Project adventure bike!

Evening all, you may remember me from such projects as -

http://www.lfgss.com/thread89200.html

It's been a long time, I've been travelling around the world, away from bicycles for a long time, got back in the country, riding/racing motorbikes for a bit, got married, and now I've decided to sell the motor to fund the project that never happened.....

ADVENTURE BIKE.

My wife has a wonderfully built up Salsa Vaya (mixture of x7 and 105 group set, with rear rack and mavic wheelset).

I want the bigger, nastier equivalent.

my inspiration for this build is Scott's beautifully crafted english cycles 29er.

http://www.englishcycles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/gates2.jpg

Obviously I can't afford an english (though I did consider it before getting the s-works...), So I'm thinking of going for a Salsa Fargo, Or surly ogre?

http://www.huckleberrybicycles.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Andrews-Salsa-Fargo.jpg

The only things I have in my mind are:

BIG TYRES

JONES H-BAR (anyone got any feedback on these?)
http://www.jonesbikes.com/components/com_wordpress/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/img_7874.gif

I need advice RE -

gearing setups (single/double front, ratios)

shifters - Thumbies? hoods on drops? bar ends?

wheelsets!

let's see where this goes....

Good night x

Personally I'd take the Fargo. It seems slightly more refined than an ogre. The ogre is many things, whereas the Fargo is an off road touring specific frame.

Gearing wise is go for a mountain double along with SRAM apex shifters, a 12-34t cassette with SRAM mtb front and rear derailleurs. Main reason for that is that they're all bomb proof and SRAM shifters are easy to repair. To be honest, the way the top end Fargo is built up is pretty ideal, if you want drops that is. Have you considered buying a full build from Salsa? They're quite good value for money. Top end one has fancy carbon forks too! If that's what you're into.

Edit: this one http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/road-bikes-c5/touring-bikes-c41/salsa-fargo-2-touring-bike-2014-p815

Comes with thud buster post and erythang. Forks alone cost £475...

Thumb shifters w/ h-bar :)

Had you thought about the surly ECR?
It's like an ogre, but with added rack mounts and other assorted braze ons, and can take 29+ wheels and tyres, or normal 29er wheels....it looks very good.
I've just got hold of some titec j bars, which were designed by jones, but made under license by titec. I like them very much on my spearfish....they feel very natural and sharpen up the steering, making it more nimble on the technical stuff...you can also get on the horns and duck into the wind.....it works!

Bear in mind that normal 29er wheels will drop the BB height with an ECR which, depending on what you're riding, could result in pedal strike. In theory the ECR is awesome though. Tbh I don't think you can really go wrong with anything adventure orientated from surly or salsa, just depends on what you want.

this one http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/road-bikes-c5/touring-bikes-c41/salsa-fargo-2-touring-bike-2014-p815

Comes with thud buster post and erythang. Forks alone cost £475...

Worst looking Fargo EVER.

paintjob is just too grim.

Is there really a big advantage to having the carbon fork??

surely it's counterproductive to try and make a heavy thing light?

I can't really see the point on that bike, no.

Besides, if you want lighter, there's the Ti version instead :-)

Any implications of running the Jones bars on a Fargo, assume they might have done something to the geo to make it perform well as a drop bar gravel bike...

LBS have Jones bars on several bikes and have sold quite a few custom builds with them, would love to try some on my Karate Monkey but don't really want to pay for them at the moment!

gearing setups (single/double front, ratios)

At least 8/9 speed 12-32 (or bigger), former will be cheaper and tougher, double will be fine, unless you want an even bigger range.

shifters - Thumbies? hoods on drops? bar ends?

Since you said you want the H-bar (and they're great), thumbies are extremely reliable especially with friction mode on the Shimano (not sure about SRAM).

wheelsets!

Bikepacking or the old rack/panniers? if former, get any cheap decent 29ers wheelset you can get, or get Novatec/Mavic XM719 for strength and longevity.

Have you considered the Surly ECR? Here's a good read on it.

Krampus or ECR with drops

krampus and ECR look cool, but are just too close to a fat bike....

need something I can easily get spares for......yeah I know I should go 26 inch then bl bl bla....

still looking for a small size frame, they seem to be non-existent!

You can also run regular 29er tyres on the ECR you know? The Surly Ogre (29) or Troll (26) are good alternatives if you don't want to go ECR ofcourse. How tall are you?

The only things I have in my mind are:

BIG TYRES

JONES H-BAR (anyone got any feedback on these?)
http://www.jonesbikes.com/components/com_wordpress/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/img_7874.gif

ECR for sure!

from here

If you're really worried about spare tyres you could always go for some 35mm rims, you could squeeze anything from a 38c hybrid tyre up to a 3" Knard depending on what you can find...

If it's of any interest to you, I just got an ECR and it is fantastic. I don't know what size you take (I have an 18") but as they're a bit difficult to test ride because nobody stocks them, you're more than welcome to test ride it if you're in London?