[Closed] New Kaffenback

I was looking at the complete bikes earlier and failing to justify owning one to myself.

(p)rice is with a fork. Old price was frame only. I think £249.99 is pretty fair.

Ah ok. I'm sure the old frame were going for about £149, so is the fork about £100? Perhaps those were clearance prices.

I definitely prefer the look of this version over the one with swap-outs, although mounting a rack might be trickier now.

Ah ok. I'm sure the old frame were going for about £149, so is the fork about £100? Perhaps those were clearance prices.

I signed off the sample of this new version on the last day of the Tour De France last year. It's taken us that long to clear through the Swapout models and we're still not all out of them.

Yes - £149 was (is) very much a clearance price.

Looks good, and the longer toptube would work for me. I wonder if the new tubeset is heavier or lighter? Fork appears more tapered which should be nice.

Looks good, and the longer toptube would work for me. I wonder if the new tubeset is heavier or lighter? Fork appears more tapered which should be nice.

Top tube is actually a touch heavier as I wanted to oversize it to get more lateral stiffness to make it handle better. Adds about an once. A lot less ironwork in the dropout area though more than makes up for that, along with the lighter seat stays.

I was looking at the complete bikes earlier and failing to justify owning one to myself.

Likewise. Just sold my Giant Defy as want to get a something more allroundy, and this looks like it fits the bill.

Unfortunately, it's a bit over my budget, as was looking at second hand market. Shame there are no 10% off codes valid. As otherwise, I would be marking the days of the calendar till the 12th August having made a pre-order*

*Assuming I am right in a 5'7" shortarse needing a small frame.

Could this run 26" wheels or would it look very silly ?

Oooh, nice. I thought the swappable dropouts was a nice touch before, as well as the disc mounts on the chainstays. Still like this a lot though. Hmmm, what can I sell to raise funds...

Could this run 26" wheels or would it look very silly ?

Why would you want 26" wheels on it?

You already have a spare set of 26" wheels?

The new geometry appears to be better, longer top tubes, although i prefer the older more retro paint scheme, biggest shame for me is disc only, decent disc ready 700c wheels are still hard to come by at a good price.

But, Bazz, definitely worth the outlay. Not [i]that[/i] expensive, and so much better than the dark ages. 🙂

Yeah, but i like my swap dropout Kaff just fine, and i have three sets of wheels for it all ready.

Can I one with normal brakes please.

Ha, had an older 'tea and coffee one', then I bought one of the last lot even though I didn't like the colours as much, as I wanted to get discs.

I then spent so long faffing around delaying building the wheels for it I've never ridden it and they've now brought out new ones with the original colours I liked. 😳 👿

Top tube is actually a touch heavier as I wanted to oversize it to get more lateral stiffness to make it handle better. Adds about an once. A lot less ironwork in the dropout area though more than makes up for that, along with the lighter seat stays.

Interestingly the px website (admitedly, never accurate) states the swapout model as 2148g and the new one 2200g. I wonder which one is a blatant lie 😆

Seriously tho, it looks ace, ive not been so impressed by an on-one/px since my early model Pompy. If my new commute route is as bad/rough as i expect it to be i think one of these wil be gracing my garage.

If only they'd been around when our C2W was on - love my Arkrose, but I'd really had a hankering for a Kaffenback

Mrs Telent says I can have one if it can fit a rear child seat and an axle-attached trailer (not both at once). Anyone know/prepared to speculate?

Mrs Telent says I can have one if it can fit a rear child seat and an axle-attached trailer (not both at once). Anyone know/prepared to speculate?

I can't imagine why it would be an issue to do either of those.

any chance of a hub gear only version 'Kaffetamine' style?

Looks more compact and ready to hit rough trails than my Pomp, whats the max tyre width on these Kaffs?

Looks more compact and ready to hit rough trails than my Pomp, whats the max tyre width on these Kaffs?

Says 32, similar to the pomp really. Not sure what you mean by 'compact', its a little longer but rest of dimensions are similar. Interestingly the Kaff has similar geo to teh Surly Crosscheck, BB height, angles etc. Chainstay is a little shorter so mud clearance might be an issue combined with narrow stays.

ransos - Member

Why would you want 26" wheels on it?

You already have a spare set of 26" wheels?

I did this and use it as a tourer/commuter.

The main issue is the lower BB height with 26" wheels which decreases pedal clearance, this is noticeable when cornering. I use mudguards so the upside is that toe overlap is not an issue.

Brant - why did you go back to disc mounts on the seat stay rather than chain stay? I've got an airbourne with discs on the seat stay and its a pain in the arse to mount guards or a rack.

Brant - why did you go back to disc mounts on the seat stay rather than chain stay? I've got an airbourne with discs on the seat stay and its a pain in the arse to mount guards or a rack.

Chainstay mounted discs are great, but on chainstays below mountainbike length, and with road cranks, BB7's can catch your heels easily. Also getting a caliper in there, in steel, lightweight isn't too simple.

