joegoersch

New Lynskey Urbansky (extra small frame) arriving today. I hope to go bicycling camping/touring with my kids and I'll be carrying all the gear. Maybe along Erie Canal; nice and flat, mostly.


It'll be a slow build, any input, advice and criticism would be appreciated.


Here's what I've got so far. Kinlin XR31T rims and DT Swiss 350 11 speed Hubs, Sapim Race (black) spokes. 28 front and 32 hole rear. (I'm 135lbs). Shimano centerlock.


I'm hoping to do hydraulic breaks, tubeless, compact crank. Haven't figured out handlebar, but I want road style, post, stem, and seat/seat post-don't know if I want something shock absorbing like Thudbuster...


I bought the asymmetric rear rim and wish I had done the same for the front, but I didn't.
The only asymmetric rim they had had the machined sidewall. So rear wheel has silver edge and front one all black. The uglier the bike, the better. I live in New York City, any theft deterrent would be great.


So far rear wheel looks good, about 120 kg tension, and true to within a fraction of a mm.

linus

Brakes, not breaks.

Good luck.

Brian25

Sounds like what I would classify as a race bike build, not a touring bike. I am a big proponent of 36/ 32 spoke touring wheels that you don't have to worry about breaking spokes, you are not racing, the difference in having a few more spokes is beyond minimal in the real world with all the gear for you and your kids, a few more spokes would be prudent. Just my opinion. you asked for advice/ criticism.

joegoersch

You haven't seen my 5 year old ride--I often have to stop suddenly and catch her--likely to get bone breaks
Actually she's a great rider, she's tiny but able to bike 5 miles with hills on her single speed non-stop...started with two wheeler at age 3...

joegoersch

I think you are 100% right. I realized this as I was building wheels. The extra weight is negligible, the ability to build a fine-tuned, strong, true wheel is not negligible. I don't know what I was thinking. I've read the Kinlin rims are really strong which is why I went 32/28, but I think that might not have been a wise move.

Again, I think you are 100% correct and I would do 32/36 if I had to replace a wheel...

robow

Not sure where you intend to ride but what ever the drivetrain you select, I would error on the side of a lower low than you are accustomed to or think you might need. If a 34 will be your smallest chainring, then consider an 11-32 cassette (I still don't think you can get an 11-34 in an 11 speed cassette or has Shimano or Sram come to their senses yet)

Cyclist0094

While the wheels are pretty lightly built, The OP is 135# even with a #25 bike and #40 of gear he is still only 200#. I have seen more than a few >200# riders on 28 spoke wheels. I used to be wary of touring on anything under 40 spokes. However the quality of spokes and rims are so much improved over what they were years ago. When I started riding in the 70's, it wasn't if you broke a spoke but how many. The last time I broke a spoke was in 2004. I build my own wheels, no tension gauge.

Tourist in MSN

You are doing the opposite of what I did for my recent Lynskey build, I used older technology that is cheap and easy to fix on the road. Thus, with your 11 speed system that might use tubeless and hydraulic brakes, I really have almost nothing to say.

I generally recommend lots of spokes, but at your light weight and if you carry a light load you probably will do ok with your proposed number of spokes. My Lynskey backroad, I went with 36 rear and 32 front but I weigh about 180 pounds and carry a heavier load. My bike with me on it and no extra stuff weighs more than your bike will weigh with you and a full camping load of gear on your bike. Thus, I need the extra spokes.

If you have not yet bought your front hub, consider a dynohub in the event you might want to use the hub for charging batteries and devices on a long tour. But, if your tours are less than a week long then you probably are better off with a big powerbank instead of the hub. But, if you might want to use the bike for commuting, a dynohub would mean you don't have to worry about front headlamp batteries going dead. It is much more cost effective to buy that hub now instead of upgrade later, so the question becomes - will you ever want one?

Did you get the Lynskey fork? Is that carbon or steel? Can it be used to fit a front rack or not? And if not, do you think you might have plans for a front rack? I did not get the Lynskey fork and I am using rim brakes instead of disc on my front wheel.

I suspect you will not use a handlebar bag, but if you might want to, make sure you do not cut the steerer tube too short if you might want to use a second stem for the handlebar bracket. I attached a photo of what I am talking about, it shows I am using a second stem for my handlebar bag mount. That lowers the center of gravity and puts the bag closer to the steering axis for better handling. As you can see in the photo, I used an adjustable stem.

Did you buy spare spokes for your wheels in case you lose a spoke later?

