Where do you draw the line between a flat-bar gravel bike and a rigid mountain touring bike? Michael Rudolph returns to The Radavist with a new project based on a Leafcycles prototype frame that seeks to blur the lines. Read on for the backstory and build process behind this genre-bending one-of-a-kind machine.
Building up last year’s Trail Digger Bike was a lot of fun. It felt great to have a functioning and good-looking bike after months of thinking, planning, building, testing, failing, and building again until it worked. But it took only a short time to realize that I wanted to build another bike during our long, cold, and wet winter.
I have been looking after a gravel bike for a while now, but I never got comfortable with a drop bar and skinny tires. Instead of a classic flat bar gravel bike, I decided to go for a 29” full rigid mountain bike, which also would survive most of our local trails and give me enough comfort with thicker tires. This is where the name was born: 29ravel, a mix of 29” and gravel.
My Friend Frank from Leafcycles still had a chromoly steel prototype frame sitting around that never made it into production due to corona. After checking the geometry, I knew this was the perfect starting point for my project.
After publishing my bike last year, it became my daily routine to check The Radavist for the newest builds and stories. That kinda lit up my interest in bike backpacking and led to the question: why not modify the bike so it could do multiple tasks, like sprinting fire roads, smashing light trails, and traveling around for a few days?
The racks had to be done properly and detachable. I don’t want rubber bands or zip ties to fix racks to the frame. While doing my research, the Trek 1120 crossed my way, and I thought its racks would look awesome on my 29ravel. Not knowing if these would even fit my bike, I ordered them. To my luck, I only had to build some simple brackets and add some threads to my fork and frame.
So back to brazing. Man, I´m always nervous to start brazing, but as soon I’m on it, it’s so relaxing.
I also must thank some of my local bike mates for providing me with some pretty used but not totaled components. For example, an XTR derailleur with a broken carbon cage. I fitted a Deore polished aluminum long cage to match a big 51-tooth cassette.
Since I like the look of polished metal so much, I decided to polish some more stuff. Nearly everything raw on the bike (besides the bottle holder and headset spacers), was polished by me. Rims, cranks, chainring, seatpost, stem, bars, brakes. So many hours went into it, that I´m sure my next bike will have no polished parts.
Little sidenote: I only was brave enough to polish the dropper post stanchion after reading an article about it on The Radavist.
Choosing the right color was a long process. I drew a sketch of my frame on the iPad and colored it in dozens of ways. At least I knew I wanted to avoid a light color to give a certain contrast to the bright polished parts. In spite of all my planning, I changed my mind at the last second when I saw the color palette at the powder coater place. The color is called Ocean Blue (Pantone 3155C) and I immediately fell in love with it.
Normally my powder coater knows what to do, and what parts to avoid coating. This time my fork was fully coated… yes, also the shaft. It took me some extra time to clean that up.
In the end, I had to find some bags to fit onto the rack. Matthias from Bike-Packing.de helped me out with a set of 25-liter Ortlieb panniers. Besides traveling, those bags are also great for grocery shopping. I only had to add an extra bar to the rear rack to make them fit perfectly.
Finally, tire choice. For fast rolling speed and light trails, my choice is the new Schwalbe Rick XC in 2.4”. At the moment I´m testing the Schwalbe Marathon Mondial in 2.25” – it’s a bit heavier but has great comfort, puncture protection, and low rolling resistance. Surely, I´ll try some beefy tires this winter for mud and snow.
It is still my dream to build my own frame, and I know a lot of people also wish to do so. Unfortunately, it is expensive and not easy to accomplish in your own basement. But with a bit of labor, a cheap brazing set from the hardware store, and an existing frame, you have enough to make your own bike. I can only encourage everyone to try it out for themselves.
See you out there…
Parts list
- Frame and fork: Leafcycles chromoly prototype powder coated in Pantone 3155 C
- Wheels: DTswiss EX1700 with polished rims
- Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Mondial Pro in 57-622 and Click-Valves or Schwalbe Rick XC
- Crankset: Shimano XTR polished
- Pedals: Crank Brothers Stamp 7
- Chainring: Renthal MCR100 36T polished
- Derailleur: Shimano XTR with polished Deore long cage
- Dropper Post: Giant TranzX 170 mm polished
- Saddle: Brooks Cambium C17
- Stem: Unknown OEM leftover 60 mm polished
- Bar: FSA Gravity Light repolished
- Brakes: zRace 4-piston polished with Miles Racing 180 mm discs
- Grips: Odi Elite Yeti
- Racks: Trek 1120 polished
- Bags: Ortlieb 25L