Except the geometry compromises
For sure weight, easily a pound heavier to start the build.
Also worth considering that youâre kind of gambling on geometry⊠With this drop bar hardtail w/ suspension fork thing being relatively new, there isnât a settled âbest practicesâ regarding lengths and angles. So without actually knowing what youâre designing will feel like, its a pricey experiment.
The other issue is $$$⊠I have both⊠A custom Mosaic frame only will run you up near $5kUS, versus some NOS Epic HT frames for $2k($3k for S-works if you can find one).
Additionally, Mosaic might not be able to fully accommodate all those asks, or at least not without some compromises, especially in the BB/Chainstay setup as theyâre pretty set on 73mm shells and standard tubing chain stays versus plates or 3d printed junctions. So 44t and that kind of tire clearance is tough⊠For example, their GTx series only has clearance for a 42t ring with 2.25" tires. But also, in a separate argument, Iâd say these bikes donât need a 44t chainringâŠ
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Forgot integrated cables
You are right 42T is ok. I have 44T with 52 in the back in my MOG and itâs 
I was talking the other end of the cassette⊠if 44/52 works for you easy gear, a 38/44 will give you nearly the same, with nicer gaps⊠A 38/10 gets you well over 30mph. Dylan ran only a 36/10 at Leadville, which is known for its fast pavement pack dynamics. A 42t or 44t is too much, with no real benefit. I know the 10t isnât ideal, but also, youâre not going to be in that often, and a 38t probably gets you a better chainline for the most used gears, and a better chainline in the min/max gears. Its although worth considering, that a 2.25" tire at 38/10 gets you nearly 1.5mph more speed than a 40mm tire at the same cadence.
And the internal routing is another miss for Mosaic most likely⊠Youâll need a 52mm upper bearing for internal routing with a standard steerer(as found on suspension forks), so youâre looking at some aftermarket(Acros, Token, etc) option. I know there is the 44mm Enve In Route setup for Chris King, but blah! Also, a suspension fork is always going to have a big brake hose loop sticking out front, so Iâm less concerned about saving 10" of rear brake hose by headset routing on mtbâs.
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Just saw this over on YTâŠthought it may be of interest. Kinda digging it, TBH.
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Love it! Since softails are making a comeback, letâs push for suspension stems and disk wheels again. Canât forget bar ends either. Whatâs old is new right?
Iâll never understand why no one rides with bar ends anymoreâŠ.flat bars just put your wrists at an uncomfortable angle. I donât have a MTB anymore, but even when riser bars were the rage, I ran bar ends (even though it looked god awful).
No way I could run flat bars aloneâŠ.and especially not at todayâs widths.
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Ordered the RYET rigid fork to make it pair with an 2019 Obea Alma frame. I was surprised myself the A-C size is less than the âdefaultâ 490mm. Picture is a rough estimate.
Measured like this
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I use inner bar ends regularly for anything over 2 hours (plenty available but cheap ones on aliexpress).
Outer bar ends put you into a not very aero position and make your handling more difficult.
MehâŠwith the current trend of +700mm bar widths, aero doesnât really seem to be much of a concern overall.
imo older style bar ends made sense with narrower bars, but with the new modern bars, inner bar ends are nice as you can use a traditional grip position and have the option of a narrower inner bar end position
Yeah, just to be clearâŠIâm not arguing for outer bar ends over inner ones necessarily. Iâm just advocating for bar ends of some kind and it befuddles me that they have largely gone out of style.
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Yes this is the gravel bike of the future. We should all have one of this plus:
- A fast/light road bike
- A groad bike
- A proper MTB
4 bikes minimum.
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What was surprising about this measurement? The product page lists 454mm. This is one of the 3 different forks you can buy from AliX right now with a 460~ AtoC.
I think you have one bike too many.
A fast road bike.
A drop bar hardtail MTB with a spare set of wide groad wheels (can also race CX)
A 120/120 race MTB.
Your fourth (or fifth) bike would be a TT bike or an Enduro Bike.
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Bar ends were great for heaving on the bars, when grinding uphill in gears that were too big. Bikes come with lower gears now so they bar ends are largely extinct.
Because I believe @Neuromancer posted that the RYET fork pictured earlier (7th Jan) on in this post with A-C measurement of 454mm was a 27.5 fork not 29. He said "No other 29er fork on Aliexpress is 454, they are all 490. "
Do I have a 27,5 fork??
This gap with the 180mm front rotor might be tricky
The problem is that this bike is not fast enough for fast gravel and you donât want to mess your $15k road bike in the dirt, so yeah 4 bikes
What about the drop bar MTB isnât fast enough for fast gravel?
All I can see is a lack of aero on the frame, so maybe 5-6w @ 40kph. You can still run deep sections, aero bars, narrow bars, low stack etc?
Obviously I love my own Dropbar MTB already since quite a while and donât need any more points going for it.
But another reason we need / want Dropbar MTBs (or seriously capable and fast suspended Gravelbikes) comes via the well established XC Mountain Bikes growing evermore into trail or enduro range. With tire widths of 2.4 inch completely normal now, head tube angles slacken ever more and supension travel growing and growing. The just presented Thömus Lightrider Worldcup R3 now even boasts a whopping 130! mm front travel and 120 mm in the rear. Bonkers.
So if you want to just have a bike which actually pedals and steers nice on anything different than gnarly rock gardens of current XCO courses you will be hard pressed to find new ones in a few months.
So⊠with XC outgrowing actual XC (out in the normal woods) the time is near for⊠the Grountain-Bike? the CrossGravel Bike? 
A.k.a. a Dropbar MTB either as an earlier then 2023 Hardtail or as an earlier than 2022 full suspension XC MTB. 
So maybe a ârealâ softail like a Lee Cougan Rampage Innova would actually be a great platform. The likes of a Spesh Epic WC or a Trek Supercaliber are already too slack in the front (can be remedied to an extend by running them with a 100 mm front travel instead of 110 or 120) and for all the proprietary tech in the rear not a real win over a conventional full sus. Not even in usable front triangle space when compared to the right full sus.
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