mulvey

Hello. My first post here. I'm getting ready to build my first bike and would love feedback from all you pros and enthusiasts. I'm especially wondering if anything is mismatched or anything you're advise against. Thanks in advance!

Frame and Fork: not 100% sure but leaning toward All-City Space Horse

Wheel Set:
-Rims: Velocity Dyad 36 hole
-Spokes: DT Swiss double-butted
-Hubs: Shimano XT
-Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 700×35

Drivetrain:
-Cassette: Deore XT 11-36T
-Crankset: Deore XT 175mm 48-32-24T w/Bottom Bracket
-Rear Derailleur: Deore XT
-Front Derailleur: Deore XT
-Shifters: Shimano Dura Ace Bar-End Shifters
-Chain: Deore XT

Braking:
-Brake Levers: Tektro RL520
-Brakes: ?? v-brakes
-Pads: KoolStop Salmon Dual Compound

Components:
-Seat post: Kalloy, 27.2mm
-Handlebars: Salsa Pro road medium 3, 31.8
-Stem: Salsa Promoto 3, four bolt, 1 1/8th threadless, 31.8 clamp
-Headset: Cane Creek 10 Series

hybridbkrdr

You may want to look at Shimano BR-R463 or BR-R573 brakes. I've read mixed comments on Tektro brakes and levers...

Also, the 16T jump to the 32T middle chainring is a little large. Some people say 10 to 12T difference max.

Uh, I'm not an expert so these are just comments...

juggleaddict

I would definitely go with V brakes instead of canti's... good choice there. I have avids and they're very easy to adjust. The single digit 7's had good pads on them from the start... perhaps not as good as the salmons, but good enough for me.

The hubs could probably be LX and save you a few bucks while perhaps even making them more robust. There's an article about this somewhere. The two aren't that much different if they still make them like they used to, though the XT's may save you a few grams.

I don't recommend the RL520 levers. I had them and hated them. The Cane creek V lever is a bit better but still narrow. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of options for a long pull Drop lever. : /

JensonUSA sometimes has stems available that are old stock eastons for 3 or 4 bucks.

I prefer the lowest gearing I can on my touring bike. I really appreciate it when I hit an extremely steep grade. I thought going that low was a mistake when I first got the bike because around town it's silly. You'll use it. It does depend a bit on where you're biking though.

fietsbob

so opting for the full retail bit by bit build? could get a built Trek 520..

change a few parts to match fit & personal preference..

Doug64

This is on the light side for for the rear of a touring bike. This is a good weight to strive for, but I would not want it for my maximum.

I prefer a 44/32/22 crankset on 700c , but my daughter does well on her 26" wheel LHT with a 48/36/24. Both of these crankset give about the same gearing due to different wheel sizes.

IMO--your component list looks pretty good. I could not find a source for LX hubs the last time I looked. I had the same wheels, XT hubs, 36 spoke Dyad rims, built at Universal cycles in Portland for about $300. i used Wheelsmith DB spokes rather than DTs, but they are about the same price.
https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...p?category=858


Avid single digit 7 are a good V-brake for about $60. When I built my wife's bike I put them on it with "travel agents" so she could use STI brifters.

ksisler

OP; Definately would use canti's over v-brakes unless you are wanting to spend a lot to get a high end v-brake. Cheap v-brakes are not the performers that canti's are, imho. Others will disagree on religious grounds... I normally remove most v-brakes and dump them on Craigs. Recommend the Tektro c720's canti's with Koolstop multi pads.

Also the Dyad rims are a good rim, but spendy. Suggest consider the Sun Ryno lites for half the money or less. 40-spoke might make sense if you are going to be putting panniers on it or if you are not a lightweight rider.

/K

Chris Pringle

+1 on this. Cantis ar well proven with drop bars. As a bonus, you'll also be able to easily add fenders should you ever need them. I haven't used these but Shimano's CX70 cantis receive positive reviews. Now if you can spend more, nothing beats Paul Components' Touring Cantis. They are just amazing in both looks and function. Got 'em in one of our bikes. I personally feel that when it comes to brakes, it's best not to skimp.

In regard to your crankset, my experience is that front derailleurs handle well the big jumps from small to middle rings. For example, 22 to 36T, no problem! But 32T to 48T will not make your front derailleur too happy at all. I suggest replacing the middle ring or trying a crankset like Shimano's M590 (26-36-48T) and replace the small ring for a 22T . BTW, I have this crankset on my custom touring bike. It's a GREAT crankset at a very reasonable price/weight. You won't be disappointed.

3speed

I know nothing about that frame, but otherwise it looks like a great build to me. I would agree with the statement above that you could probably still build a Great and perfectly capable bike and save some money going with LX components in some areas. I don't think there's any need at all to go XT on the crank. LX or, if you want a little more beefy, the SLX, would be Just as capable and cost less. I also think that you might want to look into a slightly larger middle ring on the crank. You're going to probably ride on the big ring on most fairly level ground, but aren't going to want to cross-chain too much, so you'll want to jump to the middle ring for small hills. That's a pretty big jump in gears to drop from that big ring to middle ring. Keep the big and middle ring closer in size and just use the small ring to do bigger climbs with. A 36 in front will get you up a pretty decent hill. Also, I think the rear derailer and hubs would be perfectly fine in LX. If you're talking about new XT, I've actually heard that some of the rear hubs have proven to have a weakness. Something to do with the aluminum axle or freehub or something... I don't remember exactly. Maybe they've fixed the problem for all I know. Look into it before you buy. The Marathon tires are supposed to be really tough, but heavy and sluggish and reduce average speeds. Read up and decide what is most important to you.

I also say stick with the choice for v-brakes. The longer brake arms on v-brakes and the direct pull system that they use simply apply more leverage and cause the brake pads to apply more force to the rim compared to traditional cantilever brakes. No opinion, simple science. In my experience, even cheap v-brakes will stop a bike quite well. I believe the road adapted v-brake levers do sacrifice some pad/rim clearance and some modulation due to their design being an adaptation to use v-brakes on road bars. I've put finders on a few v-brake bikes now and didn't have tight clearance. I'm currently running fenders made for 2.2" MTB tires with v-brakes, and it's the second set of v-brakes I've had on this bike. Neither set was close to hitting the fenders. Maybe I've just been lucky? I do know many others are running v-brakes with fenders just fine.

fietsbob

Typo, I'm Thinking ... 48,36 or 38,24 ... makes sense..

surfjimc

Your build looks great, and solid!
I did almost the same build on a different frame. Complete XT drive train works very nicely with the Dura Ace bar ends. I went with the 175 48-36-26 crank and 11-34 cassette. I found it to be the perfect range for touring, but I only use the big chain ring for commuting.
I used the same hubs as you with Mavic A719 rims. Personal choice, both are good solid rims. Some people have said there are issues with the rear hub freewheel mechanism. I've had no issue so far, with about 2500 miles so far touring and commuting. YMMV.
I used Paul brakes because I found a great price on a set, less than $100 for fronts and rears. I have actually had to modify the fronts to work on my bike. One of these days I will swap them out for something comparable.
Enjoy your build, and post pictures when you are done.

Medic Zero

+1 to all the above. The only caveat is that the Tektro 720's are so wide there can be conflicts with some racks. I had to use a different set of front brakes with my commuter as it is using a Nitto Big Front rack. Great brakes if they fit, and you can't go wrong with Sun Ryno Lites. 36 spoke is enough for the front IMO.

hybridbkrdr

https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/spokecalc/
https://leonard.io/edd/
https://alex.phred.org/stemchart/

I forgot these links for building. The first two are for building wheels. The third one is for stems (although I haven't tried it yet).