Nice - glad to hear a positive experience. Did you ever have any troubles with missed shifts or the chain getting caught between cogs? [/quote]
No, there was no difference between it and a straight 8x setup; the only missed shifts I saw happened after my driveside chainstay cracked, and those, obviously, didn’t go away even after I swapped to 8x STI levers.
[quote=Sneaky Viking]hiljentaa, what size are you looking for?
we have a team of experts compulsively combing ebay for this shit. there was a couple Jamis disc completes that went for $6XXish each a month or 2 ago.
also, how old are you?
because everytime I think about/build a forever bike, I remember 6 months later that I like new bikes. a lot. and building them.
or for example here’s a rad big tire bike at a decent price
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bianchi-San-Remo-Cyclocross-/180831640158?pt=Road_Bikes&hash=item2a1a67da5e#ht_500wt_1065[/quote]
I ride a 56/57.
I’m 24. I hear you on your concerns, but I have been considering a bike like this for over a year now. I don’t have a lot of disposably income, so I tend to think things over for a long time before I act.
Part of the reason I am being so calculated/weighing all my options is that my living arrangements will not allow for a large collection of bikes. Two will have to cove everything - so I need this to be a very neutral and flexible platform in which to build.
Sorry for the three replies - couldn’t multiquote on this device. I really value everyone’s input - you guys have a lot more experience with bikes than I do.
Get this harlequin Yo Eddy (it’s your size):
http://www.fatcogs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3053
Get a Waltworks fork (with dick brakes if you want).
This mid 90s era of Fat Chances are awesome: Steel (it’s real!), short wheelbase for a mtb, 72/71 angles, sick-ass paintjobs, not sure if it has eyelets, but you could get them on the fork for a rack.
If I was you, I’d forget discs and go with an old 520, Expedition, 1000, Volpe, et cetera, with either a new SRAM drivetrain or 9s friction DTs.
Or that Sutra.
That Sutra looks pretty great, and at a fantastic price.
That sounds pretty decentwise esp since you already have the expensive part and the jtek adapter is the only other piece that isn’t cheap and common.
Reliability is pretty damn good once I switched to a mtn dangler, if something in the shifter gets fucked up SRAM will just warranty replace through a shop
Used price on a pair of Red shifters steadily tops out at $320 now with some going down to $250 with scratches and whatnot. The price should go down a bunch once the new 2012 model starts shipping in a month or two. The improvement in Red is just in the right shifter though, so If you can swing the combo a used right Red + carbon Rival left might save you a few bucks.
[quote=Roxy]If I was you, I’d forget discs and go with an old 520, Expedition, 1000, Volpe, et cetera, with either a new SRAM drivetrain or 9s friction DTs.
Or that Sutra.[/quote]
what’s wrong with 10s friction?
I’m finding this thread really interesting. I’m always wondering what the sweet spot would be if I were to choose just one bike to own. I’ve been wondering about the Surly Ogre as a candidate. Going back to what hiljentaa said earlier re. BB drop and the Cross Check, the Ogre is designed to generally run on bigger rubber than the Cross Check so has more BB drop and I therefore I guess a lower BB if running comparably skinny tyres. I get the impression though that it would be a relatively burly, rigid ride and perhaps not accommodate drop bars well. Perhaps erring on the side of a smaller frame would help with accommodating drop bars, though I’m guessing this would probably require a tall spacer stack. Maybe too trail/load hauling orientated for what you were looking for, but versatility wise (disc/v brake, horizontal dropout for ss, tyre clearance for whatever, rack/fender braze-ons) worth considering? I am a noob, be cruel, I’ll probably learn something.
My thinking:
The “one bike to own” thing is bullshit. It makes far more sense to own two pretty decent bikes than it does one baller spork of a bike that instead of being a great fork and spoon just ends up kind of sucking at both operations.
For any given spectrum of riding types and set budget amount, there will almost always be two bikes that are better than one.
It need not be a 50/50 split. Figure out what kind of riding you do 80% of the time, and buy a bike that is at least 80% optimized for that. Maybe this will be most of your budget, maybe not. With the rest get a second bike that rounds you out, (dedicated roadie, cheap 26er hardtail, whatever).
Anything you lack in budget for discipline-specific bikes make up for with HTFU.
-edit: Naturally, this is do as I say, not as I do territory.
VT’s ogre with drops.
