Lynskey's annual fall liquidation
 

Lynskey is selling their Backroad touring frame on eBay again, same low starting price as last year. It must be Fall:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/163863746755

Use eBay search for Lynskey Backroad in other sizes.

You can use an inexpensive Surly Disc Trucker fork with this frame, or perhaps you can negotiate a discounted price on the only compatible fork Lynskey appears to sells for this frame (note it is 12mm thru axle):

https://lynskeyperformance.com/lynsk...n-gravel-fork/

Backroad comes with 12x142mm replaceable dropouts, standard 10x135mm QR rear dropouts will have to be purchased separately. A headset is also needed - Lynskey sells both these parts and will probably install into frame before shipping.

A few months ago the only place on their website where I saw the Backroad was in the clearance section, thus I assumed it was being discontinued. I do not see it on their regular website now either. But they have not had the best internet site, so who knows what the future is for that model?

I like my Backroad for all around riding and for reasonably light weight pannier touring. I am using a LHT rim brake fork on mine, did one five day tour with four panniers with it and it worked quite well. Am running 35 or 37mm tires with 45mm wide fenders. I also ride it on gravel trails regularly. I built mine up in spring 2017.

If they are discontinuing that model, I can see why. It looks like about the last choice I would make for a touring bike, and that's even taking into consideration that I'd like to try a titanium frame...

Last choice? Why?

I'd buy one of these frames in a heartbeat if it was the right size for me. Lynskey have been making frames for a long time and know what they are doing. The geometry looks good for touring and it should be pretty easy to get a fork to suit as the majority of forks for gravel/touring bikes are being made with a 45mm rake

The axle to crown length is another number to compare. When I bought my Backroad frame in spring 2017, Lynskey sold a steel touring fork for it for over $300. I had a 700c LHT rim brake fork in storage so I compared the LHT fork (1) rake and (2) axle to crown headset race length on the Lynskey fork and they were similar so I rolled the dice and used my LHT fork.

If you were looking at a used fork, you should also make sure you will have adequate steerer tube too, in my case I knew that my LHT fork was uncut so it would be plenty long.

Mine rides quite nice with the LHT fork and I am perfectly happy with a rim brake front and disc rear.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f00ded673f.jpg

But, a Titanium touring bike is the ultimate in bling. Cutting a couple pounds off of the weight of a fork and then putting tens of pounds of weight on the bike is not very cost efficient. But I got a great price (Ebay listing) on my frame and I had been dreaming of owning a Titanium bike some day.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bfef75e5af.jpg

For around town riding, I strip the touring racks off of it and in the photo I have a light duty Nitto rack on it. The day I took the photo I must have been on the way to the gym, the single pannier shown is my gym bag.

Maybe "about the last choice" is a little strong, as there are plenty of worse options, but there's no way I would buy a bike for touring that doesn't have standard 9mm drop-outs(I know, it has a proprietary conversion piece option that you can hope never has trouble). The tapered head-tube is a deal breaker for me(I like a common 1 1/8"). That means I need a special fork or a special headset. And it just looks ugly if you put a regular fork on it with an adapter on the bottom. The flat mount disk rear break is a disaster and a totally f***** situation if you have a problem outside of the US or large parts of western Europe. The cable stops on the head-tube, while not a Huge deal, are a disadvantage to me. I'd prefer to see a standard Shimano style town-tube cable stop. For my mountain bike, sure, I'll run hydraulic disk breaks, 650b wheels, etc. For my touring bike, I want it to be common components that are available pretty much anywhere. I would totally own one for a US touring bike, but not internationally. I don't own a home with a garage where I can keep 10 bikes, so I try to just have one tourer in the collection.

I will address some of your points, as follows:

There are replaceable dropouts, mine came with the standard 135mm dropouts. They are each held in with two M4 screws. (I did learn the hard way that the M4 screws should use some threadlocker to keep them from unscrewing from vibation, but that is a different story.) If you need to buy the other dropouts, that is a one time change that you would have to make to the frame with common tools.


The tapered headtube is a recent change, mine is cylindrical. I have no further comment.


In my case there was a mixup, I expected a older style standard disc mount, they shipped the flat mount to me. I told them I needed a mount that would work with the brake I ordered based on the frame that had been described to me. They shipped me a post mount for free since there was a communication error on their part. The mount is replaceable, it takes three M6 screws, see photo. I believe the mount is Aluminum, not Titanium. In the photo you can also see the conventional hub quick release, not through axle. Since the different mount was provided to me for free, I do not know if there would be a cost to change it on an initial order or not.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...392f08a7b4.jpg


We agree on this point.


These are all valid points.

