I can't see the crankset in front of me so if your shop suggests otherwise I might be apt to follow their advice. I've no idea if the GXP crankset you have uses the 4 small bolts to affix the SRAM spider and if the spider inner dimensions allow clearance for a BB386EVO bottom bracket and GXP converter.

I've seen SRM cranksets mounted but cannot say every generation of every conceivable configuration will fit. It is possible there isn't enough space to move the Chainline further outboard to achieve the preferred 46mm offset and powermeter clearance.

-SD

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

They didn't try to mount it, but I do trust they know about these things - building up bikes with 386evo BBs. My SRM has three bolts and a pretty deep slope to the axle.

Thanks for the help, AGAIN!

This is the raison d'etre for this bike. Two questions specific to this kind of multi-surface ride:

1. What kind of shoes/pedals? I normally don't like the bulkiness and non-breathability of 2 bolt shoes, but do you need them on rides like this? More generally, do you switch shoes/pedals often depending on whether you're riding road vs trail?

2. What kind of tires do you use for a ride like this one, where you want to move fast on the road but be ok when you hit the trail? Would your answer change if the road were wet and the trail was soft/muddy?

Thank you.

UP is now available in a different layup, the U.P.P.E.R., which they are advertising as 'superlight'.

Hard for me to imagine very many people saw the sticker on these bikes and thought 'looks great, but can you find a way to make it even more expensive?' Guess the demand must be there from some, but definitely not from me at these prices.

I think it's a pricing strategy as much as anything. Consumers gravitate toward the middle price when given three options and, when budget constrained, are more likely to proceed with the purchase of a good so long as a higher priced version of the same good exists. The UPPER doesn't require new molds, just a new layup, so OPEN's marginal cost of birthing this product is quite low.

If they ever get one of these frames below $2,000 I'll probably pull the trigger. I've been lusting after the UP/Exploro for a while now.

\

The answer to this is simple in my view. If you are needing to unclip and put your feet on unsolid ground -- dirt, rocks (espeically), and other uneven terrain -- more than a couple times on a ride, you need MTB shoes/cleats/pedals. What kind of riding this means for you it totally personal. But you will learn really quick when road shoes/cleats are not appropriate.

I have yet to put road pedals on my Exploro, but I would/will if I sell my Felt AR and use the thing for pure road riding. I like the larger platform of road pedals in terms of raw and consistent power transfer.


I used the WTB horizon 47c gumwall slicks at low pressure for this ride. Had I been more sophisticated about it I would have played with the pressure using Co2 a bit more between stretches. These things blow chunks on wet and muddy terrain, as they did on this ride, but they are a really good compromise between all the terrain I mentioned. The wide nature of them and low pressure supports acceptable traction on dry singletrack and every aspect of gravel. Besides all that, they are outstanding on the road. My Strava top tens all actually occurred on the road during this ride, which surprised me given that I was at 30 PSI with massively wide tires. And I was basically pushing little girl watts. Fast tires. Fast bike.


Up there with idee fixe, one of my favorite French aphorisms. Chapeau

Now that mine is done and I have a few rides I thought I would share a few thoughts.

First off, thanks to SuperDave for his responsive and numerous PMs helping me out with my build.

Mine is built up with:

- Rotor inpower PM w 46T x-sync ring
- Rotor BB
- SRAM Rail 50 650b Mtn Wheels
- WTB Horizon 47c tires
- Zipp 30 Course wheels w/ sworks 28mm tures
- Sram 10/42 cassette
- Sram Force Hydro 1X
- 3T stem and bar
- Sellte italia SLR saddle

I have three rides in it so far and am very pleased. I built this for gravel races, daily interval sessions on dirt or less than stellar pavement, and fun! I live .5 miles from a dirt/gravel trail that goes for 75 miles. I use this for much of my training. The frame is stiffer than the GT grade it replaced, but this can be addressed via tire pressure. I prefer the geometry of the Exploro - less comfort and more race oriented. Maybe its the shorter wheelbase or the high volume tires, but the rear end is pretty bouncy - already getting used to it. The 1x drivetrain has great range with the 46x 10-42 cassette. The jumps between gears are wide and noticeable, but I suspect I will adapt to this like I did with my other 1x bikes. I am pretty happy with the Sram Rail wheels. wide internal bead, tough, and easy tubeless. The Horizon tires are a bit of a head scratcher. They seem like a novelty - look what we can do with this format. They are fun, but don't seem to be the optimal tire for any use. I suspect I will use 40MM tubeless on the zipps for fast gravel rides/races and keep the 650b wheels with WTB nanos/riddlers for exploring in the mountains. I really don't see anyone building up this bike and committing to only one wheel format, so this seems par for the course.

Overall, I am happy with the bike and am excited to ride it (and ride it hard). I guess that's the point for me. It's not an N-1 bike. Its a very specific implementation of a niche of a niche. It just so happens that it is one that fits my preferences like a glove. I have other bikes with are far better suited for their specific purposes but I suspect that this one will be ridden the most.

I haven't seen much out there on the Rotor InPower PM, but so far so good. It seems to be in line with perceived effort and my abilities on other crank based power meters.

