My new 2014 Disc Trucker frame came in today. It should be a great project for the winter. Now If I can just figure where to start.

Great! Nice feeling to have the frame waiting to be finished!I am waiting for our LHT's frames to come back, we are having S&S couplings put on them. All the parts are waiting. Also getting ready to build up 2 sets of wheels.

Where do I start is a good question. I used to think buying a Shimano Deore Trekking group Bike24 - Shimano would be ideal but I ended up thinking later that drop bars might be more ideal. So maybe you could still buy it then buy bar-end shifters and drop-bar brake levers then sell the brake levers and shifters on eBay.

jargo432, When it came time to build my first touring bike I browsed this forum and picked out those bits and pieces of info that applied to what I had in mind. Actually I started a little before I had anything to start with. The result was a near perfect build using a few parts from the bike itself, parts from my parts bin and some new items.

The two main isms are fit and gearing. Fit has to be comfortable mile upon mile, day after day. Roughly a 20-100 gear inch range, even if some gears are seldom used, still seems sound advice for fully loaded touring.

Have fun.

Brad

Some people apply framesaver (or linseed oil or something similar) to the frame as a rust preventative. If you do that, that comes first. If you use linseed oil, keep in mind that oil soaked rags have started many fires from spontaneous combustion, thus take appropriate precautions.

If you have the tools to install the headset race on the fork and the star nut, that also is a good first step. I suggest you do not cut the steerer tube right away, or if you decide to cut it, leave it a bit longer than you otherwise would want it. You can always push the star nut down a bit further and cut it again later (or have someone else do it for you). But if you cut too much, that is not an easy thing to undo without a time travel machine. On my last build I cut the steerer tube three times to make sure I did not accidentally cut too much the first time. It took more work to pull the fork off the frame to cut it again later, but it was worth it to make sure the final cut was where I wanted it in the end.

Once you have those things done, everything else comes pretty easily.

The last thing, I like to use strapping tape to tape my cables onto my drop bars and ride it that way for several days or maybe a week. Then when I know with certainty where I want my brake levers on the handlebars, I apply the handlebar tape last.

A side note - if you might want a handlebar bag, having enough steerer tube so that you can use a second stem for the handlebar bag is something best planned for in advance before you cut the tube. See photo for the second stem. That lowers my handlebar bag and gives me a little more real estate for other stuff on my handlebars.



I have since added some Aluminum strapping to keep the handlebar bag from sagging that badly.

If you can borrow an adjustable stem, that helps getting the fit dialed in to exactly where you want the handlebars for height and reach, then you can buy the exact stem you will want after you have figured out exactly what you need.

If it's steel, this is where you start. An ounce of prevention now is worth a pound of cure later on. You can even use Boeshield T-9 as well.

Care and Feeding of Your Steel Frame | Spews | The Information Hole | Surly Bikes

That's easy, the wheels, in the mean time squirt spray grease through all the holes in the frame. Don't be clever, just get middle of the road stuff.

Another reason to leave a huge stack on your tube is so that if you get a sore neck, you can move it around, might be up, or down. Before the threadless stem came in this was a pretty commonplace adjustment to have available. eAnd if you don't trim it, you can always trim it later when you come to the conclusion that the extension isn't worth it to you.

Thanks for all the ideas. As it turned out the first item on the agenda was a Park tool bike stand. I had the headset put in and a stem put on by the bike shop before I picked it up. (still need to cut the fork tube down) With the exception of the wheel builds I should be able to do everything else myself.