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1993 Koga-Miyata World Traveller project (66cm frame)

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1993 Koga-Miyata World Traveller project (66cm frame)

Old 05-28-21, 02:51 PM
  #126  
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Originally Posted by cudak888
You're a brave soul doing that - and a glutton for punishment knowing you'll have to tear that all apart to clean it.

Given your comments about the tire size - given the considerable number of Koga-Miyatas in your arsenal, perhaps there's yet another frame could turn into a 650B fat tire flyer?
I just wanted to try it but definitely underestimated how much wear and tear that would add. Lesson learned I guess.

Well... lately I've been thinking of converting the WorldTraveller to a disc-brake frame by having a frame builder add a bracket in the rear and installing a new disc-brake fork in the front. That would make it an excellent 650B candidate. Though I'm not sure how a 66cm frame with smaller wheels would look. Maybe I could throw in the 650B wheel from the Gazelle tandem just to get a visual feel? That bike needs some more love as well, maybe I will focus on it next month.
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Old 05-28-21, 03:14 PM
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I've looked at a number of 650B converted 25.5" (65cm) Treks and they don't look good/proportional to me. Smaller sizes? All day. 700C and big tires on an already tall and long wheelbase tourer looks proportional. Big bike compositional issues to work through, but we get there. If it's comfortable now, it only gets better with supple and much lighter tires! 650s would look bad on my 620 (which is now into the 'shop' to get its canti posts replaced and positioned so that it can work with TRP mini-Vs for a big brake upgrade). 700x42s all day.
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Old 05-28-21, 04:28 PM
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Originally Posted by RiddleOfSteel
I've looked at a number of 650B converted 25.5" (65cm) Treks and they don't look good/proportional to me. Smaller sizes? All day. 700C and big tires on an already tall and long wheelbase tourer looks proportional. Big bike compositional issues to work through, but we get there. If it's comfortable now, it only gets better with supple and much lighter tires! 650s would look bad on my 620 (which is now into the 'shop' to get its canti posts replaced and positioned so that it can work with TRP mini-Vs for a big brake upgrade). 700x42s all day.
Nice, do those 42x622 tyres fit with fenders? For the WorldTraveller I am thinking to limit it to 38 or even 35mm tyres but let's see what happens with the Graveller once I put different tyres on.
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Old 05-28-21, 04:56 PM
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Originally Posted by JaccoW
Nice, do those 42x622 tyres fit with fenders? For the WorldTraveller I am thinking to limit it to 38 or even 35mm tyres but let's see what happens with the Graveller once I put different tyres on.
They do, or rather, they should! Tons of vertical clearance, at least on my frame (which continues to impress).

Some trimming would need to happen in the front to work the 44.5mm gap between the fork blades, but that can be managed. [Obviously those TRPs don't fit, but that changes next week!]


Pretty much the same height/clearance in the rear. At the chainstays, the bridge is a part of the BB shell casting, so I have acres of room to mount fenders and slip in/out tires.
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Old 05-31-21, 04:55 PM
  #130  
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Silca pump and the Tubus rack arrived today and I made some measurements for a frame bag. Better pics when I get some time to clean everything. Right now the fenders are full of sand.

I also have no ideas where I left the Ortlieb adapter clamps. Probably somewhere in a little bag.








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Old 06-08-21, 02:40 PM
  #131  
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Originally Posted by JaccoW
I had them made by Unlimited Colors. Prices seem to be a €15 starting price and then €10 for each decal but prices vary. Just send them an e-mail and they can make a vinyl replica.
Thanks for the link! And oh boy, that bike looks lovely and every time I check this thead it gets even better, as always with your projects
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Old 06-09-21, 01:38 PM
  #132  
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Right, so I just cleaned the bike and a friend and I plan to take it on a small two day tour next week.

No major updates, just some better shots of the stainless steel Tubus Tara front rack and the Supernova Z reflector 2. Designed to be a certified German StVZO relfector that isn't hideous and still very visible.
It's certainly appealing but on the faceted VO Zeppelin fenders they don't entirely fit and the screw hole is simply plastic so I ended up needing superglue to fix the screw after a few times of having to remove and attach it while tightening it to the fender properly. It might work better on a smooth fender.










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Old 06-26-21, 04:13 PM
  #133  
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Next weekend I'm heading to the hilly end of the country together with some friends to do some day rides and I was planning on taking this bike. They both ride road bikes and while I am plenty fast I just wanted to make sure I stand a chance of keeping up with them. Though chances are I will be more comfortable by the end of the day.

