Moisture there's an old adage that goes "
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist." it seems to many of us that this is what you think you are doing. there are many mavericks throughout history who do this well, and there are hacks who are never remembered except for their eccentric failures. the problem is, you skipped the first part. instead of riding conventional bicycles and then adapting them to what works for you, you're taking whatever old junk bikes you can get your hands on—that don't fit you—and spinning a world of alternative facts to justify the quirks of how you fit on these bikes. it's great to tinker and try new things, even whacky things because it's fun to tinker with bikes. but you owe it to yourself to be honest about what you're doing, and that it's mostly driven by your limited access to purpose-made gear for your needs. you're having fun and learning, and you have little to tell the world about it other than your mistakes and kludges to work around them.
Gary Fisher, Jeff Jones, Grant Pederson, and their tribe make bikes that don't fit the mold, but they learned the conventional way of doing things first. I think you might get a lot out of studying what Jeff Jones has done. look up The Path Less Pedaled on youtube as well. that seems up your alley.
Last edited by mack_turtle; 02-03-21 at 10:11 AM.