It’s no surprise to us that weight-weenie bike ultra-customizer Dangerholm falls into the category of cyclists who don’t see clear lines between cross-country mountain bikes and gravel bikes – and his latest Scale RC Super Gravel is the perfect example. Whether it’s a gravel-oriented XC bike or a gravel bike built for riding singletrack and exploring deeper off-road, where you draw the line between the two is really up to the rider…
Dangerholm Scott Scale RC Super Gravel bike
We’ve been following Gustav Gullholm aka Dangerholm’s custom builds for years. His attention to detail always amazes, as does his general ruthlessness with a knife to stock paint jobs. He’s a mountain biker for sure, and the first bike I remember him building was a 6.22kg Scott Scale XC hardtail, not all too dissimilar to this Scale RC Super Gravel bike in it’s ideal terrain. But more recently, he actually already built a Scale in to a flashy Mellow Yellow gravel bike two summers ago. Heavier, but more heavy-duty for winter commuting.
Now, Dangerholm is back reasserting his thoughts on gravel bikes.
What goes gravel mean to Dangerholm?
He justified the XC Gravel project to us back in 2021, figuring “dropbar bikes were a road biker’s vision of gravel, so why not build a mountain biker’s version of gravel with flat bars. Because what mountain biker hasn’t already ridden tons of gravel roads on hardtail mountain bike, so maybe just start from there?” Now he talks about improved comfort thanks to better, bigger tires – a real downside to his Mellow Yellow bike. He also prefers the fit & geometry of a flat MTB bar vs. dropbars, likely because he rides like a hoon off-road.
Plus, he argues, “with the right tire choice, gearing and perhaps handlebar width – it wouldn’t be much slower than its drop bar counterparts.“
The result is a modern rigid carbon XC bike built up with 29 x 2.4″ Kenda Rush knobby tires on Syncros’ ultra-expensive 1-piece carbon Silverton SL MTB wheels. And then, a wild spec list that goes even further to emptying anyone’s wallet.
While I love my drop-bar gravel bike, there’s just something about a mountain bike based gravel build. It’s super fun and inspires playful riding like popping wheelies, there’s lots of comfort thanks to the big tire volume and thick foam grips and except for being slightly less aerodynamic it’s essentially just as fast.
– Gustav Gullholm
What stands out?
The Dangerholm Scott Scale RC Super Gravel bike sticks with a relatively conventional glittery green paint job for the Scott XC frame & rigid fork that debuted last winter. But it does show off in the details.
Its flashiest components are probably those gold-painted $3500 full carbon Syncros Silverton SL mountain bike wheels. But after that, the 3D-printed Sturdy Cycles titanium crankset and Dward Designs 42T chainring jumped out at us.
Sturdy also 3D-printed a hollow titanium universal derailleur hanger (UDH) that bolts on with METI’s Italian machined titanium thru-axles.
And Sturdy 3D-printed wild rotor lockrings, too.
Beyond that, check out the tuned SRAM Red AXS XPLR derailleur with a Ceramic Speed OSPW upgrade. Then, an e*thirteen gravel cassette delivering a 500% gearing range paired to a Red Flattop chain.
On top of that, adding an extra 650g for real usability, Dangerholm gives his Scale Super Gravel bikes an integrated 4000lm Moonlight headlight to light up the Swedish gravel roads though the dark winter. And it’s wired into a battery tucked inside the seattube water bottle for a tidy setup.
Complete Super Gravel bike
This new Dangerholm Scott Scale RC Super Gravel project is light for a mountain bike at a claimed 7.67kg with pedals. But, that’s not really all that light for a modern gravel bike. Especially when you consider its almost limitless budget. Really, it’s a lot heavier than we would expect from a Dangerholm build.
But if you want a bit lighter, and a slightly more conventional gravel setup, you can always check out Dangerholm’s 2021 Addict Gravel build.
Leave your thoughts in the comments below…
Complete Bike Build Spec:
- Frame: SCOTT Scale RC World Cup size Large
- Derailleur hanger: Sturdy Cycles 3D printed titanium
- Fork: SCOTT Scale Rigid
- Thru-axles: METI Titanium
- Headset: Syncros with CeramicSpeed SLT bearings
- Handlebar: Syncros Fraser iC SL 80mm -20degrees 720mm
- Grips: Syncros Foam
- Seatpost: Schmolke Carbon TLO
- Saddle: Berk Composites
- Crankset: Sturdy Cycles MTB 3D printed titanium
- Chainring: Dward Design ”DangerDward” 42T
- Bottom bracket: CeramicSpeed
- Pedals: Shimano XTR with METI Rapido titanium axles
- Chain: SRAM RED
- Cassette: e*thirteen Helix Race Gravel 9-45T
- Rear derailleur: SRAM RED AXS XPLR with gold Carbon-Ti limit screws
- Rear derailleur cage: CeramicSpeed OSPW 3D printed hollow titanium
- Wheels: Syncros Silverton SL
- Tires: Kenda Rush Pro TR 2.4”
- Tubes: Revoloop Ultra MTB
- Brakes: Trickstuff Piccola Carbon
- Rotors: Trickstuff Dächle UL 160mm
- Lock-rings: Sturdy Cycles 3D printed titanium
- Bottle cages: Sturdy Cycles titanium
- Headlight: Moonlight Mountaingear Bright As Day 4000
