A Genesis Vagabond build thread - mostly continent crossing & commuting

And the frame arrived today too! Very pleased

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Front end clearance with 27.5x1.75 is comical

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... Or you could upgrade your front rim to a wide 27.5 rim

this guys needs to learn to pack, and then to chilllllll

so many options!

well 2 actually:

1. replace both rims with 29er.
   
2. replace rear with 29er and front with wiiiiiide 27.5.
   
   

hmmm. I like the looks of the WTB Ranger tyre that handily comes in 29x2.25 and a 27.5x3 flavours so at least the tyres can sort of match.

Build is progressing! Is it possible at all to set these bars up so they don't look weird? Seem comfy tho.

Might have to change out the stem. It's too square and blocky looking.

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Also this makes me sad. This is a 130bcd SRAM force crank. Maybe a 110bcd road crank work or do I need to go full MTB? I know nothing about MTB cranksets.

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very interested in this build.

If I were you, I'd get something like a 40/28 mtb double crankset.

i've been running that force crankset with 2 narrow/wide chainrings (44t and 38t), no front derailleur and an 11-42 cassette on the back for a while now and i'm hoping to do the same with this. Theres loads of cross over and 95% of the time the 44t is fine but very occasionally when it gets silly hilly i can flick the chain onto the smaller chainring with my heel and continue.

so yeah something like a 40/28 would be perfecto

44t on an offroad bike? even the XC pros only use a 36/38 max...

nah it was a on a cotic escapade. sorry it was a little misleading! I am most definitely not thinking 44t would be suitable for the Great Divide.

I'm moving all the bits from the cotic to the vagabond but cranks and rims arent playing ball!

could someone more knowledgeable than me please help me understand what the spacers that come supplied with BBs are for?

As you can see in the picture above, I added a spacer to try to help the crank clear the chainstay. then i thought this is stupid as it will reduce the amount of spindle on the other side for the other crank to attach to...

then i came across this
http://off.road.cc/how-many-spacers-inst­all-bottom-bracket-68-73-shimano-hollowt­ech-sram-gxp

that says there should be 2 spacers on the drive side!

so now i dont understand anything at all. Is this just about MTB cranks?

I've never used spacers on BB before but then ive never had the chainring clash with the chainstay before either!

I may be wrong but I think that they are for MTB. Never used one in road or track frames.
My guess is that the vagabond is made to work with MTB cranks, but if you want a road crank try a compact one, may (just) fit

GXP doesn't work like that. The crank position is determined by the non-drive side bearing, which you can't move any further inboard, and if you keep adding spacers to the drive side you're going to fuck something up when you tighten it all.

The article you linked to assumes a mountain crank with a longer spindle, which needs to be compatible with 73mm shells

I have a Deore chainset on mine...no issues at all so my feeling is yeah, sack it off and get an mtb one. I've tried to run a 42t single ring (11-36) for all terrain but steepee and looser off road and it's too high. Thinking of how low to go now

It's 68mm BB but the relatively wide chainstays mean there's a limit to minimum chainline/ max tooth count, as @popdown found out. I can't remember what I worked out not but I think it was roughly a max of 42T at about 45mm chainline, so designed around an MTB chainset basically. I guess there are ways around this, but probably not with a fixed spindle length.

[edit - I meant to direct this reply to popdown, obviously you know this already @Phyllis]

thanks all for the advice. ive bought a swanky carbon sram mtb crankset from ebay. hopefully should be with me middle of next week!

and just to get it rolling while i rebuild the wheels, I've also bought a v cheap 29er wheelset that I'll slap on some 40c schwalbe marathons i have hanging around.

struggling to find any 36h wide 27.5" rims. might just go full 29er with the pacenti rims from planet x unless anyone knows where i might find one?

Went throught his recently, all I could find were 32h. 36h seems to be rare in all size rims these days...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mavic-ex830-disc-mtb-rim/rp-prod154044

best ive found so far! but still not actually that wide for a 3" tyre.

Think i'll probably just get the pacenti rims and 2.25" for front and back.

less faff, less spare tubes, less spare spokes!

https://www.cnc-bike.de/product_info.php?cPath=39_1133&products_id=16101

https://www.cnc-bike.de/product_info.php?cPath=39_1133&products_id=16087

Might not be wide enough though.

thanks. I've no real experience on what constitutes correct tyre/rim width etiquette at this plus sized end of the spectrum so I've just been relying on internet articles!

But i think youre probably right in saying theyre not wide enough :(

The mavic rim i linked above has internal 30mm and recommends a maximum 3" tyre. Not sure i want to be pushing the maximum manufacture guidelines when i'm going to be in the middle of nowhere with bears...

I think 30mm would be considered narrow for a 3" by most, probably ideal for 2.4-2.8". Here's the Stans guide which might help. Keep in mind all this relies on the tyre being design for modern rims too*

*All my knowledge on this stuff is internet readings, and little to no real-world experience so probably wrong.

I've put 2.2 Ikons on mine....rides really well with loads of confidence .