The Privateer has been the bread and butter of the New Albion brand since its launch in late 2013. While originally conceived as a lower priced Soma Fabrications cyclo-cross/commuter frame (Soma is New Albion's sister brand. Both started by The Merry Sales Co.), it evolved into an "all rounder" road bike, something durable enough you can beat up as a daily commuter and versatile enough you can take it on a month long tour. Its geometry shifted away from standard CX numbers -- opting for a lower bottom bracket height and a raked out fork to give it sharper road handling ability.
It was basically your typical 2017-2018 gravel bike released in 2014 -- except for the cantilever brakes of course.
What has changed:
• The smallest three sizes are now 650b wheel specific to help get rid of toe-overlap with the front wheel, which is a significant issue on any smaller 700c road bike running even 28mm wide tires. These new sizes are optimized for use with 650b x 47mm, but can safely run 650b x 38mm to 50mm.
• We have added a 64cm size for the taller customer. This 64cm is fairly unique in that the effective top is also 64cm.
• The front triangle's tubes are all double butted Tange Infinity CrMo, previously the top tube was straight gauge.
• ED coating rust protection inside tubes.
• Introducing two new colors: Matte Black and Colonial Blue
 |
| Drop bar bike with flat bar aspirations: This is the 48cm size with 650b wheels |
What stays the same:
• The rear stays keep the same robust design to resist braking flex and to handle rear rack loads.
• Optional matching fork still has a tasteful lugged crown and classically French bend blades
• Still has three sets of water bottle bosses
• Still has semi-horizontal dropouts to allow for single speed set-ups, internal geared hubs or derailleur drivetrain. The rear center can be adjusted from 430mm to 445mm.
• Still compatible with a lot of old school standards: 130 or 135mm QR hubs, EC34 headsets, downtube shifters, canti/V-brakes on the 700c models, V-brakes on the 650b models.
The Privateer is still a great foundation for all types of builds.
It SRP's for about $389.99 for the frame and $129.99 for the fork.
 |
| Size 58cm. Photo: Patrick O'Grady |
