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Cyclocross is gaining momentum stateside due to spectator friendly action, a relaxed atmosphere, and because it stretches the riding season well into winter-sport territory. Racers of all walks of life compete on bikes ranging from the latest space-age carbon featherweight to hand-crafted steel beauties. One of the great things about cyclocross racing is that you can't buy skill, making those traditional, hand-crafted rides just as competitive on muddy, barrier-peppered courses as the latest and greatest plastic rockets. The Civilian Bicycle Company's Le Roi Le Veut contains the history, attention-to-detail, and aesthetics of a handmade racer, at a price that justifies adding a cyclocross bicycle to your stable.

Unsatisfied with the offerings available from mainstream manufacturers, Tyson Hart set out building frames under the Civilian brand in 2005 after attending UBI, a respected frame building school in Ashland, Oregon. Relying on a combination of extensive personal experience and close work with clients, Hart crafted cyclocross, commuting, and mountain bicycles. The distinctive cyclocross bikes saw action around the west coast's popular 'cross series, and quickly gained a cult following for their seamless balance of a fun-to-ride attitude, lively handling, and responsive performance.

The Le Roi Le Veut retains the same attention to detail and purposefulness honed in Hart's custom pieces, and is packaged for the masses. The frame is constructed of 4130 double-butted steel tubing. This springy, lightweight steel helps keeps your pocketbook flush, yet offers the durability and supple ride that cyclocross courses demand. Hart shaped the seatstays and chainstays to fight deflection when sprinting for snappy acceleration, but it won't beat you up on bumpy courses, or when jumping back on the saddle after a barrier hop.

At the back end of the Le Roi Le Veut reside Tange Design 7075 T6 aluminum sliding dropouts and is single speed specific. The traditional front triangle is not so traditional with the inclusion of a Civilian Chubby head tube. This oversized head tube offers front end stiffness for negotiating rutted courses with ease, and it'll fight deflection from the powerful front disc brake and stout disc-specific, full-carbon CX fork -- keeping the Le Roi Le Veut planted in high-speed turns, and stable under hard braking.

Because Civilian is about purpose designed, no-nonsense performance, you won't find canti posts on its cyclocross bicycles. Let's face it; those brakes should have been put out to the pasture decades ago. But, because of UCI restrictions, they've continued to plague cyclocross bicycles -- until now. The UCI has lifted the ban, and the Le Roi Le Veut is leading the disc brake movement. The Tektro Lyra mechanical calipers and mud-shedding 160mm front and 140mm rear wave cut rotors, are mated to ergonomic TRP RRL-A brake levers, so you'll have all the power and modulation you need.

Disc brakes stop the Le Roi Le Veut, and FSA Gossamer cranks make it go. Flex-resistant alloy crank arms transfer power efficiently. They spin on Mega Exo outboard bearings to ensure mud and grime won't force the bottom bracket into the trash after of season of racing. The cranks carry a 42 tooth chainring, that turns an 18 tooth cog.

Civilian knows its customers like to tinker, and that this won't be your only bike. For that reason, the Le Roi Le Veut doesn't come with a single-speed specific wheelset. The 18 tooth cog rides on a standard Shimano compatible freehub body with a spacer kit. This design breeds versatility. All you need to do is add a cassette, rear derailleur, rear derailleur hanger, and shifter to make the Le Roi Le Veut a one-by-whatever-you-wish, with stuff you or a comrade probably have lying around in a parts box.

The Le Roi Le Veut wheelset consists of double-walled alloy rims with 32 spokes laced to Quando hubs. They're plenty durable for years of abuse and simple to service if the inevitable Fred falls on them during a race. Front and rear Kenda Small Block Eight 700c x 32mm tires have low-profile knobs for low rolling resistance on hard packed courses; if it's a sloppy race we'd recommend going with a knobbier tire.

An all alloy cockpit is equipped with 2014 aluminum handlebars, seatpost, and stem. They all feature gradient markings to ease adjustment. Velo perforated bar tape gives a secure grip and a Cutter saddle completes the package. The Civilian Le Roi Le Veut comes in 50, 53, 55, 57, 59, and 61cm sizes, and it's available in two colors; French Flag and Sweet Pea.

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Here's what others have to say...

4 5

azlp341002

Member since 
  • Gender: Male
  • Familiarity: I've used it several times

BOTTOM LINE: Once the right mods are made this is a great all around bike. Switch the tires and cog for your surface of choice. Try and find another disc brake road\cross bike with a carbon fork at this price! Just be warned... you will be buying new wheels too.

BAD NEWS: The bike absolutely requires a wheelset upgrade to work as intended. The stock wheels are trash, especially the hubs, which are poorly machined with soft materials. The rear hub makes clunking sounds, and the cog notched up the hub body after ONLY ONE RIDE. I am shocked that quando is still in business. The good news is that because the frame is steel, you can finesse any disc wheelset into the rear dropouts.

MINOR ISSUES: My heels can hit the chainstays when I pedal, even though the bike is big for me. I am 6'2" wearing size 46 shoe and I got the 59cm for gravel grinding. The short chainstays will give you fast acceleration for cross racing. There is little extra tire clearance in the back, but a longer chain can compensate. The Tektro Lyras work better than cantilever brakes, but are a little suspicious. I also replaced the rock hard seat.

GOOD NEWS (depending on your definition): The bike is a tank. I've used it only on the road, and it is great for training. You can mash up a wall with the stock gearing, and a 16 tooth cog is more appropriate for most road riding. It is my first steel frame and I am pleased with the ride, which feels stiff and solid. No issues with the bottom bracket or headset, the sliding dropouts work as intended with no slippage, and the bar, stem, and seatpost
are solid. The bike is not made for weight weenies. I will update this after more use.

4 5

rugp124714

Member since 
  • Gender: Male
  • Familiarity: I've used it once or twice and have initial impressions

For the price, it's hard to find a complete bike with these components (carbon fork, disc brakes, sealed everything, hot tires). Plus, I've emailed Tyson Hart, the builder, several times, and each time he's responded promptly and personally.

All that said, anyone who's even semi-serious about their biking - as a commuter, racer, or leisure rider - will probably be inclined to make some changes and/or additions. First off, the bike comes built as a single-speed - for anyone traversing some majorly slick, mucky terrains (snow, ice, mud) a fixed cog is far superior. Additionally, the gear ratio is way too low - 42/18. This makes for too many crank revolutions per distance traveled (your legs are pumping too quickly and you're not going very fast). Even if you leave the freewheel, you'll want to change the chainring out for something more challenging.

Overall - great.
Pros: components, customer service, shipping time, low assembly, beautiful, unique.
Cons: needs some tinkering (not "meaty" enough), no customization options pre-order, no pedals (cost saving).

Do you know if the drop out on the drive...

dma1713387806

Member since 
Posted on

Do you know if the drop out on the drive side has a hanger? I can see in the photos if it is there. I would like the option to change this to a 1x10 sometimes.

azlp341002

Member since 
Responded on

Yes

Pics/Description is a little confusing...are...

bil

Member since 
Posted on

Pics/Description is a little confusing...are these built single speed or with a rear derailleur?

Andy CD

Member since 
Responded on

It seems from the photos, that the 'french flag' bike is a singlespeed and the 'sweet pea' is a 1x10. Just looking at the pictures though, I could be mistaken.

Aubree

Member since 
Responded on

This is the single speed. The geared bike is the $1,124.24 bike. The photos are definitely confusing