Tourist in MSN

One last thought. Painted frames, you always see a paint protector to protect against chain slap. I had no idea if it was worth it when I built up my Backroad because there is no paint. But, steel chains are harder than Titanium so I figured it can't hurt to put one on so I put a piece of electrical tape on the chainstay. From the photo of Alan S's bike it looks like he did not, or if he did he used transparent material. All I can say is that the black electrical tape looks good enough that even if it is not needed I am not going to take it off.

joegoersch

I'm going to try some self amalgamating (self fusing) tape that I bought on ebay--type of electrical tape for chain protector. I'll post pics.

joegoersch

I'm thinking about the Tubus Logo Evo rack which I think will clear my disc brakes. Supposed to be good rack for limited chain stay length and has lower bar for lower center of gravity. Any thoughts ?

joegoersch

thoughts on this rack ?

Tourist in MSN

I think I paid a buck for two rolls of cheap black electrical tape at Dollar Tree. It is not a critical bike component.

Tubus Logo EVO is a great rear rack. I have used one for all of my tours starting in 2012, except my most recent trip where I rode my Lynskey. Before 2012 I used a Surly rack.

On my Lynskey Backroad I am using a RackTime AddIt rack for no important reason, I certainly could have used the Logo. I got a great sale price on the RackTime AddIt.

The Logo has a capacity of 40 kg, the RackTime capacity is 30 kg. On my heavier trips even though I won't be up to a 40 kg load, I would rather use the heavier duty rack for the extra contingency so I use the Logo for heavier duty use. I expect to use my Lynskey for trips where I travel light and don't need much weight capacity, so a lighter duty rack is ok for that.

The Logo EVO has a couple tiny little bumps on the rack support bars that would allow you to put a couple pannier hooks that far back on the rack if you need to. Unfortunately you can't see those little bumps in my photo, one is behind something and the other was too far to the left to be in the image. (Photo is on my Nomad, not my Lynskey.) But you can see those bumps on the photo you posted. In my photo, my panniers are Ortlieb Backrollers.

I put some PVC plastic tubing on my Logo to minimize chaffing (1/2 inch OD, 1/16 inch wall thickness), but if you put pannier hooks as far back as those little bumps, then you would not want to use tubing like I do because the bumps may be to short to hold your pannier hooks firmly in place.

I think the Logo is a very stiff rack, stiffer than my old Surly rear rack and weighs only half as much. I quit touring with the Surly because I think the Logo is a better rack. Since your panniers may be pretty far back on the rack, you need a stiff one and I think the Logo meets that criteria well.

Although I think the Logo is a great rack for touring, I think the platform on it is too narrow for a racktop bag. Thus for riding around home where I do not use heavy panniers, I put the Logo in storage and use different racks that have a wider platform for general riding.

In the photo, you can see that my panniers are pretty much centered over the middle of the rack, not more to the rear like you will need to do. My Nomad has much longer chainstays than your bike, plus as we have already discussed your rack mounting points are further forward. Thus, your panniers will sit further back.

If you get black racks, for touch up paint get a small bottle of black nail polish.

I recommend blue locktite on all rack bolts. Titanium is soft metal, make sure that you are careful to not cross thread your bolts at an angle, because the metal is soft it could be easy to damage the frame that way.

joegoersch

Wow! Thanks for thorough review...

joegoersch

How does the blue loctite help vs just tightening bolts ?

seeker333

Nuts will rarely unscrew themselves if you use proper threadlocker. Blue loctite (or permatex) is suitable for bicycle fasteners. Sold at Walmart/auto parts/hdwe in small tubes for 5-10 bux.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread-locking_fluid

Tourist in MSN

Bolts can vibrate loose.

I can think of twice that I saw a bike missing a rack bolt on a bike tour. One of those two times it was my touring partner and I had to provide the spare bolt to him. And last summer in Iceland I met someone that had used up every one of his spare bolts, he had actually wrapped tape around his rack bolts to keep them from vibrating loose because he had no more spares. We were over 100 km from the nearest place where you could buy anything so he really did not want to lose any more bolts.

I use blue loctite (or competitor brands too) on rack bolts, kickstand bolts and as of a month ago I started to use that on shoe cleat bolts after I lost a shoe cleat bolt. Other bolts like water bottle cages, etc., I am more inclined to just use grease.

In one of my posts above I also suggested blue locktite in teh bolts that hold the replaceable dropouts within the Lynskey frame, I had one of those bolts come loose and start to vibrate out.

I cited blue, that is the kind that allows you to remove the bolts later. You do not want them glued in forever.

joegoersch

Almost done. Besides a few little things, just need to fill brakes with hydraulic fluid...I added self-amalgamating tape chain guard...

Here's a bunch of pics...

joegoersch

Any downside of Loctite ?

Tourist in MSN

Those thudbuster seatposts consume a lot of space between the frame and saddle. I hope it fits ok.

The blue color where the bolt can be unscrewed later, none that I know of. You may have noticed that some of the bolts on your components had some blue stuff on the threads, serves the same purpose.

joegoersch

I did note the Loctite on bolts for e.g. the disc brake calipers. I was just wondering if it makes the bolts harder or impossible to remove with time...

Tourist in MSN

Not that I know of. I have re-applied it on some applications. For example I have an oil drain screw on my Rohloff hub, I put new loctite on it every year when I change the oil.

But there are some varieties of loctite that are intended to be closer to permanent, read the package before you buy it to make sure you get the stuff that allows you to remove bolts later. I have been using a competing brand for past few years, I see no difference with the original loctite brand.

J.Higgins 

Loctite makes several varieties and strengths of threadlocker. The blue is the bicycle industry standard. It is a medium-strength threadlocker, and will do the job. With blue Loctite and the proper torque, you shoudl not have many problems with fasteners falling out. Keep this in mind, and never use red locktite on your bike unless you absolutely positively do not want it to ever come apart. This is not to say that if you do use it that you'll never get it apart, rather than it is designed to be permanent.

For low-strength applications, the Loctite purple is good. Its more of a thread sealer than a thread locker.

Never use threadlocker on your bottom bracket, pedals, or threaded headset. Grease only.

fietsbob

There is a short travel thudbuster, I see he used the long travel version instead. *

the LT does offer a bit more fine tuning by using 2 different density elastomers & the preload bolt..

the neoprene boot goes over it to cover the mech, but as with so much bike gear it has the brand logo on it.

* a LT came on my Bike-Friday Pocket Llama build, for my Koga WTR it, too long, would not fit, but the ST did..





....

seeker333

What size tires are you using? Any room for bigger tires?

J.Higgins 

BTW, @joegoersch I'm jealous as hell. I want a Lynskey bike pretty bad right now. You're my hero!