[Glenngineer]

Chromag Bikes - Chromag Bikes | Bikes | Arcturian 29++

A Krampus on bath salts.

I want one.

I'm also really curious about the Maxxis spec - I'm really questioning if Maxxis is actually pulling out of 29+ at this point.

 

[LyNx]

That might be an ideal bike for places where those folks live and ride, but for the avg rider, that geo is whacked as fvck, 77* STA that will steepen to about 79* when sagged. WTF can manage to put any power down with that sort of seat angle? The answer is no one unless you're only climbing really steep sh1t, which then effectively slackens it back out. 501mm reach, ut: I'm 6'2" with long limbs, not the youngest, but definitely not the oldest and my limit for reach is about 485mm to run a 50mm stem and 780mm 16 degree sweep bar with my saddle in a place that allows me to get some power down in places besides only the steep climbs.

To say that this is a niche product is an under statement.

 

[Stahr_Nut]

That might be an ideal bike for places where those folks live and ride, but for the avg rider, that geo is whacked as fvck, 77* STA that will steepen to about 79* when sagged. WTF can manage to put any power down with that sort of seat angle? The answer is no one unless you're only climbing really steep sh1t, which then effectively slackens it back out. 501mm reach, ut: I'm 6'2" with long limbs, not the youngest, but definitely not the oldest and my limit for reach is about 485mm to run a 50mm stem and 780mm 16 degree sweep bar with my saddle in a place that allows me to get some power down in places besides only the steep climbs.

To say that this is a niche product is an under statement.

Agree 100% First thing I noticed was the HTA. 64 degrees, really? If you tried to ride that around my local trails you'd spend half you day off in the woods.

 

[gdb85]

New breed of "rowdy" hardtail...? There was a thread a couple weeks ago about this. If you like to go fast and be aggressive on the downs and also like hardtails this is the bike. Most definitely a niche but not that far out there.

 

[*OneSpeed*]

Very cool!! I'd love to test ride a XL, but those prices are too close to custom offerings for me.

I love that they're pushing the envelope though. It makes me very curious how it would ride.

I like my Krampus a lot but wish it was a little more progressive geometry wise. If the Krampus and Arcturian made a baby it might be the perfect 29+ bike.

 

[Legbacon]

That might be an ideal bike for places where those folks live and ride, but for the avg rider, that geo is whacked as fvck, 77* STA that will steepen to about 79* when sagged. WTF can manage to put any power down with that sort of seat angle? The answer is no one unless you're only climbing really steep sh1t, which then effectively slackens it back out. 501mm reach, ut: I'm 6'2" with long limbs, not the youngest, but definitely not the oldest and my limit for reach is about 485mm to run a 50mm stem and 780mm 16 degree sweep bar with my saddle in a place that allows me to get some power down in places besides only the steep climbs.

To say that this is a niche product is an under statement.

Chromag is in Whistler. My hardtail isn't quite as extreme, I'm 5'9", 470mm reach, 76° STA, and 65° HTA, and my bike is a great all rounder that can handle all my local trails. What makes the Arcturian niche is the expensive made in Canada frame. Plenty of riding where bikes like this make sense.

 

[Shinkers]

I think that bike is cool as hell. But I do find it a bit laughable that they list 'adventure riding' and 'gravel roads' under the description.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a complete believer in the fact that you can ride anything anywhere. But that particular bike would be a bit of a handful on really long rides I think.

It's interesting that they say the travel is optimized for 140-150, but then have a build with a 160 and measure geometry with a 180.

I'd love to have one...

 

[vikb]

It's interesting that they say the travel is optimized for 140-150, but then have a build with a 160 and measure geometry with a 180.

My guess is that is a typo. Copy and paste error from Doctahawk geo chart.

 

[vikb]

Agree 100% First thing I noticed was the HTA. 64 degrees, really? If you tried to ride that around my local trails you'd spend half you day off in the woods.

On a hartdtail the static HTA gets a lot steeper under sag and only goes steeper from there when the fork compresses more. So it's going to handle like a FS bike with a 66 and steeper HTA, which is not particularly steep these days and rides normal trails just fine.

I agree with Lynx that STA is nuts. I couldn't ride it. But they obviously trialed some prototypes and their test riders must have enjoyed the ride.

You can get a non-superstar builder custom steel frame in that neighbourhood of cost so if you want 29+ in a modern geo format, but perhaps not quite what this bike is offering you can dial in any menu of spec you want and get it painted to taste.

I think it's great Chromag is making some bat for the fence designs even if they aren't 100% my cup of tea. :thumbsup:

 

[the mayor]

Who is going to hit gravel roads with a 160mm fork?( I'm sure some one will....and then complain about how riding dirt roads sucks)
And throw some bags on that....and watch the geo sag into some real odd numbers ....
And that short head tube? I hope it comes with a butt load of stem spacers.
After this thing popped up in a thread about a week ago....I'm glad to see I;m not the only one scratching their head.
Who knows....It may be a great bike....but....

 

[WHALENARD]

Is there another 29+ specific bike out there with numbers like this? Seems more like it's built to rip chunky terrain at maximum efforts than it is long pack days for sure. With that I'd love to try one. I'm in the market for a winter bike sort of like this. If it could pull double duty as a pack bike even better.

 

[the mayor]

And that 12.5 inch bb height doesn't scream chunky terrain to me....
Maybe some of the numbers are misprints?
I hate to judge a bike by geo charts....I have had some bikes over the years that "should" have been great based on geo numbers....but were not. And a few that "should" have been awful, that weren't.