Now the original Schwalbe Little Big Ben tyres have quite a bit of thread and some fairly decent flat protection but they also weigh 695 grams (1.53 lbs). So, inspired by RiddleOfSteel and his Trek 620 I decided to take the plunge on a pair of Soma Supple Vitesse EX in 42-622. These weigh about 380 grams (0.83 lbs) a piece and are very plush and supple according to reviews. I'm not running them tubeless so I will lose a bit of flex there but these use a very lightweight tubular casing. Flat protection is probably minimal but then again together with some roadies and a frame pump I'll be fine.

Now as always with tyres like this they stretch a little. Where I ran into some issues with the 40-622 Schwalbe's I fixed it but these ran a little bit wider still, though not in the area I was expecting. Width was actually okay, a quick measurement shows me these are about 40mm wide on the Ryde Zac421 with its 21mm internal width. Some issues near the chainstay bridge and weirdly enough near the top of the front fork crown. Probably just a bolt somewhere but the fender isn't all the way to the top because of the front rack. So that's something for tomorrow.

Anyway, so I cut the rear fender, fought the bottom bracket dynamo/kickstand plate with two wrenches, after the bolt connecting the fender to said plate rubbed, and mounted everything again.

Then it turned out I had been lazy while building the front wheel and it needed some serious redishing.
Remounted everything and gave it a short (rubbing) test ride through the backyard and called it a day.

All in all there is a good 2-3mm of room on either side with the narrowest parts of the fender out of the way.
The bike is currently pretty much ready for the tour I have planned (well... loosely planned) along the côte d'azur to Rome this summer. I'm just waiting for the custom TimTas frame bag and a decision on whether we are travelling light or going full touring with camping gear. In the latter case I might have a fun quick project in the 1999 Koga-Miyata Adventure I picked up yesterday.

Another fun fact, the last three pictures were taken shortly after 22:00, or 10PM. The longest day of the year might be behind us but it's still plenty light around here.





1624 grams (3.58 lbs) for the entire front wheel




Clearance around the rear chainstay bridge



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Old 06-26-21, 07:25 PM
  #134  
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Dude, Jacco, those Somas look GREAT!! Perfect color complementing with the tan walls. What PSI/bar did you set them at? I'm presently at about 40-42 PSI in front and 45 PSI in the rear, with these 16.7mm internal width rims. No flats yet, though I'll need more miles. Since the EX stands for Extra Wear, the tread portion is thicker (over the SL / Super Light). Saving nearly 1.5 kg in rotational mass should do wonders for ride quality and response compared to the battleships you had on there before! Excited to see how you like them as you ride them more, and I definitely saved the whole-bike side view photo you took.
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Old 06-28-21, 02:14 AM
  #135  
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Originally Posted by RiddleOfSteel
Dude, Jacco, those Somas look GREAT!! Perfect color complementing with the tan walls. What PSI/bar did you set them at? I'm presently at about 40-42 PSI in front and 45 PSI in the rear, with these 16.7mm internal width rims. No flats yet, though I'll need more miles. Since the EX stands for Extra Wear, the tread portion is thicker (over the SL / Super Light). Saving nearly 1.5 kg in rotational mass should do wonders for ride quality and response compared to the battleships you had on there before! Excited to see how you like them as you ride them more, and I definitely saved the whole-bike side view photo you took.
Thanks! I was a bit hesitant because I really liked the look of the cream Schwalbe's but it turned out really well.

I'm running them at 3 bar (~43 psi) but we'll see if I like them higher or lower once I put some distance into them. The weight savings should be closer to 630 grams (1.39 lbs) overall but the wheels feel noticably lighter. Plenty of grip on gravel and grass too so far, more info on that next week.

Yesterday I took the front fender off to see how much room I had to work with and to figure out where the rubbing was coming from. Turns out it was the tiny screws of the Honjo fender XXX but it does comfirm my hunch that the giant bolts Velo Orange offers with these fenders would have never worked.
Still, I wanted to see if I could run fenders on here and then I remembered that I had lots of rivets lying around. So a quick pass with a round file to open up the hole a little bit and the rivets popped into place and the fender was fitted again. Perfect.
There is probably just 1.5mm (¹/₁₆ inch) between the fender and the tyre at that point but let's hope that never becomes a problem.
And if it does... it looks like I could take a large round file to the underside of the fork crown and gain another 1-2mm of room.






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Old 07-05-21, 10:54 AM
  #136  
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So the ride across the southern province was a nice one this weekend. We did have to cut sunday short because of heavy rain but all in all it was a great ride.

The Graveller was noticeably slower on the climbs (though that might have to do with the higher overall weight of the rider + cargo) but in general was able to keep up on the flat parts and soared ahead on the downhills.
The 40/42mm wide supple tyres were very comfortable and worked a treat on the few unpaved sections where the others had to be very careful on their 22mm road tyres.

