Sincere Cycles Build: Kevin’s Monē La Roca V3 Hardtail 29er – john watson | The Radavist | A group of individuals who share a love of cycling and the outdoors.

The hardtail market is far from saturated, yet there are a lot of bikes that just blend together with similar angles, colors, details, and pricing. This isn’t a bad thing, but when buying an incredibly well-rounded frame that can be built up any number of ways, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything in the same realm as a Monē.

The La Roca is Cjell Monē’s production hardtail, made by hand in a small operation in Taiwan using a unique fillet brazing technique. What you’re looking at now is the V3 frame, and we have yet to feature a La Roca V3 here on The Radavist so when Bailey was building this up at Sincere Cycles last Friday, I had to take it out for photos! Let’s check out what’s new in V3 and more details on Kevin from Adventure Bikepacking‘s build below!

La Roca V3 Updates

“Best one yet” is a proper lauding from Cjell when he describes the current rendition of the La Roca. That’s because there’s a lot going on with this bike. Where to begin? How about the overall stance and design theory behind the new La Roca. Utilizing a sizing philosophy used by Jeff Jones of Jones Bikes, Cjell chose a slacker seat angle –73.7º for the size medium here–than what you typically see on a modern hardtail. The thinking behind this is as the rider’s saddle height goes up, the effective top tube gets longer. Jeff Jones did this to have one frame size fit a number of riders but Cjell still offers the La Roca in four sizes.

Keeping to the tukt philosophy of Monē Bikes, Cjell specced a 405mm chainstay when the telescoping chainstay system, aka the Changer Dropouts, is closed–fitting 27.5 x 2.5″ wheels–and 435mm when it’s open, clearing a 29 x 3″ tire. This 30mm adjustment is for singlespeed applications and dialing in the right tire clearance. If you can, the thought is you can slam your tire right up against the seat tube, making it easier to maneuver the bike in tight places and to wheelie! Or if you prefer a longer rear end, open it up some!

Another note in the seat tube is Cjell lowered the seat tube cluster, allowing for longer dropper lengths up to 200mm. Then, to give those longer droppers clearance, Cjell switched the bottle bosses to raised mounts.

Another part of the wheelie equation is the bottom bracket height, in which Cjell raised a hair, landing on 34mm of BB drop. This higher bottom bracket results in a bike that is more playful and stable with longer suspension fork lengths. The La Roca V3’s 65.5º head angle (with a 528mm ATC fork length, 20% sagged) is optimized for everything from the El Continente rigid fork to a 160mm trail fork. Kevin opted for a 140mm Pike Ultimate.

A Sincere Cycles Build

The size medium that Kevin had Bailey build up weighs 28 lbs on the nose for a relatively mid-tier build with some flashy bits. Kevin put his money where it matters with a new Pike Ultimate 140mm, Paul Boxcar stem, Monē Light Bar handlebar, WolfTooth Resolve dropper. He let Bailey take some creative license with the accessories, adding brass Monē spacers, bar ends, tire valves, and seat collar, matching those beautiful fillets. For a drivetrain, Kevin’s rolling with SRAM Eagle AXS and SRAM G2 brakes.

The new La Roca can be built up 27.5, 29er, flat, riser, or drop bars, geared or singlespeed. Run racks, or don’t. Take it touring, or just on trail rides. Send ‘er at the bike park or cruise gravel roads rigid. The incredibly versatile La Roca looks amazing and retails for $1,325 for the frame.

Sincere Cycles is a La Roca dealer and is offering up custom builds with a size run in stock currently. What you’re looking at here is $6250 plus tax, out the door. Holler at Bailey for a build price for your dream La Roca. If you want a custom, US-made La Roca made in Silver City, New Mexico, Cjell can do that, too!

See more on the La Roca V3 at Monē Bikes!

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