I hope to address this in the future, but for now, with the number of discable racks out there, and the relatively low amount of people actually running a rack, I think it's a compromise I'm willing to make.

Disc adapted racks are a compromise in integrity and strength, I would say a compromise you would not expect to make when buying a bike of this type.

[i]Disc adapted racks are a compromise in integrity and strength[/i]

Are they? I've not seen any evidence?

It's already only got a single eyelet so your already compromised if your expecting this to do 'heavy' duty. Add in the short chain stays, so heel strike with big panniers is a likelihood, mean this isn't a bike for your next world tour. For commuting and winter miles, it looks bob on tho.

Oh, pics on the PX FB page of the chain stays, look a bit snug for use as a CX bike on really muddy courses.

wwaswas - Member

Disc adapted racks are a compromise in integrity and strength

Are they? I've not seen any evidence?

They usually have a very long bolt on the disc side carrying a lot of load. I would say yes

Have you seen any fail here?

Add in the short chain stays, so heel strike with big panniers is a likelihood

This +1, my tourers got long stays, and even then my 25l panniers have to be mounted right on the ends of their adjustment to clear my heals.

scotroutes - Member

Have you seen any fail here?

Yes I had a Tortec break at this point attached to my Cove Handjob when it was set up for commuting. That used P-Clips but it was the bolt that failed

that's 'cos the p-clips allowed too much flex at the mounting point 😉

STATO - Member
Oh, pics on the PX FB page of the chain stays, look a bit snug for use as a CX bike on really muddy courses.
POSTED 48 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

It's not a cyclocross bike.

It's not a cyclocross bike.

Can it be used for bridleways/fireroads and skids?

can I run it with a 120mm travel fork?

Does it have pockets - and a zip?

It's not a cyclocross bike.

Didn't say it was, someone asked if it would take big tyres and I pointed them in direction of info, supplemented by opinion and comparison. Plenty of folk want to run big tyres on a road/light-tour bike or use them off road.

You should have made it folding with replacable dropouts to run 16"/20"/26"/650/700c/36" wheels as well as replaceable asymmetric rear triangle for suspension back end, plus replaceable front triangle for drops/risers geometry and 1 1/8/ tapered/1.5 plus a suspension fork double crown with rebound and with clearance for fat bike tyres, but with aero hydraulic brakes and cargo bike rack to carry 400kg and front basket.

I'm going to keep my Apollo.

All the changes seem for the better, change in head angle, slightly longer TT, sorting out the heel rub. Even like the ninja look. Think I would have made a taller head tube though.

Nice to see some proper disc only forks, wonder what rake / trail they are with the new 72 deg.

Any chance the On-One ti tourer will ever make an appearance?
[url= http://www.on-one.co.uk/news/products/q/date/2011/01/25/new-titanium-tourer ]On-One ti tourer preview[/url]

I'm guessing the longer chainstays of a tourer would mean heel strike
on chainstay mounted calipers would be less of an issue.

Maybe.
Maybe not.

apologies.
its been one of those days.

This thread is too light on pictures, we need more pics, or I'll be forced to start posting repeats of my swap-out version.

First ride of more than a couple of minutes on mine tonight, had to switch my my old saddle cos the one it came with was torture. Feels really comfy now, I'm 6'2" with long legs and I've got the XL. Front brake is rubbing a bit so need to tweak that but generally it feels smooth and I'm liking the Rival gears - taking a bit of getting used to mind after 3 years of Sora.

Will take a pic tomorrow if I remember. Really like the look of it though, nice and simple with subtle graphics - reflective stripes are ace.

[img] [/img]

First proper ride today, a 120 mile loop from Swindon to Gloucester, Chepstow, over the bridge and home. Took in some gravelly Sustrans tracks which it handled well, in fact generally it handles better than my old Spesh Secteur - feels more solid and stable but not slow to steer. Just right, to me anyway. Much easier to ride with no hands than the Secteur! Disc brakes are great, locked the rear wheel a couple of times so just have to get used to how powerful they are. Really confidence inspiring on fast descents though.

Overall I'm really happy with it. Secteur will be up for sale soon, had thought I might keep it but no point really.

Looks very nice....but how much off roadyness can it handle?

Dunno really, I guess it's not a cross bike but a sturdy road bike.... if there is a difference! The tracks I went on today were pretty bumpy in places and it felt fine, obviously I got rattled around a bit but not as much as on my old alu mtb with cheap rigid forks. I was pretty impressed.

Hi there, I just joined the forum. My Genesis Croix de Fer (great bike!) was stolen a couple of weeks so I'm now looking for a replacement . I like the Kaffenback 2, definitely good specs for the money. I have a couple of questions, maybe Brant can help 😉

- Can you fit mudguards and rear rack at the same time? Are there separate holes close to the rear derallieur? It's not clear from the pictures on PX website. I assume you can only fit a disc-specific rack on the new model?
- I noticed the available wheels are now the old Mach 1 again instead of the new Shimano WH-RX05. Any idea of when the Shimano ones will be back in stock?

Any more feedback on how it rides would be useful.

Thanks!