Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

You can get the Spa Steel Audax and they do a steel fork (not advertised on their site, it's apparently in "Reynolds EB708", think this is just the name of the fork blade tube made of 525) for £50 more which has front rack mounts.

aye, but would require a custom fork I think?

but not a bad shout, have bars, brakes, saddle, seatpost, pedals, brake levers, wheels

frame - £400
sram bar end shifters - £70
set of derailleurs -£80
new tyres - £50
forks would be what, £150?

Friction - £10-20 downtube shifter.

Derailleur - any old one you have knocking about, £20 for an 8 speed cassette.

You got those fancy high end fat roadie with those plastic shifters, don't need to spend as much money as you would on a workhorse.

spa audax is waaaay too big

If you're looking for a small frame, just get the Genesis Col du Glandon.

too bad you missed on last year's wide open .. its worth calling kinoko and see if they have any left (none on website) I remember seeing some in store ..

Friction - £10-20 downtube shifter.

Derailleur - any old one you have knocking about, £20 for an 8 speed cassette.

You got those fancy high end fat roadie with those plastic shifters, don't need to spend as much money as you would on a workhorse.

+1 to this.

You'll probably be able to pick up a rear mech and possibly bar end or friction shifters at the pop up jumble honesty box bit too.

My 8 speed upgrade was crazy cheap - £14 for a new cassette, £5 for a chain, £7 for a pair of Simplex downtube shifters cough ignore the Middleburn Duo rings I have sat waiting for me at the bike shop cough

Pretty much the same. It's generally cheaper just to change the chain 3 time a years with an 8 speed set-up, even the Sora 13-26 cassette still haven't shown sight of wear.

The first one has landed in the UK according to their Tumblr.

Why the AWOL though? Originally I thought it was cool but the more I look at it, the less I 'get it'.

I'm also over the AWOL a little. Glad our Specialized rep is a bit of a tool or I might have committed to one before giving it a proper think through.

AWOL have quite a good marketing behind it, put the same effort on the Tricross and it'd be popular for touring too.

The AWOL Cargo Adventure bike however...

I have put on a front soma porteur rack and I must admit that although the bike is fine to ride with, it has taken a lot of the fun out of riding it, the handling has changed a lot. I think I will try out a rear VO constructeur rack with a carradice rack top as an alternative as I dont need to carry that much everyday. What a shame as the rack looks great.

The bike will handle differently with the front rack. I definitely prefer how it feels with the weight at the front than having it swinging around on top of a rack behind you...

^ this.

^^ do you even low trail?

https://31.media.tumblr.com/4a70e5215a9aa84360563b79a09f82e8/tumblr_n4e8nwvoxR1r4735vo3_1280.jpg

"Testing out my super fully loaded rig for Oregon Outback by riding up Taylor Mountain.
My bike weighed in at 65lbs. i was and am exhausted.
Now i will try to cut many many many lbs off this."
From here

^^ do you even low trail?

No, 66mm currently. Soma's new fork would bring it closer to 40 but I'd like a disc mount.

how do you work out trail?

I have a spreadsheet to do comparisons, there are several online calculators too: http://yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/trailcalc.php

65mm is standard on CX/track bike, high stability but not nimble on tight corner.

65mm is standard on CX/track bike, high stability but not nimble on tight corner.

I take it somewhere around 35-45 is classed as 'low trail'?

Yup, road trail is inbetween (53-57mm).

spa audax is waaaay too big

what about this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dawes-Super-Galaxy-Touring-Bike-46cm-Reynolds-853-Tubing-/111328156442?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item19ebacdb1a

https://31.media.tumblr.com/4a70e5215a9aa84360563b79a09f82e8/tumblr_n4e8nwvoxR1r4735vo3_1280.jpg

Those Orange salsa vayas are so lush

Is there some network of biekable but rugged paths in this country that this kind of bike is suitable for?

I see these bikes (LHT, AWOL, Fargo, Vaya, touring setups of things like the Surly Ogre) and I think they're too heavy and overengineered to enjoy riding on roads for long periods so where would you ride them (in the UK)? Farm tracks?

what about this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dawes-Super-Galaxy-Touring-Bike-46cm-Reynolds-853-Tubing-/111328156442?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item19ebacdb1a

nope.jpg

Is there some network of biekable but rugged paths in this country that this kind of bike is suitable for?

I see these bikes (LHT, AWOL, Fargo, Vaya, touring setups of things like the Surly Ogre) and I think they're too heavy and overengineered to enjoy riding on roads for long periods so where would you ride them (in the UK)? Farm tracks?

Plenty of bridleways up north. Peaks and Pennines provide plenty of interesting tracks and trails with some mild elevation thrown in for kicks. Then there's the Lake District, Wales and Scotland - plenty of off roading around there. Towpaths make for a more relaxing day out or covering a lot of distance avoiding traffic.