I want my touring bikes (I own three) to be robust, reliable, easily repairable and use common easily replaceable parts. I built it up using readily available parts, such as eight speed cassette and bar end shifters, I used a rear derailleur that Shimano built in the 1990s, super reliable square taper crankset and bottom bracket, etc. My brakes are cable operated and use commonly available pads. With a set of cone wrenches, I can easily repack or replace the quarter inch steel ball bearings in the rear hub.

In my opinion the only uncommon part that I used that could be hard to source is the front derailleur, as it uses an unusually large diameter seat tube. And the only part I used that could be difficult to repair is the front hub, as SP dynohubs are not user serviceable.

Would I use this bike for international travel? Since I have three touring bikes and the other two have 26 inch wheels, and one of those has S&S couplers, I would choose the S&S coupler bike first for international travel. (I have done two international trips on that S&S bike already.) But I would certainly trust my Lynskey to perform well if I did take it to another country.

But being a 700c bike that has a maximum of 35 or 37mm wide tires, I would only bring the Lynskey on a trip where I expected good quality paved roads for most of the distance that I expected to cover as my 26 inch touring bikes would likely perform much better on lessor quality roads.

Regarding Lynskey, I did have several problems with their customer service staff, but once the bike was built and rideable, the delays and miscommunications rapidly became a memory that is being forgotten over time.

Most people do not own more than one touring bike, so in that regard your points are quite valid, you want one do everything bike for touring. Since I own three touring bikes with different specifications for different types of conditions, I am clearly in the minority.

That frame would fit me well but I have to agree, not sure I would want to have to deal with that rear drop out. One question I would have for Tourist in MSN, do you feel there is much flex in the bottom bracket area when you stand up on the pedals and apply a lot of torque ? I presently own a titanium touring bike that I built up years ago, and that is one of the only drawbacks as far as I'm concerned. Mine is somewhat over built in the bottom bracket area and you still get a touch more flex than I would like.

I am in my mid 60s and have bad knees. I have not stood on the pedals for almost a decade. There were too manytimes when I was standing on the pedals to climb a hill and suddenly sharp pain in the knee. Instead I gear down and stay in the saddle.

So, no I have not applied high torque to the bottom bracket area. But, I have not had any reason to suspect flex in that area, especially when you look at how massive the downtube is where it is welded to the bottom bracket shell.

Also, the seattube is a larger diameter than most other bikes, so that extra diameter makes it a bit stiffer. I do not recall the diameter, but I do recall that I needed a large clamp on the front derailleur.

I do not have a good photo of the bottom bracket area, in this photo it is hidden behind the crankset, but you can see how big the tubes are.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...97ad9f60fd.jpg

Paul posted a few photos of his Backroad build too.
https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-m...ackroad-2.html

I might take my bike out and shoot a photo of the bottom bracket area if you are seriously considering it.

A friend of mine tours on a Titanium Habanero, his down tube and seattube are much smaller diameter than my Backroad, the photo below is his Habenaro. But I do not think he ever stands on the pedals either. He built this up in 2014 and it is his go to bike.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4e6ad1bcd6.jpg

Tell your friend he has fine taste in touring bikes as that is what I own as well : )

5'11" 175lbs reasonably strong here. I don't feel any flex at all. I will allow that I may not be sensitive enough to it to discern it well, but I have felt flex on other bikes. I did a lot of stand up sprinting on my Backroad today. One of the many things I absolutely love about this bike is how sporty it feels.

The rear dropout didn't take any dealing with other than the Loctite that was recommended. I just popped my 135MM QR wheel right onto it.

What size fits you?

He already knows that, no need to tell him.

His first tour he had a bit of shimmy but moving his rear Ortliebs forward to minimize his heel clearance pretty much solved it. On his first tour he had 100 percent of the packed weight on his rear rack. After that he added a front low rider rack and front panniers to spread the weight out a bit better.

We are talking about doing the Selkirk Loop next year, I would probably bring my Lynskey so we would both have Titanium bikes for that trip.

Not an off the shelf frame unfortunately.
Big guy 187cm with a stiff back so I get frames custom made. It helps to that I used to be Steve Hogg’s mechanic so I have the worlds best bike fitter to design a frame for me.
We have titanium Seven’s for road bikes but use a co-motion tandem for touring. I’m about to get a custom made titanium gravel bike made to similar specs to the Lynskey but with S&S couplers. T47 bb, a 6/4 titanium derailleur hanger and internal routing for either cable or hydraulic flat mount disc brakes.
Wife has a Habanero tourer which she’s happy with but she only weighs 50kg. Friend has a Habanero road bike and he weighs about 120kg and he loves it. I’ll be buying either an XACD frame (found out they make Habanero) or a Titan Titanium