New Cyclocross bike Terry Valkerie?

[Tokie]

My latest thoughts on small cross bikes. After seeing the price for the Valkyrie, I asked myself - how close is this price to custom? Of course, that is a slippery slope when you consider upgrades you can put on a custom bike. I e-mailed Margo last night, and looked at the Rodriquez website too. since I have an ultegra group I could use, that would make it more affordable. Also I don't understand - why would Terry put 170 cranks on a little bike? Anyway, as I'm going to be spending a bit more than I expected, I plan on giving myself through the summer to practice on my new mt bike, try a few more cross races...then consider buying one. The Luna bikes are pretty nice! Are there any TE'ers who ride a Luna 'cross bike? Tokie

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The Luna bikes are pretty nice! Are there any TE'ers who ride a Luna 'cross bike? Tokie

See post #14 of this thread.

[Becky]

Also I don't understand - why would Terry put 170 cranks on a little bike?

Depends on leg length, I suppose. I'm 5'4", ride a ~49 cm frame, and use 170 mm cranks 'cuz I'm all arms and legs. I wonder if Terry would let you swap 165s on there?

[madscot13]

does sram do anything smaller than a 170?

[Jaclyn]

I am one of the first customers to purchase Terry's new cross bike. I bought it back in early/mid January as soon as it went on sale. It wasn't delivered to the bike shop until last month, and then there were a series of difficulties with missing parts / design issues for the brakes that were unexpected and delayed the build. I've had it out only twice for a brief test spin and to our local brewpub (and DH is now doing a partial rebuild to fine tune it to me and my needs).

re: the 170 cranks - I was worried about this because they seemed too long - I would have preferred 165's (my bike is an XS and I'm 5-1/2 inch when stretched!). As I said I have less than 25 miles on the bike so can hardly comment except to say that I'm impressed that there is no toe overlap whatsoever even on this smallest end of the range.

I'm focused on longer 300k-600k brevets right now in preparation for the National 24 Hour Challenge in June, but will post my impressions of the bike once I've found the time to ride it on some technical cross type rides.

[madscot13]

hey Jaclyn, let us know what you think of the bike! It looks like a lot of fun!

[seeingsparks]

@Madscot13 SRAM does make a 165mm crank.

It's exciting to see that there will be potential reviews for the Valkyrie but personally I think that I am going to save up or forgo a new road bike for a Luna. Currently, I work over at a bike shop and I've spent hours upon hours looking over framesets and build options for a cross bike since I'm 5'1" its really hard especially with the way I am proportioned and the better bang for the buck would probably be Luna.

I priced out a Valkyrie frameset alone and it was 1500 and personally at that price point I'd rather spend the extra money on a Luna at that point. I want a cross bike as a beater but my inseam is just a tad too short with the higher bottom bracket on a Bianchi Volpe so if I am going to spend the money I'd might as well spend the money. That's just me though.

[Selkie]

Sparks

I own two Lunas - an Orbit and an Eclipse - and they were worth every penny I spent on them. I've gotten more than my money's worth, as they are such a pleasure to ride that you will put lots of miles on them.

Margo is wonderful to work with and she will do what's necessary to make you a high quality, well fitting bike.

I've had a lot of compliments on my Orbit (primarily from MEN, even though it's pink/purple). There's a picture of it on the Luna Photo Gallery, if you want to look at it.