Big Bob + fishmobile

imagine how much you'd get in a frame bag for that

Bob update. It’s come on a work trip with me to make getting between the odd town and city a bit easier and a bit of light touring. It’s still awesome, and has been a great mothmobile for transporting samples about.

Fully loaded it’s a little ungainly and with all the weight on the back it feels a little “tail wagging the dog” when out the saddle but handling is still fine and really solid.

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Morning out exploring Berlin without panniers has been great fun

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super nice this one!

So I’ve wanted something for a while that I can take off road for exploring around Bristol/Dorset or lug about fishing kit.

Enter this frameset from @vthejk

As far as I can tell it’ll clear 2.4” tyres although not sure if that allows for mud. Plan is to run this as a flatbar atb sort of thing as it’s geometry looks similar to early gen Solaris.

I have zero idea what I’m doing with mtb stuff/groups so any advice appreciated as I need to source everything apart from a headset and seatpost.

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What I have so far is a lovely ti 27.2 post from @NotDotMatt and I’ve just acquired some 2.25 Barzos off the bay.

In terms of build kit I’m looking to source a set of reliable and sturdy boost 29er wheels and a group set. Ideally cheap to replace and maintain. Is there any logic buying second hand or is it more likely to be completely shagged/leaky hydraulics? I’ve spotted these which seem good value for new and would fit well with the build I think?

https://www.cotic.co.uk/item/outlet_new_wheels_MT600_29
https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-slx-m7100-1x12-complete-disc-brake-groupset-313382.html?utm_campaign=googlebase-GB&utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=shopping&utm_term=MTB+Groupsets&ucpo=213965&gQT=2

For the rest of the build I’ll pop on my trusty smp to ruin any aesthetics and finda cheap 80-100mm stem and something like a set of ritchey kyotes.

Some sort of front rack like a Nitto M12 would then be perfect to allow me to run my Carradice camper up front. Varun has kindly included a little top tube bag and frame bag which I’m hoping I can squeeze a rod and reel into to allow me to carry the more bulky bumf up front

Yo ho!! I'm super glad I could track the life of my bike on here after it's sold. Staying in the forum etc. I'm looking forward to seeing this built up as a flat bar cruiser, that's the future it was made for!
Cotic outlet are usually quite reliable, and Sonder/Alpkit will have bits as well. Alpkit eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trkparms=folent%3Aalpkitoutlet%7Cfolenttp%3A1&_trksid=p3542580.m47492.l71970&_ssn=alpkitoutlet
And Cotic eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trkparms=folent%3Acotic-ltd%7Cfolenttp%3A1&_trksid=p3542580.m47492.l71970&_ssn=cotic-ltd

are good places for parts and components that haven't been dodgily treated. No leaky hydraulics there!
Re: the seatpost, it's a 31.6 ST so you'll need a pretty chunky shim for a 27.2 - otherwise yay to silver!
I tried fitting a M18 rack a while ago but you might need the longer front struts (sold on Freshtripe) as it just doesn't quite reach the front rack bolts. An annoying little quirk, probably 'cos the fork is quite tall.
I reckon you'll be fine for mud clearance, by the way - the seatstays and fork gaps are quite generous.

Yes i think the cotic wheels are probably a good shout - my only concern is they're only 24 spokes front and rear, however my experience of road wheelsets is despite the low spoke count they're pretty bombproof. I also spotted some nice xd driver wheels on ebay but sram cassettes are really expensive.

Good to know about the nitto racks, and sjs sell 27.2-31.6 aluminium shims which are 100mm long and i imagine well made given SJS tend to sell things that actually work!

I'm considering running this ss to start with as a cheap way to get going. I have an 18t 1/8th token kit and chain and with a 32-34t chainring that would be roughly 2:1 gear - can you run old HG ss kits on microspline freehubs or is the new standard making all my kit obsolete before i've even started?

Ah yeah, SJS comes to the rescue again. Good stuff, they'll be good quality I imagine.
It would serendipitous for it to be run SS again! I have no idea about HG-microspline compatibility tbh, 10 speed Deore is as complex as I've ever really ridden. One for the SSMTB thread I think.....

Cheap wheels in boost widths weren't particularly forthcoming on ebay, so i've ended up going with the shimano mt620 wheels and an slx groupset. This way everything will at least be new, but it does lock me into microspline and 12 speed kit for the moment.

Kyote bars i've got off SJS along with the shim, but given their swoopy shape I'm not sure how they affect reach. Cotic normally recommend a 100mm stem so i'll start borrowing an 80mm one of @bobble and see how it goes

It’s here!

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I think Ritchey recommend using it with a 60mm stem (I think they launched the Toyon specifically to use with the Kyotes). In my experience they add a fair bit of reach, and given the width, i'm not sure I'd like them on anything longer than a 80mm.

Proportions do look spot on in your mock up though.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the Kyotes meant to mimic a flat bar, just with different bar angle? If not then I have misspoken to you @jupiz . Still, looks excellent and it will probably do better service than I ever gave the poor thing.
I quite like the massive shim on the 27.2 seatpost too, in a weird way mirroring the headset and spacers!

Flurry of deliveries today, managed to get the barzos up no problem with a track pump before lurgy got the better of me and I’ve had to go back to zonking out. Proportions look decent i reckon with the 2.25s.

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Ti stem and headset with some colour on it would look great imo

Ironically, this is exactly how I'd have built this up and not dissimilar to how the Genesis now looks! Neato!
I was never a huge fan of the black Hope headset tbh @MisterMikkel , but it came with the sale. Purple or silver would pop!