Ultimate bike?

[Cornish Neil]

I'm looking to build the 'ultimate' bike for all round mtb'ing, bike packing, regular winter commuting (20 miles mix of on and off road), JOGLE off road in 2015 and maybe (just maybe) the tour divide (leisure not race) within the next 5-7 years.

I am thinking:
Titanium frame 29 er with sliding dropouts and rack mounts.
100mm forks, RS SIDs or similar (most of my local rides are too rough to ride rigid at pace)
Rohloff hub
Possibly dynamo hub for GPS/ lights

Aiming to keep it under 12kg.

Considering getting a frame built to spec, read good and bad things about Chinese titanium frames, but think I'm prepared to risk it as I'd be able to get the necessary cable guides to run the twin rohloff cables in continuous outers.

Anyone got any thoughts/ ideas / suggestions?

Anyone had much experience with Rohloff? A friend and very good mechanic in my LBS ran one on demo for 2 years and loved it, but couldn't afford to keep it, he said he'd have one again if he could. I like the idea of getting back at 7pm after work in January and not worrying whether the bike will work at 8pm the next morning...

[Bearbonesnorm]

It's only my opinion but I wouldn't go Ti ... seen and heard of too many breakages over the last couple of years.

If I were going down the custom route I'd be talking to Shand about something steel.

[pistonbroke]

In defence of Ti, have you looked at Van Nicholas? I have a Redwood 29er with sliding dropouts, it's a 2011 model but unfortunately the latest models have standard dropouts but as far as I know they do a Rohloff compatible frame with EBB. I fitted mine with an Alfine 11 speed and a hub dynamo which powers my GPS. This setup survived an 11 day trip across the Pyrenees from the Med to the Atlantic with full bikepacking gear.

[mtbmarkymark]

Similar thoughts here.... a few months ago i bought a Salsa El Mariachi ( steel 29nr ) frame
It has "Alternator" dropouts which give easy chain tensioning, a std bottom bracket shell ( no EBB ) and you can get different dropouts for geared, singlespeed and Rohloff setups
The frame is not overly heavy ( 100g more than a similar 853 26" frame i have ) and has a nicely sprightly yet comfy ride. i'm runnng fully rigid with the niner fork up front which i love.... more comfortable than the exotic carbon forks i had before
i'm running a Rohloff and think this a good setup. The 29nr wheelsize seems to suit the Rohloff better than when it was in a 26r frame. i've had the Rohloff for 2 years now and love it especially when the weather is bad
Avid BB7 brakes too for added dependability
A dynamo front hub is on my wish list too as GPS's eat batteries
For light road touring with panniers you can fit a rack to it if you use a salsa seat collar with rack mounts.
Having just done this you need to keep the pannier load below 15kg as you are carrying the load a bit higher than normal. Perhaps a pannier rack meant for a 26r would help here
But it's as a bikepacking setup with frame bag etc that the Salsa excels.
They do a Ti version too....it may be too much temptation for me

[Cornish Neil]

Thanks for the input.

I think if I was planning on some epic multi month trip into far flung places I'd go steel, but most ti frames seem to have good warranties.

I have a steel kinesis decade and I really want to like it, but I just don't! I much prefer my on one carbon 456, and I think a big part of that is the weight difference. Ti just seems to be best of both worlds (although granted not as repairable as steel)

Have considered van Nicholas, my favourite money no object ti frame has to be the Lynskey pro 29 sl https://www.lynskeyperformance.com/store/pro29-sl.html but even that isn't perfect out of the box as it needs the additional cable stops for rohloff.

[Cornish Neil]

Similar thoughts here.... a few months ago i bought a Salsa El Mariachi ( steel 29nr ) frame
It has "Alternator" dropouts which give easy chain tensioning, a std bottom bracket shell ( no EBB ) and you can get different dropouts for geared, singlespeed and Rohloff setups
The frame is not overly heavy ( 100g more than a similar 853 26" frame i have ) and has a nicely sprightly yet comfy ride. i'm runnng fully rigid with the niner fork up front which i love.... more comfortable than the exotic carbon forks i had before
i'm running a Rohloff and think this a good setup. The 29nr wheelsize seems to suit the Rohloff better than when it was in a 26r frame. i've had the Rohloff for 2 years now and love it especially when the weather is bad
Avid BB7 brakes too for added dependability
A dynamo front hub is on my wish list too as GPS's eat batteries
For light road touring with panniers you can fit a rack to it if you use a salsa seat collar with rack mounts.
Having just done this you need to keep the pannier load below 15kg as you are carrying the load a bit higher than normal. Perhaps a pannier rack meant for a 26r would help here
But it's as a bikepacking setup with frame bag etc that the Salsa excels.
They do a Ti version too....it may be too much temptation for me

Yes I have looked at the ti version of this, it looks very nice, and salsa's answer to sliding dropouts look like a really good solution, how do you find them in practice?

So you like the rohloff then? No issues with noise/ drag etc?

I wouldn't be carrying anything like 15kg on the rear rack so that wouldn't be an issue.

Got any pics of your bicycle?

