Almost finished building up my touring bike. Really digging the multibar. Can't say enough about the importance of having multiple hand positions available for preventing numbness. And having the 3/9 o'clock grips give great control and allow you to torque the bike over when accelerating from a stop.
The Brooks saddle is amazing - less truly is more.
I'm finding that the bike now rolls REALLY well with the semi-slick tires. So much so that it may be necessary to change to a smaller cog on the rohloff to obtain a higher top gear. Running 36t chainring and 16t cog, I'm currently spending most of my time (unloaded on flats) in 12th gear, which leaves only 2 more higher speeds on the Speedhub. This may be OK. We'll see when I crest the Sierras :-)
Hydraulic brakes seem finicky and the jury is out on whether they will be reliable enough for long tours. I may switch the front to a mechanical disk.
I'm finding that the bike now rolls REALLY well with the semi-slick tires. So much so that it may be necessary to change to a smaller cog on the rohloff to obtain a higher top gear. Running 36t chainring and 16t cog, I'm currently spending most of my time (unloaded on flats) in 12th gear, which leaves only 2 more higher speeds on the Speedhub. This may be OK. We'll see when I crest the Sierras :-)
Hydraulic brakes seem finicky and the jury is out on whether they will be reliable enough for long tours. I may switch the front to a mechanical disk.
The specs:
- 20" Moots Mooto-X 29er (YBB; Rohloff cable mounts; sliding, disk-compatible dropouts)
- Surly Karate Monkey steel fork
- King Nothread set
- Moots Mountain Stem
- BBB Multibar (black, inverted, with foam kit)
- White Industries Eno Crankset
- Boone Ti Chainring (36t)
- Moots Layback post
- Brooks B17 saddle
- Time Atac pedals
- Nokon Konkavex cable system
- Hope Mono-mini brakes
- Wipperman 8sp nickel plated chain
- Phil stainless, square spindle bottom bracket
- King ISO disk hub
- Rohloff speedhub
- DT Swiss tk7.1 disk rims
- DT swiss spokes
- Schwalbe Marathon Supreme (700x35c) semi slicks
- Old Man Mountain Cold Springs (rear) / Ultimate Low Rider (front)
- Ortlieb Bike Packer Plus (rear) / Sport Packer Plus (front)
- Speedgoat.com
- Starbike.com (tires, bars, rohloff accessories, etc that can't be found in the US)
- Old Man Mountain racks (bombproof double-pass tig aluminum, axle-mount racks.)
- Wallingford Bicycle Parts (friendly; great prices on Ortlieb stuff)
2 comments:
Hi Mike,
Your bike looks familiar in that it is posted in the Speedgoat gallery.
I am trying to build up a mountain touring bike without breaking the bank. I already own an Americano so I want something that is more "off-road" than what you have converted your bike to here.
I don't need titanium so I am looking to the IF Deluxe Steel with 29er geom, Rohloff drops, disk compatible, min 45 cm chain stays for rack/panniers, S&S couplers, and holes so I can mount Tubus (rather than aluminum OMM) racks.
Do you have any advice for me?
Steve
Steve,
Watch out for the chainring/chainstay clearance with a Rohloff bike. An offset bottom bracket (installation) was needed to accomodate a 36t chainring. Rohloff says to never use anything smaller than 38t (with default 16t cog). The 36t ring I'm using barely fits AND voids the warranty!
I wonder how long conventional steel eyelets would last offroad. OMM racks were designed to attach at the axle especially for offroad bikes with suspension. Racks and eyelets are notorious for breaking on long (paved) expeditions. The OMM setup is really slick and the welding is the highest quality. The axle mount does complicate tube changes, but you get used to it.
Good luck,
Mike
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