I was in CA for work last week and stopped by Luft on Thursday to check out the shop since I drove by it everyday. I saw a bike sauce sticker on one of the bike racks
Sounds like my 2019 CAADX - no harshness, short chain stays, quick steering. build with Tiagra and GRX400 and 40mm Pirelli gravel tyres. Superb gravel bike and a good road bike with 28/30mm tyres too.
Totally agreed. I have a CAADX 1 that I bought for $1500 on sale. I looked up the geometry for this bike and the CAADX and they are pretty much similar. Can't really comment on the quality of the two bikes but if they are both aluminum, there's no way I'd pay $4000 for it while Cannondale has mastered aluminum production decades ago. I support boutique brands, but small production batches mean they can experiment with novel materials like titanium or magnesium, but $4000 for aluminum is too fat of a margin. (Aluminum alloy is dirt cheap btw, cheaper than chromoly steel)
Aside from the very early 90s Cannondales, none of the CAADs have ever been harsh in the last 25 years. This is just a talking point from the industry through the media to push sales of carbon. The biggest problem with alloy frames is that the industry cannot figure out how to market them to justify a $4000 price tag. Wheel width, lacing, design and tires width and pressure and casing designs have a much higher impact on comfort and handling. More expensive carbon frames typically source better wheels and tires, and simps think the difference is the $5000 frame or a few hundreds grams of weight.
After having an aluminium Barge of a gravel bike for three years bought myself a racy carbon gravel bike and I adore it. Love the snappiness and extremely immediate acceleration and handling, with 40 mm tyres I can actually ride same trails I ride on my full susser, ofcourse choosing different lines and at lower speeds but I still can, also I can put up to 45 mm on 700c or 54 mm in 650b, which will make the bike plush enough. Don’t know why I should go back to a barge? Only if You truly want a One bike and ride the trails, then go with barge with front and rear suspension…
it's hard to quantify how harsh AL frames are these days especially for gravel since we're mostly running fat comfy tires and tubeless with lower pressures which easily adds to the suspension and comfort of bikes across the board.
As a 85% roadie > this could be an interesting option for my n+1. Your summary too, I totally agree with. I ride the different materials for the obvious fact = they're different ! Appreciate the info !
Harshness is a function of wheels and tires, not the frame. Most alloy frames source cheaper wheels and tires because the overall bike costs less. Far, far too much emphasis on bikes is put into frames. Aside from a proper fit, a frame is one of the least important parts of a bike. Wheels and tires matter more, regardless of application.
Interesting! Tried some different gravel bikes last month and found some carbon ones extremely well dampened. Still I ordered a Standert Kettensäge aluminium gravel race bike without test riding it. So curious how it will ride. Bought it because of the geometry. And the awesome look.😂🎉 Keep up the interesting content!👍
@@truantray Hi there, this spring I rode about 8 different gravel bikes back to back. Only 2 were carbon frames, an Orbea and an Rondo Ruut CF. Both felt much more dampened. Especially the Rondo was on only 33mm cyclocross tyres on aluminium wheels and still was impressively cushy. They say that they can do that by using different amounts of carbon layers in certain areas.🤷 But still, I dont want to buy one. No carbon frames for me, even though I already had a road and a CX frame. Cheers!✌️✌️✌️
I'm more perplexed about Blackheart as a company rather than the bike material. Pricier than Lynskey or Litespeed, both of which are made in the US. Very similar pricing to Taiwanese made ti production frames. The geo runs fairly standard, except that it's more road oriented with shorter chainstays, but also can only take 40mm tires. While neat, it's hardly difficult to find a similar offering in bigger brands. As for this aluminum offering, pricing isn't all that competitive either. Maybe I just don't understand because I haven't ridden it and there's something magical about the brand. Also, having gone through the documents for the offering they did back in 2022, it wasn't all that impressive to me in terms of profits... 160k profits, but the CEO's salary is 100k, so the net profit for the company is 60k in 2022, which was the best time in decades for bike shops and manufacturers! I wonder how 2023 is going for him with a harsher market... I've had some decently nice bikes over the years including Ritchey, Breadwinner, Velo-Orange, and a handful of other brands, but this brand's niche and appeal has been a headscratcher for me...
