29er Drop-bar Mountain Bike options

[holdsteady]

Decided my next bike will be a Steel 29er Drop-bar Mountain Bike/Monster Cross/whatever the bike mags are calling them this month - does anybody have any decent recommendations? Preferably something off the peg and under £2k. Will be used for road/light off-road riding and the odd bikepacking trip.

Was hoping that Surly had something that fitted the bill but I'm not enthused by their dropbarred selection, only option appears to be if I had one custom built one - e.g. A Karate Monkey

Found this handy list - https://bikepacking.com/index/drop-bar- ... ikes-29er/

has anyone tried/got a Bombtrack Beyond? look lovely and appear to be well reviewed. I'll enquire with Keep Pedalling as planning on being in Manchester in the next month to see if I can try one out

The Finna Landscape also looks very good, https://www.topfun.com/en/1094-landscape but I am very wary as I have never heard of them, and do not appear to be available in UK - annoyingly they are based in Barcelona where I was last month.

I do like the Genesis Vagabond and probably would have just bought one had they been available but couldn't find a 2019 in Large. 2020 models look decent but price has been hiked by £200 for a similar spec to the 2019

cheers

[Bearbonesnorm]

The line between drop barred mountain bike - gravel bike - adventure bike is all a bit blurred. Besides the Bombtrack and Vagabond, the Fargo springs to mind as does the All City Gorilla Monsoon.

[Charliecres]

Lots of options with clearance for up to around 45mm tyre. Surprisingly few when you get into proper MTB territory.

Thought about a Stooge? Not tried mine with drops but plenty have and seem to think it works.

[gairym]

[cough] Velo Orange 'Piolet' [/cough]

Genuinely in love with this bike!

Not sure it comes as a complete bike but (imho) that's a blessing as then you get to choose everything and have a bike that's truly yours (but obviously each to their own etc...)

Just sayin'.....

[jameso]

2020 models look decent but price has been hiked by £200 for a similar spec to the 2019

Bikes won't get any cheaper next year. Once those hedged $ rates run out at importers they'll be going up, who knows where the £ may be in next 6 months.

Bombtrack Beyonds always looks a bit stout to me. Shouldn't judge on looks I know but tubes sizes are a good guide, they're similar to my steel Jones - which is tank-like in a good way for what it is, or for really heavily-loaded touring, but not what I'd want a drop bar bike to be generally. The All-City looks like a good bet.

[BigdummySteve]

[cough] Velo Orange 'Piolet' [/cough]

Genuinely in love with this bike!

Not sure it comes as a complete bike but (imho) that's a blessing as then you get to choose everything and have a bike that's truly yours (but obviously each to their own etc...)

Just sayin'.....

Nice bike My Fargo although bought as a complete has only the original frame left, fitting the components you want will save you money if you’re inclined to tinker. If you get lucky and everything suits them a complete bike is usually much better value.

2k could buy you a Fargo plus another wheelset

[dogthomson]

https://bikepacking.com/index/drop-bar- ... ikes-29er/

^ May help?

[johnnystorm]

2k could buy you a Fargo plus another wheelset

I love my Fargo and have done a lot of miles on it but in 2013 it cost £1300 for a complete bike.

Freeborn are listing the 2020 Vagabond at £1099. A few years back they were very open to a deal on a (then) current year Caribou when I called up about a reduced last year's model. £2k could buy you two Vagabonds.

[psling]

It's a shame Singular bikes are no longer readily available, they were designed around drop-bar 29"-wheeled off-road use and were lovely bikes.

[holdsteady]

Cheers for all the input so far, keep it coming has been helpful but has probably muddied the waters yet further for me so much choice out there.

I have a few issues with going down the custom build route. Firstly, after predominately riding mountain bikes for last 25 years I’ve been happy to do last 2 as custom builds as I know a lot more about what works and what doesn’t e.g, Deore is perfectly adequate for my non-riding God needs, but I haven’t a clue about road orientated groupsets, is Sora/lower end SRAM stuff really any cop? The main issue I have is not being very self-disciplined with budget and what starts with a simple “ooh I could get those handlebars for £20 more” suddenly turns into me buying a more expensive groupset and wheels than I originally intended and costs spiralling way out of control.. This is why I’d rather buy an off the peg version and go down the trial and error route of upgrading where necessary, plus it spreads the cost more as tends to work out cheaper in the short-term, plus whilst I’m happy to do some jobs myself I’d rather pay someone else to do a new build from scratch,- headset press, BB facing etc.

