KUMA Frames
 

Out of Chicago - KUMA Bicycle company. www.kumabicyclecompany.com. We'll be two years old in 2020.

KUMA Frames
 

On Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 4:27:11 PM UTC-7, wrote:
Out of Chicago - KUMA Bicycle company. www.kumabicyclecompany.com. We'll be two years old in 2020.

Good luck with your product but if I were you I would have a backup gravel bike that uses 28 mm tires without a suspension system. Jay likes disk brakes but he lives in Portland OR so he is always wet. I am in dry California and prefer LIGHT especially when climbing is involved.

KUMA Frames
 

On Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 7:28:26 PM UTC-5, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 4:27:11 PM UTC-7, wrote:
Out of Chicago - KUMA Bicycle company. www.kumabicyclecompany.com. We'll be two years old in 2020.

Good luck with your product but if I were you I would have a backup gravel bike that uses 28 mm tires without a suspension system. Jay likes disk brakes but he lives in Portland OR so he is always wet. I am in dry California and prefer LIGHT especially when climbing is involved.

Thank you Tom. One of the next Grava bikes will not be suspension. The LAF fork just happened to be there and I installed it for fun n' giggles. My personal CX Montrose has a suspension stem (https://redshiftsports.com/shockstop-suspension-stem) - there's a frame in the works that will be a disc road bike with clearance for 28mm tires. Here in Chicago, it's a flip of the coin with the weather.

KUMA Frames
 

On Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 5:28:26 PM UTC-7, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 4:27:11 PM UTC-7, wrote:
Out of Chicago - KUMA Bicycle company. www.kumabicyclecompany.com. We'll be two years old in 2020.

Good luck with your product but if I were you I would have a backup gravel bike that uses 28 mm tires without a suspension system. Jay likes disk brakes but he lives in Portland OR so he is always wet. I am in dry California and prefer LIGHT especially when climbing is involved.

28mms sucks in loose gravel and dirt. Last weekend was gravel on 35mm and my cohorts were on 40mm -- and when I say gravel, its basically endless baby-heads, mud and gravel. I rode the same trail on 28mm tires the weekend before, and it was like being on a bucking bronco, and I had to pick my way down the trail. I don't want a Lauf-ish fork, but for serious gravel, you want more than a 28mm tire -- if you want to carry any speed on anything other than dirt-track.

-- Jay Beattie.

KUMA Frames
 

On Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 10:24:05 PM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:

28mms sucks in loose gravel and dirt. Last weekend was gravel on 35mm and my cohorts were on 40mm

-- Jay Beattie.

Agree with Jay on this. Most gravel roads that are regularly used by cars can be ridden just fine with road bike tires. These gravel roads have two or three perfectly smooth strips of road about one and a half foot wide. Road tires work fine on these smooth surfaces. If dry. But any gravel road where the rock is actually completely covering the road, forget about road tires. You want big wide treaded tires. And let half the air out too.

KUMA Frames
 

On Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 10:24:05 PM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 5:28:26 PM UTC-7, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 4:27:11 PM UTC-7, wrote:
Out of Chicago - KUMA Bicycle company. www.kumabicyclecompany.com. We'll be two years old in 2020.

Good luck with your product but if I were you I would have a backup gravel bike that uses 28 mm tires without a suspension system. Jay likes disk brakes but he lives in Portland OR so he is always wet. I am in dry California and prefer LIGHT especially when climbing is involved.

28mms sucks in loose gravel and dirt. Last weekend was gravel on 35mm and my cohorts were on 40mm -- and when I say gravel, its basically endless baby-heads, mud and gravel. I rode the same trail on 28mm tires the weekend before, and it was like being on a bucking bronco, and I had to pick my way down the trail. I don't want a Lauf-ish fork, but for serious gravel, you want more than a 28mm tire -- if you want to carry any speed on anything other than dirt-track.

-- Jay Beattie.

Where I ride there's a good amount of gravel, especially on the Des Plaines River Trail. No cars, just a nice gravel path for miles. Also, on the Chicago lakefront, there's a patch of rougher gravel south of the Montrose marina - between that and Belmont. Rough and rocky in parts. Love it! I've ridden it with the CX tires, and also on my fixed gear 20mm tires. I'd go back to the 38 tires, with my suspension stem and Cane Creek Thudbuster.

Even the Grava and Montrose frames, put the tires you want and have fun. Biking is about fun.