Initial Thoughts: Black Mountain Cycles - La Cabra 

Always!!

I can understand the concern, but i’ve never had a problem so far…🤞🏽

Thanks! I think it would be do just great. Not sure if the road tires would be good for this bike. Doable, but wouldn’t make a ton of sense for me.

Both are great choices. They are a bit different though. If you wanted something a bit more on the mtn side then La Cabra is the ticket. Something more fast and lighter, then Evasion Lite is. Either way you can’t go wrong!

Not sure I know that route, but if the terrain is sorta rough then the crust evasion or karate monkey.

28lbs or so.

Thanks Paul. I’d say paint is similar to what you find on most production Taiwan bikes. Welds are just as good as my Crust and Surly bikes. I ran a carbon fork on a gravel bike before, but tbh - it didn’t instill confidence on rougher terrain for me. I did like how stiff and light they were, so if you can swing it, do it. There’s a certain style that I love about going steel forks tho. Steel forks seem to flex a tad more for more compliance and also during front braking. Frames are made in Taiwan. For me, I tend to like larger volume tires, so thats where personal taste will dictate which frameset to go with. The nuanced geo charts should also help with that. End of the day, either will get you where you want to go. La Cabra is def more of the mountain side with a smidge of the gravel drop bar in mind. Good luck!

I did find the paint to be more solid than my Crust frames. I hit the fork on a rock and chipped it but it took a pretty big impact and the paint looks thick.

@@ryanwitt my crust evasion has one of the best paint jobs I’ve seen on a production bike. I’m sure it depends on the day and who does the work, but I’m sure it’s all within a reasonable tolerance of quality.

It’s set up very different for me. 29er vs 650b, dropper post on current iteration of the black mountain. I put drop bars on the black mountain too and I think I like it a bit better. They are fairly similar in that they can handle fattie tires, but Crust wouldn’t be able to fit the 29er tires I’ve got. I should probably get rid of one, but I love them both for different types of rides. Crust is great for fire roads and rides that take some time to get to the trailhead. BM is good for more singletrack where a mtn bike would be overkill. Hope that helps!

@@anthonysbike you should post a video of the new bar set up on the BM.

@@TrevorOleniuk Yeah, been meaning too! Been busy with work and fam - just gotta find the energy.

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