They are buying Chinese frames and just applying a brand and marketing on 200-300% profit margins. I've seen and ridden some custom Waltly Ti frames at $1200 and am impressed, while Litespeed designs on a rider closer to 200lbs have been known to fail. Any illusions US built ti frames are better is just marketing. There are many alloy gravel bikes at this level that cost much less.
@@TheBikeSauceIn this case "nothing" would be better because car drivers expect you to ride inside that dooring zone. If you don't , you risk being harrassed by drivers. if you do ride there, you risk being taken out by an opening door. Either way, you are f....😅
7005 is not heat treated like 6061-T6. I've been telling people for years now that aluminum today doesnt hold the antiquated reputation that it once had. This is mostly coming from the "steel is real" crowd. Modern alloys, tube profiles and hydroforming has come a long way. Aluminum is actually really good!
Add carbon handlebars and a carbon seat post and you have a bike that will compete with any steel bike in terms of ride for half the price. My Kona libre is lighter and therefore quicker on accel (and stopping), and with the CORRECT tire pressure for 45mm tires, can be ridden all day without hand, shoulder or butt fatigue. Geometry is a completely different discussion.
Fist love the chanel. Now lets get this clear. 1st Aluminium is not chattery, it's lively end of story! It's not both! Second you want lively on that type of geometry! Confort, marketing mumbo jumbo from the early carbon days which were wobbly but light and they wanted to sell frames/bikes so had to promo it in any way. Now we must decide ourselves, early aluminum frames were made out 7005 and they were all the are, then no, no, no, 6061 is the shxxt because it's stiffer and this and that, and this and that... And now you/ the industry are saying that 7005 is again the best, please... But the beat in aluminum is that it's 100% recyclable and light! Titanium it's just the expensive brother to steel that will never be as good nor will it be ever as light as aluminum!
I hope to see more Chinese/Taiwanese manufacturers taking charge of marketing and selling their frames directly, rather then selling it for cheap to US and UK “businessmen”.
Harshness of aluminum frames myth comes from three sources: a few Cannondale models from the early 90s with very large tubes, from the cycling industry trying to push carbon frames because of much, much, higher profit margins, and from ignorant cyclists that attribute transmitted vibrations to the frame material as if wheel and tires are irrelevant.
Wishful thinking. Early aluminum frames had thin tubing. They had an ultra harsh ride too. Frame material becomes less relevant(not irrelevant) with big tires at low pressures but everyone isn't riding +35mm tires
Mostly true but I had an Colnago Arte in alu and it was really stiff&harsh. And before that I had an Cannondale CAAD3 and that was an harsh bike as well.
It is only folklore that tells us that aluminum is stiffer than other materials. The opposite is true. Early aluminum frames were stiff because of the oversized tubes. Now builders can make any desired ride with any material, so attributing ride quality to a material misses all the other details.
Thanks for taking the Allroad AL for a spin Nolan! Loving the quality of your videos and following your growth over the past few years.
I'm mostly amazed at how you are giving a lecture during a full on ride through the mountains. Great work as always.
😆
The review you did of the titanium version helped with my purchase of one last year 🤙
I was in CA for work last week and stopped by Luft on Thursday to check out the shop since I drove by it everyday. I saw a bike sauce sticker on one of the bike racks
ha, cool! That's been there since we did a shop visit video back when they opened.
Loved your review of the Blackheart Allroad Ti. Tipped me over the edge and bought one. Great bike! Thanks!
Yes! Right on
Blackheart Fan here 😎👍💯
Nice bike! I am a steel boy, but I started my "gravel" riding adventure on an old giant TCX w/ canti brakes and an alu frame :)
Sounds like my 2019 CAADX - no harshness, short chain stays, quick steering. build with Tiagra and GRX400 and 40mm Pirelli gravel tyres. Superb gravel bike and a good road bike with 28/30mm tyres too.