What rear rack are you getting?

joegoersch

Tourist in MSN,


Thanks for the info.


I guess I should explain my goals a bit. Most of the time I'll be biking to work (locked bike cage). I bike every day there's no snow on the ground, rain or shine, hot or cold 2 miles each way. I can't be late. I have to carry my bike down 8 stairs into my house when I get home...


I will go on frequent short rides with the kids and wife and sometimes sneak away to bike around the park without them so I can go a little faster (soon they'll be faster than I am...). I would like to be able to use the same bike for a camping/touring bike.


Many years ago I biked from Portland, OR to Manhattan, NY with a support vehicle...so I know a bit about long rides, less about carrying gear. I do NOT plan on biking too far from civilization so electrical outlets, bike shops and ice cream stores should always be within 15 miles !!! My kids want to do this ride with me in a few years. For better or worse, wife doesn't. But she wants to drive along with us. So I wouldn't need to carry major gear.


I've had my current bike for 20 years, a Shimano 105 Cilo racing bike that I love. I hope to keep the Lynskey for the same length of time. That's why I didn't want to buy a dynamo. I'd rather use a power pack and solar charger in between electrical charges. I just don't know how long a dynamo hub will last and worry about e.g. the USB outlet corroding and who knows if USB will even be the standard in 5 years. I bought extra spokes.


I got the Gravel Pro Lynskey Fork. Carbon with disc brakes and fender mount. No rack mount. If I ever go to Alaska, I'd want a different fork. I just recently put fenders on my bike. What a difference !!! I never put much thought into it. It just seemed wrong to have fenders on a racing bike. I assumed, incorrectly, that my chain got dirty from the rain. But of course it's sprayed road crud. Now my chain stays clean. That's why I wanted fender mount along with disc breaks.


Great idea for the front rack and extra stem. I love it !!! Thanks for the suggestion.


I don't have a great back so wanted to be able to try low PSI wider tires for the shock absorbtion, to cushion pot hole blows. Similarly thinking about shock absorbing seat post. So I'll try tubeles, but could always throw in tubes for x-country if tubeless doesn't work out.


In regards to rear rack, I was hoping some other Lynskey drivers could help me out. I understand the mounts are place too high and too far forward, so that not every rack will be right. I'm wondering what has worked for other people. Any thoughts ? Anythign from direct personal experience ?


Thanks everybody !!!

Tourist in MSN

I have a suspension seatpost on my Lynskey, but I did not plan on using one. I was at a bike charity looking for used stuff for my new build and saw a suspension seatpost for $10 so I got it. I have the spring pretty tight on it, so when I am normally pedaling I do not depress the spring in it. My other touring bikes have sprung Brooks saddles but my Brooks on my Lynskey is not sprung so I got the suspension post. It is heavier. You asked about the Thudbuster which has a lot more softness than what I have. I think most Thudbusters are on folding bikes with 16 or 20 inch wheels that have a pretty harsh ride on rough terrain. After you get the Lynskey built up, you could start out by borrowing your seatpost and saddle off your other bike and decide then if you want something softer.

I had trouble fitting my seatpost in the frame the first time, but when I added grease it slid in much easier.

I do not know what tires you have been running but I assume pretty skinny when you called it a race bike. Your model Lynskey takes wider, you might find 35mm tires are pretty nice. But I do not know what max tire size on your bike with fenders will be.

If you are the one that recently posted on getting a Lynskey, I think I was the one that mentioned that my rack was higher than I expected it to be. And I included a photo. I have a RackTime AddIt rack on mine. You can see in the photo that the lower rails are about the same height as the fender. Thus, I can mount the pannier a hair lower than I would compared to what I would have if I had a normal rack (without the lower rails) on a bike with more normal height rack mounts. My photo and comments were here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/19638590-post9.html

I do not know if my rack (the AddIt) rack would be compatible with your rear disk brake. My brake is mounted on the chainstay, yours is probably mounted on the seatstay. Thus, I do not know what racks will clear your brake. I attached a photo of my rear brake and rack mount, it is quite different than yours.

Ask Alan S what rack he has. I think he has the same frame as you.

dieselrover

Old Man Mountain racks will clear brakes easily. They use a longer skewer/QR and mount to the axles so they stand off a little further. I use one on my commuter with mechanical disk brakes. There are a number of mounting options depending on what your frame has for upper and lower mounts.

joegoersch

Looks great, but not sure it'd work with thru axle...

dieselrover

They do have a thru axle version... I think it uses a hollow thru axle...

