Nordest Albarda 2021 Update
When I built my Nordest Albarda in the fall of 2019, I didn’t spend the money to get all new parts for it. I took the SRAM Red eTap HRD groupset off my Ritte and used the Nox Composites wheels that had been on my red Volagi Viaje, which I had sold. A year later, the bike finally got its own drivetrain components. When I switched to 650B RoadPlus with my third Volagi Viaje, I was immediately sold on the slightly smaller but wider wheels. The Viaje felt way better with 650B wheels. If I weren’t climbing and descending as much, I’d be perfectly happy rolling around on 700C, but in the mountainous Jura, 650B just feels better.
The slacker geometry of the Nordest Albarda gives the bike more directional stability. To put it into a turn requires therefore a more forceful steering input. This, I think, can be changed somewhat by reducing the diameter of the wheels. At least that's what happened with the Volagi, which is very agile, to begin with. In fact, with 650B wheels, that bike tends to oversteer. The Albarda should therefore improve in steerability. It was therefore long on my wishlist to equip the bike with a fast set of 650B wheels. Right at the beginning of the year, I set things in motion by ordering a pair of Light Bicycle WR35 gravel rims. These are 25mm internal, 32mm external hooked carbon rims with a nice 35mm deep aero profile. At the same time, I ordered a pair of Chris King R45D thru-axle Centerlock hubs from my trusted wheel builder, 47° Nord. The hubs arrived at the end of March; the rims arrived in April. Black Sapim CX-Ray spokes and red DT Swiss nipples, 24 per wheel, complete the wheels.
- Original setup:
- Nox Citico wheels with Chris King R45D hubs
- René Herse 700C x 38 Barlow Pass tires (40mm actual measurement)
- New setup:
- 47° Nord wheels with Chris King R45D hubs and Light Bicycle WR35 carbon rims
- René Herse 650B x 48 Switchback Hill tires
- Alternative setup:
- Nox Citico 700C wheels with Chris King R45D hubs
- René Herse 700C x 44 Snoqualmie Pass tires
All tubeless of course. Weights of any of the above? A fraction of my body weight. Stay tuned for a follow-up once I've put a few miles on the new wheels.
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Volagi Viaje 2024 Update
Following in the footsteps of the 1x12 conversion of my Nordest Albarda, the Volagi Viaje naturally has to be taken there, too. Volagi brought this bike to market in a Kickstarter campaign in August 2012. It was designed for the bike components of that time. Whenever new stuff comes out, message boards and comment sections fill up with cyclists moaning and groaning about the bike industry, forcing new standards upon us. I’m not one of them. I love seeing bike technology advance. I don’t adopt everything. In fact, a lot that’s supposedly “forced” on us isn’t my cup of tea. I’ll never buy a bike with fully internally-routed cables, for instance. I just won’t. But I love options. And options we have. Besides, when you can take an 11-year-old Volagi Viaje and throw the very newest components on it, where’s the reason to moan and groan? Standards haven’t changed all that much. You just need to be smart about the bikes and components you’re choosing.
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Nordest Albarda 2023 Update
My Nordest Albarda was built on a budget in the fall of 2019. I used a Nox Composites wheelset that had previously been on my red Volagi Viaje. The braking system and 2x11-speed SRAM Red eTap HRD drivetrain were borrowed from my Ritte. In 2020, I purchased a SRAM Red AXS groupset for the Nordest and moved the eTap HRD parts back to the Ritte. In the spring of 2021, I asked 47° Nord to lace a pair of Chris King R45D hubs to a set of Light Bicycle 650B WR35 carbon rims. That’s how I’ve ridden the bike for the last two and a half years, sometimes swapping out the wheels using the Nox with grippier tires during the winter months.
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Nordest Albarda On 650B
After 217 kilometers my new wheels have proven that 650B is my ideal road and gravel size. I made this discovery with my third Volagi Viaje years ago already. But for the last two years, I rode my latest bike, my Nordest Albarda, on a set of 700C wheels. Such wheels roll well, but they don't like to change direction as quickly as a smaller 650B wheel. I like a bike to be lively and agile. Directional stability can have its advantages, but I generally prefer quick, sharp steering. Switching my Albarda to smaller wheels, instantly gave me that. The bike is so much more fun to ride. Not just when going downhill, but when climbing as well. When riding up a climb out of the saddle, it always seemed like the 700C front wheel was working against me. After putting 650B wheels on the bike, that feeling is gone. The bike now is a better extension of myself when motoring up a climb out of the saddle.
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