frankenbike's frankenbikes

Doing Tuscany Trail at the start of June. Which bike?

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Both kinda ugly at the moment but I'm not really arsed to do anything about it

Isnt Tuscany gravel quite mellow like American? If so Checkpoint. Maybe with SPDs?

I thought so but I was surprised to read that some of it is muddy. And:

WHAT IS THE MOST SUITABLE BIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TUSCANY TRAIL?

This is definitely one of the most frequently asked questions by participants. Let’s say right away that the track is designed to be covered by a MTB. The route is extremely varied consisting of dirt roads, asphalt secondary roads and paths. Over the years, participants in the Tuscany Trail have used all types of bike, starting from cyclocross (and gravel bikes of course) and finishing with endure bikes. The truth is that there is no single answer to this question. If you use a gravel bike, you will go very fast on the sections of dirt roads and asphalt but you will find yourself a bit in trouble along the paths and cart roads while if you use a MTB you will face all dirt roads with great ease but you will be disadvantaged on asphalt.

Definitely SPDs if I go on Checkpoint.

I think low pressure and 700c×45mm tyres should be decent

Picked this up for my partner for an absolute steal. It's nice to have a Sutra back in the roster

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We've moved further out of town so now I need a pub/commute bike again. 6 bolt fixed is the cheapest option

44/17 with 45mm 650b? I'll build some 700c dynamo wheels and probably then go to a 40mm tyre and 19t?

Maybe 17t is too spicy when my commute is uphill all the way

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Doing Tuscany Trail at the start of June.

Any photo or tales from this adventure?

It's more of an info dump for anyone else who wants to do it than a story but here's a thread - https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/388433/

I have a lot more photos but the ones I put up there were mostly just to give an idea of the trail conditions, bike suitability, etc. It was excellent. Checkpoint did great!

I'm not sure what to do with these two bikes at the moment

I'm completely happy with them except I wish I had full guards on one of them.

Why doesn't some bastard just invent good mudguards that can be removed or installed in 3 minutes? Who's suppressing this vital technology?

I think I have to go with guards on Trek at least over winter. Ideas? (New bike is not an option)

With a well fitting set of Honjo or GB you should be able to remove 8 bolts and have the guards off?
Provided you have a space to store them with the stays still attached.

I was looking at the Velo Orange 63mm guards for my Pipedream but I still resent having to undo the bolts at the fork crown and seatstay/chainstay bridges. But yeah, I should probably just deal with it and stop complaining.

I can install my SKS longboards on my checkpoint in under 3 mins, once you dial it in its quite easy, ratchet tool makes a diff.

Checkpoint is now my only road bike, take guards off and it 'feels' fast, put guards on and things stay clean.

I have a set of VO guards, and the way the stays mount the guards can be fiddly when unmounting - which is why I'd go for GBs instead.

Ah that's good to know, thanks. I do prefer that the VO are slightly wider and alu over steel, but I guess weight doesn't really matter on a bike like this.

@amey it's great. I would honestly get another one and put guards on it if I had space. It does nearly everything

I completely agree, my out n out full carbon road bike was maybe only 20% better (in my head). For my abilities Checkpoint as a road bike with fast tyres is plenty. UK weather doesent deserve bikes with no guard mounts.

Get some carbon wheels and be done.

From cursory google glance GBs might actually weigh less than a pair of alu VOs.
But it is a matter of 200-300 grams in favour of GB. Nobody listed if they included the hardware.
I have a set of VO, and buying again I would get GB.

My only gripe with GB is that they’re not that round. VO are better, but Honjo are the only ones that get the curvature right.

Radius of the Honjos was also spot on. VO I had to do some major re-radiusing.

I need another table. Metal mudguards for 29"×2" tyres, here we go

There is also SKS Edge Al in a 56mm which are cheap and decent (I have them in 46mm) but I think for me 56mm is too narrow.

Probably gotta go with GBs I think, but PDWs might be least cloggable

PDW look good

VO

The guy does say in the review they would clog up in SFAB. Although he says these are 68mm and I can only see 63mm available

PDWs for the Trek, GB for the piedream imo

This feels correct. Good shout