Sherpa Rear 700c Road Hub-Mounted 12mm Thru-Axle with upper frame eyelets - Old Man Mountain specializes in Racks designed to work on all bikes.

Admittedly, these are great for difficult to fit setups, but make changing a flat a little hard.

s

seeker333

I'm curious, is the pictured brake mount adapter a Lynskey-provided part? What size (diameter) brake rotor?


To anyone interested in owning a Lynskey Urbanskey frame, currently there are sizes S, ML, L and XL for sale on eBay by Lynskey for $600-900BIN + 49 S/H.

Tourist in MSN

That is a very very good question. I bought my frame on Ebay from Lynskey. The listing showed an IS disc mount welded onto the chainstay. They shipped a frame to me that had a flat mount that was held on with three bolts, not the IS mount in the Ebay photos. I told them that I ordered a brake that would have fit on the frame in the Ebay posting but not on the flat mount, so they then shipped me a post type mount to install instead of the flat mount. And, to make a long story short, that mount that they shipped me was defective and did not work right so they had to send me another post mount.

That is a 160mm rotor on my Backroad. If I knew they were sending me the flat mount I would have bought a brake that fit on it instead of a brake that fit on the post mount. I wanted a TRP Spyre, they are available in both mounts.

Bottom line - the brake mount in the photo is from Lynskey. The frame is Titanium, but the mount appears to be Aluminum. I love the bike but I must say their customer service was quite poor. Fortunately, the bike will last much longer than my frustration with Lynskey will last.

For more on that brake mount, see photo at:
https://cdn3.bigcommerce.com/s-m0s28....1280.1280.jpg
If that link does not work, try photo number six on this frame listing:
https://lynskeyperformance.com/2017-pro-gr-frame-only/

You can see the frame in the photo that I cite does not have either flat mount or post mount, but you can see the three bolt holes in the frame for fitting of a mount. I think this is a new mount that they are starting to use on some of their frames so that you can fit a variety of brakes with different mounts on the frame.

seeker333

I'd be upset too if the product I received didn't match the ad pictures. Lynskey depicts an IS mount on the Backroad even now on their website. Apparently they have changed rear dropouts (and the integrated CS brake mount). They ought to keep pics current with product change. Proprietary mount would make me nervous, although it looks fine. I'm not hands-on familiar with the relatively new flat mount. I had a fancy new post mount fork about 7 years ago so I guess it is time for a change.

I considered Spyre SLC for a new build that I've procrastinated over for a year. They seem to be significantly lighter than BB7 and perhaps look better too.

I followed 2 or 3 Backroad eBay auctions in M/ML size to get an idea of the going rate. Last one I followed was at ~$750 <30 seconds from auction end, but ended at ~$1300 - which is still less than the Lynskey website price.

I've owned a couple Ti frames, still ride one. It's a pretty good frame material, hard to fault.

Tourist in MSN

I can't figure out what the advantage of the SLC version of the Spyre is. Is 8 grams difference really that important to some people?
https://www.trpbrakes.com/category.p...1305&catid=206
https://www.trpbrakes.com/category.p...productid=1199

For a touring bike, I must admit that Titanium is the ultimate bling. When you think of Titanium, you think of weight savings, but then when you load up a tent and cooking gear and sleeping bag and everything else, you negated any weight savings. And, when you build up a touring bike, you need wheels that can handle the weight, thus my rear wheel (with a 37mm wide tire and tube) weighs more than the frame does, which negates any weight savings even more. And of course a Brooks saddle and suspension seatpost are not exactly light either. Thus, even unladen, it is still a touring bike, not an ultra light racer.

But I saw that Backroad in my size on Ebay and I thought that if I could get a Titanium frame for a good price, why not? There was one bid placed after I placed my bid, that last bid pushed the price up by quite a bit, but my bid was still higher so I got it. And I am happy I got it. I saved quite a bit more by not using the Lynskey fork, am using a much cheaper rim brake fork instead.

Overall I am pretty happy with the bike.

seeker333

WRT SLC, in my case I was looking for a polished mechanical disc brake for a silver-themed bike build, which limits choice considerably. Avid has the polished BB7 SL but it's ~$100 ea and little saved weight over std BB7 calipers. For $200 I may just strip paint and dremel polish the BB7s I own and put the savings to wheel build. TRP Spyre SLC weighs a bit less and I found some for $75. Spyre has the added benefit of Shimano brake rotor/pad compatibility, which led me to consider centerlock hubs for the (relative) ease of removing rotors when transporting bike. I've never bent a rotor when riding - only when moving or storing bike.

