This is my old-school dream setup for touring-commuting

Reynolds 953 Frame and Fork
Phil Wood touring cassette hub 36 holes
Mavic A719 rims 36 holes
Wheelsmith butted spokes
Brooks B17 Saddle
Schwalbe marathon mondial 700×42 folding tire
Tubus Cosmo rear rack / Ortlieb office bag
Sugino Alpina 2 crank (48/36/24)
Paul touring canti brakes and brake levers
Chris king sealed steel-headset
Velo Orange touring pedals (sealed)
Shimano Ultegra bar-end shifters
Shimano Ultegra frond and rear derraileur
Shimano ultegra 11-28 cassette
KMC 10 speed chain
Nitto randonneur handlebar, stem and seatpost
SKS Fenders

The high-tech version includes rolhoff speedhub, son 28 dynamo, belt drive, and magura hidraulic rim-brakes.

Man, that is sweet.

Seems like a real commuter needs a rack though. Why no rack?

Because he doesn't need one?

Of the 4 four bikes I've used the most for commuting(2 hybrids,1 touring,1 cross),only one had a rack,and it didn't get much use. I haven't used it at all since I got the cargo bike.

+1

FTW. :twitchy: :love:

For an Ultimate Commuter Bike, this one fits the bill pretty well. Its a 2012 Scott SUB 10 with urban kit. Here are some of the features that I appreciate so much as an urban commuter:

- 8-speed Alfine internal gear hub: An IGH is great: Not only is it maintainance-free, its also so easy to gear up and gear down at stoplights
- Gates CTC Belt drive: clean and maintenance-free, no grease to dirty up your pant legs
- Supernova dynohub and light kit (front and rear ligths) - beautiful!
- Shimano disc brakes, so much more predictable and responsive than rim brakes in busy traffic
- Urban kit includes integrated fenders, rack and kickstand

Some additions:

- Jandd Saddle Bag Pannier. I don't think the Scott rack will fit standard panniers. However, this Jandd saddlebag fits perfectly. Room for rolled-up office clothes on one side, and a 14" laptop and lunch on the other
- Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x35 tires. I ride through an industrial area, and was picking up punctures from scrap on the way to work. Not the best way to start the morning. And yes, IGHs do complicate tire repair. These Schwalbe's solved that problem.
- Shimano PD-T400 Click'R SPD Pedals. Wonderful/highly recommended: they hold my shoes firmly; yet I can click in and out without effort or forethought. No more of those embarassing spills at stoplights.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=346427

+1

but the bike I currently want to try and build next will be something like this.

Nothing too fancy.
cross style frame that can accept 28's or 32's. probably steel but ti works too.
downtube shifters 2 by 7, 8 ?
bullhorns
1 brake would do. maybe disk?
take a rear rack.

this would only be used on mup, slow speed, baby girl in tow or on carrier.

I currently have a plenty sufficient roadie and MTB.

Perfect ONE bike would need to be as universal as possible (for me at least).


ALUMINIUM frame (no rusting in snow & salt, rain), no shock absorbers.

Disc brakes if hilly, otherwise good V-brakes do the job.

Aluminium strong wheels, 36 spokes, with normal hubs.

8 speed MTB groupset (derailleurs, chain, etc) with a TRIPLE crankset (biggest gear choice, while still being cheap, bombproof and reliable).

Room for 47 mm tyres, full fenders, racks.

Drop bars if possible, or drop bar convertible at least, with retroshift shifters. :)


I however have 3 bikes:

80s MTB - as a winter hack with studded tyres - rusty, ugly, reliable

Alu 29er without suspension, 42 mm tyres. Used 90% of the year.

Quick road bike/hybrid - alu frame, carbon fork, ddrop bars, but 28 mm tyres with rack eyelets on the frame. The only light and quick bike with no fenders or rack (for now, but will mount one :) ).

I bought my ultimate bike when I bought my Salsa Vaya. It's great for commuting, with lots of braze-ons and a slightly relaxed geometry. Nimble like a road bike, although not as quick. Solid steel frame yet supple ride. I want to be buried with this bike. I can do short or long commutes, light touring thanks to the slightly elongated chainstays, centuries without a second thought, and even some offroad. I'm considering selling my other bikes since all they're doing is gathering dust. I've even toed trailers and trailer bikes without a problem. The stock triple is great for long rides with heavy loads and lots of hills.

As far as components go, I did changed from bar end shifters to Retroshifters. The Retroshifters are awesome. Wicked solid, simple and dependable. Naturally, I tossed on a Brooks B17 saddle. I would like to change out the Avid BB5 disc brakes for BB7's at some point, but I'm in no rush. The BB5's are perfectly adequate when adjusted properly. I would also like to change out the 40C Marathon Mondial tires for 35C. The 40C's are a bit heavy for long range rural road commuting.

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/y...9-28-22_95.png

I originally thought I wanted flat bars for my new commuting bike, but after riding on my road bike with drops I plan to stay with drops. I like the flexibility of hand positions it gives me more then the fact that is had drops.

I spend 90% of the time on the hoods, though I can move my hands back and fourth a bit if I feel fatigued. It is very comfortable. In busy areas I will keep a couple fingers on the brakes, the rest of the time I don't. I can also put my hands on top of the bars if I plan to go straight for a bit with now need to stop. I only use the drops on occasion, sometimes on my big descent in the afternoon and sometimes when facing a big headwind in the afternoon (fairly common in the summer where I am).

