Cycling UK Forum

yer was only pointing this out because listen to some on here maks people think 135oln is the only option for heavy duty.. and other have stated trekking versions of shimano hubs build a stronger wheel as the flanges are wider spaced.. which they are not...



more difference in number of spokes, parts and quality of build really rather than a few mms in spacing

Croix de fers seem to come up big. I ride 56cm bikes, my current bike is a 57cm (Raleigh randonneur) and fits me better. The CDF just felt a little big.

I have been offered a 2013 frameset for £295 instead of the £375 RRP. Is the 2014 frameset worth the extra £80?

The difference is well set out here:

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/blog/15/07/13/2014-croix-tweaked-refined

Basically it's a bit harder to fit a rack and guards to the 2013 model. For the price difference I'd go for the 2013 one and then buy a suitable rack if required. The advantage of the old brake calliper position is that water is less likely to run into the brake cable. Especially if you fit Avid BB7s with their shonky rubber cable boots (mine perished in less than 6 months).

^ re: bb7 rear brake position. I have mine between chain and seatstay, and while it does look as if it would trap water (my boot came off after a few months too), in practice this is not something to be concerned about.

We had no problems on a very wet e2e last year, even though we had to ride through hub deep 'puddle' at one time. I've had the bike for 4 years now and not had need to change inners or outers yet.

Well...I've done it. Bought a 2013 56cm frameset for £275 from a LBS.

The frame looks mint but it has a bottom bracket fitted and a seat post clamp.

Now to work out what to put on it

Luckily a friend likes building bikes and another one works for a LBS and will be starting a bike mechanic course soon, so hoping I won't be completely on my own in building it

Good luck - you've made a good choice...I built mine up earlier this year and have toured Scotland with it and I'm really pleased!

That looks great. How does yours differ from standard spec? It looks like you have bar end shifters ?

rootes wrote:yer was only pointing this out because listen to some on here maks people think 135oln is the only option for heavy duty.. and other have stated trekking versions of shimano hubs build a stronger wheel as the flanges are wider spaced.. which they are not...

...more difference in number of spokes, parts and quality of build really rather than a few mms in spacing

yes but all else being equal a 130oln wheel is nothing like as strong as a 135oln one. I'd suggest that the difference is more important than (say) a 32 vs a 36 by some margin, i.e. I'd rather have a 32H 135oln wheel than a 36H 130oln wheel.

If you have the option for 135mm rear spacing, the choice is a complete no-brainer. Why have second best?

In a similar vein my next touring bike for loaded use will probably have a 144oln rear end. I already have a high quality set of 40H tandem hubs ready to go. The rear wheel will have about 3mm of dish. Because the hubs are light and I shall be able to use lightweight DB spokes all round, the wheels I shall end up with will be both lighter and stronger than a typical 36H touring build.

cheers

Claireysmurf wrote:Well...I've done it. Bought a 2013 56cm frameset for £275 from a LBS.

Now to work out what to put on it ....

Well that is quite exciting!

Normally when prioritising, the list I prefer goes;

-frame
-wheels
-transmission
-other bits.

It is not that the wrong 'other bits' parts can't spoil your day very well too, it is just that they are generally easier/cheaper to change later on if they are not quite right.

BTW I'd probably plug for a 9s transmission right now because it has a reasonable balance of price/durability/availability/gear range.

But I'd think hard about a rohloff before I did that....

cheers

Yeah, but Brucey, you can get to exactly the same place without sourcing lightweight 40H tandem stuff .....
Just use regular 36 hole 135mm stuff and offset both dropouts 4mm to the right.
If you do write off a back wheel on tour, then a standard dished wheel will just slot straight in....re set the brake, off you go....re-dish it when convenient.
Why will nobody do it? You are obviously building your own wheels, and contemplating a "special" frame.

in fairness I agree with you in large part.

A slightly cheeky comment is that with a crabbed frame, how would you ever know if you had bent it or not....

Arguably the only reason for not using the wider rear end is the availability and price of hubs; this is just an issue of commoditisation as much as anything; I don't thing that there is anything intrinsically expensive about them. I don't think that 40H tandem stuff is very much more expensive than 40H solo stuff in many cases. In any event I was able to get my hubs at a good price, which set me wondering what I'd do with them after I'd build a new set of tandem wheels etc. Lighter, stronger, better quality and cheaper is a difficult option to pass up.... I may yet relent and take the rear down to 140oln which will mean that it can be sprung into a 135mm frame I expect, where 144 will require more of a rear end reset.

The prospect of a mid-tour wheel breakage doesn't worry me unduly even running at 144oln; most 135mm oln hubs have enough axle to be easily respaced using a few washers to at least 140 oln (close enough) and like you say running with the wrong dish for a while won't hurt too much.

cheers

Claireysmurf wrote:That looks great. How does yours differ from standard spec? It looks like you have bar end shifters ?

I don't know what the standard spec is?

I just bought the frameset and built it up. I already had some bits and pieces in my garage to make it make it more cost-effective and add some quality items to it. I used some good quality pre-used DT Swiss rims and bought a Hope hub for the rear and a Schmidt Son 28 dyno-hub for the front with new DT Swiss spokes all round. I already had the 48-38-26 Stronglight chainset and an 11-32 cassette. I already had an ITM bars & stem and Brooks ti Swift saddle. I added a Royce BB and a Chris King headset and bought some Avid BB 5's (advertised as BB 7's on eBay!), which I will probably upgrade to BB 7's. I decided to go for bar-end shifters so that I could use Mtn bike disk brakes with a drop-bar Tektro V-lever brakes. I've got SKS 45 mudguards and Gaitor hard shell 32 mm tyres. The rack is a Tubus Disco.

Brucey wrote:
A slightly cheeky comment is that with a crabbed frame, how would you ever know if you had bent it or not.... ...........

Take your hands off the 'bars?.....

I'm just ordering some parts. Can anyone tell me if I need a clip on (and if so a 31.8 or 34.9mm) or braze on front derailleur?
I notice that a 105 front derailleur is £3 cheaper than a Tiagra one. I had intended to use an all Tiagra groupset. Is there anything to be gained from having some of the components from higher up the hierarchy?