the next big thing - Super Monster Cross?

[qclabrat]

who's building one this year?
Almost everyone ditched their road bikes last year for a CX, so someones got to be itching for the next N+1
For me I'm probably going bigger, though I did considered a proper CX bike, but I don't plan to race therefore moving in another direction. Originally consider something like a Soma Wolverine or Surly Straggler for 45mm tires, but the BG RnR can already handle that tire size. Also I'm really happy with all my thru axle setups and don't want to go back to QR, therefore choices are limited.

Here's the perfect bike, but way out of budget (Moots Baxter). Does anyone know of other options for a true Monster Cross frame with can handle tires wider than 2"?

Still open to using a 29r frame (sized down one to get the right dimensions) like a Karate Monkey or Vassago Verhauen, but want more room for bottles and bags inside the triangle.

 

[Paul H]

I thought about putting on a drop bar on the HT

 

[Strugglebus]

Kona Sutra. Comes with 50c’s. Could probably squeeze a little bigger tire too

 

[Mountain Bike Mike]

I looked at the possibility of picking up a set up 650B disk wheels and mounting 45c tires on my Space horse so I could do road / tow path / rough single track commutes... But realized I have a XC mountain bike that I can do all that with

Edit - so I decided to keep the space horse more road worthy with <32c tires and eventually lighter wheels and other bits.

 

[easyasballinacup]

Tioga Tension Disc wheel would be a must for a bike like this. certainly would max out style points.

 

[Magic]

I'll be grabbing some 27.5 wheels at some point for mine.

 

[qclabrat]

I thought about putting on a drop bar on the HT

probably too stretch out, I never liked putting a short stem on road bike, ride tends to get sketchy at higher speeds

 

[qclabrat]

Kona Sutra. Comes with 50c’s. Could probably squeeze a little bigger tire too

the new models appear to have dropped the sliding dropouts, tho they seem to be convertible to the 142 TA

 

[qclabrat]

Tioga Tension Disc wheel would be a must for a bike like this. certainly would max out style points.

yeah, realize not a "new" thing, which is why I'm leaning towards a proper build vs 29r rigger

Forgot to mention the Salsa Fargo is the top of the short list based on the boxes it checks off and more importantly, pricepoint.

 

[Bike N Gear]

I miss seeing Tomac race.

 

[seanrunnette]

Here's my VD WTF. I'm running 29er 2.1" Hutchinson Pythons. There's room for something bigger. Also, there's an 853 version now, which, with it's carbon fork, shaves something like three pounds off my rig My next bike is gonna be the Country Road Bob, which has huge clearance, too.

 

[grilledcheeseking]

Karate Monkey

I built a woodchippers on ogre setup when that frame came out. Bought a medium so I could make the drops work, but it was still compromised by too long reach for me. It climbed and descended great, was a solid (solid!) tourer or commuter, and pretty fun on singletrack too. But I wasn't sold on drop bars for ST especially since I wasn't as flexible then as I am now.

I switched it over to flat bars and realized I would be happier on the next size up. Sold it, bought a large El Mariachi, and haven't really wanted anything else since.

If I had the large ogre or KM I'm sure I'd be happily riding that with flat bars today. I also ride road and cross bikes with drops.

Tl;Dr: if you want a dropbar bike with big clearance, buy a Fargo or wtf or something. But IMO if you're doing something that really requires >41mm tires then you'll probably want a flat bar to go with them.

 

[stb222]

FBM Hunter Gatherer


I think @Mountain Bike Mike came close to any point I would make, unless you plan to do really long rough fire road epics or something similar, at some point the bigger tires on a road geo makes you ask why. I have done the ride your cross bike anywhere type of thing and if you are riding a lot of single track, the geo become a compromise and tight turns may become an issue with toe overlap depending on your foot/frame size.

If you are doing rides that have rough dirt greater than 50% of the ride (note, I mention rough dirt because most gravel and dirt roads are fine on 25/28s) maybe consider this, but if it is less than that these big tires will be a major compromise on the road.

 

[Steve Vai]

We've done 2 dozen or so Specialized Diverges. It's a bike that feels just like a road bike but can fit a 47c tire. Many, if not all, of the other offerings feel like monster trucks and aren't any fun to ride on the road. And, you'll be on the road a lot a lot even during long gravel rides so you want something that feels fast on pavement.

 

[Jmann]

"Monstercross news" page on Facebook were doing small batch ti frames that took up to 2" tire I believe. They were reasonably priced too for ti if I remember correctly.

 

[RobW]

Crust bikes

 

[Karate Monkey]

-Buy road bike with discs that comfortably fits 700x28s
-put on 26x1.8-2.0
-???
-profit

 

[Pearl]

seems like everyone already said some things i was saying, but i typed all this out and i don't want to delete it:

honest question, since i do enjoy taking my cx bike on ST and riding to and from locations;

where else would you ride one of these things? in my eyes, most CX bikes can handle a 40mm tire, is 40mm not enough for what you are looking to do with these? at some point, isn't the tire too big for that type of riding? the 35mm tires i've been riding on the road while i do a frame swap are slow as hell and making me second guess 35mm for gravel racing.

like riding from home to six mile and back was always rad on the CX bike, but i can't imagine i'd want more tire anywhere else. it's not like the wider tire on these, you can suddenly crush chimney rock, right?

 

[qclabrat]

-Buy road bike with discs that comfortably fits 700x28s
-put on 26x1.8-2.0
-???
-profit

but that defeats the N+1 and just stays at N, now that's no fun
I'm going to setup the Stumptown for you just for the giggles

 

[Magic]

you can suddenly crush chimney rock, right?

Maybe not crush, and definitely not faster than the MTB, but I feel like it would let you go more places on the same bike. Like you, I have taken my cross bikes with 33c around Stewart and Six Mile. You definitely have to pick your lines, but it's a fun change once in a while. For somebody with one bike, a second wheelset for something like the ADD with 27.5 x 2" would be cool and could probably take on Chimney.