It is 2014 and as previously stated about the found wanting Kaffenback, it was time for the Gravel Grinder/ Monstercross project. This involved careful timing and OCD levels of cyber stalking the Planet X and On One web pages. Waiting for that special deal which in this case was the Planet X Boxing Day pricing.

With winter here and being that it has been pretty much a skating rink since the 8th. Well, not as much of a rush to get it all built up. And the first item needing to be done was protecting the frame internals using boiled Linseed oil. So after pouring it into all the tubes and moving the frame around to get it to coat everything inside. And after that it was application of car wax to help with the ice and salt we have.

Now because this is a temporary set up I won’t elaborate on all the parts used currently. As this is only the second time I have built something like this up. And the first one was on a frame that was to small. So I have to ride it a lot to figure out what parts are good and what are not so good. Maybe over the next 2 months this will evolve to it’s final set up.

Of course because of the weather the build was done in the basement where it was warm. Because having fingers sticking to metal parts begins to suck…..rapidly.

First ride was brief on the Saturday in the snow of course. And very quickly noticed that the first major issue was stem height. As shown above it is to low and this places way to much weight on the front wheel. Good for aerodynamics but not so good for anything like Monstercross.

Other issue is tire clearance. Specifically between the derailleur and the tire as it is obvious the Inbred is designed around the older generation derailleurs which have less stuff sticking out. Which obviously creates a nice little shelf for stuff like snow and ice and of course mud to build up. Not so good. But easily fixed by finding a old school version top pull.

As I mentioned there will be further evolution of the parts and set up over the next month till we get to the rough final set up. Once there I will share the full set up and other stories related to this project in the coming weeks. Now just need the thaw to begin.