Does my Dream Bike exist already?
 

I like the look of the 1984 Trek 800 series bikes,like the 890. I like the long chain stays and the extended wheelbase but I want larger diameter tires.

Is there a manufactured Touring bike in 56cm that fits 27" or 700c x 40mm wheels with all the braze-ons for racks, water bottles, etc, that have about 500mm chain stays or am I looking at a custom like Arvon makes? I prefer lugged steel but I'll take anything except carbon fiber.

Thanks

Probably not. 40 mm wide tires just were not around, cyclocross had and still has a width maximum, so that drove the accepted max width back then. If one wanted wider, you had to go esoteric and 650b. Or a flavor of 26".

Maybe do a 650B conversion?

I don't know about vintage models, but my 2009 Raleigh Sojourn is a 57 (56 top tube), has all the braze-ons, and I've fit 700x45 tires on it with no clearance problems. But the chainstays are 46cm.

It's you need one, it's in the classifieds. ;)

Long chainstay? Large tire?

Schwinn Varsity.

Any modern 29ers with long chain stays?

I could add braze-ons and it would be easier than replacing the rear triangle. I can't even find any chain stays tubes longer than about 450mm even if I wanted to make my own. :(

What size tire can the 800 series frame take? Maybe crimp the stays a little more?

Have you looked at some of the Surly bikes?
Do you need such really big tires in a touring bike?

Since I can't seem to write things out where people can understand. let me spell out what I want.

1) Touring bike. Must have braze-ons for racks, water bottles, etc.


2) 700c wheels that can fit 40 to 42mm tires in the frame.


3) Long Chain Stays. 500mm is about right. Mid-tail looks better to me than most bikes that won't fit a pencil between the tire and the seat tube.


Like I said at the beginning, Is there a production bike that has this, even if I have to add the braze-ons myself?

Or a Peugeot UO-8 - rando-cheapo!

A Trek 620 sporting 27" tires.
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/i5vu4gvlq8n..._1218.JPG?dl=0

Trek Hybrid? I think the 730 is showing 38mm tires.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-T...0/DSC_1200.JPG

Centaurious, I can't think of a single vintage bike manufactured with chain stays that long and marketed in North America. Most touring bikes have 44-46 cm long chain stays. If one exists, someone will know and hopefully post up the info.

Tire size is going to depend on the tire's profile. For example my Cannondale (45.72 cm chain stay) touring bikes easily accommodate a 37 mm Continental, but barely accept a 35 mm Panaracer Crosstown because of chain stay clearance.

Brad

I realize I'm not answering the question, but don't the 80's 800 series Treks fit comparably wide 26" tires to what you're asking for in 700c? Are 26" wheels just a non-starter for you?

FWIW, the 1984 830 has 48.5 cm stays, pretty darn long.

Another option along that line is doing a 27" to 700c conversion.
Slightly oversized, but still a road bike, and with much better support than 650B.

As far as stock 29er bikes.
Salsa Fargo is being represented as offroad touring, with a few different submodels.

Maybe the Surly Ogre too.

A lot of bikes should have at least moderate connections for a rear rack. I was working on an aluminum Diamondback 26" MTB that had at least the top and bottom brazeons for a rack.

There are, of course, the cargo bikes that are truly designed for heavy duty hauling.

Has there ever been a bike made with 500mm chain stays?

Something like various XtraCycle models, or the Surly Big Dummy have quite long chainstays.

There is, of course, also the 100% custom route. Get the bike built to your specs.

I have no clue about the length of the chainstays (but I'm guessing not close to 500mm), but my '75 Schwinn Voyageur II (made by Panasonic/National in Japan) has plenty of room for 700X38 tires and fenders (original spec was 27X1&1/4). I'm guessing it can go to 40mm with no problem. IIRC, the earlier version World Voyageur had the same frame dimensions. Maybe @Metacortex can chime in with frame dimensions.

There are lots of brazeon mounts for a mid '70s production bike, but not as much as you'd probably like. A nice feature of these frames is that they are all chrome under the paint.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps85056fbe.jpg

An early '70's Gitane Hosteller is close to OP's requirements. I have 700x32 tores on mine wirh tons of room to spare. Chainstays are about 18" so a bit short. Plus side is it has MAFAC cantilever brakes, braze ons for racks and generator.

Doesn't the Surly Long Haul Trucker have exceptionally long chain stays? It certainly meets your other criteria.

Rivendell Hunqapillar

Bikes from the 30s had stays at 460-480mm, overall wheelbase at 108cm.

I thought the Trek 720 and the 85 620 were the only bikes with 47mm chainstays- I don't think that counts ATBs though.

The 890's stays are 470mm. Might be able to get 40mm tires on the 890 itself. I've done several 700c on 26" frame conversions. Makes for a high bottom bracket and mud clearance is poor with the long reach calipers, however.

I can confirm the World Voyageur/VII dimensions are the same. The chainstays are 435mm long and there is right around 40mm clearance at the chainstays for 27" tires, maybe a bit more for 700c.

Surly's geo chart for the LHT shows 46cm. I was surprised, I thought they'd be longer, too.

I have a Schwinn High Sierra that has chainstays that look 3 feet long. I measured and they're 46cm.