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Welsh C2C this summer. Classic Lon Las Cymru route. Had a long thread a while ago about a ‘new’ gravel type bike. Decided really can’t justify it so going to buy something off eBay/2nd hand Seen a NS Rag+.
Looks a bit heavy, single ring, this one is cable brakes, but you know it could be cheap 🙂 Anyone ridden one? (Read Hannah’s review which was helpful)
I ride one. Do you have specific questions?
Sizing probably. I’m always between being 5ft11 with short legs. So any sizing info would be good.
I’ve never really taken to cross bikes or road bikes. So whatever I buy will get used for this five day tour and - if I don’t hate the whole experience - I’d probably want something to go exploring for local trails around me which aren’t really much fun on a full MTB.
That’s pretty much it! Other than are cable brakes as nasty as my (very) old BB5s I had on a cross bike about six years ago.
I picked a frame up in the CRC sale, I previously had a Pro6. The frame is really nice apart from annoying the is a seat stay bridge which is really close to the rear tyre even though there is plenty of width for 45c.
I use it on XC trails, rough roads and byways. I don't think it's particularly heavy compared to the Pro6. Sounds good for what you want it for. What groupset does it have? If you ride somewhere hilly you'll be wanting a Sram one in order to get the 1x range.
Mine is an XL so not much use for you sizing wise.
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I had one and used it for the same things cheers_drive did. 5ft 9” and the medium fitted really well. I just replaced the stock stem with a higher rise one and bought some woodchippers to replace the stock bars.
It was a nice bike, but I missed having a MTB (only one bike at a time) so sold it on. I’d recommend it, tough, fast enough on road and mild off road and really well put together.
Thanks both. The one on eBay has Rival 40T with a XT32-11 out back. It’s a large so sizing probably spot on. Looking at the climbs on the C2C - and the fact we’ll be carrying kit for 5 days - I reckon low gears a must!
Hi Alex,
Having been in a similar thought process a few times*, owning a CX with a view to doing simple countryside type rides etc - only to send it off to ebay when I realised it was a heavy and not especially good at anything bike - I'd maybe look towards a light carbon 29" hard tail and skinny fast wheels and tyres.
Probably with, dare I say it, bar ends to give a nice relaxed long distance riding position.
The main problem for me was that my mountain bikes were built to a reasonable level and relatively light (at the time), so unless I spent a small fortune on the CX it was always going to be a bit of a dull uninspiring ride in comparison. I suspect you may have similar issues ;o)
*admittedly with nothing as long as the C2C in mind though.
I know what you mean. I keep looking at my SolarisMax and thinking: stick some 29x2.0 tyres on it, lock out the fork and use that… another 29er tho, reckon it’d get less use than a drop bar bike.
But yeah, I do like nice bikes which is a bit of a problem…..
I'm just under 6ft and bought a medium/53 , which is a bit small for me officially. I've also put a higher rise & shorter stem on it and wide flared Ritchey bars with layback post. I find its pretty comfy and will even use the drops. I've previously had a gravel bike which was my 'correct' size and it never felt comfortable, just way too big even though I ride an XL mtb.
Gearing is 40t front 11-40t back with SRAM CX1 / Rival, gets me up steep local wet fireroads. I've got 700x40c WTB nanos with full guards, could go a bit bigger on the front.
I own one and it's a nice frameset though not without some quirks. It's pitched as one of the tougher gravel bikes and is certainly sturdy but as cheers_drive points out, the tyre clearance is unnecessarily a bit limited by the stay bridges. It has quite a racy geometry which is good for faster riding but also why I bought the large 56 to get a higher stack height and run it with a 90mm stem and 44cm flared bars. I'm 5'11 by the way
The toe overlap can also be a pain with guards on - shame because I'm a traffic light trackstand master 🙂
In all though, I like it and it does the job for me. Gearing is 40T & 11-40 cassette which covers pretty much anything.
Thanks both... appreciate the detailed replies...