Jambon's Bikes

it's 22 gear inches, which obviously is spinney so considering going back to single chainring (40t).

Not worth it.

I have a low gear of 24.4 gear inches, and that was just about the bare min on a bikepacking rig.

22GI sound perfect especially with a heavier load, bear in mind that this gear inches actually on pair with the majority of modern touring bike out there (such as the Ridgeback with a low 26t chainring and a 34t cassette).

Also the TA come with an optional cover which should give you an idea of how the black chainring look with the silver chainset, I personally think it look decent;

every non-shimano 4 bolt chainring is ugly and has no place on this bike

@alialias This is really my first experience of front loading properly so didn't want to spend loads of money initially. The M-part low riders will do a job plus like the traditional look but boy is the mounting hardware awful!

@spotter As soon as I put the panniers on stepped back and looked at the bike that was my thought ✊

@edscoble Helpful as ever, thanks. Will seriously consider this and think you're probably talking sense for proper fully loaded touring. God knows I'll be grateful for the higher gear when I'm tired.

@amey Hear you regarding White Ind cranks, food for thought I think. I don't know... I think the Superstars have a charm of their own in the way they've made no effort whatsoever to match it to the crank

Yeh I have a superstar on shimano crank, it’s like they couldn’t find a shimano crank when they designed it

Or they designed it to be as cheap as possible. Machining a smooth transition between the cranks and teeth is probably pretty expensive

This! What Ed says. Loaded, you'll really want that extra spin! I'm using your exact proposed setup; 40t loaded up front and frame bag. Doesn't even have to be a 30% hill to use the lowest ratio.
I really wanted that extra boost on long, mildly slopey, but scree like terrain. Ultra low gearing gives extra control when you don't want to get off every 15 minutes to hike a bike.

I was riding up measly 12% grades on the road on my 30/36 yesterday which is 22GI. And in 46/11 on every descent. Perfect for me. Only had about a kilo of junk on the bike. Much nicer spinning up them at 90RPM, didn't have to get out of my saddle at all unless I wanted to.

Fair fair. That's sounds like a nice ratio. Saying that though, for loaded touring with 10kg+, that extra ratio really helps.

Yeah for sure. If I was using it for normal semi-laden day riding I want at least that for touring or slippy gravel stuff or whatever. Would much, much rather gear down than have to get off and walk

Even unladen, you can just stay on the big ring and run through the 11-42 block on it's own.

Surely needs a tubus tara too??

You were right, couldn't handle the cheap M-Part front rack and bought one. I'm not 100% convinced it deserves the price tag but it's so much better.

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Oh it's worth it, the weight, the fitment, and the stablity made a massive difference to the handling of the bike.

It also stiffen up the fork too mean it felt a little less noodly, sadly mean less flex (but then again, you do have massive tyres).

It was the quality (or lack of) after everything else I've fitted is half decent, also the Surly fork ends are so beefy they fouled the rack anyway.

I don't think my fork needs stiffening up but get your point with luggage it's much better you're right. First ride with front panniers this weekend and thoroughly impressed.

Last I week rode National Cycle Route 8 from Cardiff - Bangor over 5 days. Front loading and with a generous gear range (R: 11-42 F: 34-44) the bike was everything I wanted it to be. Even with the high gears I don't mind admitting I pushed up a few hills, I'm not sure anyone could ride up them all fully loaded.

Only had one mechanical, which happened 20 mins from my house... When shifting into the largest rear cog and largest front cog the drive chain totally jammed. pretty sure I measured the chain correctly but can only think this is the chain being too short. The only way to release the cranks was to split the chain, it was stuck to buggery. Rear mech was bent and the cable housing for the RD liberated itself in the process. I'm just checking this sounds like a short chain? I thought it could be that the cassette is too large and fouling the rear mech but largest rear cog/smallest front it was totally fine. Any suggestions very welcome.

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such a good looking bike!

Thanks very much buddy

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Don't use both large rings together, change onto the smaller front and adjust rear to match your cadence. Large and large is always gonna test a chain.

Oh, nice set of pics too. Like Wales very much, done lots of walking there, but unfortunately not much riding.

Dreamy

This, on top of a fully laden bicycle.

You're pushing the capacity of the drivetrain as it is, the 16t jump of the front chainset mean that gonna feel like it's too short, and if it's a little long, it gonna bounce a lot on the smaller sprocket.

Jtek recently released a Shiftmate 8a which allow MTB 11 speed derailleur to work with 11 speed road, it actually felt better than the standard road derailleur with a nominal cassette (says 11-32) due to the clutch mechanism, I recommend the SLX M7000 Shadow Plus as it got a capacity of 11-42 with an MTB double (Meaning it usually a 10t jump rather than the 16t jump of a road cassette), or 11-46t as a single.

currently I'm experimenting by going for a 11-50t cassette and a 40t chainring, and hopefully, see if it's possible to run a CX chainset (46/36) without overloading the drivetrain.

@jontea @edscoble thanks for this, have to admit I wasn't aware a big jump on the front rings could overload the system. Think I'll replace the rear mech and just keep this in mind, especially when fully loaded.

I'm sure like a lot of people using all rear cogs before changing the front becomes second nature after time.

@spotter did your CdF ever live to fight another day? #neverforget ✊

Beautiful bike (a personal forum favourite) and a beautiful ride!

Did you have any navigation or were you just following the signs?
Would you be able to pass on where you stayed and what you thought? If it's a ball ache don't worry.
A friend and I are planning the reverse early next year.

Hi Tomo - apologies for not replying in the touring thread. When I get a sec I'll write a bit more about the route/accommodation... Basically we followed NCR8 signs and when unsure consulted the Sustrans map along with Google maps. From what I've read travelling North - South might be a little easier but will point out some of the big climbs/descents. It's a fantastic route, very hilly but a right corker!