[Glenngineer]

Too quiet lately. Just put the new PDW 55mm fenders on mine... tricky fit on the rear with a 44, the height of the seat tube bolt head was enough to screw with test fitting, so I had to drill that hole right off the bat.

 

[1-bar]

IMO, the Chamois Hagar rocks those fenders in STYLE!

 

[fargy483]

The Chamois Hagar piqued my interest so I pulled the trigger. In the process of procuring parts for mine! I am 5'8" went with a Small.

For context, the CH will serve as my Gravel, XC, MTB in South OC. Ride from my house to top of San Juan. My house to Luge. I get that I'm giving up compared to a MTB but an MTB would be a beast to ride from my house to the trail head plus the trail. Monstercross!

My current ride is an older Voodoo Loa with 74* STA and 71 HTA -- 50cm ST and 53.5cm TT. The Voodoo can clear a 44 but its got 1" headtube and rim brakes - the latter is its limiting factor.

While I thought about the Open Wide, it was to similar to the Voodoo except the disc brakes and the 650b compatibility. Plus I'm gonna keep my Voodoo as a 'road bike' or when the gravel rides are more fireroadie then radical.

I am going to tri Spank Vibrocore Flare 25 bars. Did anyone go uber wide on their bars compared to stock? My current ride has 44cm but am thinking a 46cm on the CH. Also curious to know if anyone shortened their stem. I saw the review from Guy Kes (

) he went wide bars and short stem... that was a bit of an AHA for him. Open to suggestions, ideas, comments. Gonna try the stock 50 stem with wider bars before anything.

I will build mine with GRX di2 but one of the Garbaruk cages to macguiver a Deore 11-51t cassette (Rear Derailleur Cage for Shimano GRX 11-speed). Basically an 11 speed Shimano mullet.

Wheels will be the Spank Vibrocore too! Why not try it if they live up to the hype maybe less vibration and fatigue while riding. I have some 700x48 juniper ridge from Rene Herse on the way too.

Should be pretty epic. Stoked for it.

 

[fargy483]

Rode the bike on Tuesday. It rips. There are a few things that I absolutely loved... NEVER EVER ANY TOE HITTING THE FRONT WHEEL. Boom. That was a big win. Disc breaks are amazing. My Voodoo (1998) did not have them so that in itself if a huge win for me. How the bike handles - it loves to be leaned and stays stable. It almost feels like the long wheelbase turns sharper in conjunction with the slack angle/trail/whatever geo they use. Climbing was way better than I expected as was the traction climbing.

I have 44cm bars on with the 50mm stem and strongly considering bumping out to 46cm on the small frame. Anyone else running ultra wide bars on their bike?

 

[fargy483]

Updated ride report. FAST AF. I put Rene Herse Juniper Ridge tires (700x48) which are fairly knobby and it is next level good. I swapped the bars for a 46cm with a 43mm stem. Climbing from the hoods is way less cramped now. Fees real good. Bike rips. Ride it like a mtb and it will reward you. It's so mental. Boom.

 

[1-bar]

I agree, the Chamois turns beautifully. A lot of people dismiss the handling because it has a long wheelbase, dropper post and slack head tube, but what they don't realize is the amount of confidence you go into the turn and that's why it's a fast turning machine. It's not even funny how much faster I can confidently descend or corner with speed over others I'm riding with on gravel bikes.

Rode the bike on Tuesday. It rips. There are a few things that I absolutely loved... NEVER EVER ANY TOE HITTING THE FRONT WHEEL. Boom. That was a big win. Disc breaks are amazing. My Voodoo (1998) did not have them so that in itself if a huge win for me. How the bike handles - it loves to be leaned and stays stable. It almost feels like the long wheelbase turns sharper in conjunction with the slack angle/trail/whatever geo they use. Climbing was way better than I expected as was the traction climbing.

I have 44cm bars on with the 50mm stem and strongly considering bumping out to 46cm on the small frame. Anyone else running ultra wide bars on their bike?

 

[Glenngineer]

I think the people that don't like the handling are looking for road style 'precision' which to a lot of mountain bike guys just feels squirrelly as hell. Those people aren't used to turning with their hips, cranking a bike over and weighting their bars...modern MTB handling/turning technique is pretty well divorced from road cycling. If push it like a mountain bike.. it handles amazingly, tons of confidence and traction.

 

[TCASCH]

Just landed in San Diego. Stock GRX build from Jenson. Freaking awesome bike. I'm 5'10" and the medium fits perfect. I came to this from mountain biking so I agree with many, feels waaay more like a mtb. I like that. About 30 miles on it, road, fire road, a touch of single track, man, it's great on all of it. At this early stage, for me, it excels at climbing on dirt. Point it up, and it goes. Point it down, HOLD ON, it's like reentry from outer space, it flies. It is really stiff as most reviewers note, so on rocky trails you might want a mouthpiece. It's ch ch ch ch chattery, but I'll deal with that any day considering how well it climbs. Just stay clear of trails where suspension is kind of a must. I'm 56 and was willing to spend the money on a do it all bike. This is my only bike. For me, Evil hit the bullseye on this. Which is cool because it seems like many are scratching their heads about this bike.....while I go cruising by them smiling instead.

Glad I made the choice!

 

[fargy483]

Big ups to evil on this creation... it’s the best bike I’ve ever owned. Versatile, fast, and a blast!