I installed my custom frame bag by Tim Tas and the Restrap rando bag which was enough for the weekend. We picked two different hostels so we ended up riding with our gear the entire route.
On the way there I ran into a woman on the train who was doing a slightly longer route and we talked bikes. She commented on me being one of the first people she's seen with the Carradice rear rack as she had one herself.
All in all a good trip and I slept like a baby both nights.






Post-trip. Rear tyre and chain need some cleaning since the rain made them dirty.

Last edited by JaccoW; 07-05-21 at 11:03 AM.
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Old 07-05-21, 11:34 AM
  #137  
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Nice build and ride report! I'll be curious to hear how these Soma SV tires hold up over the next 1000 miles or so.
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Old 07-05-21, 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by ctak
Nice build and ride report! I'll be curious to hear how these Soma SV tires hold up over the next 1000 miles or so.
I might be able to tell you by early september.
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Old 07-05-21, 12:55 PM
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Either you or me for 42mm Soma tire evaluation at 1,000 miles. You'll likely beat me to it lest I do 100 mi / 160 km a week until the beginning of September...
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Old 07-05-21, 02:29 PM
  #140  
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Originally Posted by RiddleOfSteel
Either you or me for 42mm Soma tire evaluation at 1,000 miles. You'll likely beat me to it lest I do 100 mi / 160 km a week until the beginning of September...
I did 100km (60 mi) this weekend and I am bound to add a couple more longer days to that before the end of August. And from Marseille to Rome is a little under 1000 km (600 mi). I'm not sure I will reach 1000 miles before that but then again, I don't really want to have to buy new tyres before leaving on tour though I will probably order a spare.

Just bought the train ticket to Marseille this weekend. A little over 6 hours by train in one go from Rotterdam central station. Only 10 minutes by bike or perhaps I will take it all packed up by tram, metro or have it picked up beforehand and delivered to my destination in France.
Will have to look into the best way back (and expect some "rinko" content in this thread beforehand) but that will either be by train, plane or bus.

How are you liking them so far? I ran them at 3 bar (43 psi) this weekend and that felt good.
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Old 07-05-21, 04:36 PM
  #141  
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Originally Posted by JaccoW
I did 100km (60 mi) this weekend and I am bound to add a couple more longer days to that before the end of August. And from Marseille to Rome is a little under 1000 km (600 mi). I'm not sure I will reach 1000 miles before that but then again, I don't really want to have to buy new tyres before leaving on tour though I will probably order a spare.

Just bought the train ticket to Marseille this weekend. A little over 6 hours by train in one go from Rotterdam central station. Only 10 minutes by bike or perhaps I will take it all packed up by tram, metro or have it picked up beforehand and delivered to my destination in France.
Will have to look into the best way back (and expect some "rinko" content in this thread beforehand) but that will either be by train, plane or bus.

How are you liking them so far? I ran them at 3 bar (43 psi) this weekend and that felt good.
The 42s are, as I mentioned in my thread, fantastic. 48s were the first enlightenment, but 42s have done really well, especially in comparison to the 33s. 33s over Seattle roads may as well be 25s as far as I'm concerned. 42s eliminate a lot of that stuff. It's pretty incredible. Since I run unloaded, 40-43 PSI seems to be the sweet spot. 40 PSI for sure in the front. I'll be doing more mileage once the decals arrive, I apply them, and build the bike up. I'll place the head badge on it today.
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Old 07-23-21, 05:34 PM
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Crosspost from the Where'd You Ride Today-thread.

I live on the other side of the country but the last ride through Limburg I posted on here would probably have been impossible last weekend as we too had some major flooding in that area. Fortunately no deaths like in some of the surrounding countries, partially because the hills and mountains are not as tall, partially because the Netherlands has been working hard the past 25 years to give more (spillover) room to water in many areas. That's not to say the rest failed. We were lucky and were not prepared for intense rainfall either and it could have ended badly as well. Just goes to show we need to start doing something about our changing climate and our environment to adjust to the changes that are already here.

That being said, I took the K-M Graveller on a gravel ride by Bjornrides.cc between Breda and Tilburg.
Lots of forest paths, gravel roads, singletrack, some sand and a quick stop at a fake airport built by the Germans in WW2.

I crashed into a ditch near the beginning because I came in too hot on a much too narrow farmer's road and tumbled over at low speed. I hit the elevated middle section and couldn't steer over it. No real damage except for a bleeding spot on my knee but I could go on.
Halfway through after my lunch break I suddenly had a flat and just swapped with a spare inner tube I was carrying with me. Turns out the Schwalbe Aerothan inner tubes are not that easy to inflate from empty because the pump head has a hard time getting a grip on the valve. Maybe next time I will try inflating it a bit before putting it inside the tyre. I was really glad I had it with me though it's really light and when I measured the pressure after I got home I was running a little over 2 bar (30 psi) but no issues with flats and it didn't feel any slower. Just more comfortable. Not sure I would feel safe doing those pressures with regular inner tubes but then again, those are much easier to fix on the side of the road.