I've used Ti bikes for 17 years now and I don't consider them extravagant. They age well as there's no paint to damage and Ti resists light scrapes and scratches. The only damage I did to my old Litespeed (Lynskey) frame after 21,000 miles was a 1cm lightly marred/burnished area in the chainstay bend from a few dropped chains, which touched up well with Scotchbrite.

A Surly Straggler fork would fit the Backroad pretty good. Also Lynskey is having a 7.4 sale - Touring and Endurance (CF, no mid leg boss) forks are ~$200 after the discount and S/H added.

Marcus_Ti

Should be a nice bike. What fork did you settle on? Granted for disc-brake carbon fiber rack-capable higher-clearance forks your options are basically 3 (Niner, Fyxation, and Rodeo Labs)....OTOH they're all nice forks.


I'd be curious what the Urbansky tips the scales at-frame only. The GR250 certainly raised eyebrows as it ain't light (4+ lbs frame only no race or cages or anything)-then again it is straight-gauge titanium. OTOH the difference between butted titanium and straight is $500USD and maybe 6 ounces in the frameset.


Did the Urbansky use that goofball stupid seat-stay rack/fender mounting position? That is the one catch I could imagine on this project. Backroad used dropout rack mounts, but GR250 and Urbano used that dumb dumb seat stay position that made getting racks low and aft difficult.

Tourist in MSN

For my backroad I bought a Soma fork made by Tange - non-disc. Steel.
Soma Fabrications Lugged Cross Fork - Canti in Tree Fort Bikes Cross Forks

When I added a headset crown race to the order, that pushed the price up to where I got free shipping. This fork has about 6mm less rake than the Lynskey fork, same crown to axle length. Thus trail slightly increased compared to the Lynskey fork. Handles nice. The 45mm wide fenders and 37 mm wide tires I have on it fit quite well.

It only has the outer, not inner mid fork rack mounts. That is ok with me, I use a Tubus Tara. But if you wanted to use a Tubus Duo (or similar), you would want a different fork.

A bike shop was trying to sell me a carbon fork, but for touring where I load the bike up with camping gear, carbon really makes no sense to me. I know that some people are starting to tour with carbon components (my last tour, my touring partner had carbon fork, seatpost and carbon rails on his saddle), but I would rather stick with metal. But for touring I really want low tech stuff that is robust, reliable and easily replaced if necessary. I am unconvinced on carbon.

I have three touring bikes, two are 26 inch wheel, one of those takes 50mm wide tires and one takes 57mm wide tires. Thus I see the Lynskey as being used on bike tours where I am down in the 35 or 37mm wide tire range, not wider. If I want wider, I would use one of my other bikes.

joegoersch

Now I'm a confused. Maybe you can help me out. I thought I needed post-mount disc brakes, but now I'm not so sure. From this article I read Road Disc Brake Tech: Flat-mount vs Post-mount - Bike Hugger
it seems like flat mount are "specifically limited to the chainstay inside the rear triangle", so I assumed I'd need post mount as the mounts clearly aren't inside the rear triangle. Now I am not so sure. Nor am I sure what the two holes are (two on left and two on right side of bike) just in front of where disc brake mounts are. Thoughts ?

Marcus_Ti

Those are the dumb-dumb fender and rack mounts....Lynskey has since abandoned them on later models I believe.
Using them means heel-strike on your rack (probably), it also means your rack is mounted very high above the wheel...which means you may get poked in the butt by your rack depending on its geometry.


Lynskey did that mounting design...because it was cheap(er) while still being able to technically say "lookee! We have rack mounts!". Proper frame dropouts with rack points are more expensive than Syntace style without by about 40%.


I have a Ti frame OEM'd by Lynskey with them. Hence my grouchiness about it.

Compare these two...the first is the frames native rack points, the later is my "fix". Same rack, and everything. Note how different the rack ends up. 55CM frame for reference.

seeker333

The pictured frame has a 51mm IS brake mount, the oldest and probably the most common of the three disc brake caliper mounting standards (IS, post, and flat). You need an IS compatible brake caliper, or a post compatible caliper with a post-to-IS adapter. Marcus explained the rack/fender mounts already along with pictures of how it should and shouldn't be done.

joegoersch

Thanks. Will order soon !

joegoersch

Thanks. The pictures make the problem super clear ! I can't quite tell what you "fix" was, although it looks great ! What exactly did you do ?