The shop had the pleasure of building up an ENVE Melee for a customer recently and we were stoked to see the new MOG drop (FYI we can get both rolling chassis from ENVE if you’re interested in getting your own build going!). I (Luke) wanted to get some more info on the MOG and so hopped on over to an article by BikeRumor. I really dig that it can take up to a 50mm tire and I think that running bigger tires is better, especially when venturing off of paved roads. Another sweet feature is full integration of all cables so there’s nothing to snag while ripping on the rough stuff.
Mounts on the fork, mounts on the top tube… ENVE thought of a lot of little trick stuff for this one. Plus, “[t]he MOG comes with two custom neoprene tool bags that fit inside the downtube. Simply slide-to-release a cover plate under the downtube’s bottle cage, and you can slide both into the frame. They’ll fit snacks, tools, tubes, a windbreaker, or whatever else you want to hide in there.” Heck, the MOG can even take fenders. My quibble with a lotta contemporary framesets has been a lack of mounting points and is why I like certain kinds of steel frames with a lot of braze-ons.
Lastly, the frame takes T47 bottom brackets and some restrictions exist when running groupsets. “A removeable front derailleur hanger lets you run some 2x drivetrains… only Shimano mechanical 2x groups are compatible as the frame requires continuous cable housing (there’s no built-in cable stop on the frame). Any electronic 2x group works, but it needs the wider 47-47.5mm chainline of gravel groups like SRAM’s Force Wide or Shimano GRX…”
If that sounds interesting to you, hit us up and we’ll get a build going for you ASAP.
BikeRadar just had some hot goss: Shimano introduced a new entry-level groupset that got rid of Alivio, Acera, and Altus. So what does this mean exactly? All of the new bits take 11-speed chains and have wide cross compatibility. As per the article: “Unlike Shimano’s existing groupsets, the cable pull ratio [1:1], cassette cog spacing and chains are shared across all components – regardless of whether they are 9-, 10- or 11-speed, and where they sit in the product hierarchy.” Will over at Rivendell lamented the changes happening in Riv's newsletter from last week (namely the change in pull ratio from 1:2 and the change with hubs mentioned below).
There’s another change here that happened with the introduction of Cues that I feel sorta mixed about. Shimano is scrapping cup-and-cone in favor of bearings in its hubs. I currently run some Deore LX hubs that are cup and cone and they’re buttery smooth. They were pretty good when stock, but they’ve been even better since I overhauled them and packed them with new grease. My fear is that the new hubs with bearings will be of such low quality that the ride feel will kinda suck. Then again, I guess most people buying hubs from the Cues line might not care or notice all that much. Either way, I still think that “low-end” components should be of the highest quality while still meeting the desired price point. I enjoy riding as much as I do because I’ve been exposed to well-made bike components, irrespective of price. Why ruin the chances of people continuing to ride by shortchanging their experience?
In the end, I wonder what Cues means for cycling components in the sub-105 range.
I sorta built up my Rivendell as at 80s ATB, right down to the Suntour XCii pedals from the early 80s. Years of use and weather exposure has left them in somewhat rough shape plus the platform isn’t quite wide or long enough for me. I can totally get traction in the Vans that I wear everyday, but I wouldn’t mind just a little more to rest my feet on as I ride trails in Golden Gate Park, Sutro, and in the Headlands. Plus, I have 15 ½ shoes so it’d be nice to have pedals with enough platform for my clown shoes for once.
I had seen the Monarch pedals from MKS which are essentially upgraded Grip Kings or, as Riv puts it, “[they are] squarer than the King, and flatter top to bottom. It comes with eight set screws per side; King had zero.” I had been tempted, but I still wanted a bit more platform and I felt that these were still short of what I needed. That’s when Jim over at Merry Sales and Grant of Riv began chatting about making some platform extenders. MKS wouldn’t do it so Jim leveraged his years of know-how with another manufacturer and had the extenders made to his/Grant’s spec.
Once I saw these, I immediately got some. It’s been night and day to have such a generous platform and it’s super confidence inspiring even in the wet (I try to ride even when it’s monsooning lol). I really like the build quality on these puppies and actually prefer the cup-and-cone construction on them over sealed bearings. I’ve found that cup-and-cone can get smoother over time instead of crapping out like some lesser sealed bearings. My XCii pedals are cup-and-cone and spppiiinnnnn and they’re about 40 years old.
I don’t do the clip in thing although I used to do that. I kinda like rolling around in gear I can wear all the time that isn’t all that specialized. For those who feel the same or have a commuter in the quiver, these bad boys might be ideal. I snagged the pedals and extenders from Soma Fabrications, but I know that there are other places that stock them, too.
Until next time,
Luke <3
P.S.: All of our old newsletters are now on our site as blog posts here.