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@Skant
This has been seeing some hard miles the last 6 months, courier work and weekend jaunts so I thought I'd share how it is now and some changes I have planned for it.
How it was all summer, no changes from above other than 1cm shorter stem:
I've done a few weekend camping trips this year, sometimes with the rear rack but if I can get away without it I use saddle/bar bags, tent poles tied to toptube:
Doing more long distance riding/touring on this has got me thinking about what I want from it. I've built myself a new dedicated track bike https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/285844/ so don't need this for track use or fast fixed riding anymore. It still is and will continue to be the bike I do 90(+)% of my miles on but I'd like to make it more versatile. Rather than spanning use from track - workhorse I want it to be more workhorse - tourer orientated.
I'm going to build a new steel fork for this, extending the a2c by about 1cm to give greater clearance and increase trail slightly to slow the steering. I'm going to add mounts for some sort of small front rack (will probably look to making a custom one to match) and disc mounts. I've been considering, once this front rim is knackered, building 650b wheels for this giving me clearance for proper knobblies for off-road/gravel touring.
Here's how it should look post mods (w/700c wheels):
With winter looming I fitted the mudguards but the elastic band fitment on PDW's left the rear guard clanging against the chain stays whenever I hit a bump. Also the bridge attachment was a mess with the provided fitments/no rear brake. This weekend I started on making modifications: tidy mudguard mounts: a boss on the seattube and underside of the bridge and adding an extra set of bottle bosses on the underside of the downtube.
Locking the bike up 60 times per day for 6 months has taken it's toll on the paintwork:
Before:
After:
Of course it's now gonna need a repaint….