That said, my current bike is a road bike with a fairly aggressive geometry.

For my next bike, or my "ultimate" bike I plan to get something with a more upright Geometry but still with drops. Something like the Salsa Vaya or Specialized AWOL (the the seven's here look really nice, just out of my price range).

For my ultimate bike, its probably steel, or if price no issue maybe Titanium. Must have room for larger tires, fenders, be able to handle front and rear racks, etc. Good components are a given, but hard to choose what - have always had Shimano so would say Ultegra or Dura-Ace (again cost would like rule out Dura-Ace for me but if cost was no object). I have tried some bikes with the SRAM components and they seemed nice (liked the double tap idea) so maybe I would go for that. I would want a narrower slick with good flat resistance for daily use, and some bigger tires with some tread for dirt or gravel roads. Maybe two different wheel sets...one lighter weight and one heavier duty. I think i would go with disc brakes for versatility in year round conditions.

Nice looking bike!

I am curious - when you say not a quick as a road bike, now much so? How noticeable is this? i am looking to move from a road bike to something more like the Vaya but wondering how much the heavier less aggressive bike will really impact my speed and commute time. Also, what size tires do you run on yours? Seems like the bigger tires with increased rolling resistance could have a big impact on speed.

The Seven 4 season looks awesome.

Curious what is it about the sloping top tube on the Vaya that you don't like? does it impact anything? I would think the slop vs a more flat bar like a road bike is mostly visual, but I am no expert so curious to hear your reasoning.

It's just a heavier bike with a more upright geometry. Most of the speed loss seems to be in starts and stops at lights, trying to get up to full speed again, and on hills. The time actually lost on my long commute is almost irrelevant, in comparison to a light road bike.

I'm currently running the stock 700X40 Schwalbe Marathon Mondials that shipped with the bike. They're awesome tires. Great traction, and almost zero tread wear after 5,000 miles. Perfect for fire roads and MUPS and hauling heavy loads.. They even pump up to a reasonably high pressure. But like I said, they are heavy. I'd like to try out the 700X35 version of the Mondial.

No such thing as an ultimate bike. There is only the next one...

The ultimate bike doesn't exist. It would be solid enough to hit potholes dead on all day long without damage, the tires would roll without friction but give a nice comfy ride on rough roads and would never need to be topped off. It would have a Rolhoff hub that somehow got 99%+ efficiency and weigh 5 ounces, and a belt drive that could go 50,000 miles without maintenance and was also as efficient as a chain. It would have fenders for the rain but they would be invisible so it looked nice. It would have disc brakes for foul weather yet weigh no more than rim brakes. It would be able to tow a trailer or mount full waterproof panniers front and back for grocery getting and touring. It would have a ton of reflective stuff and 1000 lumen full cutoff beam multi-level dynamo lights but still look nice.

And it should weigh no more than 20 pounds at most.

Avid BB7s are bottom of the barrel disc brakes. Now that road hydro options are readily available I have no idea why someone would consider them part of an "ultimate" build.

Just visual. That changes with mood. Sometimes I'm okay with it and other times I don't like it. Just like frame color. I love the brick red of the new Vaya and tried to get one, but they are not available as just a frame. I would have sold my perfect condition (orange) frame to get it. Silly, I know.

Sloping top tube is actually more practical because you can have a higher headset/higher bars/stiffer area and still have better standover height.

That's overstating it a bit. BB7s are middle of the range disc brakes and about the best mechanicals I've seen. BB5 and a whole lot of stuff from Tektro as well as lots of NoName disc brakes that you find on low end bikes are bottom of the barrel. BB7s are also better than a lot of hydraulics from a number of manufacturers.

the only reason bb7s have a following is because at one time they were the only functional disc brake with brifter compatibility. while i am sure crappy no-name hydraulics exist, imo, even bottom end shimano, avid, or hayes hydraulics are simply on another level. heck, the new shimano slx is far better than my old 765s.

The Charge Plug 5 2014 is a great all-round bike, steel for longevity, disc brakes and with an SRAM groupset. http://www.chargebikes.com/bicycle-collection/plug-5

This is true of BB7 mtn brakes, but BB7R (road) do suck. That said, there's not a lot of low-cost road hydraulics out in the world quite yet. But since we're talking ultimate...

...I'd still wait for at least the second gen of road hydraulics before committing to them on an "ultimate" build.

spare_wheel didn't stipulate road or mountain. He just painted with a broad brush. I've no experience with road discs (and am not likely to have any in the future), however, I suspect that the problem may have more to do with set up than with the mechanism based on my previous experiences with BB7 mountain bike brakes.

I've had BB7 roads on 5 drop bar bikes. Never had any issues. I did have to properly set up three of them after purchase,but once I was done with them they worked perfectly. And yes,I've also owned several bikes with MTN BB7's to compare to.

No, you don't need a rack, necessarily: if there's no need to carry anything, or if you don't mind carrying everything in a backpack/bag I guess.

When I think commuting, I think utilitarian. For commuting, my bike is my beast of burdon and the rack is where I put all my ****. Makes more sense to me than putting it on my back. My commute can be pretty long and the weather here is pretty crazy, so I also tend to keep extra clothes, and lights and stuff like that on the bike so it's always there and so i don't have to think to bring it.

Anyway, the ultimate (commuter) bike, for me needs a rack.

"Old-school" for the frame material? It looks like a great set up. Is there one assembled out there that you have a picture of? I like what you have put together.