Thru axles and QR

[NickJP]

As far as thru axle or QR being part of the decision making goes - I am happy with QR on my current rim-braked bike and cannot see any reason why QR would not do the job on a new bike - but when I bought that bike, TA wasn't a thing and now it is. It is enough of a thing for some commentators to say it's a no-brainer to go TA on a new bike. It is with that in mind that I solicited for opinions on this forum.

I do have limited experience of the sort of track I want to ride - ergo my wanting something more suited - particularly tyre width - my 32mm smooth tyres slip and spin too easily on the soft going and are not so forgiving on the hard bumpy gravel track.

If you want fat tyres, then I would say go with disc brakes. And if you have disc brakes, then I would also say, disc brakes being more intolerant of wheel misalignment than rim brakes, that thru axles are superior, as they're much better at ensuring that the wheel is in exactly the same position every time it is replaced.

[cycle tramp]

A few years ago I was in a somewhat similar situation to you, in that I wanted a bike that could cope with local gravel and off-road tracks not only in summer but also in winter, and could also take fully loaded panniers. However, I was already riding on those routes in summer and winter on an old 26" wheeled rigid MTB fitted with a rack and panniers.

I do have limited experience of the sort of track I want to ride - ergo my wanting something more suited - particularly tyre width - my 32mm smooth tyres slip and spin too easily on the soft going and are not so forgiving on the hard bumpy gravel track.

Really, I want a road touring bike capable of the rough-stuff and so the Wayfarer style is my preference. The Bootzipper consideration is/was as an exploration into a 2nd bike solution to getting more rough stuff capability - not an alternative to the Wayfarer but a supplement to my current road touring bike. Ultimately, the Bootzipper would not be my choice - what I really want is something suited to the more "unsuitable" sections of the NCN and towpaths - but as part of a route that has a lot of road too. The two-bike avenue doesn't really fit that brief but was just me trying to think outside the box, so to speak.

I think I see where you're coming from, you want to be able to tackle suitations like this with a bike that gives you confidence to do so... but without being unnecessary cumbersome on the tarmac

I'm not suggesting that the forementioned bicycles could not cope with the above conditions, but have you considered the range of bikes from stanforthbikes.co.uk or thorncycles.co.uk ?

Both offer a wide range of bikes including mixed use and expedition tourers, in 26, 27.5 and 700 wheel sizes...

Whilst the 26 inch wheel has fallen from many people's imagination, there's still a range of tyres, from over +2 inch wide off road tyres, 1.75inch/47 mm mixed use tyres and slicks from 1 to 2.25 inches wide for this size, allowing you the flexibility to change them as the seasons progress from wet to drier weather and back again.....

It's also worth considering that a 26 inch wheel shod with a 2 inch tyre has the same diameter as a 27.5 inch wheel shod with a 40mm wide tyre.

If the budget was more limited, there's normally a few second hand Thorn sherpas for sale via ebay or the Thorn forum site... failing that look out for a steel mountain bike frame from the late 80's and early 90's with all the usual frame mounting points...

..whilst a 26 inch wheel set and rim brakes may not be what you want, it may allow you to get a better insight in what you need, and are comfortable with.

[freiston]

Hi @cycle tramp, yeah, you as near as dammit see where I'm coming from. I just took a look at Stanforth and Thorn - the Stanforths are very nice, the sort of thing I'm wanting but beyond my budget. The Thorns are nice too but none of them quite do it for me - if I get a new bike, it will be disc braked and I haven't got my head round going for 26" wheels - though I have previously considered and appreciate the point about the circumference increasing with bigger tyres. This is an emotional response rather than a logical one but as things stand, I can't shake it off.

Just for the crack and to illustrate why I would like something wider than my current 32mm tyres, here's a local "lane" (closed to motor traffic) that I will sometimes go down when the weather has been not too wet - these were taken this week before the rain, so comparatively nice and dry:

. . . and this is what some of the lanes on my regular rides that are "proper roads" get like in the winter (taken in January this year):

[cycle tramp]

At this point I concede that you are far braver when it comes to using slick tyres, than I would be...
Photos 2 and 3 would have had me reaching for my 1.75 mixed use tyres and the last one would have had me reaching for my 2 inch knobblies.
(and possibly, after the ride, reaching for my keyboard to let highways know about the state of that lane).

I completely understand about 26 inch wheels... if you're buying 2nd hand as an introduction of going off road, due to a limited budget, then its not a bad compromise. Buying a new bike with 26 wheels?... well you'd have to really need strong wheels to put up with what might be a bike that ends up being hard to look at.

Given the photographs.. moving the braking away from the wheel rim is a good idea, if only to stop you wearing through them every 3 to 5 years..

..still not sure about qr vs thru axles - i'm still using bolt on/solid axles! On the plus side it looks like many hub manufacturers have now designed their hubs to convert between the two...

..what I would say, is perhaps consider a low top tube -especially looking at your last photo again - if that's slippery mud over tarmac, there's always a risk of a fall, and in my experience a low top tube might help stop too much in the way of bicycle entanglement..

[Sparky56]

How about a Tumbleweed Prospector?

Tough steel frame
Rohloff gears
Cable disks

Take you anywhere!

[pete75]

It seems an odd stance to reject something because it's the best or latest!

