rccardr 

The Pelizzoli in 650B attire, set up with SHimano Dura Ace 9 speed and 38's:


Same location, 83 Davidson with Panaracer GK 32's and friction shifted Deore 9 speed set up with racks for an upcoming 5 day gravel/road tour:

noglider 

Ooh, the pictures of mud remind me that my last ride was muddy and I forgot to oil my chain. I try to do that after every time it gets wet.

jdawginsc 

Pelizzoli as in Ciocc???? Wow. Tektro long reach brakes?

Is it still Ciocc like in gravel and 650Bs?

rccardr 

Yes. Visited Sr.Pelizzoli’s shop in 2015 with a sheet of specs in hand. He spoke no English and my Italian was no better. Luckily his daughter in law was able to act as a poor translator. Somehow, with much handwaving and drawing, we managed to communicate. I wanted a fast frame able to handle everything from 700 X 25 or 32 to 650B x 38. He wanted to use dropouts and lugs that had been sitting under his bench for decades...but insisted on designing the actual angles and tube lengths himself.

Many months passed with no communication whatsoever.

Finally, the frame arrived in time for me to assemble it for Cino Heroica in Montana. It’s since been to Eroica CA, Thunder Ridge, and many other venues. Great ride, made by the master himself.

bwilli88 

All my bikes are gravel bikes.
I really like my Pro-Tour, My Fuji Stratos, My Pure Fix Cleveland, and My Maxwell.





And many others.

jdawginsc 

Very very very cool.

rccardr 

Kobe 

The cousin to Roger M 's Expedition above. His came off the assembly line 3 before mine.

Roger M 

That turned out great! Black suits that frame well, Kobe. I'm anxious to see the specs on it.

Nice work.

Kobe 

Thanks Roger. I kept as many of the original parts as I could, but the wheels were rusted to bad to keep and replaced them with Matrix Auroras. A set of 700x42 Soma Supple Vitesse I had on the shelf fit perfectly, but I think that's about the largest I could go.

Plus cutting the stem and seat post out of course ruined them. I have had to cut out 4 seat posts and this was the worst and actually cut into the frame, hence the seatpost collar. The 48cm Nittto Noddles and bar end shifters were added for comfort.

I am really liking the Expedition as a gravel\beater bike.I don't have much into it as most of my other bikes so it's nice not worrying about it.

I may go down to a 38c tires and add some fenders like you did. I don't have any bikes with fenders because I just hate riding in the rain and avoid it if it's in the forecast.

Roger M 

Nice to hear that 42mm tires fit. I might have to try that.

Bummer about the stem and post issues. You made it work though, so kudos 👏.

VRJAKE 

1996 Riv All Rounder. Reynolds 753. Nimble, relative light, 26" x 1.8" tires, quite fun. Since added a Nitto front rack, handlebar bag, lower gearing.

Sir_Name 

Wow, very cool. I love my bike made with 753 tubing, wish it could fit more than a 32... I see the fork blades are 531, wonder what the stays are. If you ever think of selling...

vicyclist

1991 GT Tachyon. I've been road cycling exclusively since the 80s, but a couple of friends convinced be to try gravel last year. I wanted to do it on a budget and found the Tachyon for sale on Facebook. Tires for the 700D wheels turned out to be impossible, so I switched to 700C. 650B would have been better and I could have kept the canti brakes, but they weren't in the budget. 700C meant a switch to long-reach calipers. The original owner had switched from the SunTour Command shifters to some poor quality stem levers, which I've since swapped out for some MicroNew brifters that are surprising good considering how cheap they were. I split my time between the many kilometres of local trails maintained by the regional district and BC Hydro and the logging roads in the nearby mountains and foothills.