I've been using a Scott Addict CX for a couple of years for my gravel rides. It's a very sweet ride. I have an Open UP on order that should arrive next week and I'm praying that it's even better than the Addict and fearing that it might not be. I love riding the Addict.

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Stay aero my friends.

I may as well drop this picture here along with my build:




1x11 Di2
Ultegra crank with Wolf Tooth Components chainring
XT Di2 rear derailleur
10-42 cassette, 42T chainring
KMC X11SL DLC chain
Ultegra Di2 hydraulic disc brakes
HED Ardennes Plus LT wheels (700c until my 650b are ready)
25c Conti GP 4000 S II
ENVE stem
ENVE bars
WTB Volt saddle


This was after my first ride. If the saddle looks low, read PubliusValerius' original post:





First impressions come from a short road ride. Not much to say except that it embarrasses my CAAD10.

Power pedals?

Why did you only go 25 and not 28 on the tires? It looks slick!

Orbilius - Powertap P1s

ironcode - They were free with the wheels. I'll ride them until I want something new.

Cool, I hope you love the bike!

Hawt rides. I really like the white -- when it's clean anyways

Ok, so we hijacked this thread and made it a general 3T Exploro conversation:)

I am, again, seeking advice.

I am running both 650b and 700c wheels. For the 650b wheel I will switch between the WTB Horizon and some mountain tire depending on how adventurous I plan to be.

For the 700c wheels, I am trying to decide on the best tire for fast group rides, mixed terrain road raced (think Roubaix), and faster solo efforts. The objective is to have a fast tire of bigger size that isn't holding me back. Looking for good rolling resistance first, with other properties second.

I am using the Zipp 30 Course wheelset and am considering the following tires:
- Continental GP4000 II 28C
Pro - inexpensive, fast RR tests, long wear, aero-ish until they wear down
Con - ? If they feel like the 23-25C tires, kind of dead. Tubed.
- Vittoria Corsa Graphene 28C
Pro - I use these on my road bike in 25C and have good impressions. long wear life. Tan sidewalks.
Con - never had these on mixed terrain. Not sure how they perform.
- Vitoria Corsa Pave 27C
Pro - can be had for a bargain right now. that green stripe!
Con - easily flat/cut. Last generation tire.
- Schwalbe Pro One Tubeless 28C
Pro - only tubeless in the bunch. Tested well in one RR test, but mid pack in another.
con - Some Schwalbe tires test as RR dogs.

Thoughts/others?

Thanks!

Well, I had bad experiences with the Pro Ones. I have now moved on to the S-Works Turbo Tubeless 26C's, but I haven't even mounted them yet.

I can't speak to the rest of your tires. But you definitely want tubeless ready tires if you are running them tubeless. Will you run them tubeless?

What happened with the pro one tires?

I would prefer tubeless, but can run latex tubes with orange seal if it is a better solution.

I and my friend blew out the sidewalls -- three out of the four of them between us. We were running pressure a little low for the purposes of using them on roads and gravel, but they seem to be exceptionally fragile. I've heard other similar reports on the forum. I actually blew one out on the roads after hitting a pothole jawn. And the warranty process through Chain Reaction was a pain in the dick, so I just gave up and got the Specialized's. At least if I have any issues with those I have easy recourse.

Anyways, if you are running road-like pressure with the Pro Ones -- and using them on pavement and certain types of gravel -- then you may very well be fine. And you can pick up almost three Pro Ones for the price of one S-Works Turbo...so may be worth a shot for experimental purposes.

My friend is running the Michellin road tubeless now and seems to like them, though they are a bit pricey too.

I have had similar experience as above with the tubeless Pro Ones. They are good tires, but keep them on the pavement. Somewhat fragile sidewalls compared to the previous tubeless Ones.

The previous generation tubeless Ones are wonderful. For the whole watt or so slower they are, the sidewalls are so much stronger. I was drafting a car slightly downhill into an unknown town last year and creamed a pothole going at least 30mph. Rotated the handlebars, but the 28 One (measuring 31mm on 2kg mt bike wheels) around 60 psi was just fine. They went offroad plenty of times too...rocks, dirt, through a creek, etc. I have a pair of 25s stored away and still check the classifieds and Ebay for old stock or slightly used tubeless One 28s.

Yes, the Specialized warranty department is very easy to deal with. I've had 2 claims with them over the years and they went above and beyond both times.

Thanks guys! Saved me from what sounds like a fragile tire.

I am going to roll on my 28c sworks turbos for now and replace them down the road. Not going to give up too much with latex tubes.

Little bit of re-animation on my part but how well did the WTB tires set-up tubeless on the Nextie rims and were the rims hooked or hookless? I'm contemplating a similar build.

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"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson

These are the ones I got. They set up tubeless really easily. Have since had another pair built up for a friend and they are also quite good. Hard to beat Nextie with their pricing

I noticed the framesets are 20% off at R&A cycles through the end of the day (July 5th). So the team is down to $2400 and the LTD is $3360. Thought I'd pass this PSA along in case anyone out there is on the fence.
https://www.racycles.com/...ploro+&pagenum=1

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Matt