New touring/winter frame

[shaunaneto]

Oooh, thanks for that WD, I'd forgotten about Soma.

Very nice

[shaunaneto]

I'm spending way too much time on Shands and Feather Cycles websites.

I can almost smell bankruptcy.

[wheezing donkey]

Would not touch Shands, after the experience of a retired LBS proprietor that I met last year.

Also remember:-

Most of these disc specific touring frames will be 135 mm across the rear drop-outs; your rear wheel will need to be on a MTB disc hub.

If you intend carrying camping kit and venturing off road, a 105 ( or any other "road" ) transmission may well not have the required spread of gears.

That's why most (honest) frame builders usually display their drop-bar touring bikes with bar end shifters - to operate a full MTB drive train.
Also, from personal experience, when wearing thick, full weight winter gloves, it's far easier to get the shifting correct with the bar ends on my 'crosser / winter bike than with the Ultegra 6700 STI's on the fast road bike.

Ian.

[shaunaneto]

Ahhh, I knew there was someone on here who'd heard of bad experiences with Shand. Was it incorrect brake bosses or something and a real chore getting it sorted?

Which is a shame, as they are not far from here. Not really many options left in Scotland.

Anyway, that's not likely to be a problem for the next few years.

[wheezing donkey]

Met an old guy who had been proprietor of a high-end LBS in the Blackpool area.
He was on a classic touring bike which had the "wrong" fork - he'd picked up the frame secondhand and just fitted what he had lying around.
He'd then ordered a traditional touring fork from Shand but it arrived with the lowrider boss on one leg in a different postion to the low rider boss on the other leg. He sent it back and it was returned to him having been modified; but each lowrider boss was still at a different height.
At that point he cancelled the order and requested his money back.

[shaunaneto]

As it goes, I went with a totally unoriginal option of a Kinesis Crosslight 5T.

It's needed for commuting duties and didn't want anything too flashy for the bike lock up. It's still very nice mind you.

[wheezing donkey]

As it goes, I went with a totally unoriginal option of a Kinesis Crosslight 5T.

It's needed for commuting duties and didn't want anything too flashy for the bike lock up. It's still very nice mind you.

Not a bad choice - over the years I've often had an inkling towards their disc-braked "do it all" CX option .... is it the "Evo 6"?

[shaunaneto]

Both the 5T and Pro 6 have disc brake versions. I went with the 5T solely to keep the bikes value down.

[wheezing donkey]

P3040019.jpgP3040020.jpgP3040017.jpg

This is the Soma Juice 29er frame & suspension corrected, rigid fork that I assembled as an on & off road tourer / winter bike. Looks a bit odd and it's no lightweight but it is incredibly stable and works really well. I've been riding it for 18 months now, alongside my other two bikes, and really love it. The On-One Midge bars put the brake hoods in a truly ergonomic / intuitive position.

[shaunaneto]

like it WD, looks like it'll go almost anywhere!