I think I’m finally in the market for a built to order frame. I’d like it to be able to do two things. Ride nicely on long distance tours (and have rack mounts) but I’d also like to switch the wheels occasionally with some mtb 29er wheels and tyres so I can do the odd long distance tour. In fact, it’d be ace if I could do the tour divide on it.

So my question is, will it suffer as a road bike if it has clearance for 2 inch tyres? And will be be ok to get sized up for a frame that functions well as a road bike with a short stem and then equally well as an mtb if I put a longer stem on it for flat bars?

So my question is, will it suffer as a road bike if it has clearance for 2 inch tyres?

As a ‘racy road bike’, yes. As a ‘bike that feels good on tarmac’, no reason to.

will be be ok to get sized up for a frame that functions well as a road bike with a short stem and then equally well as an mtb if I put a longer stem on it for flat bars?

Tricky – I doubt you or a builder get that right first time. If it’s road/tour/light off-road biased does it really need flat bars? The right drops could do both. Loop bars are good for that. In fact, ride a Jones on and off-road with a tyre swap if you can – best reference point I can think of. A Fargo or Gryphon also, though I’ve not ridden either.

fair point, guess I could get some wider bars and maybe some suicide levers for more serious off road duty

This may be of interest http://blog.treefortbikes.com/index.php/posts/4083
Cheers 1 shed

Hmm. For me the “ultimate do-it-all bike” would need to tick more boxes than “short tours” and “long tours”.

What you’ve described there is a touring bike.

The All City Mach Disc is built spookily similarly to how I set up my Stainless Croix De Fer

Fat 700 x 42’s – Check (Conti Speed Rides)
Compact road chainset combined with 11-32 cassette – check
Thomson/King finishing kit – Check

The only difference seems to be that I went Shimano/Avid rather than Sram/TRP.

Certainly the bike I ride the most these days, on road, off road, commutes, bridleway bashing, Chariot tractor duty, brilliant bit of kit.

I day dream about a bike like this.

But I had always assumed that it would be flat bared in both modes with really only the tyres (or wheels) changing

In the days of rigid MTBs being the norm I toured (and time trialed a few times) on my Kona. Flat bars and long bar ends allowed me to ride off road and get a fairly good tuck on the road

Do keep the thread going with pics etc.

I assume you will be having discs. Flat bars are easier to hydraulic levers for.

For me this bike would have an MTB triple chain set again easier with flat bars

But that’s me. You will of course do your own thing

Oh and again for me for off road touring I’d like the option of a suspension fork. Even when I was young some rough roads were not technical but literally agony

[url=https://flic.kr/p/aMVAzi]Just cruising[/url] by John Clinch, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/7mYw4V]america0024.jpg[/url] by John Clinch, on Flickr

Its quite how ironic how vesatile these bikes were

I’ve often thought about a frame that could run with either a flat bar or drops, but came to the conclusion it was too much of a compromise.

If you’re planning disc brakes you have a big issue – you’ll have to overcome the brake / shifter compatability problems – (you would have to have a set of both road and mtb shifters / brakes – and then you’ll need 2 sets of brakes as well, unless the new hydraulic road brakes are the same throw as flat bar mtb discs? and if they are then you need to swap hoses instead of cables.)
So, a big problem with discs, not a problem with canti brakes.

Then you have the issue of the top tube length, my 2 x mtbs are about 700mm from the centre of the bar to the centre of the saddle. My two road / cross bikes are approx 830 from saddle to centre of the hoods.
Big difference…..and the length of the stem is important to the handling, outside of a sweet spot you would definitely be compromised.

I ran my pompino with canti brakes with a 120 stem / flat bar and also an 80mm stem / drop bar. Both set ups were “OK” but definitely compromised…..if you’re getting a custom frame I’d suggest making a definite decision re flat vs drops…..it solves the brake issue and also means the handling is sorted without compromise.

Amp thill, is that a kona lava dome? Me and a mate did Alaska to Argentina on a couple of lava domes in 2002. Great bike for the job but quite fancy bigger wheels so I can get a bit more speed on lighter weight tours. For example next month I’m doing a blast through serbia and hoping to cover 120 road miles a day (and will be taking a road bike) but would love something that will allow that as well as tackling Africa in a couple of years time.

Also agree suspension would be v handy on rough roads. Maybe just 80mm or so…

The reason for dream bike build is my v generous fiancée who is talking of rewarding me for my engagement ring with something bling cycling related to remind me of her evermore…isn’t she ace?

Why could one bike do all; buy two (or more) bikes that will do the job they are designed for – especially if you are talking of major changes between the various types of riding/terrain.

Because if you’re doing long distance tours the conditions change a lot…on the Americas trip we had lovely smooth Tarmac in California, off road trails in Guatemala and then terrible potholes and rumble strips in Bolivia…

In a similar vein to amphill, I think I’ve reached a good compromise with an old steel Voodoo frame, a singular fork, fat slicks and a nice backswept flat bar with aero grips..

It’s got a fairly neutral riding position provided by a stem with a good bit of rise, it’s comfy for miles and I can pull some serious weight on some serious hills.. change the tyres and it’s happy as Larry on Dartmoor or anywhere else

If you’re going to get a custom frame built, make it specific to one purpose and absolutely the best (in your opinion) at that job. A do-it-all will have to be a compromise and like a 27.5 inch wheel, never the best at anything.

Is the steel voodoo frame a 26er with a 29er wheel in? I did think of putting a singular swift fork on my lava dome but wasn’t sure it’d work…

For example next month I’m doing a blast through serbia

Pics here after pls : )

suspension would be v handy on rough roads. Maybe just 80mm or so

Or a liability .. fatter tyres + rims would be my choice. The more load you carry the less I’d want a sus fork, even so most TDR racers use rigids now with only 5-6kg loads. Not an especially rough route but a good average rough-road touring example.

Maybe you need the Singular Gryphon?

I’m using a 29er with 2.35″ slicks as my general purpose road bike. It’s really great on the cracked up roads we get here.

Road tourer with 2.0 Big Apples fitted. Remove bags and pop 2.4 Ardents on = mountain bike. Just like mountain bikes used to be really. Should work well with flare drops since the front is already relatively high.

Like it. And is that a jones frame and fork?

It is. You could do something very similar with a Gryphon I think, the Jones bars and wider rims are the main thing along side a geo that’s MTB-Tour_upright and not too slack. The Jones is a bit hard-hitting capable for road use but the upside of that is it’s totally composed at speed when loaded. I could imagine a Gryphon (which isn’t a million miles away geo-wise) making a more ‘normal’ version of it for road / dirt touring. The SS-ability on both bikes is a nice bit of piece of mind in case of busted gears. Fargos also, the sus-corrected fork length isn’t something I’m a fan off but a plus if you do want to fit sus.

TDR racers?

ibnChris

My bike was a Kileua. Same colour as the Lava Dome and same geometry. But more butting and different bits. My wifes was (is) a Trek 970