Featured Bike: Calfee Design Gravel / Cyclocross Bike

Calfee Design Gravel / Cross Bike

A little about Calfee Design, courtesy of the company’s website:

“Genuine. Innovative. Original. We’ve been at it a while. Consider this comprehensive reporting of the genesis of Calfee Design and our relationship with Greg LeMond and the Tour de France, wherein was written, “In 1991, Greg LeMond was searching for a bike fast enough to keep him at the very pinnacle of professional bike racing. Craig Calfee was busy forging a quiet revolution in carbon construction. Together, they changed the face of cycling.” As the time line below will evidence, we’ve a broad body of work. Along those lines, the editorial team at Road Bike Action stated that, “There is likely no other name in the bicycle industry that has attached to it as broad and significant an arc of accomplishments as Craig Calfee.”

CalfeeJOM2015-2
Obligatory garage door photo.

JOM’s Calfee was assembled to deal with the rigors associated with gravel and Ultra CX racing. By modern standards the frame design is dated, but with several years of racing and training logged, including appearances at Three Peaks USA and Hilly Billy Roubaix, the bike has proven its mettle.

calfee design cyclocross bike

No longer JOM’s “A” bike, the Calfee Cross enjoys semi-retirement on dirt and limerock roads local to Gainesville, Florida, and road trips where two pairs of wheels, one for road, the other for dirt / gravel, allow JOM to ride almost anything.

CalfeeJOM2015-4
Shimagnolo drivetrain, Campy square taper cranks.

The bike uses one of the first Ultegra Di2 groupsets to land in the USA, long before Shimano’s internal battery system was available. Due to limited space on the frame, the external battery could not be installed on its regular place on the downtube. Rather, the battery sits behind the seatpost, with its cable hidden inside the seatpost and frame, running to the system junction box.

JOM’s Calfee Design Gravel / Cross Bike

CalfeeJOM2015-3Frame: Calfee Cross, 54cm, circa 2005 / 2006 frameset?, 1″ steerer tube.
Fork: Wound Up 1″, custom made with steel steerer tube and disc brake mount.
Headset: Chris King 1″.
Seatpost: FSA SLK Carbon 27.2mm.
Saddle: Fizik Arione.
Wheelset: American Classic Hurricane, tubeless.
Tyres: Michelin Jet 30mm (measure about 34mm) configured tubeless.
Handlebars:Kestrel EMS, 26mm.
Stem: Ritchey WCS 110mm.
Shifters: Shimano Ultegra Di2 10 speed.
Derailleurs: Shimano Ultegra Di2 10 speed.
Crankset: Campagnolo compact square taper crankset, 48 / 34 chainrings, 172.5mm.
Bottom Bracket: Campagnolo Record carbon 102mm square taper.
Pedals: Xpedo CXR (currently on test for a review).
Cassette: Shimano Ultegra 12 – 27 or SRAM 1070 11-32, both 10 speed.
Brakes: TRP Spyre mechanical.
Bottle Cages: King Cage Titanium.

Photo Gallery

Calfee Design WebsiteCalfee Design Facebook Page

2 Comments

  1. Avatar John

    So, what is your current “A bike”?

    • JOM JOM

      John, the Calfee was it circa 2012. I am a little spoiled and have been hovering between review bikes the past couple of years, so I haven’t been riding my own personal “A” bike for some time. I don’t want to spill the beans yet, but I am working on a new “A” bike that I will reveal early in 2017.

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