Originally Posted by
Burton
Heelstrike issues are a result of a combination of pannier size, chainstay length and shoe size. Most tourists travel with two large panniers in the back which will bring all those together to create the problem. Travelling light and using four small panniers front snd back will normally kill any heelstrike issues.
The Kona Project 2 front fork is still available as NOS with eylets for mounting a front rack and is an excellent choice. A suspension fork and front rack combo is counter productive because panniers just load the unsprung weight. You might as well have no suspension.
So you say 16.75" chainstays are long enough if I use small panniers on the back?
Have you done touring with such short chainstays?
How do you feel about 32 spokes vs 36 spokes?
Originally Posted by
Sixty Fiver
The Explosif with the DX components is an outstanding bike and I would not be passing GO if I was looking for a bike like this... the shock would get replaced with a Project 2 and DX compnents in good condition are worth the price of admission.
I already have a first year Explosif that I am fitting out with XTR... these frames are beautiful.
For touring, a mid eighties MTB / ATB would be an excellent choice and I would not pass on a bike if it had a chain stay mounted brake... have been running my Kuwahara Cascade as a touring bike for many years and tens of thousands of km and the U brake has served me quite well.
Could I put these DX components on a Surly LHT frame if it came to that?
Have you run a tourer with 16.75" stays?