All City Gorilla Monsoon - very aesthetically pleasing, doesn’t possible to fit a 29x2.1 in there, so would probably opt for 700c x 42mm, added to shortlist

Fargo - already on my shortlist, it is a crying shame that only the black framesets appear to be available in UK – would much prefer the forest green frameset – https://www.bike24.com/p2270065.html?q=salsa+fargo Interesting to see Brant’s comments on a STW thread about the Tempest Rival that suggests Planet X aren’t like to produce a Fargo equivalent due to them being unlikely to shift in high volumes.

Stooge – previously I have contemplated a semi-fat Stooge as really like my mate’s MK3 one, not tried one with a dropbar but personally I think they just look plain wrong.

Velo Orange Piolet – again looks a very nice frame, will further investigate.

Bombtrack Beyond – since Jameso commented they looked “stout” I am now struggling to see past that chubby downtube but I still want to test one as I'm no featherweight myself.

Vagabond – 2020 version has dispensed with the bar-end shifters which makes them more appealing to me, and whilst not being at all "boutique", I am a big fan of Genesis bikes and it certainly helps that they are easily available at the likes of Evans and thus easier to test-ride

[Bearlegged]

The line between drop barred mountain bike - gravel bike - adventure bike is all a bit blurred.

I thought we'd already cleared this one up: Gradventourer.

[sean_iow]

but I haven’t a clue about road orientated groupsets, is Sora/lower end SRAM stuff really any cop?

As you want a drop bar MTB won't in need to use a MTB groupset and not a road one anyway? With road cranks there will not be enough width to get chain clearance with bigger tyres. The Bontrack Beyond 1 is listed as having a SRAM X5 crankset which is MTB.

Bombtrack Beyond – since Jameso commented they looked “stout” I am now struggling to see past that chubby downtube but I still want to test one as I'm no featherweight myself.

They list the Beyond 1 as 12.6kg which isn't too bad, especially as some of the components are quite low spec so not the lightest options. I personally think its a really nice looking bike. Stick a full frame bag in the triangle and the size of the downtube wont show

[Bearlegged]

As you want a drop bar MTB won't in need to use a MTB groupset and not a road one anyway?

Will depend on shifter preferences. For "road" STI units, one needs to pair them with road mechs.* Or use something like a JTEK shiftmate. And then you find that road front mechs don't reach far away enough from the frame to reach the outer ring on an MTB chainset. So you add an offset shim to space it out a bit. Bodges ahoy!
I've ended up with 105 STIs, a non-series rear (road) mech, road front mech with shim, and an XT crankset. Fair bit of faff getting there, but it's playing nicely now.

*When I finally become supreme ruler of the planet, all manufacturers will be forced to make all groupset components cross-compatible between road/MTB/#gradventouring/whatever. Same for speeds: match shifter to cassette, and off you go.

[holdsteady]

but I haven’t a clue about road orientated groupsets, is Sora/lower end SRAM stuff really any cop?

As you want a drop bar MTB won't in need to use a MTB groupset and not a road one anyway? With road cranks there will not be enough width to get chain clearance with bigger tyres. The Bontrack Beyond 1 is listed as having a SRAM X5 crankset which is MTB.

good point - generally just the shifters are road orientated, but if I just opted for a dropbarred bike with a road groupset I still have no idea how good the various SRAM and Shimano offerings are first hand, the last road bike I owned was a Raleigh Winner in the 1980s . I have a CAADX Tiagra which I bought cheap 2nd hand and that seemed reasonable enough but that is about 8 years old now and probably a size too big for me so have barely used it.

[johnnystorm]

Presumably GRX will bring an end to bodging Shimano on drop bars (bar end shifters not withstanding) but SRAM road shifters and MTB mechs play together nicely as it stands. Once you're used to them neither Shimano or SRAM is "better" just different.

[gairym]

I'm a massive fan of my ingenious work around of the whole road kit / mtb kit shifter/mech compatibility minefield.

Ready.....



Boom!

If it's the right place for a shifter on an mtb then how can it be too far wrong on a drop bar'd mtb???

I find bar end shifters to be a very weird solution as they're never in the right place to shift comfortably and so seeing as I spend roughly equal time on the flat section as on the hoods it seems sensible to me to save time/money/hassle my just installing one pre-existing mtb groupset that I know will work.

