Jackie’s touring bike

Jackie’s touring bike

Jackie is a joyful rider who clocks up a lot of miles. She has been riding a 26″ wheeled Surly, but really needed a custom build for a better fit to help avoid injuries. After doing a fit session with her, we swapped the Surly to 150mm cranks to help reduce pressure on her hips. Then I was able to design a custom bike around that crank length, making the pedal the correct height from the ground, and adjust her position with a shorter reach, all whilst making sure to eliminate toe-fender overlap.

We opted for 650B wheels for a wider tire selection, after I determined that I could make this diameter fit the design without compromise. 42mm wide tires give great rolling, comfort and grip. A custom steel fork was required to match the geometry, and at Jackie’s request I did my first with curved blades – an aesthetic consideration for her; practically it helped with the brake bosses by having the blades parallel to the steerer at that point. For simplicity the bike sticks with rim brakes, using Paul Mini-moto brakes that give great performance with road brake levers.

With the considerations for a better fit achieved, Jackie’s request was for a much lighter bike, without sacrificing functionality, and a wider range of gears. Her Surly has a 3×9 drivetrain – I was able to get a wider range with a 2×11, with 32/48 chainrings and a 10-42 cassette. Jackie prefers friction bar-end shifters, so the bike is set-up that way, but can also be used with indexing for the rear. The parts were chosen for a balance of durability and low weight. White Industries hubs are laced to Velocity rims and Rotor provided the Aldhu 150mm crankset. The Rene Herse front rack has a custom spacer so that it sits level, and supports both the handlebar bag and the front fender. I made a custom decaleur, brazed from stainless steel, to allow easy on-off of the handlebar bag. The one place where functionality won over weight was the kickstand.

The powder coat finish is by Custom Powderworks, and the final weight complete as shown is 23.4lbs.

One Comment

  1. Another fantastic build. I love everything about it.

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