ksryder

If you were building a C&V bike for the Dirty Kanza 200, what would you build?


I've finished this ride twice, will probably do it again, but both times have been on decidedly non-vintage bikes. I'm just curious what types of C&V options people would choose for 200 miles of rocks, hills, and headwinds?


This is a theoretical exercise, more in the nature of a roundtable discussion. It's just something I've kicked around in my head from time to time.


You don't see a lot of vintage on this ride. I know some folks who ride on drop-bar conversion Stumpjumpers and such, but I don't like 26" wheels so I wouldn't personally choose that option. Something like a Trek 750 multitrack, which I think can fit up to 47mm tires, as a drop bar conversion, would be good. Or a Bridgestone XO-3.


What else you got?

bikemig 

1993 Bridgestone XO-2. It was originally spec'd with drop bars and 26 inch wheels but it has road bike geometry.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgest...3/pages/32.htm

I own one. It is a first rate long distance machine that was designed to deal with all sorts of road surfaces.

The '93 XO-1 would be sweet too; same geometry that year for the XO-1 and 2 and both had cantis. The XO-2 has a seamed chrome moly frame and is a bit heavier than the XO-1 which is made of a better quality seamless chrome moly. The weight difference though is pretty small. The '92 XO-1 had long reach sidepulls which limits tire selection.

Drop bar mtb conversions don't ride like the XO-2 because it has road geometry.

Another really cool bike would be one of the bianchi project hybrid bikes, https://www.bikehugger.com/post/view/...hat-wasnt-700d

cyclotoine

Jack Taylor Ruff Stuff?

non-fixie 

I kinda accidentally built this a few weeks ago. Hmmm ...

50voltphantom

^basically what I was thinking.

Or a 27" to 700c SS conversion with centerpulls and 33-35mm tires.

bikemig 

I want to accidently build a bike this beautiful one day . . .

gaucho777 

^+1. @non-fixie, that's a great looking and well-executed "accident."

non-fixie 

Thank you. It is one of my many attempts at building The Ultimate Sports Bicycle. During its maiden trip one of the 28mm folding Paselas blew off the rim, so I had to make do with what a local bike shop had on offer in terms of beaded tires. These 37mm Continental Sportcontact II's were the nicest he had. I don't care for their looks but the way they handled the medieval pavement that day was impressive.

DMC707

If I couldn't find a straight up vintage cyclocross bike, I'd evaluate which one of my current vintage road machines has the most tire clearance, then i'd have canti mounts brazed on

Thinking specifically about one of my DeBErnardi's --- when I built it, I installed 27c Vittoria Open Corsa's and had plenty of tire clearance at the frame , but not much more at the brakes ---

I'd pick a frame I didn't mind butchering, like a cheaper ebay pickup , as i'd go back with powdercoat and fresh re-pop decals

--- I would also likely stick with a 7 speed drivetrain to hopefully avoid some of the chain woes I have heard others talk about on that ride

something like this one -- the finish is a little distressed already plus I don't know what else to do with it

--- the old Bianchi in the back is a quality Thron tubed bike that would work well, but a flat crown fork would give a lot better clearance than the Unicrown on it now

------ This is what i'd do if all hope for finding an old Bianchi 'cross or touring frame had died

mstateglfr 

I would build a bike thats vintage frame and a mix of old and new components.

- Early90s Hybrid frames could be fantastic. Trek 750, Schwinn CrissCross, Bianchi Project, Univega ViaActiva 300, etc etc. Ive had those pass thru my hands over the last few years and they all could be built into great gravel bikes.

- Mid-late 80s touring bikes could also work for what I would want to do, though the tire clearance may be a sticking point.


