A "Sorta" New Polyvalent Country Build

Here's my new Polyvalent. We needed a bike to put the new Gravel Cranks on and take pics, and I was itching to have a Polyvalent of my own in the new colorway. I asked Ammon to throw something together real quick and he nailed it. And while having new bits on a bike is always fun, I love raiding the parts bin. I just find putting good used stuff to work is far more enjoyable. Luckily, our bin is pretty deep and kinda nerdy, so it all works out well. Let's dive into my sorta new Polyvalent.

The most crucial step is always start with a rolling chassis. Obviously the above is not this rolling chassis, but more of an example. It's kind of a term I borrowed from the automotive world. That is, basically a shell that rolls that is ready for your own build-out and special touches. So for the bike world: frame, fork, headset, wheels, and tires. Each component choice mostly begets the next component choice. Max out the tire size? Can't run fenders. Campagnolo freehub body, you're kinda stuck mostly using drop bar components. 1x cranks? New-era derailleurs and cassette. You dig?

Wheels are our 650b Orbital Rims laced to Chronos Disc Hubs. All are prototypes that were on my old Low Kicker for long term testing. The tires are Maxxis Re-Fuse in 650bx48 that measure more like 52mm. They were originally recommended by an obscure and nerdy forum and they have been awesome and a total sleeper in the 650b x wide marketplace. They are just supple enough to be comfy while not being so soft to have sidewall leakage or slashes. 

From there, I wanted to run drops since I have enough flat bar bikes and I wanted this to be a longer distance bike. That isn't to say you can't run flat bars on a longer distance bike, but it's nice to have multiple hand positions. We had these old Rando drops, Dia-Compe non-aero brake levers, and bar ends from another build that we stripped and sold the frame. That's kinda the life-cycle of parts bin parts, isn't it?

For the drivetrain, we opted for a mid-range gearset with a low bail out inner chainring. So, Gravel Crankarms in 170mm, 40t outer ring, 24t inner ring, inner and outer hardware, and 118mm bb spindle.

The cassette is a 9sp 11-32. So when cruising in the 40t, a modest range and then when a big hill comes out of nowhere, drop it like it's hot into the 24t.

Rear derailleur is vintage Shimano XTR with our 10t Jockey Wheels for flavor.

The front is the Microshift M462 Marvo LT B designed for subcompact gearing. It looks extremely similar to the OG Advent front derailleur on Derek's bike, but I'm sure there are some minor differences.

Saddle is our Model 1 Spirited Saddle. It's been broken in already from a previous demo bike, so it is good to go on this one. And the green paint and brown saddle is a naturally good combo.

I put my favorite bottle cage combo on the main triangle, Mojave + Retro. Large capacity while still being able to put a regular bottle, too.

Brakes are the Growtac Equals in Post Mount. I was kinda skeptical with the non-aero levers, but once they're bedded in, they work flawlessly. There's a big hill near my house I've recently discovered which is now my brake bedding hill - it's fun.

One thing that caught my eye was Ammon's selection of headset spacers. Often, I just do silver or black out of simplicity, but he did this little pattern with brass and black and it makes me so happy.

Overall, I dig this rig a lot. It's comfy, beautiful, and I can throw a rack on it for added utility down the line. I'll likely opt for a Campeur Rear Rack some time soon. Oh and of course, the Copenhagen Kickstand! Why couldn't the bike stand up? Because it was too tired.