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TECH NEWS
Yukon-DiscVan Nicholas launches Yukon Disc titanium touring bike
The Van Nicholas Yukon has long been a popular option with UK cyclists wanting a titanium touring bike capable of turning its hand to commuting, training, touring or Audax.
The Yukon was given a disc brake option back in 2017 and for 2019 it receives further updates aimed at modernising its. It’s still a titanium frame built to be a super light touring bike but the Dutch company focused on improving the appearance, ergonomics and performance.
- Terrific titanium: 12 of the loveliest titanium road bikes we've ridden
Internal cable routing provides a more modern and sleek appearance and even optional dynamo wires can be internally routed. The rack and mudguard mounts have been revised, and it has flat mount callipers and thru-axles.
There’s clearance for up to 35mm wide tyres and a sleek carbon fibre fork. To provide extra comfort the seatstays are skinny and bow out to a lower position on the seat tube. The dropouts are 3D cast and look just lovely, and there’s a tapered head tube to increase overall frame stiffness.
The Yukon Disc frameset costs €2,099 and complete bikes start from €3,499 with sizes from XS to XL. More info at www.vannicholas.com
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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16 comments
This isn't a real touring bike, it would be great for credit card touring or maybe ultralight touring where water can be found readily, but not for long term touring and not for riding in deserts or mountains areas (on the road, not off road) where finding water maybe difficult at times. The bike uses carbon fiber forks and those types of forks have no provision for front panniers or for another pair of water bottle cages, heck it doesn't even have a third water bottle cage mount on the underside of the down tube! that is a major no no in the touring world. So this is more for a weekend getaway touring to a public campground where water and food is abundant, or credit card touring on routes that are populated so water and food will be within an easy ride to obtain before you run out.
They were certainly doing them when I was in the market for a titanium frame a few years ago. As it happens, I ended up impulse-buying a Van Nic Ventus at a price I thought too good to miss, but ended up regretting it; the bike just wasn't that great to ride.
[EDIT] Google confirms I'm not going mad:
Screenshot 2019-03-01 at 23.13.52.png
In all fairness, that doesn't actually mean that thet actually sell them.
Respect to janusz0 in making a careful search, it's a terrible website design (or I'm getting old).
I never said it did. I said they were doing them when I was looking several years ago, and the Google cache confirmed that I wasn't having a tired new father moment.
You're right, you just said that Burls would sell him one, which I accpet is different from actually selling them.
Funny old world. Funny old language.
I'm looking for a ti tourer and the old version didn't fit the bill (max tyre width 28mm) but this looks more promoising. Unfortunately, it is not on their website.
Don't bother because the Yukon disc will only take 28mm with guards and 35mm without, this was pointed out in the Road CC article in 2017, they haven't changed that from what I can see. https://road.cc/content/tech-news/228729-van-nicholas-launches-yukon-dis...
I bought a rim brake Sabbath September last year, I fitted 28mm Panaracer EVo 28s measuring an actual 30mm on H+Son TB14 rim with guards and it'll do 35mm without guards.
Unless VN have radically changed the frame design I wouldn't expect it to have any more clearance than the first disc variant. It's a light tourer at best and hence why it doesn't have front rack mounts as standard on the forks.
circa 9kg for a 'clean' bike in Ultegra/Kysrium Elite £5k build (without guards/racks/bottle cages etc) isn't exactly setting the world on fire but they're a decent frame though you have to weigh up for yourself if the money is worth it against other options.
I just missed out on an absolutely gorgeous Roberts 853 audax/touring framset in blue +painted carbon forks, £450 and barely used, would have had that over the Sabbath in a heartbeat, somebody got a very very nice frame!
I think you are right with "don't bother". I find it odd that a company that supposedly had a disc version of the Yukon in 2017 does not show it on the website nor is there any sign of a 2019 model. The website clearly states that the Yukon non-disc frame is restricted to 28mm tyres. I did get off their website the name of a dealer who is only 9 miles from where I live so I visited him this morning. He had no information about a 2019 version of the Yukon but he has alternatives to consider and seems to focus on high spec and individual customer requirements. He suggested Genesis as an alternative frame so that gives me something to look at as well as the names you mentioned. Thanks for that.
You can have rack or bottle cage mounts on carbon forks: https://ninerbikes.com/products/rlt-9?variant=18666234642530
It seems that most manufacturers just omit them. A fork with rack or bottle cage mounts may weigh slightly more, but if your producing a gravel, adventure or touring bike, I imagine many people would accept that small weight penalty in exchange for the added versatility.
Also, when using a frame bag, especially on smaller frames, it means that there often isn't room for water bottles inside the main frame triangle, so it's useful to be able to mount them elsewhere.
They do a bike with a titanium fork with rack mounts right here https://www.vannicholas.com/touring-bikes/deveron
The reason bikes like this typically go with a carbon fork is because they're aiming it at people who want a reasonably light and sporty setup and likely don't need to carry gallons of water and kilos of equipment for the sort of riding they're doing
And then there's the whole bikepacking thing, with lots of cyclists discovering the joy of touring and long distance riding but preferring to strap bags to frames, seatposts and handlebars rather than using racks and panniers
Thanks David, the fork looks nice, but it's aluminum alloy according to the deveron web page, and doesn't have a disc mount option:
The VNT TRX Alloy Expedition/Touring is a very solid and stable front fork. It is intended for riding with heavy luggage and over uneven terrain.Compatible with V-Brakes and can be used with wider tires (up to 54 mm), fenders (up to 60 mm) and lowriders.
Specifications:
Weight: 1070gr
Length: 430mm (axle to crown)
Rake: 41mm
Material: Alloy 7005
That's not showing confidence in titanium as a frame material, is it?
(I have confidence in titanium and I'd have no hesitation in buying a titanium frame including a titanium fork, although I'd prefer Spa Cycles prices;)
Are you sure srchar? A careful look at their website reveals titanium frames and titanium parts, but the forks are either steel or carbon fibre.
Edit:
It's been a year or more since I last searched for titanium forks. I was surprised to see that SJS is now selling a Titanium 'cross fork for 300 quid. The Nevi fork is as beautiful as promised, but now has a price tag. Sitting in between is the ticycle.com fork and Wittson and there's more on eBay and a lot more on Alibaba. Things are looking up for a full titanium touring frame.
3D cast dropouts...Wow!
But they don't have separate mounts for mudguards and rack, just one mount by the look of it.
Burls will sell you a Ti fork.
Xerxes> That's a very handsome tourer.
It would be even more handsome with shiny, longlasting, front forks!
> the lack of mounting points on the forks for racks or bottle cages.
I blame this on the lack of vendor enthusiasm for titanium forks.
Titanium frame makers mutter about manufacturing difficulties and costs, but don't sound very convincing. If Cannondale was capable of producing rigid aluminium alloy forks with mounts for cantilever brakes and mudguard eyes in the 20th Century, please can road.cc find an engineer to convincingly explain what the problem is with titanium in the 21st Century?
That's a very handsome tourer.
However, one thing I've noticed is the lack of mounting points on the forks for racks or bottle cages. It seems a lot of the current gravel/adventure bikes forgo any mounting points on the forks, which seems something of an oversight to me.