Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

Better than helmet that make fuck all difference.

6 hours battery, record in loop, 6 hours filming and rechargeable via USB cable.

Anyone know if going 650b on a Kaffenback is doable?

Someone please test this ^

Nice bike Ed, classy.

Anyone know if going 650b on a Kaffenback is doable?

Going 65ob is doable on any road bicycles with disc brakes (moreso than rims brakes), however your main concern is merely the chainstay clearance and sometime the fork, for example, if your chainstay simple spread out evenly like this, then you can fit bigger tyres, says 32mm, 38mm or even 42mm;

If your chainstay is more like this where it get narrower halfway before spreading out (for "comfort" and "compliance" apparently), then you may not be able to go as big as you can, and need to be measured carefully;

After I have ridden the Cannondale Slate with 650b 40mm Schwable G-One tyres, I'm now convicted that I should convert my Saracen Avro, a disc thru-axles road race bike whose chainstay traditionally curve out, currently it got clearance for 32mm tyres, so 42mm Grand Bois Hetres with lightweight MTB 650b wheels (1300-1400g maybe) is 100% possible;

Makes me regret I didn't go for downtube shifters, but I really wanted all cables to run on top tube...

I would says your set-up work best for you, as the downtube is a long way from the handlebar on your frames, whether for me there's little difference between dropping down to the bar-end shifter and the downtube shifter.

In other news, I've just received my new BIGxTOP bag from @jtrent90 that match the bike 100% right down to the Fizik bar tape;

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Ace! Just got my bigtop tool roll the other day. Very nicely made. And love that bike!

@edscoble Looks like exactly what I'm after for my Genesis Smithfield. But bit spendy and international-posty. Anything else similar you know of?

Rad! Big fan of Jordan's work. Got mine in lurid orange. Word of caution though, do NOT let anything leak inside, it's a fucking nightmare to clean out. Testament to his mighty fine work.

Dude I got some curry that leaked from my old Tupperware in the old bag, now it's a wonderful modernised version of Jackson Pollock, with a splash of vivid yellow in a white background.

If you have a big porteur rack, then a fishing bag will do you for £20 give or take.

I'm after the rack, not the bag.

Full porteur rack? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Velo-Orange-Porteur-Front-Rack-French-Bicycle-Eroica-Vintage-Retro-Herse-Singer-/272214706471?hash=item3f6142c927:g:VVMAAOSw95lXE4La

Axle bits have been bent inwards for some reason, probably worth checking the new spacing before buying...

You could always ask a fabricator/frame builder to make you a rack, give em dimensions etc. Gotta be worth an ask.

Gotcha.

gomah porteur might be cheap enough for your hybrid.

It has these bosses halfway down the fork leg. Surely there's one off the peg that bolts to these and the brake hole in the crown?

I can't find one for the life of me though.

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/Images/Original/142802_2.jpg

Nitto, if you don't mind the cost.

Pizza Rack

Works great.

Nit to is a bit small. I'm looking to lob a plastic crate on top. Specialised looks decent. No UK stockists though.

Not at the moment no. They know they're popular, but the sales rep said they weren't gonna bring them in. I got mine of that website and was pretty quick to deliver.

The bosses is for the lowrider rack, least you got a mount on the fork for the porteur rack.

I'd go for the cheap and cheerful Gamoh Porteur, used to have one, bit flexy but on an upright bike, it work well.

You can order from Germany I think, still works out pretty cheap.

Hello functional experts. I am looking at building myself an adventure type bike, one I can use off-road for weekend excursions in the Peak and Scotland, but also for some mostly road, long distance touring of several months in europe. Key requirement is to be cheap and solid really, was thinking maybe an Inbred 29er and getting a fork with rack mounts from surly or somewhere, drawbacks being a new inbred is not THAT cheap for what it is, and with surly fork it would weigh a metric ton.

Another option is a possibly quite cheap second hand Genesis fortitude adventure frameset. Looks nice and 725 tubes should cut the weight slightly. the main thing I am worried about is the 69.5 head angle, when loaded on the front (probably lowrider with panniers) would it have horrible handling and I'd be totally unable to ever take my hands of the bars etc? Also I would need to get an alfine 11 for it or something but I am quite excited by that idea.

I don't really have a budget, more looking for value for what I do spend, usually I am pretty keen to buy second hand, and would prefer frame or frameset only as I have a big parts bin. What else should I be looking at?

How off-road? Any reason for panniers over a bikepacking-style set up? The latter keeps the bike fun to ride on the more technical stuff...

I think for uk weekend off-road adventures then bikepacking style would be great, I am not convinced that for mainly road, long distance stuff my ortliebs on a rack would be bettered for space and convenience. Plus I have some nice panniers already and the bike packing stuff seems quite expensive for what it is.