looking for a new offroad/onroad bike……far too many options about.
tourers/hybrids/29ers/cx’s/monstercrossers/fatbikes/thinbikes.
and i cant make a decision. so i am gonna roadify my on one 29r.
guards, rack, rigid forks and 32/35c tyres.

anyone else done it?

Try whileoutriding blog and aiden harding’s write ups?

Or trawl tour divide reports?

yes, got 45c slicks, front and rear racks for mine.

Looking to do a bit of touring and bikepacking this year.

Ton, I’m trying to do just that with my Fargo. I’ve managed to find a variety of tyres, 32mm Specialized Borough Pros, 2.0″ Schwalbe Marathon XRs and Conti Mountain Kings with a view to trying some mixed road and off road touring. I’m going to fit Tubus racks and if I can find them a pair of Cascadia 29er mudguards. The haterz are going to hate it.

I’m not completely sold on the bivi route just yet, but if I like it I might try and borrow some bags for a couple of nights to see if it would be workable.

My Surly Karate Monkey is currently cyclocrossed, if you want to see that

i want to see em all mate. 😀

I went into my lbc a few weeks ago to see a Niner RDO Air 9 converted into a touring bike. I had to take a photo on my Iphone just to show my friend (we are both air 9 owners)
I’m appalled and quite frankly none of you deserve that much of a shock on a Sunday night.
My God…it had mudguards. Its an RDO!!!!
Oh the horror

Cross Monkey:

And with its aero deep section wheels:

Yes, my slightly unusual Scandal 29er became a bit of a touring/utility bike a couple of years ago. Small block 8s or landcruisers. I’ve a mate who does the same and in fact rode round Northumberland in a day on his on some smooth schwalbe tyres (big apples?). Works really well for sustrans type routes but possibly a bit more frustrating/demanding if you want to press on on the road.

Vaya

Or Fargo

with 40mm Clements, tubus rack and Ortlieb panniers

mcm, as far as I know, no one imports Cascadias into the UK, I got a pair direct from planet bike

paul4stones…..i dont press on anywhere nowadays mate.

stevemakin….i know it makes sense, but not 100% sold yet, but gonna be having a test ride on a fargo later this month. then i may go for one.

Just get a Vaya! 😉

Brant’s mum and dad spotted this in Scotland somewhere.

Here

mcm, as far as I know, no one imports Cascadias into the UK, I got a pair direct from planet bike

You just emailed them and they sent them?

they were for review for the mag, but yes they did, cant see why they wouldnt if you paid postage ?

No harm in asking them.

20th Oct 2012 by Steve J Makin, on Flickr

I have a Gryphon with Flow EX rims, 2.2 Schwalbe Rapid Robs pumped up to about 60psi (=massive and fast rolling), BB7 road, 1×10 and On One Midge bars.

It gets used for riding to work (30% rough path and the rest road) and riding off-road at weekends too.

It’s very, very comfy on road and path, allegedly a bit more supple than a Fargo (its closest ‘rival’) so probably not as assured when carrying the kind of payload that the Fargo was designed for. The Gryphon’s more of an MTB than an adventure bike but it will no doubt be good enough for an occasional loaded-up tour. I plan to test that theory this year.

It’s ace off-road.

Would you be better off with some fat slicks (Big Apples?) on MTB rims rather than 32mm CX tyres, especially if high speed’s not your goal? I have nothing against a bit of tyre-drag when offset with comfort on-road and more grip off road; having said that big slicks or hi-volume, small-knobbled CX style tyres at higher pressures don’t seem to drag much anyway.

Something like the Fargo or the Peregrine would work very well if you like drop bars. You can run big volume tyres which will make it comfortable offroad.

The Fargos quite an upright position, and you can use the drops with your back straight. Great for touring but might be a bit of a handful on something technical which put me off.

I’d forget Cross bikes. They’re fast, but you’ll be after comfort rather than speed.

My bikes loaded up with all my bivi gear at the moment, so i could pop up this week if you want to check out the wildcat stuff?

Jobro – I want to see the 9er RDO with mud guards. Somethings are so wrong you’ve got to see them. An RDO, I’m with you. Baaaaaaddd

Current running a Gryphon with 28mm Conti 4Seasons on Mavic OpenSport on Hope Pro II Evo (11-28 geared).

Also runs Schwalbe Big Apples or a Crossmark/Advantage combo on a different set of wheels (11-36 geared)

The beauty of disc frames is running a wide rim and a narrow rim set of wheels is straight forward and can really change the bike’s character.

some further inspiration here Tony

http://forums.mtbr.com/salsa/my-fargo-build-831605.html

Planet Bike emailed me back re their Cascadia fenders. They still have no European importer and have been hampered in selling stuff here because of hassle shipping it. That’s a shame because they make some good stuff, I got some of their lights and I had swithered over some mudguards when I was last in Portland, then thought I’d just get them back home.

