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REDLINE GRAVEL, PART 1: BUILD PLAN

2003 Redline Conquest Pro

I’m building a flat bar gravel bike based on this really cool Redline cyclocross frameset. The Conquest Pro was high in Redline’s lineup in 2003, therefore built with top-end Kinesis 7005 alloy tubing. I was really surprised by how smooth it rides, having had some pretty harsh rides on other aluminum bikes. This smoothness couples with low weight, torsional stiffness, and forgiving geometry to make for a really fun ride.

I’ll build this up with a straightforward Shimano 1x9 drivetrain, Bontrager cockpit and wheelset, Prologo saddle, and Clement tires. I’m going with an all-black theme that looks striking with the deep blue frameset.

There’s some work to be done before building, though. Wanting to have everything in the best possible condition, I’ll rehab the frame and components with the requisite smoothing, polishing, and refinishing (I’ll detail that in Part 2). When eventually built, I expect an easy-to-ride, reliable, and mean-looking bike weighing in at around 18 pounds.