djb

re 17 gear inch low. For a lot of touring it is low, but if you find that its too low for most of your riding, you can put on a tighter cassette which will be nice to ride with smaller jumps between shifts. I used to think 17 was bonkers low, but am continually surprised by how its nice to have in certain situations, even with a moderate load. In aug I did a 5 day trip and hit the odd steep, loose gravelly hill, so was very happy to have it, even with about 35lbs of stuff on the bike. On my heavier loaded trips in other countries, it was really really really useful to have.
I sometimes have a knee that has a little niggle, so its nice to be able to take it easy on it , especially at the start of a trip when riding loaded is new to the legs.

Good shot for the rear tire, shot down to show the side clearance. Its generally recommended not to get too much closer, just because of if wet and muddy, and stuff accumulates and can abrade the frame. Ive done this with my old mountain bike, squeezing in a 2.5in front tire for more snow float with winter riding, but road and sidewalk grit gets accumulated in the tire with sticky snow and wore away a bit of my old front suspension crown or whatever it is closest to the tire. Wasnt a big deal as it minor and an old old bike, but you wouldnt want to wear away a nice frame like this.
I have a neighbour who would always hang her U lock on the side of the seattube, but it would always ride down and rub aagainst the chainstay--to the point that I noticed it had worn away a little divet in her aluminum frame...so I'm always wary of this---probably not really ever an issue unless riding a lot in muddy conditions, but Ive had mud jam up my mtb a ridiculous amount a few times, to the point of the wheel not turning anymore. Just need the right kind of sticky mud.

enjoy riding the bike, fall and the rest of covidness--getting outside riding is the ticket, around here anyway.

saddlesores

it happens. i was running 700*42 in a steel mercian. tight, but not too tight. or so i thought.
grit on the shoulder of the tire rubbed a tiny groove in one of the chainstays, with one spot
completely worn through.

fortunately located a welding wizard (dabbled in bike frames) in rural virginia, was able to braze
a small patch onto the damaged area.

daviddavieboy

I have done that to both an aluminum and a carbon frame but not to any steel frame I have had. I love a steel frame (I have 7 of them) and have found myself regretting buying this one a couple times after I found out there was a new 520 version offered. Mostly for this fact that they can be easily repaired.

djb

Just the fact that you are aware is a plus, and the clearances here are pretty good, so its very unlikely to happen.
How does this bike weigh up as in the photos? My guess is 25-26lbs. My aluminum cross bike is a bit heavier than that, and figure this bike has lighter parts.
How do you like how it steers and handles with those tires on?

daviddavieboy

The bike with rack, water in the bottle and full tool pouch is 28 lbs. As far as off road is concerned I am very happy with it. I found the cross check a little twitchy and descending narrow, loose trails always concerned me. This 920 is very "lazy?" in the steering(not sure if correct term). It seems very forgiving to my limited capabilities. I have much more confidence coming down steep hills off road much like a 80's - 90's MTB

djb

well, if you have confidence on it, then it sounds good. You know, I betcha that you'll find that it works really well with panniers too, my now old alum cross bike (10 yrs) works really well with panniers on it, so you've probably got yourself a very versatile bike that can do diff things very well jsut with a change of tires.

I was riding my cross bike today, also with a cambium brooks on it. At first I didnt like that seat compared to my leather brooks, but I find it works pretty darn well now. Maybe not as comfortable as the leather ones for long long days in the seat, especially seated, but with mixed riding with standing and such now and again, I find it works great with my padded shorts.

Im sure I mentioned this before, but do look into the shallow type of drops with slight flare out. The shallow drops makes the drops more useable and comfortable (more level than yours here) and the flareout on dirt etc is really nice. I love mine now. Mine are the slight flareout ones, cowbells, not as much as other models. Might be a nice change one day, would be great if you could ride a bike with similar type bars to get a real feel.

daviddavieboy

I loaded up the bike yesterday and took it to work and back. Total weight was about 280 lbs with most everything in the rear. Right away I could hear some pinging from the spokes but rode anyway. Last night I confirmed many spokes have loosened so I will probably just rebuild that wheel. The wheels were bought used and I was told the rear had a new hoop on it. I doubt it was tensioned and there was no sign of the spoke nipples being oiled (both of which I personally do) plus the dish was off 3mm. When on a fairly steep-short climb the bike definitely. felt unstable when I stood but fine when seated. Again I am happy with the choice of the triple as I had no issue using the middle ring to go to work with the moderate climbs but I can think of some hills not far away that the granny will be needed. It was a good opportunity to try out my road tires (42mm sawtooth) as well with some weight on them. At 80 PSI they handled fine and very comfy with no handling issues except for when I stood on the pedals.

