Okay so i'm planning a ride of 20,000 miles on a shoestring budget and need to build a touring bike capable of such a feat. Please have a look at the list below to see if you have anything relevant or if you have anything else that i might need

*Firstly i need a large steel frame that takes 26 inch wheels. Rim brake or disc i'm not too bothered. I'm 6ft7 so anything 20" or over will be considered. If you've got an old kona frame or cove handjob or similar PLEASE GET IN TOUCH

*2 Ortleib panniers, and a steel rear pannier rack

*A decent set of 36 spoke, double walled rims ie Sunn Rhyno

*A handlebar bag capable of carrying a small DSLR camera

*Small DSLR camera

*XT hollowtech Crankset or similar

*Brooks leather saddle

*Avid BB disc brakes (will have to get frame first)

*Water bottle cages

*SPD shoes to fit uk size 14

*Handlebar ends

*Schwalbe Marathon XC tyres or similar bombproof touring tyre

*Topeak Alien multitool

*Drivetrain XT or XTR

ANYTHING ELSE YOU THINK MIGHT BE RELEVANT THAT YOU OWN AND DON'T WANT PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

Cheers

Might have some stuff of interest in one of my threads (<1998 in signature below and some in the >1998 section here http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... 02#1406002

Have also a pair of D521 with LX hubs that might be sufficient wheels as beefier for downhill but reasonable weight - say £60 posted

Sounds like you need a lot!

PM if I can help.

If you're riding that far consider Bhrama bars - one piece handlebars with bar-ends built in. They'll give far more hand postitions than a flat bar and bar-ends. A few have cropped up in the for sale pages recently.

You might be better off starting with a bike as a donor than buying bits separately - you'll get exactly what you want, but it'll cost a lot.

SP

Take a look at the CTC forums on bottom brackets - anything other than square taper doesn't seem to last.

I'd take a look at steel Marins - they tend to be in big sizes. They also make good tourers. I've done thousands of miles on a 1990 Palisades on 4 continents. I'd also suggest buying a cheaper one - the thick-walled tubes make the bike more robust and better able to deal with heavy loads and the rough and tumble of touring. A Specialized Rockhopper would also be a great choice.

I have a pair of schwalbe marathons 26x1.9 or 2.1 can't quite remember. they've covered about 250 miles only and are in great shape, let me know if interested.

Don't know if you have seen this might fit the bill for you
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=196831

As already mentioned its probably better to go for a square taper BB as these last longer and are easier to find when you are out and about, especially if you are off the beaten track.

As splatter said, bars like these are great for touring, your hands don't get so tired:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SILVER-ALLOY- ... 415eb108d9

Consider a dyno hubbed front wheel, this will give you lights and a power source for charging your phone and batteries.

I used a steel framed Kona, the early ones already have rack mounts on them

Good luck, if you need any help PM me, I've done a bit of touring before.

I have a 19 inch Lava Dome frame in my for sale thread (link below). I am 6'2" and rode it ok, I used a fork with a very long steerer and spacers in the headset, combined with a short(ish) stem and risers, made it quite comfortable. May be a little to short for you still though, but figured I would mention it just in case!

Good luck with your travels!

Dan

Couple of nice cheap bottle cages here

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... 79#1494479

do you really want xtr? its built for function not lifespan xt will go on for ever.

The Saracen Sahara frame (ok MY Saracen frame!) in the first reply to your original post would indeed make a great tourer. I'm a very lanky 6'3" and it fitted me fine with not a great deal of seatpost showing. Utterly bombroof frame, obviously rim brake only but would accommodate a modern 3x9 drivetrain with no drama... and rim brakes have enough power when set up right.

I also have loads of handlebars (including some On-One Mary bars which I found great for ATB touring or the flat bars I used on the Saracen with stem and bar ends), a freshly powdercoated Blackburn MTN rack, an SLX Hollowtech II chainset, a couple of XT long cage rear mechs, several water bottle cages, loads of cantis and v-brakes (DX, STX, Acera, Avids etc), some new Schwalbe 26" semi-slicks. If you buy my frame you won't have to pay postage on anything else you buy from me!

As an aside, I'd personally avoid hydr. discs, alloy frames, XTR. As stated a Rockhopper would also be a good choice (late 90s Ritchey tubed esp.) and donor bikes are always a good way to shave the budget a little.

I have an Agu Sport camera specific bar bag which I bought for the world tour I'm never going to do.
It has protected my [film] SLR very well and comes with internal padding and partitions plus the removeable carrying strap but needs the [standard] bar fitting bracket.
Can't seem to post pictures here [again] but can send them to your email adress if it is of any interest.