Touring bike help needed I've got the frame and forks but

Morning guys need a bit of help/ideas for building up the frame and forks into a robust tourer the frames a bravous 4130 cro mo jobby with surly forks, both have canti mounts. I have wheels covered but I need help on what's the best group set to use and position and what racks and panniers are best price too quality?

Any experience and ideas great fully received

Happy trails Dan

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I think a basic solid groupset like Shimano Deore would be good. Generally, weight and shifting performance seems slightly
less important than toughness and gear range for a tourer. You'd need 9 speed STI shifters though.

Campag Veloce is prettier than Shimano stuff.

If you want to use drop bars, you can't use v brakes - road brake levers don't pull enough cable to work v brakes, so you're stuck with cantis. However, Shimano and Campag both make good cantilevers these days for cyclocross.

Ortlieb waterproof bags are probably the best if you need something to keep your stuff dry. Also very tough material. A bit expensive but cheap panniers are a false economy because they wear out very quickly.

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I agree with a tough groupset like Deore. Personally I use bar-end shifters as they are robust and simple. At the very worst you switch them into non-indexed mode. I run 7 speed still as the chain is stronger than 9 or 10 and the slightly less-dished hub gives a marginally stronger rear wheel.

If you select bar-ends shifters then you can fit V-brake specific drop levers. Cane Creek or Tektro 520 (I think they are identical bar the branding) work very well for me and have nice comfortable hoods and sturdy blades.

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Deore is a good groupset. Tiagra with the long cage RD is a good choice too particularly if you want to go with a double or triple road crank. If you are serious about touring I'd go with bar end shifters over STI because they are more robust. You can use v-brakes. There are mini-vbrakes designed for use with drop bars. They probably won't be as strong as mountain bike v-brakes, but they will be stronger and simpler to set up than canti's. That being said a lot of tourers like canti's because the brake blocks have more material on them so they don't need to be swapped out as frequently. Check out tekro brand mini-vbrakes. My buddy just mounted them on his cyclocross bike and loves them. Tektro makes good brake levers if you are going to go with cant's or v'brakes.

Tubus racks have a good reputation. I'd consider going with a Randoneur bar like the Nitto one.

Cheers guys the bravous frame has gone to the side line after taking a tape measure and doing some mock up sizing it's way to big for me with a 56cm top tube. Last time I trust an ebay seller with a tape measure lol, all is not lost a phone call to a friends shop got me his surly ogre frame set cheap so going the disk route with 28'38'48 chainset disks and bar end shifters after the advise here that I'm really greatful for.

Happy trails Dan

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Sounds Just remember that you need to use a road specific disc brake if you are planning on setting that bike up with drops (which it sounds like you are). Avid makes a road version of the bb7 (shorter throw than the mountain version) and I think Shimano makes a mechanical road disc as well. Should have excellent braking.

im gonna use tetro rl520 levers so i can use normal mtb cable actuated disc callipers and groupset wise I am thinking xt m770 or slx 9speed with bar end shifters.

Just need to find someone to who wants a front hub swap as just brought a sp 8 front dyno hub and its non-disc so need the disc one now.

One last point, on rear hubs don't go with later Shimano XT. They switched to aluminium axles and shrunk the bearings to get them to fit. Long distance tourists have noticed premature wear on them, no doubt made worse by higher loading on the wheel from full panniers etc. Any hub with steel axles will work fine (modern Deore LX seems to be most popular) but an older hub like M737 XT would be my choice - also about the prettiest MTB hub they ever made!

Cheers hamster having had a change around and now building up a surly ogre so gonna use a white industry rear disk hub and use mavic tn719 rims. And going away from drops now in favor of Jones loops after trying a set there comfy for mile munching on and off road

Oooo, classy! If the jones are half as comfortable as Marys you will be onto a winner, especially with the choice of hand position.