base2 

That a is Rolhoff in back. The crankset is a Powertap C1...back before they were bought by SRAM/Quark & discontinued for being 1/3 the price of their own competing crank based product. The Powertap C1 is a 36-50 double. The idea is that we were unsure if pulling one ring & running it as a single would mess with the calibration or accuracy of the meter. So we decided to leave it alone as manufactured & have the ability to remove a link & switch to the inner ring as a redundancy if for whatever reason the chain broke.

The option was floated to include a derailleur hanger on the dropout for maximum future flexibility for other gearing systems/configurations, but I passed on that on account of simplicity & aesthetic minimalism. I could alway use a generic claw style derailleur on the rear & friction shifter on the downtube to operate a bottom swing/top-pull derailleur if I became gear number obsessed.

The eccentric is a Bushnell. Rodriguez now owns the Bushnell brand & for a really long time after the sale, Ed Bushnell himself made his eccentrics on a drill press & mill in the Rodriguez basement. You'll see the equipment on the right as at the bottom of the stairs if you ever get "The Grand Tour" that is complimentary with every custom build, so far as I know.

I spec'd the chainstays to be 20 inches (508mm) for straight line stability. The last thing I wanted was to worry about staying on top of a fully load of worldly posessions as gravity pulls me down a few miles of windy 10% grade. The stays are as long as can be made & still fit in an airline travel case. They normally don't make them this long, but they had no problem doing so. I also wanted to carry 50+ ounces of water between the seat tube & the full fendered tire to free up the front triangle for a frame bag & all the things that normally go in one.

The headtube is 69 degrees and IIRC the Rodriquez custom manufactured aluminum tandem team forks have 50 or 55mm(?) of rake for ~56mm of trail with the intended 559x28 tires; up to 64mm of trail with 2 inch tires for full on loaded touring.

It has 180mm disc rotors front & rear, but is rated for 203mm rotors if ever I choose. Excess braking capacity was a design priority.

The wheels are 32 spoke American made Velocity Dyads. Between 32 & 36 spokes, I figured that 32 on a 26 inch wheel would be comparable in strength to 36 spokes on a 700c. In my mind too many spokes places them too close together & you end up with overlapping stress areas resulting in running cracks in the load path (spoke bed). I can always recover & act accordingly from one single pulled spoke or a single early crack, but theres no help for all pulled spokes...At least that was my logic. In any case, expecting 26 inch wheels to support myself plus 100 pounds isn't crazy.

The rest of the frame is made from oversized ThermLX tubing was forged & manufactured in Ohio, U.S.A because I felt it important.

The bike was designed to comfortably carry myself plus 100 pounds of gear on any road on any continent.

I think if I were to do it again, I'd raise the bottom bracket a little bit, but that is by no means a complaint; Just something I'd do different. Wide flat pedals had a tendancy to strike, but I fixed that with mountain SPD's.

...So there ya go, all there is to know.
Thanks for asking!

djb

sheesh though, a 50t
what sort of gear inch range is that with the 50, low and high? If you know the gear inches numbers.
and with the 36?

re spokes, on my Troll with 32 spoked wheels, they have been very reliable and strong on my rougher trips in latin america, but Im a light guy, so even if I had way more stuff than on past trips, it was fine. I think the most I ever carried with extra water was maybe 50 60lbs, would never ever take 100, its just too much for my strength etc, and I know from 30 years of touring that the most I carried on those trips is my max.
I too figured that 32 on a good 26in wheel is sort of similar to a 36 on 700.
but I do know that running 2in tires and tires that are supple must help my wheelset with all the rough roads Ive ridden it over.

I do have super low gearing though, 16.7 low and 103 high, and I am realllllly glad to have that low, and used it many many times.
Im super happy with how the troll handles and is stable at all speeds, from 6kph to 80kph, and I have drop bars on it.

hey what shifters are those? didnt know you could have paddle shifters for a rohlof?

djb

btw, those are 2in supremes in the photo. They've been on the bike now for 3 years I think. But absolutely there are tougher schwalbe models , some that are fairly lightish, not as light as the supremes, but not bad and will have more tread than these, which really dont have any at all, although I was able to ride on soft surfaces fairly well even loaded--but I do ride in snow regularly, so Im used to and comfortable with squirrelyness.

base2 

It's good to hear that we are of more-or-less the same mind on the wheels. 36 just seemed like over-kill unless I planned to carry really heavy stuff with super hard tires. I don't ever intend to actually carry a hundred pounds, it was just the upper bound of what I thought would be a good design limit. Like if ever I need to carry a passenger with a broken leg 30 miles to a hospital or back to civilization or cell coverage or something. Or more realistically a 4 or 5 gallon jugs of water plus food/supplies from a mini-mart to a group campsite in addition to my own stuff. Peace of mind; Mostly to know I could if I ever the need arose. (The bike is named Bessie, the Planet Express Freighter for good reason)

The cog in the rear is a 23 tooth. So mated to the 50 it's just under 16 gear inches to just shy of 83 gear inches with 2 inch tires. A smidge less with 28mm tires. (15-79) I felt it important to have an even/odd mismatch so that the pins on the chain settle into a new tooth with every go 'round. Not that anybody in the world besides myself worries about these things. But I figured it certainly wouldn't hurt from a wear life perspective. I got the idea from a single-speed/fixie skid patch calculator and ran with it.

The shifters are SRAM Apex with the ratchet mechanism gutted-out so that they play nice with the Gebla shift box. Most any SRAM shifter will work with a few minutes surgery. So if it ever becomes necessary, any flat bar/drop bar shifter I come across could be a repair part. So long as it's SRAM. I really am not a fan of flat bars due to repetative motion injuries, but it's nice to know that I could raid any SRAM equipped bike of almost any configuration bike for parts if it became necessary.

I think you've made your case. I'm settled on the Supremes. I'm much obliged for the help & kind words.

Aaron

djb

That's pretty interesting about the sram shifter modified to work with that aftermarket unit.
and your gear range of 16 to 83 is certainly loaded friendly. Personally I like having the 103 because I like to be able to spin out at a bit over 50kph on downhills, but let's face it, the lower gears are where it's at and where we are the majority of the time.
​​​​​​​36 vs 32, I think I'd still go 36 for a real far off trip, but my experience shows that my 32 have been fairly good all in all. Rim, spokes and build more important though. Mine are all average to good parts I think.

alan s 

My understanding is Schwalbe no longer makes the Marathon Supreme in 26x2.0, which has been my go-to tire for many years. I hope this is wrong. Not sure which tire is comparable in their current lineup.

djb

Must look into that to get some reliable info, thanks