Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

@ed, I have experimented with all sorts of tyres, tyre pressures etc. Been riding the downs in all conditions, on all kinds of bikes (steel tourers, Alu mtbs, Alu cross bikes, even once a dawes audax) but am still experimenting.

My final experiment is to get a road equative of a fat bike running 50mm tyres.

^ that's the elephant ?

Is there such a thing as mixing STI shifters with an 8 speed mtb dear derailleur, or do I have to go with bar end shifters?

If the STI is 8 speed, no reason why not, except for the newer Shimano 10 speed MTB derailleur not working well with the 10 speed road shifter (older derailleur, or 9 speed MTB will work).

Cheers ed, will look into some Sora shifters.

Is there such a thing as mixing STI shifters with an 8 speed mtb dear derailleur, or do I have to go with bar end shifters?

Theres a chap on here who was selling an 8speed touting group including brifters... Theres a thread in the relevant forum

Cheers ed, will look into some Sora shifters.

Sora shifters recently are 9 speed rather than 8 (from 3400 upward), so you need to look for the 2300 shifters with the thumbie, or the newer Claris with the doubleshift (2400)

Alternately you can look at Microshift shifters which can be brought a lots cheaper second hand than the old Shimano thumbie.

I like the look of the thumb shifters on those SB's. Any idea what the bar>shifter transition is like?

Is there such a thing as mixing STI shifters with an 8 speed mtb dear derailleur, or do I have to go with bar end shifters?

On my croix de fer I am running 8 speed shimano Claris STIs with a 9 speed deore XT rear mech, sram 8 speed block, and 8 speed wippermann chain. Most reliable shifting in all conditions I have ever had.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shimano/claris-2400-8-speed-sti-lever-ec053451

Oof, I can hear the crisp shifting from here. I can also hear my wallet's throes of pain from here. Would cost more than total cost of build so far.

Worth it, 8 speed lasts :)

I would says they're stronger rather.

just won this on ebay, very excited...

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA2NlgxNjAw/z/wLYAAMXQyFFTkx-r/$_57.JPG

plexarice, what function will it serve? if u dont mind me asking.

Touring, just got back from a tour of canada to mexico and am already plotting my next trip. However after I blew my rimtape descending a rather steep hill from the heat of my rim brakes, I've decided its time for discs.

The vaya seems a pretty much perfect touring bike, takes front rack, extra bottle cage, disc brakes, super comfy geometry, whilst also looking pretty good in a strange ungainly kind of way.

How the hell did you blew your rimtape? plastic rather than cotton?

Vaya make sense for touring, reach will feel shorter than actual.

Canada to Mexico sound epic, can't wait to embark onto another tour, how long did that one take?

cannondale spec plastic rimtape, I didn't give it any thought untill my innertube exploded at the bottom of a 1000ft 20% decent in the middle of nowhere. Absolutely terrifying. Had to sit on the side of the road patching together some new rip tape out of scraps of electrical tape!

It was about 2400 miles in total, spent just over 2 1/2 months. Think I'm going to have to pick up where I left off in Tijuana and head on south to Tierra del fuego for the next.

Worth it, 8 speed lasts :)

I'm goin to give the triggers (and setup) a test workout on a weekend run to the coast ad see how they behave. I've got a feeling it will be aggravatingly slack and messy, but trial and error. If so, Claris treatment will be go!

cannondale spec plastic rimtape, I didn't give it any thought untill my innertube exploded at the bottom of a 1000ft 20% decent in the middle of nowhere. Absolutely terrifying. Had to sit on the side of the road patching together some new rip tape out of scraps of electrical tape!

It was about 2400 miles in total, spent just over 2 1/2 months. Think I'm going to have to pick up where I left off in Tijuana and head on south to Tierra del fuego for the next.

Sounds amazing (the tour that is, not the blow out). The Vaya looks great! good colour too.
I noticed that Cass Gilbert (whileoutriding.com) has shifted to an ECR from an Ogre I think, or maybe it's a pugsley. Can't remember. He's always down that way though. It looks incredible!

just won this on ebay, very excited...

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA2NlgxNjAw/z/wLYAAMXQyFFTkx-r/$_57.JPG

Just check salsa website, fork recall, depending on batch number. Just thought you best check.

How much did it go for, if I may ask?

Around £140. I thought about bidding but it was a little bit on the large side, annoyingly there was a 55 listed earlier in the week but that was a bit small and more expensive.

£160, I will have a look - thanks for the heads up!