The Bradford Designs Adventure Cross (aka The Ripper!)

It’s time to share a bit about the bike I have been riding and ripping lately, that being the W.H.Bradford Designs Adventure Cross…Although I prefer to call it the Ripper.

I first saw a WHB Adventure Cross in social media channels covering Grinduro. I was intrigued. Having been in the industry a long time, I used to use my cross bike for any and all surface riding. For me, the word Cross in a bikes name means it’s a bit of a chameleon and you all know I like the word adventure. I also liked that the Bradford AC had a bit of BMX style, or flare, too. It just looked fun. I didn’t do anything with that. Just admired from afar.

Then I saw the Bradfords modern take on the Yeti Ultimate. I reached out and asked some questions. And about a month later, a deposit was made on a modified version of his Adventure Cross.

I like to think about things imagining the lens you are looking through to solve certain problems. Imagine a bike designed for a specified category by a lycra clad Roadie. Now imagine a bike designed for the same category designed by a BMXer or skateboarder. Are you imagining the same thing? I didn’t think so. How you view solutions is highly informed by how you learned and your viewpoint. It is this viewpoint that I admire in WH Bradford Designs. IMHO I think he brings something unique to the industry and to made in USA crafted bicycles. Again, just my opinion.

Now…Just a bit more backstory before I get to the bike. If you have been reading along here at Imaginegnat this year, you know how much I love my flat bar Meriwether. I wrote about it both here and here. One of these days I will write about it again, but that bike has changed my perspective and made me realize that flat bars may be the correct solution for me to eliminate my hand numbness I have been experiencing since my last Dirty Kanza, I mean Unbound, some 10+ years ago. But I love that Meriwether mountain Klunker. I simply wanted something similar but with a viewpoint of riding gravel, city, light single track and maybe lighter style touring and multi surface routes. This is where the WHB Adventure Cross comes into play.

I have done a lot of riding on this bike over the past few months. I have ridden the weekly, higher tempo group gravel rides. I have ridden long, gravel rides both solo and with friends. I have ridden dirt. I have done the Minneapolis bike path and bakery tour. I have explored the downtown of both Minneapolis and Saint Paul with my camera in hand. While my Meriwether or Stargazer would be my bikes of choice for true, off road touring, this rig is simply perfect for everything else and for a majority of the riding I actually do.

As stated above, this bike is built around WHB’s Adventure Cross model. Given my preferences, my short legs and my long torso Brad had to work some magic with the Geometry and come up with something both low and long. I also asked him to add some additional bosses for frame bag and cage mounting.

Here are some of the key features I love and appreciate about this bike.

1. Flat bars – And not just a road or gravel frame with a flat bar. The TT is lengthened a lot. This is not a bolt on solution to something.
2. Same fork/frame hub spacing and spec as my gravel bikes. This means both narrower crank Q factor as well as wheel interchangeability.I have a lot of wheel options and can swap easily between bikes. For example, I put in my DT/Whisky Parts Co carbon wheels for the up tempo group rides and then my HED Belgium+ with knobbier for rougher surfaces and single track.
3. Dropper post – Yes a dropper. Why? Because I ride it like a mountain bike. There are rare examples where I use the dropper when riding gravel, but I use it all the time when I am riding dirt.
4. Paragon swinging drop outs. These dropouts are not only gorgeous, but also give me options for drop outs. In addition to the standard dropouts shown in the images, I have the single speed drop outs, the flat mount rear disc drop out and the SRAM Transmission drop outs. All of these work with both this bike as well as my Meriwether that uses the same drop outs.
5. Big front triangle – I wanted a big front triangle so that when I do install a full frame bag and do some smoother surface and hero gravel type of touring, I can sew a bigger frame bag and fit a lot of stuff.
6. Great tire clearance. It fits 50’s and the swinging drop out gives me just a bit more if needed.

In addition to the technical features noted above, I also think it’s a bit of a good looker too with the killer paint and 10-bit graphics. Love love love it.

Anyway, here are some pics of various set ups, components and rides with this bike.

Hope you liked the pics. Here are the rest of the build details.

Frame: WH Bradford Adventure Cross – Custom Geo

Fork: Potts Gravel Fork or Rodeo Labs Spork 3.0. Note, WHB typically specs this with ENVE Adventure fork. I simply owned the other forks and didn’t want to buy a new, fairly expensive fork.

Headset: White Industries

Rear Derailleur/Shifter: SRAM GX AXS –

Crank: SRAM Rival

Rings: SRAM 44 for gravel riding and Wolftooth 40 for a bit more dirt focused outings.

Bottom Bracket: Cane Creek Hellbender 70, T47, SRAM DUB

Cassette: SRAM 10-50 12 speed

Chain: SRAM Flat Top 12 speed

Brakes: Paul Component Klampers

Brake Levers: Paul Components

Stem: Paul Boxcar w/Orange faceplate

Bar: Meriwether Double Bend Ti bars custom anodized by Agave Finish Works

Grips: ESI

Cages: King and Wolftooth – This allows me to fine tune fit and bottle needs.

Framebag: I made my own! Iceworm MFG

Saddle: Fizik

Seatpost: Fox Transfer SL, 100mm

Dropper Lever: Wolftooth

Hubs: White Industry

Rims: HED Belgium +

Spokes: Sapim

Nipples: BRASS!

Tires: Rene Herse Oracle Ridge 700 x 48

Wheels hand built by my dear friend BEN at Heath Creek Cycles.

Notes:

I often use a SWOOD Twisted T bar when I mount my bar mounted harness or custom camera bag, hence the 3 10mm spacers shown in most of the pictures. I eventually will dial the fit in further and cut the stem shorter.

Now…No bike is ever perfect. For bike geeks thinking custom bikes is like the gamblers fallacy, one more bet and I am gonna win. If I were to build this bike again, I’d have WHB lengthen both the TT as well as the head tube by at least 1 centimeter, probably 2. That’s it.

With how good and versatile this bike is coupled with less hand numbness, I suspect this may be my most ridden bike next year.

Don’t hesitate to reach out or leave a comment if you have questions. I’m happy to answer and be in touch.