Almost I should say. I do have a steel tandem. Yesterday I completed my Lynskey MT29 build. In the past year I also built a Lynskey Backroad touring bike and bought a Litespeed T6 road bike. The Backroad is going to be my favorite. There is just something about the feel of Titanium that gets it done for me. I realize we are all different and have different preferences. I am not trying to convert anyone, and I am not asserting that titanium is superior. I love the balance it strikes between handling, responsiveness and forgiveness. As a bonus, it's nice to support US manufacturing.
I bought the MT 29 frame as a refurbished trade-in model directly from Lynskey. It must be an older frame. It has rack mounts which I may end up using. I built it without any Shimano or Sram labeled components other than the chain. It has a Race Face Atlas crank, Race Face BB and Race Face Narrow Wide chain ring. Out back I have a Microshift 11 speed 11-42 cassette and Microshift XCD RD. My shifter is a Microshift XCD. I went with TRP Spyke mechanical discs and TRP levers. The Fork is a fairly simple Manitou Markhor. The wheels are Sun Ringle wearing Clement XC LXV tires. Th build is rounded out with VP platform pedals, Pro Max seatpost and stem, Answer carbon bars with Oury grips and the seat is a Selle SMP TRK.
In running it around the block, it feels great. This is the second build I have done with Microshift. It works really well. It's not a light bike. It tips the scales at 27 pounds. I have no idea what kind of weight 29ers normally come in at, but that seems a bit high. I guess with the spec level I built it at, it's probably about right. I am a casual trail rider, not a racer.
I do have a bit of a chainline issue. When I am on the 42, the chain angle is too drastic. When I am on the 11 it's fine. I am using one BB spacer on the drive side and none on the non-drive side as is the norm for 73MM BB shells. I tried removing the drive side spacer, but as I start tightening it down, it binds up. I suppose that is a function of the tube connecting the two bearings. I need to get that figured out before I head for the mountains.
