STAFF BIKE: 2014 Traitor Crusade

1/11/2014

6 Comments

Sam was riding a Crack'n Fail and finally decided that steel was....hmmm....real. The other mechanic mentioned a small company he had heard of called Traitor and threw their name out there. For Sam, it was love at first sight.

We set up a dealer account and off we were. So why this frame? Because of the dropouts. Sam's first intention was to build a single speed bike as a commuter and potentially, down the road, upgrade to a geared bike if he wanted. The dropout pivots and can allow for a single speed setup without sacrificing the benefits of the vertical dropouts, namely the wheel can't slip under the MASSIVE wattage Sam puts out.

Well, things changed when a full SRAM Rival groupset came available for a real attractive price. Sam built his wheels up with a Hope Pro 2 Evo rear hub and basically had to do nothing additional to make a SRAM Rival build happen.

So highlights of this bike? Hope Pro Evo 2 hubs built to American Classic 101 tubeless rims. TRP Parabox hydraulic brakes stop this rig. Obviously a lightly used SRAM Rival group powers this machine. Whisky full carbon fork keeps the weight down. 3T, Thomson, and FSA, and Selle Italia can be found around this bike as well.

Super nice build ready to train on the road this year and race hard next year.

6 Comments

About Us

Balance Bicycle offers sales and service in downtown Richmond, right in the middle of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). We carry new bicycles for all skill levels and have a full service shop for repairs, tune ups, and custom builds, including custom wheels building.

Excellent customer service is our primary goal, so make sure you stop in when you need us and ride safe when you don't!

Michael link

2/24/2014 05:28:53 am

Beautiful build. I have the same frame and am doing something so similar it is aggravating. One question, is that the whisky 9 through axel cross fork? That is the same one I have my heart set on. How does he like it? Also, I see you went with the parabox brakes, how do you feel about the sypre by TRP?

Balance Bicycle

2/24/2014 05:48:25 am

Michael, thanks! I will let my mechanic know! This is a bike that gets more attention than carbon bikes! The Whiskey is the QR version, very nice quality, great feel. Thru axle would be a nice addition, if you can get the hub you want to play nice. The Spyres look very nice, although my first hand experience with them is limited to playing with samples. The new Shimano CX mechanical disc brakes are supposed to be in the same league as BB7's. The Parabox does actually work really well, although if you are considering a converter option, I like the Hope a little better.

Good luck with your build! You won't be disappointed.

3/2/2014 05:26:22 pm

Thanks for getting back to me. I just dropped off my frame today for the build and I thought I would share what I went with. It's a pretty interesting combination of things so maybe your mechanic will be interested as well.

Whisky 9 thru axel fork
A23 comp wheel set with alloy nipples 24/28
Continental cx speed tires
Elixir 9 trail brakes
SRAM X01 crankset 38t
SRAM X9 type 2 short cage derailleur
SRAM X0 10sp shifter
11-36 cassette
Ritchey WCS trail stem
Ritchey WCS trail rizer
Thompson elite seat post
Ritchey WCs carbon logic zero headset

If at all interested I will shoot you guys a pic of the finished product. I've have been salivating over your mechanics bike since I saw it and it has made me even more excited for my own.

Doug C

3/10/2014 02:07:31 pm

Any idea on the weight of this build? It looks awesome!!

3/11/2014 09:48:41 am

I don't remember exactly, I think 21.5lbs sounds right though.

Jase link

10/19/2014 01:18:57 pm

Crazy nice build! I've considered building one up as a commuter/fun rig for the wet season, I'm just not sure about tire spacing. Would be nice to be able to fit a 42c in there!

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