Hunqapillar (or other riv) as a dirt drop mountain bike?

[brianweee]

Is anyone using their Rivendell Hunqapillar as a dirt drop mountain bike? or monster cross bike style? I currently ride a 26" wheel-size, 55.5cm Elephant with pretty light weight tubing. It's been great, but it's a little small for me and I think I would prefer a larger wheel diameter. 

I'm thinking a Rivendell Hunqapillar with drops for my next build, but would love to hear people's thoughts

• is a Rivendell Hunqapillar the right frame for this build? Other suggestions?
• what tires can the Hunqapillar really clear? 2.35" Racing Ralphs? (i saw a slick 2.5" front tire at the Riv store)
• what bars are you using/would you use? 

Inspirations: 

Allan's Hunqapillar on Prolly

Cunningham 

Mark Reimer's Atlantis 

[Deacon Patrick]

Hunqapillar, Thunder Burts, Albastache. Big grin.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/32311885@N07/17188072456/in/album-72157652014701796/

With abandon,

Patrick

[Tony DeFilippo]

Bombadil, Nobby Nic's, Nitto Dirt Drops... also big grin!

(need to repair/replace the rear wheel after finding stress cracks near the spoke holes though)

I feel like I've read that the Hunq was designed with Bosco style upright bars in mind but the hallmark of most Riv frames is their ability to be re-imagined.  So long as you can work out the cockpit-saddle formula right a Hunq should do awesome as a drop bar-fat tired bike.

[cyclotourist]

Of the three pictured, Mark R's is the most viable, as the bars are up
high enough for singletrack.
IMHO drop bar MTB only works if the drop position is at saddle height.
Otherwise you're way stretched out and low, which is not good at all
for technical downhill singletrack.
More than fine for fire roads, but doesn't cut it for singletrack.
Moustache bars work great for that BTW, and are much easier to set at
seat height.
Here's my drop bar 29er: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclotourist/20193159021

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"it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal

[cyclotourist]

Tony replied while I was still typing away. Notice his bar height though. That's important if you're going to be riding off road.

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[Clayton.sf]

Drop bars on an mtb will always out your teeth closer to the stem than riser, jones, or flat bars. Be aware of this and dress accordingly.

Clayton Scott
SF, CA

[brianweee]

Thanks for your suggestion! I started looking into the Singular Gryphon. That bike might be a little bit more what I'm looking for (less touring, more adventure day riding). I saw that it is sold out on their website, where can one get a hold of a size large of one of those? 

[Eric Daume]

If you're looking for a largish monstercross style bike, I have to put in a shameless plug for my Velo Orange Camargue frameset for sale:

http://bikingtoplay.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-for-sale-post.html

Designed for drop bars, single speed or geared, clearance for 2.25" tires, and a 350mm steerer lets you put the bars wherever you want them. It's sized about like the large Gryphon.

Eric

[Mark Reimer]

Ah, that's my bike! I love riding my Atlantis on single track. Though two comments - the long touring frame geometry makes the bike a bit slow to turn, at least compared to a modern mountain bike. Not a big deal at all though, but notable. The bigger issue I've had is pedal strike. The BB is pretty low so I'm clipping them on rocks, scraping weeds, etc. Also on the 58cm frame with big fat tires there is a bit of toe overlap. 

All in all it's awesome though

[Addison Wilhite]

I tend to use my Jamis Dragon for technical dirt riding but I have used my Rivendell Allrounder for a lot of dirt over the years.  Below is a post that shows a bunch of different configurations of the model (that's the beauty of an AR obviously) but if you scroll through you will see some of the knobby fat tire photos are interspersed.

http://reno-rambler.blogspot.com/2013/01/rivendell-allrounder-jack-of-all.html

Best,

Addison Wilhite, M.A. 

Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology 

“Blazing the Trail to College and Career Success”

Educator: Professional Portfolio

Blogger: Reno Rambler 

Vice Chair: Regional Transportation Commission, Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee

[Tim Gavin]

Not a Riv, but a MUSA lugged steel drop bar off-road bike: my '88 Schwinn KOM.  The clearcoat paint isn't holding up; I'm gonna get it powder coated this winter.  I'm thinking something approximating vintage Schiwnn coppertone orange or chromovelato orange.

I also have a Riv Road standard / 650b conversion that sees lots of dirt and gravel roads.  I've underbiked it on "easy" singletrack, but the crazy low BB (after conversion) makes it pretty unsuitable.

[Bill Lindsay]

Give the Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross a look as well.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[brianweee]

Thanks everybody for their input & posting pictures of their awesome drop bar mountain bikes. All are very dreamy.  :D 

@bill, the Black Mountain Monstercross seems to only clear 42mm. I want fat fat 2.3" tires. 

