My Mrs has been looking at getting a new bikepacking and gravel bike. Front of the list so far is a Cotic Cascade with Sids. Her bikes have to be XS, as she's around 5'0" and she's convinced that she wants a good quality bike.
Unfortunately, there's a problem with the supply of XS Cascades, so we may need to look elsewhere.
Fairlight Secan isn't available small enough but a Ti Camino is perhaps an alternative option, especially if fitted with a Rudy fork. Anyone got a (sensible) perspective to offer on that..?
Anything else we could consider?
I’ve got a rudy, and another bike with SIDs. They’re both great but very different forks. Rudy is more like a bit of comfort than suspension proper, you run them at 5% sag (1.5mm) and only 30mm travel.
For bike packing you can’t put a rack on either, for gravel I have and would prefer rudy as the Sid is a MTB fork for MTB…
Genesis do something like the cascade don’t they?
30mm of travel...really...sid is a suspension fork...rudy isnt..may as well have a rigid or the cheapest 80mm travel fork you can find that actually has 30mm of travel..
I really like the Rudy on my gravel bike but it's very different to a SID. The Rudy just quietly gets on with soaking up a bit of trail chatter/vibration. I was getting sore wrists after long days on a rigid gravel bike and the Rudy alleviated that. They are not particularly noticeable when climbing either.
If bike packing is a consideration, I have mounted cages on the Rudy.
Would a suspension stem work?
Lighter & cheaper, and many seem to have the same 30mm or so of travel...
OP
BTW,what happened to the Shand, or does she only use that as a road/tourer now?
^^The susspension stem may be a good option.
@fasthaggis, aye, the Shand is set up really light as a road bike and for touring, whenever she has the donkey available (me) to carry her bags...
I'm really not yet convinced by the flex stem option, it seems to me to be placing the isolation in the wrong location.
Those who have Rudys do seem to like them. Anyone else got a view?
FWIW I got my rudys cheap enough on a bike I was planning to give them a go then swap them for rigid as I didn’t really “get” them before I rode them.
I kinda like them on the road too, as they make bad tarmac more bearable and unexpected potholes less of an issue. They feel like a big mtb tyre soft level of squish without the squirm if that makes sense?
Suspension stem or maybe have a look at Spesh Diverge
Based on the gravel riding I do (more roadie biased e.g long fast gravel tracks and not MTB lite) I'd still love to try a short travel fork, I could imagine being able to go faster and stay tucked down on the hoods for longer etc.
I sold my suspension stem though, just didn't get on with it and how it affected handling, although I've since wondered if I just had my saddle too far forward and was putting too much weight on the bars ..
What about something like a surly grappler?
The guys at keep pedalling would able to offer good advice on the best type of frame, they've got tonnes of bike packing experience.
Cotic Cascade with Sids.
As the owner of a cascade, it's definitely at the mountain bike with drop bars end of the gravel spectrum. Very capable of road but possibly a bit heavy for "normal" gravel riding. That said, I do commute on it too.
If you are looking for something that do what a xc mountain bike can do then it's a great option.
