all the bits over to minimise cost - into something mainly that could take bigger tyres, proper guards and a rack, but also hopefully discs as well as the existing calipers.
Just an idea really - no imminent plans.
Planet-X had the London road for £149 yesterday - must've caused too many search hits or something cos they are £179 today!
Sorry folks.
recently built new rim brake only wheels so want a frame that allows caliper brakes.
Seems all adventure/gravel frames are disc only?
Check out the new Kinesis frame and fork, has bolt holes for rim brakes as well as disc mounts. If ~32C max (? unsure offhand but caliper fitting means less space above the tyre than a disc CX bike usually has) is ok then it's a nice feature for a partial re-build project like that.