Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie – A Crit Bike For Dirt (and Road) – #ProjectOneBike

When I came up with the idea of #ProjectOneBike, I wanted to show that you can have one bike that can handle the road, cyclocross, gravel, and even some light trail riding. I had a feeling that a cyclocross bike was going to be a good platform, just because of the type of terrain you race on, which can be anything. After having a chat with Edwin Bull, founder of Van Dessel Cycles, he offered up a Full Tilt Boogie CX bike built with Sram Force CX1 for the project. After a year of road, cyclocross, and gravel, I can definitely say that you can have one bike for everything, just have another wheelset, and some additional chainrings help.

Going into the project, I tried to keep an open mind, but I knew there were some things I needed. I wanted something that would be fast and responsive on the road, snappy and light for cyclocross, and stable and comfortable for long hauls on gravel. For tire clearance, 38-42mm was my target so that I can run wide enough tires for gravel and light trail riding, but still have clearance for mud. Disc brakes were an obvious, and internal routing for a dropper post is also a plus.

Before I talk more about the bike, I want to put it out there that I know that there will be some tradeoffs when trying to use one bike for everything. A cross bike might not be as good on the road as a dedicated road bike. Just like a gravel bike might not be as good as a cyclocross bike for cross. The point of the project was mainly to see if there is a bike out there that can do everything well enough that it won’t hold you back, and I think I’ve come to the conclusion that you can.

The Boogie is Van Dessel’s full carbon cyclocross race rocket. When talking to Bull about the bike, he said that he wanted a crit bike for grass. Over the years, the brand has been a big supporter of cyclocross, supporting a men’s and women’s factory teams and many junior riders and privateers. The Boogie has been raced to French Women’s national championships by Caroline Mani, a Masters World Championship by Laura Van Gilder, and a silver medal at the U.S. cyclocross national championships by Sunny Gilbert. The Floyd’s Pro Cycling Team was also using the Boogie for gravel and cyclocross events in 2019.

The heart of the bike is its full carbon frame and fork. Our 54cm weighed in at 1045g with the uncut fork weighing 427g. It’s not a bad weight for a cyclocross bike, but maybe a touch heavy for the road. It has a 72-degree head tube angle, which is a little steep for a cross bike but adds to its sharp handling. The 6.5cm bottom bracket drop is also a little higher than average but helps provide pedal clearance through corners. The head tube length of 140mm and stack height of 559mm are pretty average for cyclocross, but the reach of 385mm is a little longer than other cross bikes out there. The wheelbase is the last measurement I wanted to point out. The longer the wheelbase, the bike will feel more stable, but will also handle like a boat. A shorter wheelbase will be easier to turn in twisty courses, but might not be as stable. At 1015mm, it is on the shorter side, but not as short as a typical crit bike.

There are some very functional parts of the frame to highlight as well. The bike can be set up multiple ways (1x with or without a dropper vs 2x, mechanical vs electronic) with the help of interchangeable covers for different cable covers on the downtube. The Boogie also has mounts for two bottle holders. This might not seem like a big deal, but it wasn’t long ago that you’d be hard-pressed to find dual mounts on a cyclocross race bike.

The Full Tilt Boogie, and Motivus Maximus road bike, bot use the Mavic SpeedRelease. It is a thru-axle that has one closed drop out that the thru-axle threads into, and another that is open. What makes it unique is that it does not need to be fully removed to swap wheels, but it is also very secure. To remove the wheel, you simply unthread it using the built-in lever until it disengages from the close drop out. From there, you pull it out about 1/2-3/4″ where there is a notch that fits through the open dropout. To put the wheel back on, simply slide the wheel in so the narrow part of the axle fits through the dropout, push the axle in, and start to tighten it until it clicks. Then keep spinning it until you get to where you want the lever. I’ve tried a few different thru-axle systems over the years and this is my favorite by far. It just works, it’s quick, and it’s tool-free, though Mavic does also make bolt-on versions of these axles.

The rest of the main build is made up of Sram Force CX1 and a 3T ARX Limited Stem and Ergoterra Team bars (custom painted in copper using Spray.Bike). From there, I swapped out chainrings from absoluteBLACK Sram Direct Mount oval rings (38-50 in 4 tooth increments), a KS Lev Integra dropper mated to a modified Sram DoubleTap shift lever or FSA SL-K seat post, bar tapes from LizardSkins, saddles from Velo, pedals from Time, tires from Schwalbe, and multiple wheelsets, including the White Industries XMR/Astral Wanderlust wheelset. I also swapped the fork at times for a Lauf Grit gravel suspension fork. All of these additional bits were changed out depending on the ride I was doing. For road, larger rings, thinner bar tape, lighter saddle, regular seat post, road pedals, smoother tires, and deeper wheels was my set up of choice. For gravel and cyclocross, smaller chainrings, thicker tape, softer saddle, dropper seat post, and knobbier tires were swapped in. All of these changes were pretty easy to make. The saddle and bar tap swaps weren’t always necessary, but it gave me a chance to review more items. All in all, with a little bit of planning and some mechanical knowledge, it was pretty quick and easy to get this single bike set up to be ridden in multiple different ways, and overall is cheaper than having multiple bikes.

Now for the bike as a whole.

Over the last year, I’ve had it out on the road and gravel, in a few cross races, and even on some light trail riding. In each setup, I can’t say that the bike was holding me back.

Let’s start in its natural habitat, cyclocross. Between the tape, the Full Tilt Boogie launches off the line with everything you can give it, thanks to the stout bottom bracket and chainstays that help all the power go to the rear wheel. The stiff front end helps you dive into corners with confidence and it has a short enough wheelbase that helps you get through the tightest of courses. Whether it is your first Cat 5 race or you are going for a world championship, this bike will help you ride your best.

On the road, the Boogie isn’t quite a crit bike, but it is fast and handles like it is on rails. With the 50t absoluteBLACK oval ring, and some deep carbon wheels, I was able to set some PR’s on some of my local courses. While the high bottom bracket might not feel as natural as other road bikes, the extra clearance gives a little more leeway for pedaling through corners. Whether it was a quick lap around my airport loop or a century, the Boogie was up to the task.

Gravel is where the bike shines if your priority is speed. Without having mounts for racks or a third water bottle, it’s not going to be your bike packing rig. I was still able to carry all the gear I needed in the Apidura frame and top tube packs. While others prefer a longer wheelbase for stability in the straights, the Boogie will be perfect for those looking for a nimble ride. The seat stays are thin enough to provide some comfort, but it’s not going to be as smooth as some other dedicated gravel bikes out there.

Now that you are sold on the Boogie, and you want to get one of your own, head over to Van Dessel’s website to build it up. With Van Dessel’s Elite builder, you can select just the frameset or three stock builds (Shimano GRX, Sram Force 1, or Force 1 eTap AXS), or build up a custom bike. This includes picking stem, bar, and seatpost models and lengths, crank lengths, wheels, or deleting any item if you already have a part you want to add to it. The framset starts off at $1,899 and the most expensive build tops out at $5,734.

If you can only have one bike, or only want one, #ProjectOneBike has proven that you can do it. The Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie took everything I threw at it and asked for more. As long as speed is your focus, you are not going to give up much on the road compare to a traditional road bike. Having the capability to run a wide slick will give you options to have more fun than your buddies rolling on 25’s. With swapping a few parts, you really will be able to take the Boogie anywhere.

http://www.vandesselcycles.com