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    Why don’t i like my bike

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    39 Comments

    2. strip_club_food_yum on

      isn’t the rambler geo like shorter reach, longer chainstays – doesn’t that make it more like a modern gravel bike?

      I think the cross check is old school cross geo right? I think that makes sense that the rambler is probably more of a “can do it all” geo.

    4. BrewtusMaximus1 on

      Rambler is much more upright than a Cross Check. – [https://bikeinsights.com/compare?geometries=5a510056d0329100145a1435,66a90d3420012d001a9f7e56](https://bikeinsights.com/compare?geometries=5a510056d0329100145a1435,66a90d3420012d001a9f7e56)

      They’re for different types of riding; the Cross Check is a cyclocross bike so it’s going to feel very responsive but it’s going to suck to ride for hours at a time. Rambler is a touring gravel bike meant for all day riding.

    6. oldstalenegative on

      Just a tooth or two of difference can make a massive difference in how fast/sluggish a bike feels. I recently swapped wheels with what I thought was the same 7-speed cassette, but my OG actually had an 11-28 range and the other a 13-30 which just felt suuuuperrrr sluggish on the same bike.

    7. drewbaccaAWD on

      I have a Cosmic Stallion.. very similar bike designed by the same person, I’d even say that the Rambler picks up where it left off. I would also describe it as sort of slow, boring, not responsive… not even sure why I bought it other than I was already used to riding a touring bike and it wasn’t worse than that, it’s just not better than that (but it is way lighter).

      I read a review of the Cosmic Stallion where the dude said the same thing, that it was uninspiring. He did a 650b swap and then completely turned around and sung the bike’s praises.

      My own view may be colored by that review. But I swapped to 650b (in part because I wanted silver rims and saw something I wanted to try). I’ve only done a single 30ish mile ride since the wheel swap (and in fairness, I also changed the tires, the saddle (went Brooks), the seat post (more setback), and went 20mm longer on the stem all at the same time so I made a bunch of changes. In any event, it rode way better than before. I still have quirks to workout but it felt like a different bike.

    9. BoogieBeats88 on

      I see that frame, head tube angle and stem and see a road bike shod in work boots. 35 semi slicks and a double with a tighter cassette might be the cure.

    10. countless_rooftops on

      Just by the looks I’d slide the saddle forward and raise it a bit so it livens up a bit

    11. french-snail on

      Seems kind of redundant to have such similar bikes. Do they have different purposes/use cases?

    12. Electrical_Catch9231 on

      Sometimes we just like the idea of the thing more than the actual thing.

    14. contrabonum on

      It could be the fork. Segmented forks with disc brakes are often overbuilt and coming from older steel rim brake bike might feel unresponsive. They are more rigid and can transfer more road vibrations that makes it feel like you are going slower than you really are going.

      You could try a carbon fork, but also carbon rims and wider more supple tires. 27.5 is not a bad idea, especially if you already have another 700×43 bike. I generally build a bike around a tire size, and see no real reason to double up.

      I was going to say bb drop might be a culprit but the Rambler is 68mm of drop for most sizes and the Cross check is 66mm. Lower bb make you feel more planted and less playful. 2mm isnt much but going down to a 650bx55mm would actually lower your center of gravity a bit from 700×43.

      Or you could chalk it up to a sunk cost and start over with a new frame/fork made out of lighter tubing, though I have a feeling you can make the Wilde work for you.

    15. booger_sugarshack on

      I have a feeling that your saddle is too far back putting you too far behind the BB to drive the bike in an athletic manner. Haven’t checked the geo but wouldn’t be surprised to find the CC has a steeper STA. I have a Rivendell that I absolutely could not get on with for the same reasons until I put a zero setback post on it. Now it’s fantastic. You may not need to go drastic as I did.

    16. sellwinerugs on

      This could be a high trail (Rambler) vs low trail (CC) issue. Also your CC has flat bars. Wider bars = more leverage = “easier” or “snappier” handling.

    17. wecantdancelikethis on

      lots of flywheel mass on the rear making up for not at least having 2x and a sensibly sized cassette is one minor detail slowing it down, but the Surly is a slightly stout twitchy race bike and the Wilde is a stable & smooth tourer.

      call the Wilde your Great Green Shark in homage to Hunter’s ‘73 Caprice, and give it a couple big platform racks to carry a duffel of drugs and a watermelon.

      https://preview.redd.it/e2b4b66f202h1.jpeg?width=1070&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c4ac4e23d13d9f77f04ea94a329d8810a6fdac4d

    18. Due_Aioli_2643 on

      You aren’t wrong.

      I sold my old rim brake Space Horse to buy a Gorilla Monsoon. The Gorilla Monsoon was boring despite the marketing, which I was a sucker for.

      I was luckily able to buy the Space Horse back a little over 2 years later. I sold the Gorilla Monsoon, and have no regrets.

      The Cross Check and Space Horse are perfect bikes.

    19. HomelessVitamin on

      Chainstays do determine like so much. The rambler might have higher trail. If it’s long and stable it won’t be snappy and agile. Every time I find a bike to be just meh it typically has longer chainstays, wheelbase, higher trail. I like a responsive, playful, punchy bike. Just the way I am. It’s hard for me to get excited about hopping on a touring bike

    21. billyspeers on

      I feel like if you throw so Billy bonkers on that shit it will change everything

    26. Uncooleli on

      Unfortunately this is the case for so many of these “nice” frames…Instagram makes us think one thing and reality is another.

      Honestly if you could trade that Wilde frame for a Bombora, Evasion Lite or even something like a All City Cosmic Stallion I think you would be happy. I know the Bombora and Evasion Lite have really snappy rear ends and people seem to love them

      Personal experience my Cosmic Stallion is probably one of my most fun bikes. It loves to go fast in a straight line and feels so fun to mash on. It also eats up miles like nothing.

      But yeah man I feel you, definitely a not ideal situation.

    28. rockies_alpine on

      Get something racier and mainstream. Aluminium Diverge, Crux or Checkpoint with a carbon fork, and slap some China carbon AliExpress wheels in it. It will still do everything this green bike does, but faster and sportier.

      I do not find floppy frame, bar-end shifter, heavy steel do-everything rigs very inspiring anymore. I used to have one (Salsa Vaya). I always hit my knees on the bar-end shifters when out of the saddle. It was designed for hauling loads in a straight line, at a sedate pace. It didn’t inspire me to ride it because it had many old-school geometry annoyances and was slow.

      I now have have an aluminum Norco Search GRX. It’s stiffer and it likes to go fast. I slapped aero carbon gravel wheels in it and dropped nearly 1lb per wheel – zero regrets. It carves corners better. I don’t have to move my hands to shift, which is amazing. You can still run a frame bag if you want. It has a lot of mount points for all the r/xbiking things you could ever want to slap on it. It has bigass tire clearance. It has Pathfinder TLR 45s and it’s probably not much slower than an actual road bike.

      The ride compliance is mostly in the wheels and tire width rather than the frame if you’re running modern fat gravel tires.

      Maybe you’re an r/gravelcycling person rather than r/xbiking and there’s nothing wrong with that.

    29. GlitteringWealth7267 on

      Because cross checks are awesome. In so many ways it opened the door to everything that followed while also holding a light on its own for… Almost forever. Then disc brakes came and took their disc-y dump on it and so many other good designs.

    30. first-alt-account on

      Perhaps the massive frame bag makes it feel sluggish and not fun because it’s a massive drag…literally.

    31. TURK3Y on

      Gen 1 straggler is basically a cross-check with discs, you could try that. I love the way mine rides. But I love Wilde’s style way more, beautiful bikes.

    33. noflowrs_ on

      I would lose those fork cages, bar bag, all that extra stuff. IMO anything attached to the front end of a bike will slop up your handling.

      I have the last model space horse made, which as far as I know, is the spiritual if not geometric predecessor to the Rambler. It is not a naturally fast bike, but it can rip downhill. You do have to let go and trust the bike. I use to have 650b wheels on it, now 700c, I would not go back especially if you want more speed.

      You mentioned your comparing the geos online, are you accounting for stack and reach? With a stack that tall I really wouldn’t expect much snap.

    34. Unlikely-Office-7566 on

      The Cx check was the best all rounder bike ever. I still haven’t found. Anything I like more for a city/light touring/easy trails every day bike 🤷‍♂️

      I too wasted a lot of money to figure that out.

    39. thebicyclefreak_07 on

      Here’s a wild take screw what other people think it’s not about status it’s about the affection that you have for your bike if you love it embrace it And just my personal preference take all the stuff off of the bike and just enjoy the bike itself without any add-on’s it might just change peoples minds a bare bike “in my opinion ” always looks better then a bike covered in bags and accessories and I love mountain doo but that can definitely doesn’t help man. No offense and I mean this with the highest regards

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