Originally Posted by WillisB
Retro,
Sorry for the typo. It is a 58 cm frame, not 28 cm.
Stapfam,
This will be a road bike only. That is why I was excited about the fixed fork. I will put 1.25" slicks on it to replace the knobbies. I put fenders on my Giant to ride in wet weather. I had to use zip-ties on the front fenders to attach to the forks. With this MT 500 frame there are all the proper screw holes, so it will get the fenders when I am done.
That will give me the Giant for the little off-road I do and the MT 500 for on -road.
Now if you are solely road then the tyre to get is a Continental Grand prix. About a .22 in road bike sizing and roll beautifully. High pressure tyre so good rims required to take the 100psi- or 120 if you really want to roll, but by far the least drag resistant tyre for a 26" wheel. Now on the fenders- Why use them? As you will be able to keep up with the road riders on this lightweight bike that you will be building up- You might aswell go Naked and lose as much weight as possible to show them how it can be done.
When my back could take the shocks- I built up a custom MTB and it had rigid forks. In road trim it weighed 18lbs and used to fly. Only mistake I made was that I used an MTB Crankset on it with 22/32/44 gearing- Now if you could get a Road triple with 30/42/52 on it- You will have a low enough gear for the Steepest hills and on the Downhills you will be taking the roadies. Especially with V. brakes on it to be able to stop for the hairpins on the mountain descents.