Following on from the Bokeh Ti discussion. I finally decided on what I will change my Whyte Gisburn for and have started looking at the build I want.
First off I'm going for a Bokeh titanium frame with carbon everything (or as much as I can get on the bike)
My Gisburn is used for everything from road to taking me back to mountain biking in the eighties (except with brakes that work) I've done the west highland way and much of the HT550 on it and rather enjoy throwing it round Carron valley and that level of local trail. I also bike pack on it and will have a bar bag hanging off the front.
All this leads me to my questions. I'm looking at Easton EC90 SL cranks and stem. The cranks should be OK but I'm wondering if the stem would be up to that amount of abuse.
I've run carbon stems but never really noticed they make any difference except to your wallet - I would just go with whatever takes your fancy.
I was more concerned if the stem would be strong enough
I’ve been using Bontrager XXX carbon stems on my mountain, road and gravel bikes since 2006. I’ve never damage a single one of them.
On drop bars, your bars are more likely to rotate than you are to break the stem.
Daffy, thanks.
I built up a ti Reilly Gradient with dream build, with EC90 seatpost and EC90AX flared handlebars, but i kept alloy stem as so many things in bikepacking set up rubbed against it.
If you are really going to for a top notch build, i can really recommend the Hope RX4 callipers which you can buy to mate to both SRAM and Shimano, i have them with Ultegra shifters and they are brilliant more powerful than the stock Shimano callipers by far.
If you are really going to for a top notch build, i can really recommend the Hope RX4 callipers which you can buy to mate to both SRAM and Shimano, i have them with Ultegra shifters and they are brilliant more powerful than the stock Shimano callipers by far.
+1 - I've got these calipers on my Arkose - they are amazing, and so much better than the Shimano ones they replaced.
Worth every penny.
+2 for RX4s. Just remember to take spare pads if touring as you’ll be met with blank looks in bike shops 😂
With a carbon stem, if you are loading the bike with bags, I'd be looking carefully at the face plate and how it's attached to the stem. I avoid strapping bags to carbon, but maybe that's just me.