[Ian]

I think if I was planning on some epic multi month trip into far flung places I'd go steel, but most ti frames seem to have good warranties.

I don't think there's ever a convenient time for a ti frame to fail, warranty or not.
If you want to chance it, fair enough, but as an ultimate bike (and a rider of a ti bike), I'd look seriously at lightweight custom steel. I'll second Shand Cycles too, lovely bikes. You could also check out Oak Cycles.

[mtbmarkymark]

Hi Neil
The alternator dropouts are really well engineered. You have a built in tugs bolts on each side
very easy to use and i've had no slippage issues. lots of info on the Salsa website.
I'm running quite a low gearing on the Rohloff for 3 reasons...My knees are shot, it gives me a 16" bottom ratio for winching up hill when loaded and also because it keeps me in quieter gears 8-14 as much as possible. Their is some noise in gears 7 and below. Some would say their is the tiniest bit of extra drag too but it is insignificant when compared to the difference tyre / pressures / mud make
no pic's i'm afraid but if it helps your imagination the spec is
Salsa El Mariachi steel frame in gloss black
Niner Carbon rigid fork with tapered steerer
Hope mixer headset
Rohloff / Stans Arch EX / DT comp spokes rear DT 240s QR front hub with Stans Crest
Middleburn X type cranks, Hope external BB
Avid BB7 brakes 160 rotors front and back
Ergon GP3 grips ( excellent )
Salsa 17°bend flat carbon bars, Bontrager carbon post
26 lbs
Revelate frame bag, Wildcat tiger seat bag, drybag strapped under bars

[Ray Young]

I know of two people who's ti frames broke, both of which had warranties. Neither manufacturer fixed them under warranty claiming the damage was due to misuse of the frame, ie crashing. And yes I would let Shand build me a frame too (rohloff hub with gates belt drive please), they are only 15 miles from where I live and I think their bikes are beautiful too.

[FLV]

Ti. 44mm headtube. Sliders. 29er. Rohloff. Reba's 100mm.

I love it.

I've thought a lot about ti frames vs steel frames. What would I do if it snapped?
You could spend your time worrying over what ifs on any bike. From all the things I've seen break on bikes I think it's more likely to see a wheel disintegrate than a frame snap.

I was lucky enough to get the frame close to half price so for me, it was cheaper than steel.

[Cornish Neil]

Cracking looking bike that FLV, that's pretty much what I'm aiming for.

What frame is it (cant quite read it) and do you know what it weighs in total?

[Cornish Neil]

I'll second Shand Cycles too, lovely bikes. You could also check out Oak Cycles.

Shand seem to focus on road/cx rather than mtb? Oak look more my thing and it would be lovely to have a totally bespoke steel bike which would go on forever and you could just re-powder coat every 10 or so years, but I can't help thinking if I go down the steel route I could save a whole lotta cash by buying an on one or similar and having a frame builder swap the dropouts and add some cable stops and then powder coat it some funky colour...

But by the time I do all that I would be almost into Ti money. Lynskey seem to have a no questions asked frame replacement policy, anyone know of anyone whos actually broken one and tested the policy?

Decisions decisions...

[FLV]

Cracking looking bike that FLV, that's pretty much what I'm aiming for.

What frame is it (cant quite read it) and do you know what it weighs in total?

Its a Kona Raijin. Lynskey made frame.
http://www.konaworld.com/raijin.cfm

With the Reba RLT, Hope front wheel, Rohloff, Arch EX, 2.2 tyres, xtr chainset (not the xo pictured), XT brakes and nice finishing kit its slightly under 27lbs
I have some sids to go on it when I've mended them.

It has sliding dropouts but they're not lynskeys standard ones. I had a Rohloff specific slider made (modelled and had it cnc'd) but that wasnt the cheapest thing to do. neat though.

I know swapping to 1x10 xtr would be a fair bit lighter but I love the rohloff. My maintenance time on this bike has dropped to almost zero

[Cornish Neil]

It has sliding dropouts but they're not lynskeys standard ones. I had a Rohloff specific slider made (modelled and had it cnc'd) but that wasnt the cheapest thing to do. neat though.

Don't suppose you still have the drawings?

[composite]

I was weighing up the options between the 29er Reba 100mm and SID 100mm for my race bike and just couldn't see why the SID was worth the extra. I went with the Reba RLT in the end. Considering getting the RTC3 option added. The Reba and SID are pretty much the same weight as well.

[FLV]

It has sliding dropouts but they're not lynskeys standard ones. I had a Rohloff specific slider made (modelled and had it cnc'd) but that wasnt the cheapest thing to do. neat though.

Don't suppose you still have the drawings?

Have the model in a step file, had it made from that. It has an i s disc mount.
I have one with a post mount but its double the machining cost.

You want it? Pm me. I can recommend a place to get it machined too.

Also, if you go for another frame I'd be happy to model up a rohloff version.

[Zippy]

I've just seen this:

http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/ ... ipster-atr

I currently have (it's about a year old now) Kinesis Crosslight Pro6 that I built up and is my workhorse/commuting bike (flatbars). When that dies, I think I shall be getting this one!