Genesis cycletruck/Tricross/Solaris MAX - KingTwin tandem

Boring update but I've been rationing out sorting bikes to last through the next few months. Tricross got a few adjustments today, sticking with the middle and inner ring off the triple. Just needs a Garmin mount of some sort now. Not out to spend loads of money on the bike so it's pretty much done now. It's become the main bike I'm riding now due to the restrictions though and I'm really enjoying it.

The DIY frame now has a weird combo of 9spd bar end shifter and Ultegra level Di2 hydraulic brakes. Will switch to full Di2 shifting when I've gathered the bits but the brakes are a decent improvement from the Sora/Spyre combo. Freed a very stuck seat post and liberally greased it as well as trimming the steerer (still needs more).

Back to the cycle co-op to fix up some bikes next week so can hopefully find a rear 26" wheel and a rear mech for the Rockhopper.

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Been spending some time sorting out the £2.50 Rockhopper, too much time frankly. The headset, BB, and seatpost were all badly stuck when I picked it up. Someone had previously had a go at it and cracked the top of the seatclamp, as well as ruining a bottle boss (??). I didn’t do a much better job. Big levers, vice, and molgrips did nothing. Tried hacksawing it out with a bare blade, never again. Resorted to caustic soda which was reasonably successfully but managed to get two (!!) cold chisels stuck inside the seat tube while getting the last fragments out, stupidity and frustration got the better of me. Left it a couple of days then drilled the BB drain out to 10mm so I could put a piece of bar through and knock the chisels out from the bottom, very glad it’s only a beater frame, much more care would have been needed with something nicer!
Waiting on a cassette and chain from the forum to complete it now and will braze in a new bottle boss at some point, as well as some fresh pads. Should be a good bike for knocking about town and riding some local lanes. Deliberately built up with the rattiest bits from the spares box.
Tiagra/Sora 9spd drivetrain, Deore LX cranks, wheels and canti. Non-series Shimano v-brake at the front and 820mm moto bars.

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These 90s steel MTBs can survive apocalypse, two stuck chisels and some extra drillium won't affect it by any means. Those bars are nuts, absolutely love the build so far.

By the way I miss my Rockhopper a ton now...

Rockhopper is sorted now. Found a better set of gunmetal Deore LX/Mavic X221/DT wheels (will take a 9spd cassette) and swapped the Sora and LX mechs around from the Tricross, as well as a 9psd LX shifter. Chain and cassette from the forum and it's good to go. Bars feel way too wide and the rear canti is crap (front v surprisingly good though).

Needs a nicer post, a fix for the bottle cage boss, and I've got some old RF Evolve XC cranks that need some new spacers, once the chain dropping off the current non-NW ring gets too annoying. Might braze a cable stop on the TT to swap to a rear v-brake too.

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Looks cool man!

Always end up riding more in summer and building projects go on the back burner, but a few things have been sorted.

Chopped the bars down to 740 from 820 on the Rockhopper as it was just daft. Need to change the cable stop at the back of the TT to fit a rear v. Thinking of drilling and brazing a bottle boss then using a Dura Ace DT cable stop that I've got lying around to save a Ceeway order for a proper cable boss.

Main progress has been to the cycletruck. It had a pretty horrendous shimmy when riding, narrowed it down to a combo of a very loose headset and a rack that was much too large, made it pretty unpleasant to ride. Without an integrated central beam, like an Omnium, the weight of the large rack cantilevered off the front was doing some weird things. Fixed it by chopping the rack down significantly and bolting on a box, shimmy has now gone completely. Less space for bigger loads though and the tube ends need bungs. I was going to do full tubing around the rack but it'll probably have the crate 90% of the the time so will save the weight. Bonus of losing most of the rack is it's now much lighter and goes up hill better! Swapped out the SLX brakes for some matchmaker/X01 compatible 4 pot Elixirs, to tidy up the bars. Just paint to sort now, might do front half of the frame pink, as I've got some spare, or clear coat.

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Saved another frame from the scrap pile too, 90% because of the name, 10% for the headbadge. No idea what I'll do with it, for now it'll go on the pile in the shed.

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Got the slx brakes to sell?

I'm afraid not, the brakes were a switcheroo between the Solaris and Genesis.

Switched around a few bits to sell the Roadrat as I don't need two similar town bikes now I'm no longer commuting daily and the cycletruck is actually nice to ride. The cycletruck will get guards and lights and become my main town bike. 650b Dyno wheels from the Roadrat up for sale on here and the bike for sale locally, though might list it here if I don't get any interest. Want to avoid posting it though really. Just need to sorting the shamefully rusty chain..

Tricross has got some new tyres, 700x38c Gravelkings which are 330g compared to the 610g Conti Speed Contact 42c, so a decent weight saving (and more importantly tan wall). They measure up 36mm compared to the 40mm of the Contis, so lost a little volume and width. Should gain that back with some wider 19mm internal rimmed new wheels to replace the stock (14mm) ones in autumn. New wheels will be Kinlin XR22t/SP PV8 dyno hub/Novatec F172sb. Should be lighter, wider, stronger, Dyno and tubeless to boot, all for ~£200. Big improvement over stock wheels and hopefully still be able to fit guards come winter.

Had a great weekend bikepacking the Shropshire Way when the staying out restrictions were lifted. A lot of pushing and lifting over gates, definitely more of a walking than cycling route, but got out into some great corners of Shropshire and had my first bivy in a while. Used the Rockhopper to go with my mate's '92 Clockwork for some retro MTB action. 32x32 lowest gear wasn't enough but certainly better than his 36x17 SS. Managed the 200km/3700m climbing really well though, such a comfortable frame!