All in all a beautiful ride though but definitely not for anything much narrower than 38mm.


Forest roads. Nice and shady with the occasional pothole


Some actual gravel! Small rocks but still. Around Rotterdam where I live it's rare


Nice small lakes dot the area


Narrow roads, stinging-nettle and shorts are not the greatest combo



It's a fake plane! In WW2 the Germans had a fake airfield around here to confuse the Allied forces and prevent them from bombing the nearby military airfield. This up here is a modern day replica.


Swapping inner tubes to fix a flat and keep on going.



More narrow hard-packed sandy roads


Muddy forest roads are awesome but not great with tight fitting fenders.
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Old 08-02-21, 04:47 PM
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Preparations for this summer are on the way and the first step is making the bike ready for transport.
On the one hand it is annoying that there are no bicycle racks available this summer in the TGV (French high-speed train) on the other hand it is free if you can fit it in a special transport bag.

I dropped by the local Decathlon for one of the cheaper options and spent some time today getting the bike ready.

Cut some aluminum tubing to protect the front fork from being squashed and actually found a nifty quick release with an integrated chain roller. I went for the upside down variety and removed the front rack. Thought now that I think of it I could probably get away with just twisting the handlebar and not the fork.
The saddle still has to go all the way down though. Even when slammed it is a very tight fit over the chainring. But it seems to work.

Now to figure out how small I can get it and where to leave it while riding.




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Old 08-09-21, 12:30 PM
  #144  
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Fully loaded test ride.

This should be the setup for this summer. Especially clothing isn't finalized but with a fully packed rear, empty frame bag and 70% full rando bag I should have some room to switch things around.

It handles well like this, it looks like I might even be able to ride it no handed, but I didn't dare to extensively test that theory.


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Old 08-11-21, 08:42 AM
  #145  
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Nice framebag, made it yourself?
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Old 08-11-21, 04:14 PM
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Originally Posted by CMAW
Nice framebag, made it yourself?
While I do own a sewing machine, this is made by someone who knows a bit better what he is doing than I do. It's custom made by Tim Tas & Rek (Etsy) based on some pictures and a cutout piece of cardboard.

Made from cordura x-pac and with a zipper to the main compartment on one side and a map space in the other. The bottom triangle has an internal zipper and holds my spare inner tubes safe. There is also room for tent poles on the inside of the top of the bag.
I wanted it to fit on top (underneath) the frame pump for ease of access and I'm lucky I ride big bikes so there is plenty of room for two big bottles underneath and with an estimated 5.5L there's lots of room inside as well.

All in all I'm happy with it.
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Old 08-13-21, 10:04 PM
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Did koga-miyata make steel mtbs? It seems you could do with one!
Out of curiosity I was browsing marktplaats.nl for koga-miyata, it seems your spoilt for choice and they seem rather cheap!
Is it just because they made so many of them?
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Old 08-16-21, 06:47 AM
  #148  
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Originally Posted by metalrideroz
Did koga-miyata make steel mtbs? It seems you could do with one!
Out of curiosity I was browsing marktplaats.nl for koga-miyata, it seems your spoilt for choice and they seem rather cheap!
Is it just because they made so many of them?
I have kept my eyes open for a nice Koga-Miyata MTB but I'm not entirely sure what size I would need since I'm so tall.

It's not just Koga-Miyata bikes. Bicycles in general are cheap around here because many bikes end up back on the second-hand market since they are still quite good. There are more bicycles than people around here and I know of lots of people who own multiple bikes for different occasions.
But anything that is built better is more likely to survive. So there are still tons of Gazelle and Batavus bikes from the 50's and 60's being ridden daily by people as a daily commuter. Then again €700 for a bike that gets ridden daily and gets left outside isn't all that rare either.
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Old 08-19-21, 08:37 AM
  #149  
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Originally Posted by JaccoW

Swapping inner tubes to fix a flat and keep on going.
Remember how I had a flat a month ago? I finally took some time off from packing to fix the tube so I can bring it as a spare this vacation. For some reason there were two pairs of snakebites. One on the side like a standard pinch flat, the other right next to the valve on the inside. So it looks like I need a bit more pressure in the rear when riding on terrain like this.

Other than that things are ready for our tour, starting this weekend. I do however need to keep an eye on our planned route, with forest fires being a major issue East of Marseille and Covid spread an issue in all of the South of France and North-East of Spain. We're currently looking at two routes, with the first one being discarded for another year; Marseille to Rome and Marseille to Barcelona.







Fire risk in the area


Marseille to Rome


Marseille to Barcelona
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Old 08-20-21, 05:29 PM
  #150  
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Packed up and ready to go

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