Originally Posted by
RyanAK
No, mongol777.... you can't miss that Mr. Peptobismol! Really nice build. It makes your Gorilla Monsoon look rather plain by comparison. That's a great build as well! (The GM was on my list for a bit, too.)
BluesDawg, really nice. The Olive Oil MCD actually looks pretty great. It does look much better as a built bike than as a bare frame.
mstateglfr... that's a really clean build. 46/34 and 11/36 is pretty close to what I've been considering. Love the cherry cola color too. How do you like the
Gevenalle shifters? They're on my list to consider when I start spec'ing out a build.
Color... Personal, and has nothing to do with performance. However... I have a big ol' red beard, wear a lot of plaid flannel and Carhartts, and often look like a page out of the Filson catalog. I live on 30 acres in an old brick farmhouse with a covered bridge in the front yard. I fish with bamboo fly rods, some of which I have built myself. My truck, 'Earl', is a '71 Chevy Suburban. I can certainly appreciate a lot of frame colors, but my life doesn't have a lot of hot pink in it. 
Lilac might work...
List update:
1. Used medium National Forest Explorer.
2. BMC Monster Cross (canti) OR VO Polyvalent (I like what I've been reading on the Poly)
3. Pack Rat (I still need more info on this guy...)
4. Soma Wolverine
Thank you! Where I live and ride - pink stands out for sure. Aside from liking color as bright as peptobismol - I like that all sorts of people I meet on the trail are smiling and kids love it too, helps to spread positivity from cyclists. And if I ever get tired of pink - powdercoat typically runs around $100 CAD for the frame and $25 CAD for the fork. And speaking of clothing choices and appearances - we are pretty close, I am all business in the office but total Flinston character when out riding (function over looks!)
Curious - why GM is not on your list anymore? Front derailleur can be done on it (with shims to clamp, there are couple of builds in the wild and I was running 2x for some time but went to 1x and friction shifter for simplicity). All-City specs clearance as 27.5x2.4 or 700cx42mm but in reality there is much more clearance, right now I am running 27.5x2.6 (actual width at the casing). 73mm bb shell allows you to use many mtb cranks with wide range of gearing. Plus loads of braze-ons including top crown mounts for Surly 8 or 24 pack racks (which I really like). Just my 2 cents on GM - very versatile frame and current color is amazing, IMHO
I was really waiting for Pack Rat as I was thinking it will be more like Midnight Special. Great bike but limited selection of good 650B rim brake rims. Not that you need many but it is nice to have a choice, especially if you are going for wider tire with lower pressure and max float on country roads and trails.