Having said that it clearly upsets some folk and that just makes me like it even more

[sean_iow]

As Jonnystorm says, SRAM road and mtb are compatible which I assume is why the Bombtrack uses SRAM components.

If you look at the spec of the Betond 1 the mechs are X5 and GX (mtb) but the shifter is Apex Doubletap (road) but they work together fine.

I've got SRAM Rival on one of my bikes and I like it but I've not had a bike with the Shimano system on it. My friends who are used to the Shimano system say they don't like it but it's just what they are used to. Before the Rival shifter/brakes the last road bike I had used friction shifters on the downtube so it's bound to be better than that

[PaulB2]

Presumably GRX will bring an end to bodging Shimano on drop bars (bar end shifters not withstanding)

Not really - you can't go bigger than a 11-34 cassette with any of the derailleur options if keeping within official capacities. It's just a rebadge of 105 with smaller front rings and a bigger q-factor for tyre clearance.

[BigdummySteve]

My solution to drop bar gearing has eventually led to Sram Eagle coupled with a microshift barend. Although I was initially thrown by the need to move your hands to shift it’s not a bad thing on very long rides and it’s worth it for the gear range and simplicity. For what it’s worth I thought Sram Rival was utterly sh1t, perhaps there was something wrong with my shifter but I’d set it up shifting perfectly in the stand and on a long ride it would drift.. my eagle setup includes two inline adjusters one near the mech and another right by The head tube for on the fly tweaking if needed. So far the Eagle setup has been faultless and I’d highly recommend finding a way to make it work for you, microshift also make a thumbshifter, very retro but again simple and hopefully reliable (there’s very little to go wrong)

My experience with road ‘brifters’ has been traumatic, perhaps I got a Friday afternoon set? But my sons deore shifted better and more way consistent. I suspect the mechanism, while undoubtedly clever and very nice just isn’t up to the rigours of off-road use in the long term.

The drop bar MTB can be a very good tool but I’ve found it a longer project to make it perfect, I found that the road based brakes were poor when pushed with heavy loads and off-road, after much experimenting I finally fitted hope RX4 callipers to my rival levers and finally got decent braking performance.
You really need to work out if you need a drop bar mtb or if a gravel bike would do, I suspect that apart from looking similar at a casual glance that they are very different beasts.

Oh if you’re any where near Banbury Oxfordshire you are welcome to give it a spin, or if you live somewhere with an interesting ride could arrange a bivv/ bike swap

[PeterC]

I have the 2016 Kona Sutra touring version, which by default has become my "gradventure bike". Whilst of no great experience of other bikes like this, it suits my needs and handles the rutted bridleways and so on really well. With that in mind I would suggest the Sutra Ltd with similargeometry but improved clearances. The 2020 model looks great. There are some very good reviews around (inc Bikepacking.com) and as you mentioned Evan's it appears they are stockists so a test ride should be possible.

Would be interested to hear your final choice.

[gairym]

I've heard only good things about the Kona offerings!

I love the fact that it pretty much looks like a mid-nineties steel Kona MTB too.

[br]

Will be used for road/light off-road riding and the odd bikepacking trip.

Not sure why you want a drop-bar MTB when a Gravel bike will suffice, or did you also want a suspension fork?

[holdsteady]

had a re-think on this, particularly after test-riding various friends bikes and deciding that the gap in my bike needs is really more something in between road and lightish off-road so a gradventourer rather a drop bar mtb as a few have said on this thread already

My heart is saying “get a Shand Stoater” but my head and bank balance is erring towards something less sexy like a croix de fer 20 or the myriad of other steel options or maybe a planet x Ti Tempest. The Shand might have to wait a few years until my 50th

[ScotRoutes]

I had one of the early Kona Sutras. Amazing to think just how far ahead of its time it was really.

[firestarter]

I had an all singing and dancing stoater mainly for use on the road but a fair bit of bridleway stuff I now have a px London road, its lighter faster fits better rides nicely I cant fault it

Maybe it's an age thing though as I got a pinnacle ramin plus and a set of 29er wheels and sold my Jones spaceframe with spare fat front, it was lovely and rode beautifully but it wasnt worth the amount it cost over the pinnacle as the pinnacle is ace, especially with 29er wheels on

I now have two budget bikes and a slush fund :)