new bike!
After close to a year of owning only one bike I decided it was time to once again expand my collection a bit. Plus if I’m ever going to actually do some bike camping / touring I’ll need a capable ride. I read about some different frames and while I really like the Long Haul Trucker, decided instead to try a mountain bike style touring frame so that I could get as upright a riding position as possible without getting ‘bent. The Thorn Sherpa sounded like an awesome bike but since they’re only sold in the UK and the US dollar isn’t exactly worth a whole lot over there it seemed silly to pay the premium plus the import taxes. The next day I found someone in canada selling their frame so I jumped on it. I spent the next few weeks researching and agonizing over what components to build it up with.
I’m pretty happy with how it is turning out so far. I’ve switched out the Brooks B17 saddle for a wider B68. I’m still experimenting with different handlebars. Originally I planned to use nashbar trekking bars but they were not a good fit for me. The flats on the them are too straight and I need them angled a bit. Titec h-bars were interesting but not right either. I settled on On-One mary bars and so far they’re the best angle but are too wide. Oh well, the hunt continues.
So, here’s the spec list and of course some pictures:
frame/fork: – thorn sherpa
bars: – on-one mary
brake levers: – avid sd7
brakes front: – avid sd7 v-brake
brakes rear: – avid sd7 v-brake
shifters: – SRAM x.9headset: – FSA Orbit XL
pedals: – crappy used generic
saddle: – B68
seatpost: – thorn
tires: – Panaracer Pasela Tourguard
wheels: – sun rhyno lite rims & deore LX hubs
front derailleur: – shimano deore xt rd771
rear derailleur: – Sram X-9 Rear Derailleur (Long-cage)
cassette: – shimano CS-M580 LX 11-34
crankset: – sugina xd500 24-36-48
chain: – SRAM pc-951
bottom bracket: – Shimano BB-UN54 English 68 x 115 mm
rear rack: – Blackburn mt-1
August 8th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
You know, I’ve never even considered building my own bike from the different parts. It sounds like fun. Sure, I’ve built my own computers, but this may just be a new avenue to explore.
August 8th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Fun… yeah… It is really nice to get exactly what you want, but finding parts that work together and work on the frame can be very challenging. I ordered all the parts and planned to assemble the bike in a few hours. Several weeks later it is finally approaching “done.”
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
you’re never going to ride this bike again.
all hail the all-powerful rivendell.