Ah yes, yet another “what bike should I buy” thread - I’ll try to keep it brief and focused.
I’ve decided I’d like a new road bike that is fast but takes wide tires. My current road bike, which I intend to keep, really only fits 25mm tires and that simply isn’t enough to smooth out all of the chip seal here on Texas country roads. I have a cross bike currently set up for gravel that rides much nicer (700x38 Rene Herse Extralights), but the mullet gearing leaves a little to be desired on the road and those tires are a touch wider than I want for road use anyways. Plus I’d be lying if I said N+1 was not a factor here. With this in mind, I’ve put together a short list of “wants” for this new bike:
Wide road tires (tubeless) - something in the 700x30 - 700x32 range.
Disc brakes
Still ride like a nice fast road bike
I’ve spent a lot of time lately looking at lots of different options, but am currently very intrigued by the Open MIN.D. Does anyone out there have any experience with this frameset? It looks awesome, the geometry of the large frame looks like it will fit me and Open has a good performance record with the UP/UPPER. I’m seriously thinking about building one of these up with Campagnolo Ekar - looks like I could get it to just over 14 lbs with a wheelset in the 1500g range…
Anyways, hopefully someone out there has had the opportunity to swing a leg over one of these bikes and can provide some feedback.
Hi there,
I have zero experience with the Open Min.D so I am certainly wrong in this thread.
Since I am here already, here are my two cents:
I have an Open Wi.de for 2 years now and recently bought a new UP for my wife.
We both really love the bikes. Very high quality make, nice finish, light, and comfy.
So my opinion about open is generally very positive.
The mind however is a little weird to me.
I like the classic aesthetics and the idea of a comfortable ride, but an integrated seat post would be a no-no for me.
Makes reselling the bike very difficult and also traveling with the bike a pain. The solution with the saddle clamp also doesn’t look great.
Also, 32c tire clearance might be enough for most people, but I think they should have gone further than that (see Domane).
For the same price of the frame (€3700) you might also look at the non S-Works Aethos, that is lighter comfortable, too, and has the same tire clearance. Also, support might be easier where you live.
If you want a Min.D however, which I’d totally understand, you are likely getting a really great riding bike. Just wouldn’t be my choice.
In cases you understand German (or fancy learning it), this channel has quite a lot of content on the Mind. Also, this is the Shop where I bought my Opens:
I have no experience with Open, but I did very recently build up an Ekar bike for the n=1 purpose. It’s light, looks good, is not super expensive, and downshifts and the brakes are superb. On the other hand, I find the upshifting a little eager - it’s very easy to upshift 2 when you want 1 - and I’m having a bit of an issue with the Ekar hoods. Note as well that the n3w freehub requirement for wheels is a bit limiting. For me, AXS with a 46/33 and 10-36 would edge it for n=1, but that is a bit more expensive (unless you go for Rival) and a bit heavier.
For the frame, I would personally look at a Domane, an Aspero, a 3T Exploro, or a Factor LS and run 2 wheelsets. My ti bike sits about 8.4kg in road mode and gives up very little to a ‘performance’ road bike in pure speed. No, it’s not quite as quick as the Madone that preceded it (1-1.5kph average speed difference), but that’s not a factor if you’re not racing, IMO at least.
I really love the WI.DE as a super capable, nimble, gravel bike, that works from gravel racing to bike packing.
I have done bike packing on it with 40mm semi slicks. Rolls beautifully well.
For gravel I prefer knobbies though. Currently rocking 45c Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H.
If I only had one bike, I think an Open UP(PER) would be pretty much the sweet spot.
