Originally Posted by aroundoz
That looks great and every bit as good if not better than a newer 520 frame. Bars even w/ the saddle and nice platform for the hands on the hoods. W/out seeing you on it, it looks comfortable. You dn't need fancy parts and in a lot of ways, less fancy is more durable.
I am also a big guy, about 225lbs, so curious how the cantis stopped you loaded down on a steep decent. They didn't work for me so I switched to v-brakes.
Minor point is that it looks like your tubing diameter for front and rear racks is different. It's nice to be able to use the small bags on both front and rear if, for instance, you are dumping your stuff and going exploring. If you have Ortlieb, for instance, it's not an issue, since they have spacers to accomdate most tubing sizes.
I haven't had the chance to test the brakes on a steep decent- there aren't any around the Chicago area. They seem to work well when the bike is loaded, so hopefully I won't have any problems. Do you use road levers with your V brakes? If so, do you use a travel agent or similar device? As for the rack, my Jandd and Ortlieb bags both fit interchangeably- thanks for mentioning that though, that's the first time I've thought about it as a potential problem.