 

[vikb]

Is there another 29+ specific bike out there with numbers like this?

Low cost: https://surlybikes.com/bikes/krampus [geo chart unsagged]

Krampus will take a -1 or -2 deg headset if slacker is your jam.

Higher cost: https://mythcycles.com/bikes/talos/ [geo chart sagged]

 

[Glenngineer]

Biggest issue with slacking out a Krampus, imo, is you'll further comprise the reach. And I say that as a guy that LOVES his new school, 100mm forked Krampus, and has used it as my primary trail bike for over a year now. 35 miles of gnar this weekend.... If it was longer and slacker it'd be perfect.

 

[Colin+M]

I’m just glad to see more builders embracing 29+. The more the merrier in terms of getting more 29+ specific tires/rims/forks etc.

P.S. I like my Myth Talos more


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[go-pirates]

I'm just glad to see more builders embracing 29+. The more the merrier in terms of getting more 29+ specific tires/rims/forks etc.

P.S. I like my Myth Talos more

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I had to Google the Myth Talos. It made me drool on my laptop! But yeah, this new Arcturian looks like a load of fun...as long as that steep HTA agrees with my knees.

 

[*OneSpeed*]

I agree the STA is aggressive, and probably overkill realistically, but it may not be as bad as some people make it out to be.

I spent 4 days renting a Kona Satori DL which has a 78.2 STA. Never once did I feel bad or wrong. It was different but didn't diminish my experience in any way.

I think the key part of making a steep STA work is a long reach (and short chainstays). The Arcturian definitely has a long ass reach. I'd love to test ride one.

I remember when I was riding a 2011 XC 29er (Jamis Dragon 853 Race) and looked at the Kona Honzo on paper and thought it was too extreme, a trail hardtail, and I was certain I wouldn't like it. Well I got to ride one at a demo and it felt totally natural and was super fun. I have to admit now that the XC bike was too XC and am much happier on modern geo.

Bottom line is geo charts don't tell the whole story. I'd be willing to give it a chance.

 

[LyNx]

My problem isn't with the bike itself, push the boundaries and take all the risks on something unique and niche all you want, but then don't try to tell me it'll be great for long days seated pedaling, loaded on gravel roads or anything else you desire, that's utter BS, this is such a niche specific bike it's not funny.

I've fuffed around with geo loads, and from my experience and those who are honest and not just trying to justify their long/low/slack bike purchase, this sort of extreme geo is just for that sort of riding, not all day riding on a wide variety of terrain and trails, especially loaded. I've swung my leg over 2 "modern" geo with lesser offset fork bikes and on the flat, in the tights, on anything mellow, they felt like $hit, raked out, floppy as hell.

 

[*OneSpeed*]

Perhaps the gravel roads they are talking about are the most common way up the mountain in BC. Not that it's a good "gravel grinder" but more like doing self propelled shuttle runs.

I've only ridden in that area once for about a week but never have I ridden so many gravel roads. Much different than my local terrain.

I'm not saying there's zero marketing BS, but I'm also not going to cry foul.

Ever look at the geo of a Jones bike? 18" chainstays and such sounds like an absolute nightmare to ride on paper. Like a cargo bike. Yet people speak very highly of the offroad capabilities of those bikes and they're generally very well received. Do I want to ride one? No, not really, but it also makes me aware that I don't know everything about geometry and need to be more open minded.

Certainly the Arcturian is not for everyone or the best "all rounder", but it also may not be terrible, and is probably pretty freakin awesome in the right environment.

 

[LyNx]

Hey, my Unit has 18" stays with the sliders slammed all the way back to fit 29+ and it handles very well, especially climbing, but I'll be honest, 3/8"-1/2" shorter stays would probably make the handling superb, BUT, I'm 6'2" and relative to my height, that stay length isn't ludicrous, I firmly believe in stays proportionate to frame size and rider height and I also don't believe in stupid steep STA, I run my saddle quite far back for power at the pedals.

They said LOADED, does not imply self shuttling up fire roads for the descents in that area IMO. This is my problem, trying to tote this as some alrounder type bike, when in fact it's so frikin niche it isn't funny.

If you can ride (i.e. have the skills) and enjoy being the one responsible for riding/clearing stuff, unless you're constantly riding super steep stuff at serious speed, which most people don't have access to, you don't need a HTA slacker than 66* IMO. If however you are trying to make up for a lack of skills, then most certainly a bike with a HTA of <67 will help you there, but don't claim you're riding the same things as me on that thing while I'm on my 68.5* HTA rigid Unit and you're on your <65* HTA 150mm> FS, you're not, the bike is.

Perhaps the gravel roads they are talking about are the most common way up the mountain in BC. Not that it's a good "gravel grinder" but more like doing self propelled shuttle runs.

I've only ridden in that area once for about a week but never have I ridden so many gravel roads. Much different than my local terrain.

I'm not saying there's zero marketing BS, but I'm also not going to cry foul.

Ever look at the geo of a Jones bike? 18" chainstays and such sounds like an absolute nightmare to ride on paper. Like a cargo bike. Yet people speak very highly of the offroad capabilities of those bikes and they're generally very well received. Do I want to ride one? No, not really, but it also makes me aware that I don't know everything about geometry and need to be more open minded.

Certainly the Arcturian is not for everyone or the best "all rounder", but it also may not be terrible, and is probably pretty freakin awesome in the right environment.