old mtb for heavy-duty touring: recommendations please

[hamster]

Interesting points Woz. I absolutely agree with your points about having hubs you can dismantle and repair simply.

On the spokes I'm not sure I agree. What breaks spokes (and so wheels) is fatigue cracking of spokes - typically at the bend, also occasionally at the thread. Tensile stress alone is usually not the problem - and a steel spoke has huge strength anyway.
What would concern me is the fatigue life of the alloy spokes compared to steel. Aluminium is a poorer material for fatigue cracking, so would not be my first choice - however this might be solved by direct pull spokes.

Spokes that can be changed and tensioned simply are the best solution - and of course to take a couple spare with you!

 

[Elev12k]

Perhaps it is the yellowish/pinkish 'dubbelvla' kind of paint

I quite like the paint - call it "neon safari" or "hypercolor desert camo", & maybe it'll seem a little cooler than "blueberry vanilla custard"! If people really can't stand the paintjob there's the Fore Runner in respectable black/red.

But in any case, truly hideous 18 speed SIS bikes get sold for more everyday; under 20 euros is usually rusty wreck territory. Kinda boggles my mind that these lower end Kogas get put in that category. (Although this one is clearly overpriced.)

Imo the nicest paints are the '91 TerraRunner, the ForeRunners in silver/antracite with glitter particles and the greenish '91 ForeRunner.

 

[AshtanoJoe]

A pal of mine trashed a bar-end shifter in India - a roadside guy made him a replacement lever from a chunk of brass for £2!

Classic!

I'd think a Koga-built wheelset w/ DX hubs & Wolber AT20 rims would be comparable in strength and durability, but it'd be nice to have some real-life experience to back that up.

I did a 3,000km fully loaded tour in western China in the early nineties on a set of M730/732 hubs and Araya RM20 rims, so I can vouch for the durability of those components at least. The DX/Wolber wheels on your VRunner would probably be just as strong if they are in good condition.

It might be difficult to get a 7s cassette on the road so you could leave with a new one and try make it to China. I recommend the HG50 13-34 with the 13t changed for a 12t, but they are heavy units. The SRAM 12-32 has not as good ratios for touring IMO. That's a good suggestion earlier in the thread about using 8 or 9 speed sprockets with your 7 speed spacers (i'd never thought of that). The DX or XT thumbies would be the ones to go with.

You may have come across this blog of a recent ride from the UK to India made on a mid-80s Peugeot mtb, but if not, here it is for info and inspiration
aroundtheworldbyaccident.blogspot.com/

 

[Woz]

Interesting points Woz. I absolutely agree with your points about having hubs you can dismantle and repair simply.

On the spokes I'm not sure I agree. What breaks spokes (and so wheels) is fatigue cracking of spokes - typically at the bend, also occasionally at the thread. Tensile stress alone is usually not the problem - and a steel spoke has huge strength anyway.
What would concern me is the fatigue life of the alloy spokes compared to steel. Aluminium is a poorer material for fatigue cracking, so would not be my first choice - however this might be solved by direct pull spokes.

Spokes that can be changed and tensioned simply are the best solution - and of course to take a couple spare with you!

Appreciate your feedback; For the record, all Crossmax spokes are straight direct pull; radial front and Isopulse (barf marketing crap name....) on the rear. A special spoke key is required (the Parktool one is the best) and two spoke lengths are required for the complete wheelset.

I think on balance, for a Crossmax wheel set, you would need to put faith on the spokes and rims just working and being indestructable, and on a tradtional set of wheels put faith on the hub and freehub just working and being indestructable.

It's a tough call, but both have potential to be trouble free if they are properly serviced and maintained to tip-top condition. I'm going to add, that the failures I've experienced on older poorly maintained Parallex hubs are common, especially the front hub. Freehubs just wear and get sloppy and then mis-engage, but the XT M730 hubs are - in my experience - one of the absolute best ever made and puts anything produced after to utter shame.

Carry on chaps!

 

[lae]

Blimey. My chosen bikepacking machine has hydraulic disc brakes, what are everyone's thoughts on that?

 

[hamster]

Depends on where you are going. If you are expecting that at some time it will be put on the roof of a bus in Central America, then forget it - or make sure that front and rear discs are interchangeable.
I've come across several cases of discs being damaged by airport baggage handlers.

 

[lae]

Off-road touring in New Zealand - the only remote part will be crossing the plains in Otago which is about 70 miles between settlements, both of which have good bike shops.

I suppose the only danger is crashing and damaging/breaking a lever or a caliper, which would be equally bad regardless of whether it's a hydraulic or mechanical unit.

I'd carry spare pads/discs and lines/cables for either system. The only additional things needed for hydraulic brakes are a tiny bottle of mineral oil, a bit of hose to bleed them, and some spare washers/seals. If I was going to be miles from anywhere then I'd swap them for mechanical units.

 

[hamster]

Frankly then I'd not bother with spares - in the worst case if the front calliper fails then you can swap the rear onto the front - the hose would be long enough. 70 miles is not exactly far anyway.

 

[lae]

Well the whole route is about 800-1000 miles (haven't got it all nailed down yet) so I will be taking the spares anyway.

 

[trotsky3]

Re:

Specialized Rockhopper was mentioned a few times earlier in this thread and owning one I could not agree more. However I would also like to put a word in for the humble Hardrock. I have two of these in the garage, one with a smaller frame for off road rambling and the other set up to commute/tour. It is a larger frame than I might normally use for singletrack type stuff but is great for mixed use. This was done on an amazingly small budget. The bike was all of £30 and when cleaned up was in very good condition indeed. The rear rack I had, the front Blackburn rack from freecycle locally, the rear panniers new from the Hospice shop for a fiver and the front ones relics from my first cycle camping trip round Ireland back in 91. Nice bike to ride.