Originally Posted by
TiHabanero
Anyone make a steel touring rig that will fit 700x50 with fenders out of high quality tubing? Not looking for a Surly level bike, but something with lighter tubing than a typical Surly that can handle 50c tires and fenders.
Sorry but I don't understand.
What is a Surly level bike mean to you?
When you talk of "high quality tubing" but not Surly level, I can only assume you mean more expensive frames made of the likes of Tange Prestige or Reynolds steel (531 and upwards) which you will likely pay through the nose for.
Your beginning to enter the realm of boutique, cottage industry or custom, last I looked.
Before I spotted the non Surly requirement, I was going to suggest you consider an ECR, Ogre or Salsa Fargo but now I'm confused.
Anyway, I look forward to reading the contributions given that I built my bike up in 2012 and open minded as to whats newer and better.
I was surprised at just how light my Ogre was when it was finished and given how heavy I tend to tour, would have preferred a stiffer (and likely heavier) frame.
When I built it, I had a budget that afforded a quality component kit or a better frame.
I opted for better componentry with a view to upgrading the frame down the track.
Given the changes in standardisation of dropout and hub widths since then, I might have chosen differently in hindsight but I'm not sorry I went with a Rohloff IGH and Son28 dyno.