The C17 will either have to be replaced for anything longer than 100 km of 3-4 hour ride. For me it is a a$$ hatchet where any of the leather ones I have (or synthetic saddle on my old Pinarello) are good all day saddles. Possibly it would be fine if getting off often to look around and take pictures but not for extended time on it.

The bar/stem is off my Surly and only on here temporarily. When building this bike I ordered a big frame to get a better stack height without the look of stacks of spacers under the stem and an overall fit closer to that of a classic road bike. With the 80mm stem the fit is very good for me but I really don't like the bar. The egro bends on the drops bother my hands and the transition curve does not work well. I am looking for some cowbell bars with no luck so far but found a Ritchy Comp ErgoMax bar that fits me well with the only issue is a slight rise next to the stem that I am unsure of. I am going to try an evo bar as well today but there is lots of time until next year.


Another thing I am not sure on is if I should switch to just using the modern “bike packing” type of bags. I really like the look of the bike without the rack and I think I can carry as much with appropriate strap on bags as I can with from and rear panniers.

saddlesores

i would recommend carrying less weight if possible.
assume that total includes your body weight and the bike
.....so maybe 40+ pounds of gear on the rear wheel?

otherwise consider moving half your gear weight to front
panniers.

you've got good low gears. no need to stand on the hills.
stay seated, gear down, enjoy the spin.

bike-a-packin' bags might work for you, but you might miss
the quick, easy clip on/off with standard panniers.

djb

ditto what the Bangkok feller said about weight. If total is 280, if you are 200 and bike is 30 (round up) then you had 50lbs on the rear--thats an awful lot, especially for 32 spoke wheels and a 200lb rider.
Im a lightweight, 135, 140 , and my 700c 32 spoke wheels would groan at 40-50lbs on the rear only. My 32 spoke 26in wheels would probably groan also.
Going the front pannier route really does make life easier on the rear wheel, and the bike handles so much better also, win win--but if you go the bikepacking bags route, it will spread the weight more evenly.

re the C17, I bought mine used years ago, tried it and had exactly the same reaction as you. Took it off and it sat in a drawer for a few years, until I put it on my cross bike when I overhauled it, took off fenders to make it lighter, and I began to like it more. I almost have the feeling that with more riding it has softened up a bit, but I do know that I have really good bike shorts that probably are a factor, plus like I said, I ride this bike faster, so less weight on my arse, more standing pedaling now and again, so yes I agree with your take on it being ok , but for long long seated touring rides, my leather Brooks are still more comfortable.
But I was surprised to find that I grew to like the C17 more with time--but it does seem its suited more to harder rides and maybe more bum breaks.

re those bars--we once borrowed a bike for my wife for a year or so, and it had very similar shaped bars, and I always found it weird. I think a friend of mine had a bike with similar ones also, and when riding it , the shapes and bends just didnt work for me. The big thing I like with shallow drops is how on two of my bikes, the drops are almost parallel to the ground, and are really comfy to ride in. Just the other day riding my dropbar setup Troll, I remarked on it, and Ive spent months and months on that bike, really happy with the bars setup, and how the drops are a real option to use with bad headwinds.
cheers

JWK

What triple did you use? Chainrings? Maybe I missed it, but I looked through your posts and didn't spot it if you did. I have been interested in a 920 for a good long while now, but when I contacted Trek, they wouldn't give me any info on triples that would fit; only doubles and singles. I passed because I couldn't take the chance a triple wouldn't fit. It would be the only crankset I would want for this bike.

daviddavieboy

I originally use a Deore triple but I didn't like the look so I found a Raceface Prodigy that was in great condition cosmeticly. the rings were not great but only the big needed replaced for now. The rings are 44, 32 and 22. I am sure there are better ones but I really like the look and it should be more than strong enough for my needs. I think any MTB spec would work but from my experiments I found a road double will NOT work, a road triple WILL work but the BB needs to be used with a MTB BB (cups on a road BB are wider) and both MTB triple cranks from different bands I tried worked fine. Keep in mind this is all using external bearing threaded BBs