Totally agreed. I have a CAADX 1 that I bought for $1500 on sale. I looked up the geometry for this bike and the CAADX and they are pretty much similar. Can't really comment on the quality of the two bikes but if they are both aluminum, there's no way I'd pay $4000 for it while Cannondale has mastered aluminum production decades ago. I support boutique brands, but small production batches mean they can experiment with novel materials like titanium or magnesium, but $4000 for aluminum is too fat of a margin. (Aluminum alloy is dirt cheap btw, cheaper than chromoly steel)
Aside from the very early 90s Cannondales, none of the CAADs have ever been harsh in the last 25 years. This is just a talking point from the industry through the media to push sales of carbon. The biggest problem with alloy frames is that the industry cannot figure out how to market them to justify a $4000 price tag. Wheel width, lacing, design and tires width and pressure and casing designs have a much higher impact on comfort and handling. More expensive carbon frames typically source better wheels and tires, and simps think the difference is the $5000 frame or a few hundreds grams of weight.
After having an aluminium Barge of a gravel bike for three years bought myself a racy carbon gravel bike and I adore it. Love the snappiness and extremely immediate acceleration and handling, with 40 mm tyres I can actually ride same trails I ride on my full susser, ofcourse choosing different lines and at lower speeds but I still can, also I can put up to 45 mm on 700c or 54 mm in 650b, which will make the bike plush enough. Don’t know why I should go back to a barge? Only if You truly want a One bike and ride the trails, then go with barge with front and rear suspension…
This makes me thankful for our dutch roads
jealous.
Great video!
20 years ago I had a road bike it's frame 7005,I loved that bike,then over the more recent years I was wondering why Aluminum bikes were mostly 6061.
it's hard to quantify how harsh AL frames are these days especially for gravel since we're mostly running fat comfy tires and tubeless with lower pressures which easily adds to the suspension and comfort of bikes across the board.
💯
As a 85% roadie > this could be an interesting option for my n+1.
Your summary too, I totally agree with. I ride the different materials for the obvious fact = they're different !
Appreciate the info !
I think harshness is more of a road bike issue. Once you have bigger tires on the bike, harshness diminishes.
💯
Harshness is a function of wheels and tires, not the frame. Most alloy frames source cheaper wheels and tires because the overall bike costs less. Far, far too much emphasis on bikes is put into frames. Aside from a proper fit, a frame is one of the least important parts of a bike. Wheels and tires matter more, regardless of application.
Interesting! Tried some different gravel bikes last month and found some carbon ones extremely well dampened. Still I ordered a Standert Kettensäge aluminium gravel race bike without test riding it. So curious how it will ride. Bought it because of the geometry. And the awesome look.😂🎉
Keep up the interesting content!👍
Why do you think dampening has anything to do with the frame and not the wheels or tires?
@@truantray
Hi there,
this spring I rode about 8 different gravel bikes back to back. Only 2 were carbon frames, an Orbea and an Rondo Ruut CF. Both felt much more dampened. Especially the Rondo was on only 33mm cyclocross tyres on aluminium wheels and still was impressively cushy. They say that they can do that by using different amounts of carbon layers in certain areas.🤷 But still, I dont want to buy one. No carbon frames for me, even though I already had a road and a CX frame. Cheers!✌️✌️✌️
Aluminum is awesome.💯👌🏻
Lovely vid as always - finally subscribed ;)
One minor gripe where the Chemist in me twinges every time someone says Aluminum instead of AlumiNIUM. ;)
😆 apologies. I pronounce it how I read it. Similar to when ppl talk about the ‘dampening’ of a bike.. it’s ‘damping’.. 😀
Also, thx for the sub!
@@TheBikeSauce Haha no worries! :D Doesn't diminish the excellent content in the slightest!
Just wait for it - he hasn't said "tomatoe" yet (haha)
Look like fairly basic, roundish, tube shapes. Any idea if they’re butted or not?
Double butted.
Even Walmart sells double butted frames.
Great video…curious what helmet you’re rocking?
Smith Network
Cool, I’ll check it out!
I'm more perplexed about Blackheart as a company rather than the bike material. Pricier than Lynskey or Litespeed, both of which are made in the US. Very similar pricing to Taiwanese made ti production frames. The geo runs fairly standard, except that it's more road oriented with shorter chainstays, but also can only take 40mm tires. While neat, it's hardly difficult to find a similar offering in bigger brands.
