TomvanHalen's tourer - Raleigh 853 (sick flames ITT)

Too far

Perfect finishing touch.

Orange cables though....

I think red and yellow cables would look great

thankyou gentlemen you have been very helpful

I'd almost be tempted to try red for the two front segments, and then yellow for the rear bit. Maybe a bit match-y match-y, but you already have the red cut to length, so just need to test the yellow

Hmm, if anything I'd rather contrast than match. The red there isn't long enough for the eventual fork-mounted hanger anyway. Will probably keep the red bit at the back.

Does anyone know if there's anything special about the housing in the Shimano PTFE kit? The cable itself is available dirt-cheap from Merlin

Have decided against the Blackburn outpost rack, mostly due to the upturned bits on the platform. Would rather it was flat. After browsing some pics saw this pic and am going with a Nitto M12 (sprayed black) and Tubus Tara combo. Should provide all the flexibility I want and be lighter to boot.

Wheels - don't think I'm going to go with a dynamo setup; not sure I'd get enough use out of it to justify the cost. Struggling to decide between Pacenti SL23s at £55 each, plus the cost of Stan's tape and valves, vs these Schürmann rims at 15EUR each. Is tubeless ease and 70g/wheel worth £80-90? Would ghetto tubeless work with a 1.5" tyre?

I understand if your mind is made up, but to note, the upturned bits made no difference to the use of the rack.

If anything it might have helped keep the drybag in place.

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Yeah, useful in that context but it I want to, say, ziptie a basket to the top it would be irritating, and there's also nothing to keep stuff away from the canti cabling (not really an issue though). It's a tricky decision. Really I want a Surly Nice Rack but I don't want it to be 1.4kg and questionably mounted.

I would probably go for a pelago medium commuter, I reckon it would suit your needs.

I've just ordered a large to replace the outpost as I want to carry a bigger drybag with tent, matt and bag on top of the rack this year and do away with panniers, at least for this next trip. (Also available in black)

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I was considering the medium, but the weight and the high mounting point for the panniers put me off. Shame really.

Fair enough. Suits me as plan to use the top more than panniers for now, and if I used the pannier mounts in the future I would probably keep them relatively light.

The M12 is a lovely bit of kit.

I'd rather keep it simple and use tubes in a tourer. Plus cheap rims to replace

@edscoble - You're up to speed on this sort of stuff - for a (mostly) road touring bike, is the new Compass Rat Trap Pass tyre starting to get too big and bouncy? As a system, the extra-light casing and an ordinary ~400g 26" rim is lighter than, say, a VO Diagonale/Hetre combo in 650b, and probably as strong.

I'm going off the Pacenti SL23 as the 2015 version doesn't have a wide enough brake track for canti pads and the 2014 version seems to be prone to breaking around the spoke holes. Doesn't seem to be a lot of choice from there 'til you get to 550-600g rims.

Why not get the Mavic MTB rims? The Rat Trap is big but very rewarding that it felt stable on both road and gravel.

Worth going for.

Which Mavic rims are those?

Forgive me if I've missed this. The frame is 26" and you're gonna run 650b wheels, right? The Tektro CR720 brakes solve the wheel size difference issue? They'll fit you recon?

Edit: I've found a page about using the brakes in combination with 650b wheels: http://georgebike.blogspot.nl/2014/06/a-650b26-incher-long-haul-trucker.html

Apparently you need to file away a bit of material to raise the pads and/or lower the wheel in the dropouts a bit (at least in combination with his frame):

But the front brakes fell too short, I had to either raise the brakes or lower the wheels by a couple of millimeters! I ended up doing both!

Frame looks lovely. I'm going to build a tourer from a 26" MTB frame as well, hence I'm asking. Looking forward to the progress!

Last question: wouldn't you rather have mini-v's that fit?

Really worth it, especially when you start realising how cheap it can be. I'm running an old LX 8 speed group and there's nothing I can't roll over. Be wary of tiny headtubes on old MTB's.

Be wary of tiny headtubes on old MTB's.

Already have the frame and it has a generous headtube. I'll probably make a project page once I make a final decision about what I'm going to do with the wheels/brakes, not to hijack @TomvanHalen 's thread any further.

You can buy these by the way: http://elevnracing.com/products/brake-adaptators/

Albeit pretty pricy (price is per set).

Some more useful info: http://forums.mtbr.com/commuting/26-700c-conversion-pics-571370-4.html

@Tijs yep, 26" to 650B was the plan. You need 12.5mm of free adjustment in the cantis, and CR720s have varied reports of working. I figured if there wasn't enough I'd just file out the slot, wouldn't want to muck around with the dropouts especially.

The main problem with mini-Vs or full Vs (ie Paul MotoLites) is they struggle to clear big mudguards, and the selection of levers for full Vs is limited without resorting to a travel agent. I think cantis look nicer too.

At this point though, the headache of finding good 650b rims and that report of the LHT fork might swing me to sticking with 26"

The elevn adapters are smart, but not many framesets have removable mounting posts.

So even if I attacked the brakes with a file I don't think I could get enough adjustment on the front. Going to stick to 26" and splurge on the Rat Trap Pass tyres. Maybe risk ghetto tubeless too...

Oh 650b, thought you're going for 26" which the Rat Trap is available in.

Awesome. looking forward to it.