Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
Part of the reason that I asked is that I want to build a Lynskey Touring bike for myself for a retirement gift and ....
Sorry for being off topic, but sometimes Lynskey has a new frame that for one reason or another they want to get rid of it quickly. Might be a return from a dealer, who knows. They still have full factory warranty. I bought my Lynskey Backroad frame on Ebay from Lynskey a year ago. Frame was less than half of what I would have paid if I ordered it on their website. Right now they have two Backroads on Ebay, both size large. I am 6' and 1/2", so not sure if a Large would be too big for you or not. It fits me perfectly. Just wanted to let you know of a couple great deals out there. Those two have the dropouts for a through axle, but you can pay Lynskey for the dropouts for a conventional rear hub.
Some Titanium frames do not have clearance for a triple, my Backroad does. You can see in the photo how the chainstay was constructed to have the room for a third chainring. If you decide you want a triple, make sure that the frame you order has room for a triple.
A friend of mine has a Habanero Ti frame bike that he tours on, he is very happy with that bike. I think his was sold as a cyclocross model.
Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
I have a thread going up in Bicycle Mechanics about drive train specifics, so we don't need to hash that out here. I just wondered how many tourists were running readily available drive trains. I guess tourists don't make up enough of the market to warrant producing purpose built touring drive trains. I am leaning toward 10 speed as there seems to be more 10 speed stuff available.
I want stuff that is reliable, easily replaceable, robust, etc. Thus, I have good quality stuff, but it was not one group to start with. In the photo I am mixing some Campy stuff, some Shimano stuff, a Sram cassette and an inexpensive KMC chain. Although I built up that bike a year ago, I am using a 1990s vintage rear derailleur on it.
One last point - if you get a Lynskey, there are two small screws that hold each rear dropout in the frame. Remove the screws, put some threadlocker on them and re-install. One of mine vibrated loose and caused me a mess of trouble. I told a gal I met that had a Lynskey about that, she said that it had happened to her too.