Hi,
I have a 2019 Honzo ST frame languishing in my shed and I am gravel/monstercross/rigid curious.
I am currently in the planning/thought experiment stage of the build. I'm hoping to collect parts through this coming winter.
What I envision riding on this rigidmonstergravel is mixed surfaces. I'm not sure if I'd be leaning more towards paved or forest service roads.
Kinda what I was thinking was pedaling to Callaghan Lake from Whistler and, eventually, the S2S Trail to Squamish. Along with riding the less technical trails like Farside and Riverside in the Cheakamus area of Whistler.
The only part that I currently have in the frame is a Works -2° angleset. And, I plan to keep that.
I'm looking at the RSD 510mm rigid fork for the longer A2C. From what I've read it sounds like a longer steel fork could possibly be too flexy. Especially under me being that I'm a giant (6'6"/198cm, 240lbs/108kg).
The thing that I'm having trouble wrapping my head around is the handlebar and hand height. I realize that I'm going to be using a dedicated modern geo mtb frame and that might not work well with drop bars. I have been looking at alt bars such as the Crust Jungle Runner bar. I've also checked out some of the drop bars mentioned in this thread and the Soma Condor 2 drop bar has my curiosity piqued as it is a riser drop bar.
The advantage with alt bars is I can use mtb controls whereas if I use drop bars I'll need to go to roadie style controls. I don't know if the extra Reach that will be added by riding on the hoods will be beneficial. Or if I'll use the drops because of whether it'll be comfortable or not to ride with my hands that low on this (thought experiment) bike.
For wheels I haven't thought too hard about it other than I'm going with 29"/700.
I did run a set of 700x40c tires on my 30id rims on my HT for commuting this past late winter onwards because of the bus strike here in Whistler.
I'm guessing that width of rim will be too wide if I plan on running 40mm width tires. Seeing as I'd like this bike to be fast I was thinking of limiting the tire width to under 2"/50mm.
So, what do people think?
Am I way off base with the direction my ideas are going? It has been over 30 years since I've actually ridden a road/cx bike. Which means my frame of reference is super outdated.