 

[1-bar]

Run tubeless and lower the pressure a little, that will help a lot for the chatter.

It is really stiff as most reviewers note, so on rocky trails you might want a mouthpiece. It's ch ch ch ch chattery, but I'll deal with that any day considering how well it climbs. Just stay clear of trails where suspension is kind of a must.

 

[ianthom]

Hi all,
Anybody done some decent road miles on this thing? Obviously not what it is ‘made’ for, but wondering how it goes in a road bunch? Anyone doing mostly road on it? I’m thinking of using this bike as a single bike stable for a while...thoughts?

 

[fargy483]

I think this bike with a set of soma cazadero in 50s is a one bike quiver all day everyday... especially with a 42 chainring. If you have two wheelsets all the more merry! You'll be Poppin' wheelies all day everyday. seat post drop and supertuck.

 

[edubfromktown]

I can't drive 55!!!

(coming up on that b-day and have never used any of that stuff!).

 

[ianthom]

I think this bike with a set of soma cazadero in 50s is a one bike quiver all day everyday... especially with a 42 chainring. If you have two wheelsets all the more merry! You'll be Poppin' wheelies all day everyday. seat post drop and supertuck.

Yeah thats what I'm thinking hey...with a set of 'road tyres' (read 35mm) I can't see why I couldn't do a stack of road K's on this thing, and then jump the gutter when I feel like it anyone else hauled this thing with they lycra brigade? close to pulling the trigger...

 

[fargy483]

Do it! But get some wild kind bibs to wear when you ride it! Zebra or leopard or white. Roadies will love you.

 

[fargy483]

I logged 90 miles with 11k of climbing on da evil CH last weekend. 60 off road, 30 on road. it felt at home on the asphalt. If I didn’t already have my old cx bike built up as an all road bike I’d definitely buy a second Wheelset for the ch with some big slicks (44-50). The bike is sofa king good!

 

[Flyer]

I was intrigued by the idea but it was way too slack for me. Great on rough/fast/steep descents but I don't do that more than once a month on my gravel bike. I think 70 degrees is as slack as I like my gravel bikes. Great quality bike, it seemed. Evil does a great job with its frames. I ended up with a pretty classic style gravel bike but I think some mountain bikers will like this one a lot.

 

[Clyde Ride]

I was intrigued by the idea but it was way too slack for me. Great on rough/fast/steep descents but I don't do that more than once a month on my gravel bike. I think 70 degrees is as slack as I like my gravel bikes. Great quality bike, it seemed. Evil does a great job with its frames. I ended up with a pretty classic style gravel bike but I think some mountain bikers will like this one a lot.

What gravel bikes have HTA as slack as 70? I've seen some 71 deg HTA, but nothing steeper in my preliminary research? What bike did you end up with?

EDIT: I see that the Salsa Cutthroat has a slack HTA.

 

[Flyer]

There are several. Kona Sutra, Whyte Friston, Genesis Fugio, and a number of of others. I don't like very slack angles with drop bars. I don't think it works well for me except for blasting down steep fire roads. I ride 46cm flared Enves. I like sharper handling bikes at slower speeds, especially in choppier/rockier stuff. I can go pretty fast on them too, when pointed downhill (especially road where I cross 50 MPH often). I pedal and don't hit my brakes on steep/fast fire roads so I'm not going super slow. I'm probably going Ti custom soon and the head angle is the only thing remaining to be decided.

I ended up with a Santa Cruz Stigmata. I wanted to keep slightly sharp handling. I do give up something on technical fast downhills but for the real stuff, I'm on my MTB. The Stigmata is smooth and fast but also quite nimble when I do hit twisty single track, and very well balanced. As far as MTBs go, I like that 65.5-66 degree range, up to 67 on a 29er. I use 780mm bars and that seems to handle well at slower speeds as well as faster speeds. Maybe I'm a bit old school (my old bikes were 69-71 degrees) but I always want a bike to handle well at slow speeds...uphills and pedaling technical sections. Fast speeds...I am rarely uncomfortable but I hate floppy handling at slow speeds. It is my pet peeve.

 

[Clyde Ride]

Dropping this here for others that may be interested. I did a test ride on this today. Just a 25 miler, about 50/50 between pavement and singletrack. Things I like:

• It rolls pavement on the stock tires much better than I anticipated.
• It's a good climber.
• The stock gearing on the GRX bike is better than I expected. It wouldn't be perfect for pacelining in a big group, but for 2-4 hour solo rides, I think it's good.
• It's unflappable on our shitty spring roads (sand, gravel, bad pavement, etc.)
• It handled singletrack quite nicely.
• It climbed great on the dirt.
• I had no issues with the slow speed handling, including tight and turny climbs.
• It's the only drop bar bike I've ridden that I've done rock rolls and drops on.
• It wasn't too bad on the descents, though the bike reminds you regularly that there's no suspension. Choose your trails and lines prudently.
• I love the dropper.

Things to adapt to:

• Tire pressures will be important. There were a few times where I felt I was bouncing just a bit on that back tire when the pavement got a bit wavy. Grabbing one taller gear and slowing the cadence helped a bit.
• Brake and handlebar control is much better in the drops, but that's not a completely natural position for a mountain biker. Moving smoothly between the hoods and drops in all sorts of situations will be a good skill to have.

That's about it. I think I'm going to buy one, but need to check out a couple more things.