Not any time soon. The tight, springy frame is a dream to ride. Soon, I'll be investing in some 1.5" Tioga City Slickers, and I have a Trek Sonic cycling computer, with cadence monitor. I also want to find or build a lighter set of wheels for this bike. Hoping I can find some black Bullseye laced to Trek Matrix rims, or I could build up some wheels with Matrix Mt. Aero.
Back in November, I took this bike on a ~60 mile overnight tour along the Katy Trail in my home state of Missouri.
Shakedown ride day before the trip:
Fully loaded, at the half way point on the way back:
I outfitted it with my old Topeak rack, a small GoRuck duffel, and an Ortlieb pannier.
On the front, I fitted a newer Sunlite front rack, a Wald 137 basket, and and a Makeshifter Basket Case.
I also swapped on a pair of Tioga Psycho IIs, some XT M730 pedals, a Flite for more comfort, and a Velo Orange Mojave bottle cage for 1.5L of water reserves
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Along the ride, my bottom bracket got a little loose and creaky, my headset lock ring failed to keep my headset tight, and my rear derailleur started getting noisy. Since I got back, I've replaced the loose Vetta jockey wheels with a pair of red Bullseyes, adjusted the bottom bracket, and replaced the Tioga lock ring with the original Gorilla Headlock that came on the bike. I also took the racks off, and put the Tioga pedal assemblies back on. A few weeks after this ride, on my weekly Friday night ride, one of the Psychos pushed it's wire bead into my tube, so I swapped back to Tioga City Slickers.
I love how easy it is to convert this bike into a touring machine! I am happy to have it turned back into a quick city ripper, and now I have the inspiration to build a dedicated touring bike!
Do you remember what width the tapered BB was, I have the 92 frameset but it had no BB installed.
I know they had BB UN50's in there but no sign what width although I assume it's 113.
Any info would be appreciated.
I figured it's time for an update. I've swapped a few parts out in the past, and mentioned that, but not yet shown photos. There's also plenty of new to show off:
Here's my every day bike, and I literally ride it every day!
You can start to see the patina after a few years of riding. The frame condition is quickly getting back to where it was when I first bought it!
I absolutely love this crankset/pedal combo.
Here you can see the Bullseye pulleys I installed, as well as an earlier Rollamajig.
I recently installed this Oddysey Svelte skewer in the back. I've had it knocking around for a few years, but decided to install it, cause it's lighter than the XT. And it has a bent metal hoop, so it matches a couple other things aesthetically.
I'm with you on looks, but my butt loves the Flite. If I'm going to ride this all the time, it has got to be comfy!
I also installed a saddle rail Cateye mount, and super glued the mount together, cause the adjustable part strips and loosens. Never again will I lose a light to one of these mounts.
I recently installed a lighter weight Gorilla Headlock Ultralight, replacing the regular silver one. I have another part to swap into this headset stack, so I'll have to post about that later.
When I bought John Balmers Sex Too, it had this Topeak pump on the frame. It fits nicely here.
I also recently finally got a Wald 137 basket for myself, and it is exactly what I was looking for.
It's mounted to the frame with a Sunlite GoldTec front rack, and it's plenty sturdy. I won't carry anything heavy enough to compromise the brake bosses. This is mostly for weekend party rides, carrying beverages and snacks around, or a short grocery trip.