As for this aluminum offering, pricing isn't all that competitive either. Maybe I just don't understand because I haven't ridden it and there's something magical about the brand.
Also, having gone through the documents for the offering they did back in 2022, it wasn't all that impressive to me in terms of profits... 160k profits, but the CEO's salary is 100k, so the net profit for the company is 60k in 2022, which was the best time in decades for bike shops and manufacturers! I wonder how 2023 is going for him with a harsher market...
I've had some decently nice bikes over the years including Ritchey, Breadwinner, Velo-Orange, and a handful of other brands, but this brand's niche and appeal has been a headscratcher for me...
They are buying Chinese frames and just applying a brand and marketing on 200-300% profit margins. I've seen and ridden some custom Waltly Ti frames at $1200 and am impressed, while Litespeed designs on a rider closer to 200lbs have been known to fail. Any illusions US built ti frames are better is just marketing.
There are many alloy gravel bikes at this level that cost much less.
Those thousand dollar wheels really change the ride quality.
question, or statement?
@@TheBikeSaucereality. Wheels matter more than frames.
That "bike lane" sucks, it's literally right in the door zone next to somewhat high speed traffic lol.
better than nothing 🤷🏻♂️😁
@@TheBikeSauceIn this case "nothing" would be better because car drivers expect you to ride inside that dooring zone. If you don't , you risk being harrassed by drivers. if you do ride there, you risk being taken out by an opening door. Either way, you are f....😅
Ride a caad13 for smoothness. Better than many carbon bikes.
7005 is not heat treated like 6061-T6.
I've been telling people for years now that aluminum today doesnt hold the antiquated reputation that it once had.
This is mostly coming from the "steel is real" crowd. Modern alloys, tube profiles and hydroforming has come a long way.
Aluminum is actually really good!
well said!
Add carbon handlebars and a carbon seat post and you have a bike that will compete with any steel bike in terms of ride for half the price. My Kona libre is lighter and therefore quicker on accel (and stopping), and with the CORRECT tire pressure for 45mm tires, can be ridden all day without hand, shoulder or butt fatigue. Geometry is a completely different discussion.
Steel is real heavy.
@@don_sharonI'm a victim of two cracked carbon bars that were over $200.
Fist love the chanel.
Now lets get this clear.
1st Aluminium is not chattery, it's lively end of story! It's not both!
Second you want lively on that type of geometry!
Confort, marketing mumbo jumbo from the early carbon days which were wobbly but light and they wanted to sell frames/bikes so had to promo it in any way.
Now we must decide ourselves, early aluminum frames were made out 7005 and they were all the are, then no, no, no, 6061 is the shxxt because it's stiffer and this and that, and this and that...
And now you/ the industry are saying that 7005 is again the best, please...
But the beat in aluminum is that it's 100% recyclable and light!
Titanium it's just the expensive brother to steel that will never be as good nor will it be ever as light as aluminum!
'chanel' might be upset about the 'fist love' 😆
I hope to see more Chinese/Taiwanese manufacturers taking charge of marketing and selling their frames directly, rather then selling it for cheap to US and UK “businessmen”.
Harshness of aluminum frames myth comes from three sources: a few Cannondale models from the early 90s with very large tubes, from the cycling industry trying to push carbon frames because of much, much, higher profit margins, and from ignorant cyclists that attribute transmitted vibrations to the frame material as if wheel and tires are irrelevant.
Wishful thinking. Early aluminum frames had thin tubing. They had an ultra harsh ride too. Frame material becomes less relevant(not irrelevant) with big tires at low pressures but everyone isn't riding +35mm tires
Mostly true but I had an Colnago Arte in alu and it was really stiff&harsh. And before that I had an Cannondale CAAD3 and that was an harsh bike as well.
It is only folklore that tells us that aluminum is stiffer than other materials. The opposite is true. Early aluminum frames were stiff because of the oversized tubes. Now builders can make any desired ride with any material, so attributing ride quality to a material misses all the other details.
But who gets rich off that fact?