Monster, Monsteur, Monstour , 26/29+ and Expedition and Adventure bikes

eBay alert setup... The only problem I imagine is when the rim wears it's going to be impossible to find a replacement. So it's a single use wheel really.

Thought it was time to share my recently built dream bike.
It’s an Intec M1 Disc, with handbuilt 26” Halo SAS rims (30mm internal) and mt drive hubs. Ritchey Evomax handlebars and sram gx RD and shifter mounted with a derailer clamp.
Tires are schwalbe table top.

Geometry wise it’s built like Surly Disc Trucker and it rides over rough stuff like a dream.

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Lovely to see some the massive CarraDry. Great Bike!

Nice! Looks like it will serve you long and well. How do you like the table tops? Was thinking of getting the tanwall version

Thanks!
It’s quite easy to overpack it, and make it heavy. but it is just like having a huge waterproof trunk on your bike. Sqr-system works great.

That’s the idea. If they ever stop making 26”, I’m pretty sure I could fit 584x50 tyres as well.

Table tops are great. To me it feels like there’s less road buzz than on Big Bens. And I haven’t had a puncture yet (~350km).
And at around two bars of pressure they feel quite supple.

Custom built:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bensondoc/albums/72157666357466850/page1

Love it!

That is well nice

Right so I'm gonna go on a weekend off road touring in the Lake District and gonna go for some bigger knobbier tyres so I can able to get through stuff I wasn't able to with the 1.9 Gravel King.

As my bike can handle proper MTB tyres, I'm trying to decide which;

Panaracer Comet 2.0 - cheap and cheerful, roll nicely on the road.

Continental RaceKing 2.2 - supposedly the fastest MTB tyres.

Speed King 2.2 - Look like it be great on tarmac with a bit of knobs.

Schwalbe Thunder Burt 2.1 - supposedly a good all rounder.

I'll get rid of the mudguard to give more clearance and fit wider handlebar/shorter stem, and replace the 46t with a 42t outer chainring (it already got a 11-42t cassette)

Blimey, nice work!

So far so good. Shorter reach feels great, especially going from the Midge's. Yet to try on grit / muck but knocking about at the weekend was a treat.

@edscoble it's 460 hood to hood. Flare is ~560 I believe. Certainly feel like a wider bar ...

You got a route yet?

Can’t comment on any of the others, but I’m very happy with the RaceKings (in 2”). Seem to be hard wearing, haven’t flatted yet (tubeless) and good grip both off and on road.

I've done some gnarly stuff on 2.1 Nanos and rate them, they roll well on pavement too

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Other than the low bar height that's right as Grant could ever wish.
:)

Nano! good shout.

@Tijmen I figure you had ridden them, that why I have them on the list.

Looks great!

Great looking bike. But are those shifters working for you on them bars ???

Can't see what you mean, you just move your hand back a bit and use your palm to shift.

Yeah, doesn't cause too much trouble, I did cop one into the thigh once when on some tight singletrack, but under most normal conditions it's no dramas

Just seen this and bought it might be of interest. JTek have realised a new (?) Shiftmate that’ll allow 11spd road levers to control 11spd mtb tear mechs.

Seems a pretty good option for wide ranging 1x mix and match systems. I’ve seen and heard the other Shiftmate systems being well regarded so reckon it’ll be a goer.

http://www.jtekengineering.com/shiftmate/shiftmate-8/

Went out on a 3 day excursion of almost purely MTB trails, tons of tech climbing and dusty singletrack. here's my chromag rootdown 29 set up for that trip.

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Excellent! given that the Tiagra 4700 share the same cable pull as the Shimano 11 speed road, I reckon I can make it work with the MTB 11 speed derailleur and 10 speed set up.

Their official line is it doesn't work, but in theory it should. Would be good to know if you get it working.