Matt’s touring bike

A lugged bike that is primarily for touring but also can be used as an all weather commuter? Sure! This is definitely a bike that will get used a LOT. Matt is a “bike guy” on many levels and I’m so happy with what we’ve come up with for him. Front and rear lights are powered by the dynamo hub. The hub will also be used to charge a smart phone on longer tours using Sinewave Cycles’ Revolution charging device. The rear rack is the newest model from Velo-Orange while the front is a custom one I fabricated for this bike and had plated to match the rear. You will see that the front rack is primarily one long piece of chromoly steel with a complex bend. One doesn’t realize that amount of calculations that go into such a bend until it comes time to do it! Conveniently, the front rack also acts as a reinforced light mount. The light wires are hidden inside the fender, behind the fork blade, and inside the frame tubes. The down tube is tapered to a larger diameter at the bottom bracket to add a little extra stiffness in the frame. Bikes designed to carry front loads sometimes will have a tendency to shimmy. This can be reduced by using tubes of larger diameter depending on the size of the frame.

The components on this bike are in a traditional touring style. The 9-speed Shimano drivetrain with Sugino triple crankset and Dura Ace bar-end shifters is a great reliable setup. Nitto Randonneur handlebars have enough upsweep and plenty of room on the bends for many comfortable positions. The brakes are a set of vintage Dia-Compe cantilevers with modern pads and Cane Creek levers for ample stopping power when fully loaded. The bike was designed for fenders with clearance for 700x35c tires which are currently on there. The eye catching fenders on this bike are hand hammered Honjos. The fender strut hardware is set flush to avoid any toe overlap issues. 36 spoke wheels are strong enough to withstand the harsh roads on a long tour. But in the event of the worst, there are extra spokes on the chainstay and an integrated pump on the seat stay. There is also a double legged kickstand to assist when loading and unloading. Matt picked out the dark metallic teal paint which looks great with all the silver components. Check out the full slideshow to see even more of the details on this bike.