The why and what — Part 1
As I like to build stuff and am a pretty keen cyclist I’ve had the idea of building a bike for a long time. But since my road bike (Canyon CF SL 9.0) is in perfect condition I didn’t see a good opportunity to do so, until recently.
Over the last few months I came across a lot of gravel bike & bike-packing content online and in magazines and got quite excited about both. Add in the facts that summer is coming up and I could really use a bike for my daily 25km commute and all the required justification for spending is there: I’m building my own gravel/bike-packing/commuter bike!
Frame specs
Now it’s been decided that I will build a bike I came up with 3 requirements to guide the search for the frame:
- Steel: I like the look of steel frames and read a lot about the smooth ride characteristics of steel. Next to that, the strength and durability make it a good choice for gravel and riding with heavy loads I think.
- Tyre clearance: 35–38 mm wide 700c tyres should fit.
- Belt-drive compatible: As the bike will mainly be used on (rainy) commutes, having a belt will minimize maintenance as they supposed to be clean, quit and long lasting. The looks of of a belt-drive bike are awesome as well: It gives a nice and clean look having no derailleurs and only 2 sprockets instead of 22.
The choice for a belt-drive made my frame search fairly easy as Gates (manufacturer of belt drive components) keeps a list of bike brands that sell belt-drive compatible frames.
Soma Wolverine
This frame meets all requirements: It’s steel, has 45mm+ tyre clearance, has a split seatstay for belt entry, there’s loads of rack mount options, and itlooks the part.
The only problem: This matte black variant (v2.0 and v2.1) is no longer produced.. Therefore it took me quite some time to find a seller that actually had the frame and fork on stock in my size (62cm). In the end I found the v2.0 at Bell’s Bike Shop from Philadelphia (USA). They shipped it and after 3 weeks of waiting and some calls to Dutch customs to try and speed up clearance, I’m now the proud owner of a matte black Soma Wolverine!
Up next: Frame assembly.
