THE FRAME
With time on our side, we were able
to blueprint a special bike and debate
what the ideal gravel bike’s merits
would be. We knew we wanted a
carbon frame, geometry that was closer to a road bike than a ’cross bike for
stability and tire clearance that would
allow up to a 35c knobby tire. Knowing
that a disc-braked future for skinny
tires is soon to arrive, we felt this was
the perfect opportunity to begin chasing a disc-specific design as well.
For needs as diverse as these, we
knew it would be hard to find a
production bike that would be ready to
roll, so we went the custom route and
could only think of one place to call:
Calfee Design. We figured there would
be silence on the other end of the
phone after we explained what we
were looking for, but, in fact, Calfee’s
Michael Moore jumped at the chance.
“We already make what you’re looking
for.” Really? Turns out Calfee began
offering what they call “Adventure”
geometry on their Dragonfly, Tetra,
Luna and Bamboo road frames starting
last year. Like all Calfee frames, ours
would be crafted by hand at their La
Selva Beach, California, factory.
While the Adventure frames use the
same tubing as the traditional frames,
the differences begin at the chainstays,
which are lengthened by 1.5cm for two
reasons. First, it gives the bike a longer
wheelbase for better stability over
rough terrain, and secondly the length-
ened chainstays allow for more tire
clearance with minimal tube manipula-
tion. “We build each frame with the
minimal amount of clearance neces-
sary,” said Michael, “which is usually
enough for a 35c tire. To go wider than
that, we would need to cut away the
tube, and ideally we like to keep it as
round as possible.”
Additionally, both the seat tube and
head tube angles are relaxed by 3/4 of
a degree, to 72. 25 and 72. 75, respec-
tively. “We’re trying to create a little
more stability than on a road bike,
along with adequate tire clearance, but
we’re not trying to build a truck!”
Recalling how well our Calfee
Dragonfly test bike rode last year
(RBA, June 2011), we happily opted for
the Dragonfly Adventure. It uses
Calfee’s premium, high-modulus tube
set—giving it an impressively high
stiffness-to-weight ratio—and, of
course, Calfee’s own jaw-dropping,
webbed carbon lugs at the head tube,
seat tube junction and bottom bracket.
Calfee does offer custom geometry for
an additional $500, but we went with
the stock 56cm geometry, and it fit like
a glove. Calfee has a nearly endless
array of customizations and add-ons
available, which we moderately
indulged in.
Disc-brake mounts cost an addi-
tional $275 on top of the frame’s
$4195 price tag, and titanium dropouts
with a disc-brake mount were also
used. Because of the disc brakes, the
frame was designed with the 135mm
rear spacing typically found on
mountain bikes rather than the
standard 130mm road spacing.
The fork was sourced from Utah-
based Wound Up Composites, who
made it with a custom 380mm axle to
crown length, falling right in the middle
between their road and cyclocross
lengths. Calfee wanted the custom
length in order to keep the front end as
low as possible in order to minimize
geometry changes while still accom-
modating up to a 35c tire. Wound Up
makes the fork with either a non-
tapered 1- or 1 1/8-inch steel or
carbon steerer; we used the latter
option. The final addition to the frame-
set was the paint. Calfee offers stock
options or fully custom paint schemes.
THE PARTS
Once we had the frame details9
94 www.roadbikeaction.com
Avid mechanical disc calipers
with Scrub Component’s LugDrive
rotors provided more than ample
power, but also consistency, no
matter how bad the riding
conditions were.