I found a link elsewhere on here for some SKS that even complete including postage from Germany would have been cheaper than the carriage alone for the Cascadia fenders from the US.

I can see either a Peregrine or a Gryphon being great for this. Run some plusher volume CX tyres in either frameset and you’d be away, something like a 700 x 42 (or 29 x 1.8ish) maybe?

Mid-summer, my Peregrine sometimes runs on 700×32 slicks, and they work well too. 28’s would probably lend a bit more speed as a pure road tyre (but as my Peregrine tends to nip off down green-lanes with no encouragement from me whatsoever, 32’s give me (and my rims) a little more volume).

I vacillated for a while ‘twixt a Gryphon and a Fargo, but in the end kept it in the family and went with a Gryphon (I wanted a little more of a MTB kinda feel, and the Gryphon seemed nearer to what I wanted). I’d like to try a Fargo tho’ just to see what they are like.

*sigh*, so many bikes, such little time … 😉

moonter, what about a group buy. i reckon a few off us on here would be up for some.

I haven’t, but would like a 29er with carbon forks, disk brakes and something like a H bar (compatible with bar bag of course) for tours. Some semi-slicks would cover most grip needs.

moonter, what about a group buy. i reckon a few off us on here would be up for some.

I think that would be a good call. I went for the SKS P65s as I’ve used a narrower version on another couple of bikes and they are really well made.

I went for the SKS P65s

where from?

Ton, here

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/a63551/bluemels-set-28-65mm-black.html?lg=en&cr=GBP&cn=gb&gclid=CIK216K4rrMCFczHtAodHC0AVQ

I use 2.0 big apple slicks for touring on my Fargo.

Comfortable, grippy and no punctures.

Ton, I have a set on my Fargo so you can see them next week. I also have a spare set of the 53mm version which are fine up to a 2″ tyre (and at a squeeze a 2.35″ slick).

I tried the 2″ big apple tyre as per Charlies but found the 2.35″ to be far more comfortable (if a tad heavier/slower rolling). Wouldn’t use anything else now.

I put some cross tyres on my 29er to try and cut through the mud, worked quite well and flew on the roads. Back to proper big 2.5″ now though 🙂

With apologies for Jones-promotion again, another 29er on Big apple 2.0 + 29er rims. I like this set up, perfect for carrying kit, comfort and dealing with rough roads.
Not as fast as my winter roadie but this weekend I rode home and back with the same set-up as the pic, ~12lbs weight. Ride is 5.5hrs at best with just a rucsac and a tailwind, usually 6.5ish, on my winter road bike. This time was just under 7hrs out, 7.5 on the way back riding into sleet and the wind – so slower but not much, all things considered. And in bad conditons those wheels are much friendlier )
A bonus of the wide rims is Big Apples at 25psi roll really well and are still well supported, but I can’t put 35-42c on them unf.
Soemthing half way between this and a 25c road bike would be great.. Peregrine/Gryphon, 21-25mm rims, 38-42c tyres?

I have a Genesis fortitude adventure. With the stock rims I have gone down to 28mm tyres, was surprisingly nippy. Certainly glad I bought this instead of a cantilever equipped tourer.

As for luggage I run either a carradice long flap camper or a tortec expedition rack with panniers.

It’s handled offroad bivvy nights too, currently awaiting a frame bag from buggybag, should be here this week.

I slicked up my Gryphon for tour round Skye last year. Ace! 8)

iPhone 4s Pics 043 by GavinBelton, on Flickr

Loaded Gryphon @ Ferry Inn 3 by GavinBelton, on Flickr

all the bikes on this thread look ace to be honest…….i do love a beefed up touring type machine. 8)

Hmmm…full guards on a 29er… 🙂
I like.

I’ve a six year old early On-one 29er that I use as a tourer/commuter. 28mm slicks in the summer, 38mm Cross style knobblies just now. You can ride a huge range of stuff on that sort of bike, especially with a cheap deore 48-36-26 chainset and 11-25 cassette. All it needs is the occasional tyre change and with proper 29er tyres on and its original carbon fork, it’ll happily tackle easier singletrack. Narrow(ish) flat bars, flipped long stem and bar ends make for a range of positions for longer road riding.
It also makes a good tow bike for the kit trailer on longer tours with the other half, evening out our relative pace.
With new lighter wheels and proper road tyres, should be headed for the Alps this summer, along with my big bike.
It’s all good.