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That Rockhopper is great, I see you have the same front V - rear canti setup as I do on mine (I suppose because the rear cable guide is kinda canti-only).

Yep, exactly the reason for it. Needs a different cable guide brazing on for a rear v. The canti is shockingly bad, mostly because I'm using a v-brake lever.

These all look trick! That seems like a bit of a bargin on the wheels - who's building them?

Cheers! I'll be building them myself, the above bits with ACI spokes and brass nipples can be had for £202 from Spa Cycles.

Lots of riding and not much building over summer. Autumn is on the way though so the guards have gone on the Tricross. Needed to chop the guards a bit to fit with the 38c tyres under the mini-vs, hopefully hasn't weakened them too much. 100mm Kalloy Uno to replace the old 80mm stem, numb hands are causing less of an issue now, so trying to get the fit lower and longer. It's a great bike for the ruined back lanes of Shropshire, with the wider tyres, without being too slow. Used it for a 250k ride out to Barmouth and back, taking in plenty of climbs. Really can't get enough of Mid-Wales, beautiful and quiet. Aiming to start doing some audaxes next year on it.

Bits for the new wheels are on the way (Kinlin XR22t/SP PV8 dyno/Novatec F482sb), which will be paired with the B&M lights from the Roadrat (now sold), once they've been built up. Then some GRX 46/30t cranks to gain some more top end while keeping the low climbing ring.

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Terrible photo, but wheels have been laced up. Off to ride the Welsh Ride Thing this weekend, then I'll crack on and true them/swap over tyres/wire up the dyno lights. Old wheels will get cx tyres and be kept as spares for a few races over winter.

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Front wheel tensioned and trued. Built up with lights for winter, ideally need to look and see if I can drill out the internal routing end plates along the TT to ride the rear cable.

Tyre now tubeless too and width has bumped from 38->40mm on the wider rim. Increase in volume and plushness is welcome and luckily still fits under the guards/mini-v.

Removed some spacers from under the stem as my hand numbness from an old injury is improving. Need to hunt for a shorter replacement for the last conical spacer.

Rear wheel still to sort, then some 30/46 GRX cranks too. For a cheap, old, rim brake bike I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Perfect for improving my fitness over summer for mountain biking and blasting around the lanes and gravel of South Shrops.

Got some light mint green paint and new decals for the cycletruck, will see how that looks then maybe respray the Tricross too.

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New wheels with silver spokes look on point.

You can use Di2 cable guides for the wires to the rear light and then run it underneath the top tube. If you are going to use it for cx races it’s easier to remove and reinstall than internal routing.

Winter and salted roads are coming, time to paint the cycletruck. Primer and first couple of coats on. Will flat back and then do another coat, some clear coat for gloss, and the decals. Also brazed bosses to the bridges and dropouts for a rear guard.

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That rockhopper looks great, especially loaded up. Classifieds here I come...

It's a nice bike, a bit on the small side really though, might swap over the bits onto the Hooger Booger with some high rise, swept bars.

Clear coated, decalled, and built the Genesis back up. Paint finish is reasonable, not great, but I'm impatient so it'll do. Wasn't keen on the matte Montana paint but the top coat is gloss which has improved it. Colour is growing on me, but for £7 a can it's easy and cheap enough to do another colour in a while. Will need a different colour box (probably black) and I can sort some mudguards now I have the mounts for them.

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Very enjoyable thread to catch up with. As others have said, rockhopper looks great and the cargo bike project is coming along nicely too!

Cheers! Cargo bike is working well now, found a set of mismatched guards, just need to get round to fitting them.

Trying a flat bar set up on the DIY frame. Never quite got on with the drops on it, I think the drops aren't quite long enough. Front end is also a little high really..

Anyway, 100mm stem instead of an 80 and some Alpkit Confusius hooped bars and the position feels a lot better, nice and relaxed on the grips with the option to stretch/tuck on to the hoop that's been taped. Drops and brakes are all still assembled so I can switch back and forth in about 10 mins.
Waiting on grips and news cables for the BB7s. Also need a 9 speed MTB bar shifter if anyone has one?

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Grips and pads/cables have arrived for the DIY frame, still haven't fitted them yet..

Dragged the Geoffrey Butler out of my parents shed to build it back up on the cheap. Found a set of 105 5800 shifters, mechs, and cassette. Will see how many sprockets of an 11 speed cassette I can fit on the old 7 speed freehub, hopefully 9. Currently got 9 of a 10spd on there. Then some more modern shape Deda Piega bars to replace the Cinelli 64s. Undecided between modern 5800/6800/7000 cranks or just putting some double rings on the current square taper 105s.

Silver wheels (105 1055 series hubs and Campag Ypsilon Oxide Strada rims) will stay, but might have to swap them if I can't fit enough sprockets on the freehub. Frame is a '93 with 531c tubing, 56st and 57tt. Inline seatpost would be useful too as current setup is 20mm longer from saddle to bars than the Tricross. Then some 28c tyres to take advantage of the reasonable clearance.

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Swapped the Sora (39/30t) cranks on the Tricross for some Force (50/34t) to gain some top end and switch from black to silver, as well as a new BB.

The GB is getting there, waiting on rear mech/cassette/chain, which should be here by the end of the week. Fairly convinced it's going to need 28c tyres as it's a bit gappy at the moment with 23s and there's plenty of clearance. Paint is really quite ratty now, but happy enough with how it's looking given not much has been spent on it.

And looking at the picture again I've just realised the cables guides are on upside down..

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