Road Fan

That’s fantastic, Dave! Angles are 71 rear 73 front. Just like my 1952 Rudge Aero Special !

thook

there are BMX canti adapters that will extend the reach, if your curious. they aren't expensive, either

as well, there are tires that will fit your original rims. i don't recall offhand the size and it would be a more snug fit installing them as they are a couple of mm's off. i can look it up. the selection of choice IS very limited, though

vicyclist

The canti adapters worked on the rear, but not the front. I tried the next closest tire sizes. 650B is the closest going down and old 3-speed cruiser tires are the next going up. The difference either way is only a few millimetres and Sheldon Brown claims either will work, but he's wrong. We tried multiple 650B tires at the bike shop and even with two people there was only one we managed to manhandle onto the rims and there was no way I wanted to deal with that sort of fit trying to fix a flat on the road. The cruiser tires were simply too big and the tread wasn't any good for gravel anyway. I did try. It took some work to get the tire centred laterally and I thought I'd been successful and about 90 seconds later I had a pinch flat that blew the tire clean off the rim.

OneHumanPower

Here are some pics of my 1984 Trek 620 that I set up for gravel riding this winter. I used Dura Ace 10 speed bar end shifters with a Tiagra rear derailleur and Sante' front derailleur. The crankset is made for Stronglight by Sugino. The brakes are the original Dia Comps with new DC aero levers. I built the wheels with Sante hubs and the original Matrix 27" rims. I modified the rear hub with a 10 speed freehub and installed ceramic bearings in front and back. The tires are Kenda Knobby 27"x 1-3/8". I use a Blackburn frame bag that is lashed to the frame with parachute cord and a handlebar bag by Ruthworks SF. My stem was scavenged off an old mountain bike and the handlebar is a alloy compact drop by Dimension. Trek enthusiasts may notice that the fork on this bike is actually from a 720. I swapped that in to get the mid fork mounts and rack mounts at the drop outs. The bike came equipped with Blackburn water bottle cages and rear rack they're still a part of the mix along with the fluted seatpost and Avocet Touring II saddle. I would like to get it out for a multi day bike camping trip. in that case I would use a handlebar carrier for my tent and panniers for my sleeping and cooking set ups. I would also install a bigger cassette and smaller chainrings.

thook

well, dang...you've obviously explored the options. that's that, then

thook

vicyclist btw, just for my own interest, i'm curious to know what 590 tires you tried fitting? i'm wondering it over, now, because i'd read this guy's blog where he'd used the 700D rims with "passhunter" tires in 650a, i do believe. i'm going by memory, though, and it was yeearrs ago. i'm gonna have to try to find it, again. i hope google will go back that far...lol

machinist42

Nice! Thank you for sharing!

My recently acquired '84 620's forks have the mid-fork braze-ons, and dropout eyelets for fender and rack? Was yours not equipped with them?


(seller's (drive side!!!) FB Ad photo.)

The '84 Trek Catalog also specs mid-forks braze-ons and eyelets.

(My intent is to drop down to 700C and move up to 42mm wide tires, thanks to RiddleOfSteel's research.)

OneHumanPower

Looking back at the pictures from when I first bought it, it did in fact have the mid-fork braze on but no rack eyelets. It only had the fender eyelets. The threads were damaged on the fork and I looked for a replacement. I eventually found the 720 fork that was the perfect size and color.


The day I got it

vicyclist

It had me cursing more than once, first when the tires that were supposed to work didn't, then when the brake adapters didn't work. None of the local shops could get me long-reach breaks. Apparently Tektro used to make them, but doesn't anymore. I found some on ebay. The front worked, but the back wouldn't fully release no matter what I did. I found what appear to be Tektro knock-offs on Aliexpress and, thankfully, they work perfectly. It's also been a learning experience. At a couple of points I was ready to give up and have someone else get it working, but none of the bike shops here will touch a "frankenbike" so I was forced to figure it all out for myself. It turned out alright in the end.

jdawginsc 

That is so cool...Ciocc has always been my grail. Waiting for the right one.

noglider 

Take a ~1996 Lemond titanium frame, carbon fork, 27mm tires (actual measurement), drop bars, and you wouldn't really call it a gravel grinder, but I did take it on a group ride on the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail in Westchester County, New York. I had the narrowest tires of everyone, and one guy asked me how I dared. I had loaned out another bike with 32mm tires, so this was all I had. I had to stop a couple of times when the trail was very rough, but overall, it wasn't so bad, and I had fun.