Mud Proof Steel Project - Univega vs Breezer Sky

[doctor-bond]

Hello all,

Re the clearences: would it help if I used the slightly narrower tyres designed for muddy conditions?

Johnny

I've found that to be a good solution: I even like a 1.5" Conti XC rear with something bigger up front for comfort. The slim jim at the back increases clearance and cuts through the ooze (it also gets itself out of mud more readily than a chubby). Guess it depends on what type of clart you get into.

(The Inuit have about 12 words for snow: how many are there for mud in English?)

 

[Johnsqual]

(The Inuit have about 12 words for snow: how many are there for mud in English?)

Dunno about English, but in Flemish they have at least two words just for cyclists who like to ride in the mud - 'slijkduivels' ('slick-devils') and 'moddervreters' ('mud-eaters')

 

[legrandefromage]

If Belgium is as muddy as I remember, its clay based and it wont matter what bike you have you will end up like this:

 

[Johnsqual]

If Belgium is as muddy as I remember, its clay based and it wont matter what bike you have you will end up like this:

Ha!, I love that picture. I like the fact that most of the mud there seems to have stuck to the tyres before it even reached the frames.

That looks like typical West-Flanders conditions to me. Further south there's not so much clay, but more sand to eat your rims and brake blocks :evil:

 

[gerryattrick]

Take the road less travelled.

Go for Univega - they have the MMR (Max Mud Room) chainstays

 

[cs1]

Cleland Content

How about a Cleland style bike. His bikes were designed for just what you're talking about.

http://clelandcycles.wordpress.com/

 

[cce]

or an on-one inbred? they have massive tyre clearances

 

[Johnsqual]

Hello,

The Univega is sold, so looks like the Breezer is my only choice.

The Clelands look very interesting too, but where do you find them?

Only found the site about the history and the prototypes...

Johnny

 

[Johnsqual]

Hello,

Thanks for the replies, especially the suggestion about the Clelands. I have been doing some research, particularly into them which are looking increasingly appealing. I love the Britishness of the whole thing. I found the Cleland Frankenbikes thread on here, and found that very inspiring.

Have a couple of questions that have come up in my research.

1) Can anyone suggest a decent hub brake? I saw that on the original bikes
they were using old moped hubs. Is there a more easily available alternative? Surely not Shimano Nexus?

2) How do they cope with descents? The trails I ride include some technical-ish descents and I'm curious about how the Clelands would deal with that.

3) Finally, the MTB trails here in Belgium generally consist of off road sections linked by roads and bridleways. In some ways, cyclocross bikes are good for this, apart from the crap brakes and fragile frames of course. I'm wondering if it's possible to somehow combine the benefits of Cleland type bikes with bikes that can also cope better with roads. Maybe using a more commuter oriented MTB frame or something...

In any case, I am going to look at the Breezer Sky on the 28th. It may just end up being added to my collection rather than being used for this particular project, though

Cheers again for looking.

Johnny

 

[Tazio]

I find the Panaracer FireXCpro 1.8 very good in mud and will give you lots of cearance on most things. I run them on a Salsa singlespeed and they do the trick nicely. Bags of grip as well.