Road bike to Light Tourer (with help from Talbot Frameworks)

I had me a lovely 853/Columbus Spirit Road Frame built for me by Talbot Frameworks in September...

Specced up in a neo-classical style with some proper wheels and good old SQ chainset.

Nice as the bike is, I'm heading "Out West" on a coastal tour of the USA and figured a few modifications were in order to turn the bike into a proper all-weather mile muncher, cos those miles ain't gonna munch themselves!

Matt at Talbot Frameworks will be whipping out his torch and brazing up a storm..

1) Mudguard Eyelets - Nuff Said!

2) Rack Mounts on the back

3) DT shifter for the front mech

3) Nice steel custom fork

I'm still in two minds about rear panniers or loading up the front lowriders (Scoble Style?) I do need enough space for clothes / food / camping gear etc.

Thoughts?

Kit is all getting sold - so let me know if any of the campy turns you on. Going back to boring but practical shimano for now, need the deep drop calipers and I scored a nice R700 compact chainset.

Still gotta decide on panniers / dynamo hub etc etc etc!

Sound pretty awesome, what are you going to do about the clearance with mudguard?

Apols if this is obvious, but why DT shifter for FD?

DT (friction) shifter for the front mech allows me to make tiny adjustments if need be - and is a little better protected from falls, less to go wrong too. I am using a RH STI though, cos ultimately is it a little more ergonomic (and 10sp DT shifters don't have a friction option)

There's room for guards, but I need the brake bridge raising and a BB bridge adding

Load the front.
Don't modern shimano have a trim function built in in the left STI? Campag ergos do.

My Campy ergos don't (powershift!)

Don't modern shimano have a trim function built in in the left STI?

Yes. Pretty sure even my old DA7700 did and 6700 do.

What are the forks ? They look really nice.

lines starting with a 'greater than' denote quoted text

They still do (including Di2), only SRAM doesn't have a trim on account of the YAW derailleur.

You're

All right! Things are finally progressing on this.

The frame is with Matt for Mods - braze-ons and clearance increased with a bit of crimping.

I was planning to use a NOS Shimano R700 Chainset with this but I scored a nice set of Middleburns off ebay last night in my preferred length (170) so will likely use those instead.

The fork Matt is building me is going to be a Sachs 'SAX MAX' crown and oversize blades and will look thus:

Will be running Front panniers hanging off a Tubus Tara Rack

Storage on the bike is being whittled down to the front Panniers, A Frame pack & saddle pack

Apidura Frame pack:

ALPKIT Koala Seat Pack

Ortlieb sport packer front panniers

Might go with a bar bag too..?

Now it gets geeky ....

Dynamo Hub - Shutter Precision silver unit - kicking out the juice

Which will be feeding a B&M Luxos U Headlamp

This lamp is well reviewed - but has a super neat trick: a USB charger built in! I will be using the usb charger to feed a Bike2power USB battery - which will in turn, power my devices

^ Looks a bit daft on the bike so I'll hide it in a bar bag or pouch of sorts.

• Still deciding on rims - Anything recommended over the TB14s I have in mind?
  

For rims, Archetypes? Touch lighter and more aerodynamic

Seen this?

Archetypes are on the cards, but I wonder about the lack of eyelets - I need the rims to be tough, not fast.

That brazed stem looks sweet - But I think the majority of dynamo powered lights (at least for road use..) are designed to be mounted above the wheel to give the best spread of light.

Whose work is the stem?

Feather; I am sure matt can do something clever(er)

I wouldn't worry about eyelets, I'm not convinced they make any difference if theyre built properly. As for aerodynamics, assuming this will have a + 20h non-radial front I doubt there is much difference between the two rims once they're built up.

More importantly the TB14 will look a lot better.

Since you're getting the saddlebag and framebag, I would highly recommend getting the smallest and lightest panniers than going for a heavy Ortlieb, if Matt is making the fork to handle well with a front load, a big front handlebar bag supported by a rack would be more advantageous than two medium size panniers, especially when it come to aerodynamic (panniers suck for this).

I wouldn't worry about eyelets, I'm not convinced they make any difference if theyre built properly.

I agree, especially the Archetype's profile being a main advantage, eyelets is useful when you have a box section rims, the Archetype are strong reliable rims, and that's perfect for touring/weekend ride.

But I think the majority of dynamo powered lights (at least for road use..) are designed to be mounted above the wheel to give the best spread of light.

I agree, especially with the light you've chosen, it's design allow a massive visibility on the tarmac without blinding others, work precisely like a car headlight really.

Under a month until my trip and the bike is slowly coming together.

Pictured here, freshly 'blasted' with the Apidura bag attached

The frame bag is a perfect fit (Perhaps a little too perfect - I hope there's space for the paint!) The quality seems very good, and it is very very light

I even found some AERO panniers for insane speed advantage!

AERO panniers

Really, really jealous of the whole project and planned trip, obvs.

He's making a funny, I hope.

Yeah I get that, Ed ;)

Your kit and bike choices look spot on, wish I'd had similar when I did my west coast trip. Very excited to see how it comes together and read the stories from the road

Some updates:

Bike ready for paint:

Then painted up, and half loaded

Now we are in Seattle

Seattle is very pretty

The air smells fantastic with all the pine trees. Some silly steep roads though!

I settled on 34/48 for the front rings with an XT 11-32 cassette and I'm feeling very happy with the choice. My DT shifters wouldn't work with the frame bag so went with bar ends in the end. I also found my legs rubbing the frame bag.. So you can see I settled on a compression type strap to squeeze in the bag where my knees met it.

First big miles ride to Portland today. Will see how she fares