Old frame and fork
Threaless stem converter and threadless stem
Easton EA50 seatpost or a fancy Thomson
Origin8 Gary bars or Soma Cowchipper bars
STIs, bar end shifters, or Gevenalle shifters(no downtube for me. downtube on 40mi of gravel is too much for me, much less 200mi of gravel)
Tektro RL levers if using bar ends
9speed 11-32 cassette paired to a 110/74 crank with 48-38-26 rings yes, there are duplicate gears. Im lazy and this takes care of a wide range even if there are duplicates.
Older XT RD and a current Sora triple FD
H+son Archetype wheels running whatever old or new hubs you want
Old DiaCompe or SunTour canti brakes. Either XCM or XCT.
Clement Xplor MSU 40mm tires



Ooh, thatd be a fun ride!

ksryder

Pretty. My accidents tend to result in 18 years of domestic support obligations.

non-fixie 

Which may well be the reason that mrs non-fixie prefers me playing with bikes instead of pursuing other interests ...

Bianchigirll 

The Dirty what? Link

How vintage? Assuming the dirty in the name means this might be on partially paved roads, the Bianchi Volpe immediately come to mind, or even the Tangent or Equinox. Aside from the lack of shifter bosses you could put all the vintage parts you wanted on it even MAFAC cantilevers.

Bianchigirll 

Sounds fun but grueling. I also see you can hire a support crew to help you along the way.

Clang

I wouldn't mind finding one of these early 29'ers one of these days. Diamondback Overdrive Comp / Overdrive

gaucho777 

Looking at the results for the 2016 Dirty Kanza 200...Ted King was first with an impressive time of 11 hours, 50 minutes--a full 42 minutes ahead of the 2nd place rider. 554 riders finished in the end, with a trio of riders rolling in together 20 hours and 55 minutes after their start. That's a long time on a bike. I'd definitely want wide tires, my most comfortable saddle, and some extra padding or at least cork tape on the bars.

Bianchigirll 

I wonder if you discounted how much time everyone spent at rest stops and checkpoints what the time difference would be.

Perhaps the group in last place just had much more fun.

Chrome Molly

I've ridden this on a few Almonzo's and several other gravel rides.

Lemond Poprad:
Canti's
46/30 FSA gossamer triple converted to super compact double
12-32 10s rear
Rival med cage RD/FD and controls
Vuelta super light wheels (they hold up fine and are light)
Clement 40c tires
The rest is just stuff I like to run

I don't feel like I'm losing a lot to the rest of the field, but I have considered how a 5lb lighter carbon cross/gravel bike would feel in terms of climbs and sustaining speed on the rollers.

Not modern or vintage I guess

DMC707

This is a nasty ride ---- last year it was a mud fest- basically a 200 mile cyclocross race, only worse -- friends from KS have tried to encourage me to do this one

As a former trackie , I have no interest in doing this ride - but many look at it as a "bucket list" ride now right up there with Leadville, Furnace Creek 500 and others

As someone so eloquently quoted in the track racing forum

"Roadies can run tempo all year as that's what humans were designed for. If you want to be a cheetah, lay around and lick your paws more." -- I will just keep telling myself I am a fat cheetah

USAZorro

I really need to get some of my projects finished. I have something for that ride about 90% finished.

DMC707

And to think we credit Gary Fisher with inventing the 29'er (he did play a huge role in getting them widespread acceptance though) ---- these examples look to be '92 or '93 time range

nlerner

At this year's Deerfield Dirt Road Randonnee (lots of dirt and gravel roads, lots of climbing and descending), I rode my '97 Lemond Buenos Aires converted to 650B x 38mm wheels, a 42/28t Stronglight 99 crankset, and a rear cluster with a 32t max cog. I never found myself looking for a lower gear, didn't walk any hills, and felt reasonably stable on descents (though I'm a very cautious descender).

Bianchigirll 

As with the hybrid in '89 Bianchi was the first to offer 700c Mountain bikes in '91, the Project series.

Salamandrine 

I would ride my PX10. Maybe I'd put 32c tires on it.

Old road bikes work well on dirt because they were designed when much of european road racing was actually on dirt roads.

gomango

Three of my workmates did the ride.

700x40 MSOs run tubeless.

Mud with 32s or less?

You're walking and maybe a very, very long way.