New Albion Privateer Gets First Update in Years

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

New Albion Drake Frame Is Ready For Action

We started posting photos of the prototype Drake early last year, because we loved how it turned out.
However we took our sweet time test riding it and we only received our first production run this month.

So let's take some time explaining what you can do with a Drake.
We call it a 650b (27.5") wheel adventure tourer.
We designed it with a wheel base length between a cyclo-cross bike and a fully loaded touring rig, to offer the stability desired when you're 'packing, but without taking away too much spirit when you want to just rip around gravel roads and dirt trails.

It will fit 42mm Soma Cazadero or WTB Resolute tires with fenders or 2.0" mountain knobbies without fenders. You can also put on WTB Byways or Panaracer PariMotos for velvety road cruising.
Can you or should you run 700c tires? Depends on what you want to achieve. We gave it 10mm more BB height than your average road bike, because we wanted to make it more dirt-capable, so don't expect it carve downhill corners like our Homebrew road frame.

While you can't ride this as fast over gnarly trails as a bike packing hardtail, its front triangle will fit a larger frame bag than a hardtail.

Other features:

• Beefy cast dropouts that allow for separate rack and fender mounting. And though not Rohloff-specif, it is friendly to Rohloff set ups.
• Chainstay-located IS disc tabs doesn't interfere with most rear racks.
• PF30 Bottom Bracket offers a bottom bracket option with larger cartridge bearings and stiffer platform. If you choose to run geared hubs or single speed, you can get an eccentric bottom bracket, which allows you to adjust chain tension.
• Tange Champion CrMo tubing throughout
• Front mini rack mounts and pannier rack mount on optional matching fork
• Rear mini rack mount and pannier rack mount
• S-Bend chainstays
• Downtube shifter compatibility
• Optional lugged crown disc fork

Homebrew Gravel Style

Took our 650B'ed Homebrew on a little gravel adventure after closing.

 The Cazadero tires ride great. Not much more I can say. Super fun!

Homebrew 650b Conversion

I had a extra set of Velocity Atlas 650b wheels lying around, so I thought I would set them up on a Homebrew complete bike and see how well they fit.

I think the results are quite pleasing. It really looks like the frame was made just for these tires.

I traded the stock IRD B57s for some Rivendell Silver long reach calipers, and the brake reach lines up just above the bottom of the slot. This allows for plenty of fender clearance, even with 38mm tires.

These brakes are super easy to adjust, so the entire operation took maybe 10 minutes after I pulled the bike out of the box. I used the venerable Panaracer Col De La Vie tires, which were at one time pretty much the only 650b tire you could get.

Nowadays there are many other good options, but for the money I still think they're a great value. They may not be the fastest rolling tread pattern, or the lightest casing (that distinction goes to the Soma Grand Randonneur tires), but they roll pretty darn smoothly and they give the bike a nice traditional look that I enjoy.

For rough roads, gravel and dirt paths these wider tires are a smart upgrade. The minimum reach on the Silver brakes is 57mm, so you could easily set them up with the 700c wheels and have an extra 650b wheelset ready to swap out depending on the kind of riding you planned on doing. All it takes is a quick brake pad adjustment and you're ready to go.

Besides the obvious pneumatic suspension gains, going to larger tires has the knock on effect of improved grip when cornering. Do to the increased volume you'll be able to run lower pressure without worrying about pinch flats. Lowering the pressure will increase the amount of rubber in contact with the road while leaning into a turn. You'll really appreciate increased stability if you ever find yourself descending a steep chicane with loaded panniers.

Another nice thing about running 650b wheels on the Homebrew is that the geometry remains relatively sporty compared to a heavy duty touring bike. The short chainstays and steeper headtube angle keep the handling lively and responsive, so it's still fun to ride with just a small front rack or saddle bag.

If you're 650b curious but you're on a budget, you might want to give the Homebrew a closer look. Converting it to 650b wheels only takes a few minutes and you probably already have the tools you'll need to make the swap.