The minty fresh drop bar Ruben comes with gears, disc brakes and a steel fork and retails for $1399. © Cyclocross Magazine
Way back in 2009 at Interbike we had our first look at Traitor Cycles and their steel cyclocross offerings. The cantilever brake singlespeed frameset at the time was made from Columbus Maxlight tubing, and the company offered custom geometry as an option. We later reviewed in the Traitor Crusade SS in Issue 14, and enjoyed the ride of the steel frame and fork and simplicity of the one gear.
Since then Traitor Cycles took a brief pause to reset, and is now back with a full lineup and is fully recharged for this cyclocross season and beyond.
The 2014 Traitor in blue/black but the 2015 models will be blue/orange or grey/orange. © Cyclocross Magazine
We found Traitor Cycles tucked way in the back of the Interbike 2014 floor, but it was worth searching them out, as the company offers an impressive lineup of versatile disc brake-equipped steel bikes for nearly every type of two-wheel ride or adventure you can imagine (cantilever-equipped Traitor Cycles bikes are gone now).
Most relevant to most of our readers is the company’s disc-brake equipped Crusade steel frameset, complete with a 44mm head tube and pivoting dropouts that allow singlespeed or geared use. The colors change for 2015 from the pictured blue/black, and will now be a blue/orange and a gray/orange, and the tubing is butted 4130 steel.
Weight is a reasonable 4.5 lbs for the frame (55cm) and 2.2 lbs for the fork (uncut), and it retails for $599 as a frameset only. No rack mounts and just one set of bottle mounts to help fight off off-season heat. The Crusade comes in four sizes: 48, 52, 55 and 58cm.
The 2014 Traitor Crusade (pictured) gets new colors for 2015 and can be set up singlespeed or geared. $599 for the frameset. © Cyclocross Magazine
Want a complete bike? Traitor Cycles has both a drop bar and flat bar version of its Ruben cyclocross/commuter bike, with nearly identical geometry to the Crusade (a shorter stack is perhaps the biggest difference). A new flat bar Ruben retails for $1099, while a drop bar, Shimano Sora-equipped model retails for $1399.
The flatbar Ruben brings a versatile cyclocross/commuter frameset with a commuter-oriented build for $1099. © Cyclocross Magazine
Want the 2015 frameset? It’s $549—$50 less than the Crusade because it doesn’t have the 44m head tube or the convertible dropouts. The frame also offers rack mounts and dual bottle mounts.
The minty fresh drop bar Ruben comes with a Shimano Sora drivetrain, disc brakes and a steel fork and retails for $1399. © Cyclocross Magazine
The company has a new touring-oriented bike called the Wander that might be great for longer gravel adventures as well. At $1299 with full rack mounts, mechanical disc brakes and bar-con shifters, the Wander is built to tackle any terrain or multi-day adventure, and prioritizes reliability over gram shaving.
The new $1299 Wander is Traitor’s new touring-oriented bike, complete with rack mounts, but would be ready for your longer gravel adventures. © Cyclocross Magazine
Returning to the lineup is the Traitor Cycles Slot, a do-anything flat bar monster ’cross or gravel bike or rigid 29er adventure bike. Regardless of your label for it, at $1399 with a rear rack , triple crankset and lots of tire clearance, the bike should eat up anything on your mixed terrain menus, especially if you’re not out to break any records. The company had a few Slot-equipped riders tackle the Oregon Outback in the video below.
How to tell all the models apart? Each has a different font treatment, prioritizing bike identity over brand identity.
2015 Traitor Cycles Bike Photo Gallery:
More info:
traitorcycles.com
Traitor Cycles Oregon Outback Video:
