Panasonic Pro ATB nearly done
 

This project may well be the last complete build I ever do so I tried to get it right. Other than a fat bike this off road tourer fills the last functional void in my stable. I purchased the Panasonic Pro ATB frame from fellow member cog_nate about a year and a half ago and finally got around to tackling the project.

I previously purchased a mountain bike that had the 9 speed shifters and wheels so I spread the rear triangle on the Panasonic to fit and had a pump peg and third set of bottle bosses added and then had it powder coated. I have replica decals on order as a finishing touch. I had the Blackburn silver rack from an old road bike and it was a great fit on this and I like the way it looks. However at some point I want to add fenders and the two rear stays don't have enough space for a 60cm fender so I'll probably have to replace it with a black Blackburn Expedition that I have. Most of the other components were gathered at swap meets or CL.

I took it out for a couple rides and love the ride and comfort of the Midge bars. They worked out to be a very comfortable height but I don't feel too upright. It exceeds my expectations and I can't wait to try it out with the front rack and fully loaded.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/DSC08339.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/DSC08341.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/DSC08344.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/DSC08345.jpg

Great looking ride. Enjoy it.

I'm also looking for some aesthetic input on fenders for this bike. I'm leaning toward Trek NCS which only come in black or Planet Bike Cascadias which come in black or silver. What do you think would look better given the racks will be black?

I like the planet bike cascadias a lot but I'd also take a look at the SKS fenders. You won't go wrong with either fenders. This is a very good looking bike.

Did you have someone locally do the braze ons and the paint job? Good choice of color for a touring bike.

What kind of wheels are you using and tires?

I like the sugino crank (that is a sugino crank, right?) a lot. I might be tempted to go with a trekking crank (44-32-22) on a build like this as well.

What kind of pedals are you using?

I find steel water bottle cages a bit more durable than aluminum; being able to bend them a bit is a plus as well.

I really like that style of drop bar on a build like this.

This is a really fine build, :thumb:.

Thanks!
The local guy I used for the powder coating offers braze ons. I think he probably farms the work out but I don't know for sure. Since a lot of the intended use is on gravel I thought I would pick a color that wouldn't show the dust! I thought it was kind of a nice earthy tone for touring.
The wheels are Deore LX hubs laced to On One ******* rims with 2" Continental Travel Contact tires. The crank is also Shimano Deore LX with 46-36-24 rings. I have the same thing on my road tourer and have been very happy with it. Very nice shifting. The pedals are just an old pair of Shimano mountain bike pedals I had. Not sure of the model.

I added a thumbnail picture Nate sent me before I purchased the bike from him and a couple of the finished product with decals.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...9CB5B5F6B5.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...81C15A2EB8.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...91B5028C7D.jpg

I really like the decals! Have you looked at the black sks fenders? Handsome also has some hammers black fenders called the mud butler or something like that that might appeal to you.

Very nice build. :)

That's a really great build. The only thing I don't care for is On One's hurtful use of that term on the rims, which the forum has apparently screened.

Is this one of the higher-end MTB frames of its time? I'm tempted to build something like this, but I'd want the right starting point.

Looks perfect for the gravel roads and ATV trails up in northern Wisconsin. I like the silver stickers on the frame.

Smart choice in frames for this project. I wish I'd have started with a bottom pull FD frame when building up a similar project (had to go back to a double crank to get mine to work as I wanted).

Good looking fork. I wish my Panasonic had that instead of the ugly unicrown fork.

What stem are you using?

Missed this one.

Super nice, practical build for sure.

Congrats. :)

I don't recall that it had any branding on it. I picked it up at a swap meet mainly because it had the two bolt front plate and my bars were already set up on another bike so I didn't want to have to thread them through a stem. It might be Kalloy?

I have those same tires that I've used for awhile and they're great! Nice job on the build up.

VV - what kind of pressure do you usually run in them - on road and off? They are nice and quiet on the road.

Thanks to all for the nice comments. I've been more than pleased with the ride of this bike on roads and am anxious to do more exploring on gravel and forest roads. If you haven't tried a drop bar mountain bike I strongly encourage it. Someday when I have to trim down to 2 or 3 bikes this will be one of them.

I love that Bontrager bar tape! I have either the brown or white on all my bikes!


I was looking at this- saw the seat lug setup and thought "I've seen that somewhere recently..."

And remembered the Ritchey thread: http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...tain-bike.html


Although they're clearly different bikes- there's a lot of similarity in them- specifically that long TT/ST junction:

@badger_biker - the sidewall on mine says "80 psi", however because I'm light and not carrying anything I would typically run the rear around 75 & I always run the front 5 psi less, so 70 or so. Not an exact science, but I never run maximum psi & always 5 less in front. I had them on my '85 Bigfoot for awhile, then on the '88 Rockhopper. They seemed a little slow on the street, which is mostly where I rode them. They seemed good on packed dirt trails, but my experience on dirt/gravel isn't much, so I know that's not saying a lot. I sold those bikes, but I kept these tires.

They're normally around $50 per tire and I got them on sale for $25 per tire. Can't beat that, plus mine has the reflective stripe around the tire. I like that.

How do you like them so far?

Velocivixen - You must be running narrower versions. My 2" tires have nothing on the sidewall which is frustrating but online and on the label that was around the tires they recommend 45 psi and max at 58 psi. I do like them a lot. They are quiet, seem to have minimal rolling resistance yet have good traction. I like the reflective stripe also.

@badger_biker - I think mine are 26 x 1.75". It's very hard to see the writing, because it's under the reflective ring. But mine says 80 psi. Hope it helps.

Thanks for the tip in the lettering. I scoured the tires before and never found it - wow it is hard to find! Mine have a max of 65 psi.

Paramount1973 - You asked about the stem and got me curious so I slipped it out and here is all it has on it. If anyone can make out the name/brand please share. I'm not familiar with it.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...E95BB89457.jpg

I have the exact same stem and tried to work out what brand it was last year so I could find another to buy. Somehow I concluded it was most likely Hsin Lung, a Taiwanese parts maker, but wasn't able to track any down online. Looking at it again it looks more like 'NJ'.

BTW badger_biker, great looking bike. I'm curious how that front STI shifts with that Deore crankset. Did you use a mtb or road FD?

Thanks hyakuyen. The STI worked great the first couple of rides with a S T X FD but then I started having problems hitting all 3 rings. I replaced with a Sora road FD and had no luck and locked up my shifter. Might have been my fault for not anchoring the cable in the correct way. I gave up on STI and went with Durace bar ends. I need to post a pic of the new set up.

A couple pics of the finished product with the bar ends.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/DSC08361.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/DSC08359.jpg