I like the spork analogy. I did buy a titanium spork a little while back and I really don’t like it much. I wish I got the spoon. What you say makes perfect sense if the aim is to get the most performance from a set amount of money. A worthy goal. I’m thinking more along the lines of having one bike for the purpose of having less stuff. I think if I found a good middle ground I’d happily accept the compromises… while I think sporks are a bad compromise I could happily live without a fork if I had the right spoon. Probably a different story if I raced. Competitive eating is serious business.
lwkwafi, that looks like the Troll with 26inch wheels, but interesting nonetheless.
Oh, you are correct. I cant keep up with all of surly’s oddly-named, and related bike lines.
[quote=miguel][quote=Roxy]If I was you, I’d forget discs and go with an old 520, Expedition, 1000, Volpe, et cetera, with either a new SRAM drivetrain or 9s friction DTs.
Or that Sutra.[/quote]
what’s wrong with 10s friction?[/quote]
easier to miss a shift, more expensive drivetrain. can probably get away with it if you have the nice riv/dia compe “silver” shifters (or something else that ratchets nicely)… but why?
Coz balleurer than 9
didnt read past the first couple posts
did anyone mention the all-city space horse? looks to be awzum with the right components.
Thanks for the info, Fred. Much appreciated. The Sram option is very interesting to me - definitely will look into it more.
[quote=jimmythefly]My thinking:
The “one bike to own” thing is bullshit. It makes far more sense to own two pretty decent bikes than it does one baller spork of a bike that instead of being a great fork and spoon just ends up kind of sucking at both operations.
It need not be a 50/50 split. Figure out what kind of riding you do 80% of the time, and buy a bike that is at least 80% optimized for that. Maybe this will be most of your budget, maybe not. With the rest get a second bike that rounds you out, (dedicated roadie, cheap 26er hardtail, whatever). [/quote]
I hear you - I do. I am fully aware of this. Most of my riding can be done on a road bike. I’d like to incorporate this ‘monstercross/fat-tired road bike’ thing as my ‘everything else’ bike - basically. I don’t do enough of this ‘other’ riding to justify having three other specialized bikes for the uses - and the setups/uses don’t require too much tweaking. Basically adding racks/fenders when needed, and changing tires dependent upon terrain.
I just need to find something that suits those needs as well as fulfilling my wants/desires (steel frame, reliable/simple, rebuildable/servicable, attractive).
[quote=truckdoug]didnt read past the first couple posts
did anyone mention the all-city space horse? looks to be awzum with the right components.[/quote]
This is a great option as well. I was even thinking about that, plus a more traditional/lighter/less rake ‘cross’ fork for when running 32s, and switching to the OEM fork when loaded up/fatter tires. Something to consider.
Re: Roper and disc Double Cross - I’ve thought about them. The Roper is heavy and doesn’t take as big of tires as I’d like. I’d have to switch the wheels immediately. The Double Cross is a good option, but I wish it took slightly larger tires - unless I went 650b…
…Speaking of 650b…
Browsing the BA, I mean, PYB thread - Braden’s Bryant caught my eye/gave me an idea…
Now - walk with me. My current road bike - it’s a Steve Rex frame. I love it. I absolutely love it. It’s one of those ‘keepers’.
It fits 28-30s. No eyelets or anything.
I did some measuring and some calculating, and if I were to build up a set of 650b wheels for it - same rear hub and cassette, dynamo front hub, put Pari-Motos on - it would be pretty damn close to the same diameter as the wheels with 28c GP 4Seasons that are on there now.
It’d drop the BB by about 3-4 mm, and would also lower the trail just slightly.
So I was thinking about having two sets of wheels and brakes for the bike - short reach + 700cs w/ 26c (actual) tires and extra long reach + 650bs with 37c actual tires + fenders.
700cs for fast/most of my riding, and a (relatively) painless switch over to the 650b set up for exploring, dirt/gravel roads, and even maybe camping. I’d likely always be running the dynamo when I opted for the 650bs.
I have a Trek 620 touring bike that I am in the process of slightly modernizing that I could just keep instead of selling for my touring needs, and sell it off after I have satisfied my urges - or even just store it at my father’s house instead of having it at my residence.
Then that would free me up for maybe a more dedicated cross or mountain bike as my second bike in the future.
What do you guys think? Thanks to all who have actually read my inane bullshit so far and given me advice - honestly is much appreciated.
I think the idea of going dedicated for either cross or mountain biking is a good idea. I don’t know much about cross bikes but at least for mountain bikes a bike that is awesome on singletrack is going to suck ass for most everything else and vice versa, so trying to specialize makes a lot of sense.
This is truth.
