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I have been using a London Rd frame as a commuter for a while now, mostly on road with some mild single track/gravel stuff thrown in.
It’s a chunky old thing but has done the job well.
As it’s coming up for new frame time, I wanted to stick with something that I can move most of the parts over to (standard QR wheels and threaded BB) while going a wee bit lighter. The XLS looks like it would work, so is anybody using one as a daily?
Cheers
Hi -I've had one nearly 5 years. Not used as a daily but ridden it plenty both on-road and as a gravel bike. Only ever raced one CX event!
I have to say it is flawless in reliability. Apart from bearing and drivetrain wear it hasn't needed any fettling.
The frame is very tough. Mine has been dropped, bashed, scraped etc. and there is barely a scratch. The geometry is a little upright, so although I've done all day rides on it I suspect a more modern 'gravel' frame would be more comfortable, although I've never really suffered on it.
To be honest it has been a great bike, made all the better by the fact PX are still selling them so I don't feel the need to upgrade to the newest version!
Sounds good.
It would be mostly for the commute but there is a Summer CX series local to me this year ,so that could be extra pain a bit of fun.
Thanks
Echo the above, not a daily ride but by far my most used bike over the last three years. Good value taken reasonable amount of abuse we’ll. Only downside is limited clearance at the rear for bigger off road tyres
I CX race on mine and did used to gravel on it too.
It will be lighter.
No eyelets for adding any commuter stuff.
I wouldn't call upright at all, I think it is pretty racey, more racey geo than their old Dirty Disco was and certainly more than their LR. I think the rear triangle is fairly stiff
I winter commute offroad on mine on tubeless Schwalbe X One Bite 33c might not be able to squeeze in much bigger (I think I failed fitting 40c WTB Nanos) it's short but that encourages me to use drops more and personally I like the snappy steering. I had a Boardman CX frame before and that felt pretty dead by comparison.
Had one for racing. Also used it for touring, Audax, and even a couple of tt’s. Rear tyre clearance is not very big.
35c fit fine at the rear. Frame rub with 40c for me
Yeah,the clearance at the back might be a bit annoying.
I can run 40c Nanos just now with a good bit to spare.
I've got one. Used it for commuting, gravel, racing CX, Ronde van Calderdale & a 100 miler form Brid back to huddersfield. Can't fault it really, other than lack of mugguard eyes. Its now just used for CX racing as i got a Pickenflick for commuting on instead so i could run 45mm tyres.
Highly recommended.
Are you planning on routing the discs & bleeding the brakes yourself or using cable operated?
It would be cable operated discs.
Would 650B make any difference to the tyre clearance?
Not sure on 650b but you’d have a chunk of BB drop and they never seemed very high to start with.
Biggest tyre I got in comfortably was a Barlow Pass 38c. Nanos rubbed.