I am mostly pleased with it. I found it hard to be comfortable for long rides until I put a leather saddle on it, I was not happy with the 160 rotors in the rain so I switched to 180 front and back with TRP levers and ordered TRP Spyre calipers (still awaiting those in the mail), the front and rear derailleurs are Deore as is the 36x11 cassette, I am using the Shimano10 speed bar cons from my TT bike. I found I didn't like the looks with racks on this style of frame so I switched to bags and the racks went back on another bike, and for now I am using a Salsa Bell Lap bar but I do not like it and am leaning toward the Ritchie Ergomax bar (has some rise built in) to get me a little more upright. I have done a few 100km rides and some longer 6-8 hour road/off road rides and find it suits me well and more forgiving off road than my crosscheck ever was but I still like a horizontal top tube more aesthetic for some reason. Thanks again all for steering me in this adventure I think it turned out wll.

djb

Reading of the changes past and future, this certainly sounds like it's been a fun project that has kept you busy and interested.
it's fun to have an engaging project isn't it?
once again, enjoy this new warm spell

daviddavieboy

Thank you, It sure has been fun and a good choice all things considered. I was in the midst of restoring a 70' Grandis when I decided on a new bike.after being caught in the rain on another vintage ride and always have a project on the go.Stay Safe I see you live in one of my all time favorite Cities.

Trakhak

Gorgeous bike and build. Absolutely love the color (and the RaceFace crankset), and kudos to Trek for going with an aluminum frame for their top touring model.

One caveat: please consider using a smaller bottle in place of the big one placed under the down tube. Hit one pothole at speed with a full bottle in that cage, and there's a very good chance that that bottle and cage will flex downward, turning into an emergency brake and immobilizing the front wheel and launching you over the handlebars. I can picture it all too vividly.

If you're sure you'll need more fluid, pack another bottle in a bag.

daviddavieboy

LOL It is there because it does not fit in the seat stay cage. These are near 10 years old now so I am due for new ones and I will probably mount hese to the fork. I have a aluminum bottle for white gas with a strap that will be there when I tour.

JWK

Thanks for the info. That 44 chainring looks like it might not much room. Do you have any way of knowing if a 48 would fit in place of the 44 without hitting the chainstay?

daviddavieboy

I don't know the answer but I doubt it. There is 3/4 of an inch between the tip of the tooth and the chainstay and according to a chart from Wolf Tooth components a 48t chainring is ~16mm larger in diameter than a 44t. I like my setup with the 44t ring as it gives me plenty of speed with the 36x11 cassette. Only downhill do I spin out.

JWK

Wow, that would be close. The radius of 8mm would give us about 5/16 of an inch more toward the chainstay. Well, it's great to know the triple 44/32/22 works. Thanks so much for the info!

djb

ya, Montreal is a neat city, still like it. Some pretty good riding too.
I don't recall, where are you?

daviddavieboy

I live east of Fredericton along the Saint John River in Maugerville. If you were ever on the old single lane TCH 20+ years ago you would have driven past my house. There is a 30' potato along the highway you might have seen. I drive truck for a living and up until 5 years ago Montreal was part of my route. I would park under the bridge across from the BP shingle plant in Lasalle and explore by bike when nice and and XC ski when there was snow on the ground. I would also go to the Petro at exit 102 TCH? and bike up Mt Bruno If I was short on time. - HO and awesome biking from the rest stop around Orford (Lake and ski hill). GAWD I miss that place.LOL. Around my area there might be 6 or 7 hills and only one of them is more then 2 miles long.

djb

Yup, as you say, lots of nice places to ride.
re LaSalle, we regularly do 30, 40km loops from our place, follow lachine canal to the st Lawrence out west, then follow bike path along the river through lachine,LaSalle all that, can even cross over the "ice bridge" to the st Lawrence seaway part, and then to Ile ste Helene and Ile Notre dame, and then back along lachine canal. Even in the city this route is rather pretty.
And for hills, I have loops I do that go up and down mount royal, great to get your climbing legs some exercise, again right in the city.

And as you say, places like rigaud and Bruno are nice places.

yes I remember the single lane tch, but for some reason don't remember the potatoe!

re not coming to Montreal in truck anymore, believe me, the big turcott interchange and highway 20 projects these last year's have been a real bear. Had to be done though and frankly they did a pretty good job of organizing the jig saw puzzle of closures that come from dismantling and reconstructing giant overpass cloverleaf in use highway systems. A hell of a logistical job for sure. Still not done, but bottom line, it must be a royal pain in the keester for professional drivers....