It might appear an odd stance but, if so, reconsider the context and wider picture. ‘Best’ and ‘latest’ are typically driven by marketing and profit rather than serviceability and value to the customer. In addition each customer has non identical needs, aspirations and resources - aspirations are dangerous things for whilst they inspire us they can also misguide us too.

Some valid points. I'm still going to promote the idea of buying on merit. Rejecting the best and newest makes as little sense to me as insisting on it.

+1

[freiston]

Well I thought I'd better give an update - I bought a bike with through-axles!

In the end, I decided to go "2nd bike" rather than replacement. A bit of a misnomer as I now have four bikes! A folding bike, my touring bike, a recently acquired 2nd hand pub/commuting/utility bike (a 25 year old hybrid) - and the new bike . . .

. . . I decided that I would keep my "old" touring bike as a predominantly road bike and get something a bit more suited to off-road - certainly beyond just wider tyres. My original wish was for drop bars but my experience with the 2nd hand hybrid made me reconsider this and accept that an "alt bar" would be a good way to go. So I went for a Spa Rove 725 (and I let them build it instead of doing it myself). I went for a super (or sub?) compact 38/24 with 10 speed 11-36, dynamo hub & lighting and the Surly Moloko handlebar. My original wish was for the eye-watering expensive Klamper brakes but I went with the TRP Spykes - it certainly helped keep the price down and they're something that I can always change/upgrade in the future if I don't like them.

I got the bike yesterday and took it out for its maiden spin this morning. It is a dream and so much more sure-footed than the touring bike - much easier when the going got rough. I have to say that I didn't notice any difference in braking performance (even in the wet) between the Spykes and my cantilevers and Vee brakes. I got some discomfort in my right hand/wrist (my "mouse hand") when using the ends of the bars (which was often, on account of needing to cover the brakes) but I was impressed at how well the horns and loop work on the Moloko bars - I could get a very comfortable tucked in position on the horns. I might cut the bars down to make them a bit narrower. If the pain persists, I might try a different bar (Velo Orange Crazy being a likely candidate or maybe a plain riser bar with bar ends used inboard of the levers). The gear ratios on the double work very well for me too.

Here's some pictures:

[Jdsk]

Sounds great.

Have fun

Jonathan

[freiston]

Ta

[maximus meridius]

On the other hand, we can still buy spares for bikes that were built 50 years ago, so perhaps it doesn’t really matter what road you go down.

You may be able to buy some spares. But don't count on being able to get every component that can fail.

I have the perfect bike for me, and I never want to change it, ever. Or at least that's what I think at the moment!! So after I had built it up and arrived at the perfect set up, after some tweaking, I set about buying in spares. My set up uses Shimano 9x3, with BB7 disc brakes, so the ideal set up needs pre 2008 shifters. I sometimes thought I was going a bit mad (and maybe I was) but I ended up with lots of NOS STIs, rear derailleurs, front derailleurs etc. I still keep an eye out for things like that, and it's clear that most of what I bought is now either very very expensive, or completely unobtainable, at least NOS.

So "consumables" for older bikes, such as cassettes, chains etc. may well be available for a long time. But some critical components may well not.

[rareposter]

Well I thought I'd better give an update - I bought a bike with through-axles!

You have bought a very nice bike with thru-axles, that colour is lovely!

Hope you have many happy miles on it - thanks for the update too, always good to see what people have bought.

[Brucey]

FWIW TAs make sense with disc brakes.

[slowster]

I got some discomfort in my right hand/wrist (my "mouse hand") when using the ends of the bars (which was often, on account of needing to cover the brakes)

I would experiment with small (5 to 10 degree) changes in the angle of the bars. I think people using bars with a lot of backsweep can find that the sweet spot for the angle of the bars is a relatively narrow range, because of its effect on the articulation of the wrists.

What width tyres do you have? I presume the Rove will take wider tyres than the Wayfarer which you were considering at one point.

[cycle tramp]

Well I thought I'd better give an update - I bought a bike with through-axles!

In the end, I decided to go "2nd bike" rather than replacement. A bit of a misnomer as I now have four bikes! A folding bike, my touring bike, a recently acquired 2nd hand pub/commuting/utility bike (a 25 year old hybrid) - and the new bike . . .

I got the bike yesterday and took it out for its maiden spin this morning. It is a dream and so much more sure-footed than the touring bike - much easier when the going got r

Here's some pictures:
P1020289.JPG

P1020296.JPG

P1020297.JPG

Nice - thanks for sharing your experiences and photos...

(The only thing I will say is that if your Tara tubus was anything like mine - every time I leaned it against a walk, the forks would swing around and the curve of the tara would get a scratch - then if I rode in the wet, the spray from the tyre would then cover the curve and the surface rust would set in.... having repainted my tara, I'm wrapping up the curve in tape when I next fit it).

[Cowsham]

Well I thought I'd better give an update - I bought a bike with through-axles!

You have bought a very nice bike with thru-axles, that colour is lovely!

Hope you have many happy miles on it - thanks for the update too, always good to see what people have bought.

+1 the TA's are the way to go especially with discs -- first thing I noticed about my Arkose when I changed from the stock tyres -- no futerin around lining up the calipers after. Just bolt the wheel in and it's perfect.