@eric, thanks for the link. I haven't heard too much about the Carmague. It looks rad, just have had some less than optimal experiences with VO parts. No experience with frames though. 

@mark, that Atlantis looks SO amazing with the fat tires. The long geometry is an interesting point though. The chainstays look as tight as possible? and the top tube seems any shorter would run into even more toe overlap. I wonder if a tighter geometry could be obtained with smaller wheel size. 

Getting the right bar height definitely seems to be an important factor. 

A Rawland Drakkar also seems to potentially fit the bill. Also Jason's baller Ellis is so dreamy! 

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=173460

[brianweee]

@clayton So true. I'm not sure what my main draw is to the drop bars. I think getting low enough on the road, and on climbs is the main reason. On my full suspension mtb, it's all about downhill. I think I like the idea of my a drop bar mountain bike that is made for climbing, road descending, and less optimized for gnarly descents? 50-70 mile rides with 30-40 miles of dirt/singletrack with 5-7k climbing is what i'm trying to optimize for. 

[Clayton.sf]

Look at a Jones with Jones bar. Allows you to go aero but scoot back when it matters.

Clayton Scott

SF, CA

[cyclotourist]

The Gryphon is pretty good. I think it's fully designed to be a drop-bar MTB. Not a heavy tourer like a Fargo or AWOL. They're relatively inexpensive, well built and versatile. A little too versatile for me actually. I'd prefer not to have an eccentric BB, and the cable guides are bolt on ones rather than fixed. Like many Surly bikes, it tries to be all things to all people. 

[Clayton.sf]

Not sure what ebb the gryphon uses, but I too used to be wary of ebbs. However, the bushnell ebb on my Jones has been trouble free with not a single creak or slip for almost 3 years now. I would buy another in a heartbeat. Ebb are easier than track ends with disc brakes and allow to adjust a little for ground clearance too. Still think that sliding dropouts like paragon or blackcat are better, but the bushnell ebb has been flawless so far.

Clayton Scott
SF, CA

[cyclotourist]

Well I hate, hate, HATE the track ends that Surly uses! The EBB isn't
that bad, doesn't really creak or slip. I just think it's unnecessary
added complexity. If someone wants to ride SS, they can get a White
Ind ENO hub. Why make me have to have an EBB to accommodate them.
First world problems.

[Clayton.sf]

Agree on those surly ends. The worst!
Though Eno hub with disc brakes ends up being a royal pain the a$$ too when you need to reinstall the rear wheel trailside and it limits me to only one hub for SS. Now that is really silly unless you don't care about SS. Ebb or sliders are the only clean solution for SS and disc brakes IMO.

Clayton Scott (who is impressed with the AB black chainring on his ss mtb)
SF, CA

[Patrick Moore]

Not if you position the bar high, above the saddle.

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[Clayton.sf]

Bar height has nothing to do with this. If you are in the drops which is where you mostly ride on a drop bar Mtb your teeth are closer to the stem no matter the bar height.

[Patrick Moore]

True; I was thinking of my Maes Parallels, where off road I generally ride on the ramps or hoods.

OTOH, there is no grip more secure, off road or on, than in the hooks (I've tried half a dozen different "off road drop bars" though I didn't like them). I don't think that one need worry about his teeth.

Patrick Moore, mtbs since 1989, drop bars off road since 2000.

On Wed, Oct 14, 2015 at 8:22 AM, Clayton.sf <clayt...@gmail.com> wrote:

Bar height has nothing to do with this. If you are in the drops which is where you mostly ride on a drop bar Mtb your teeth are closer to the stem no matter the bar height.

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[Mike Schiller]

I think it depends on where you run your bars in normal drops.  I like mine a few cm below the saddle and my dirt drops hook position about the same.    When descending rough stuff I like to be stretched out and low, keeping the COG as low as possible.  With the new Cowchippers that have the hoods more like regular drops I might run the hoods level with the saddle and the drops where they fall.  

~mike

Carlsbad Ca

[Patrick Moore]

A related aside: I love drops (again, after a long journey, I've settled on the Maes Parallel) for dirt, but OTOH, I've come full circle and now dislike drops for singletrack, largely because "normal" drops put the brake levers too far away, and "dirt" drops are uncomfortable, for me. 

(I also think I'll like 26" wheels for technical stuff, tho' a 3" 26" Knard might be the parrot's toothpaste. We'll see, as I have just traded resume and LI work for a rather nice 1996 Bontrager Race Lite. Isn't a Race Lite "rivendell-sh"?)

[Patrick Moore]

Mike: I'd love to see profile photos of your road and dirt bikes with low bars. Pretty please?

Thanks.