Light touring frameset

desweller

I'm on the hunt for a frame and fork for a light touring project. The frame must have bosses for V-brake/cantis, rear rack eyes and mudguard mounts. So far I've got the Planet X Uncle John and the Surly Cross Check on my list.

Anyone got any other suggestions?

ugo.santalucia

It depends what you mean by light... most people round here would argue that anything over 1 Kg is too heavy to push up a 4% slope...
I'd say you are on the right track... check out the salsa casseroll as well, which has a more bearable paint job than the Surly

unixnerd

Don't get too hung up on cantis, I'd far rather have long reach conventional brakes.

I have my old Cannondale CAAD5 set up as a (very) light tourer. It has proper mudguard mounts and the the rear doubles up to hold a light Tourtec Velocity rack (under 300g) with P-clips at the top.

desweller

I don't fancy caliper brakes for stopping a (relatively) heavy bike. I'd be putting V-brakes on this one. The setup would be along the lines of 8-speed bar end shifters and the Cane Creek V-brake drop bar levers.

ugo.santalucia

DesWeller wrote:

I don't fancy caliper brakes for stopping a (relatively) heavy bike. I'd be putting V-brakes on this one. The setup would be along the lines of 8-speed bar end shifters and the Cane Creek V-brake drop bar levers.

Discs? Lots of good frames with discs available

desweller

ugo.santalucia wrote:

DesWeller wrote:

I don't fancy caliper brakes for stopping a (relatively) heavy bike. I'd be putting V-brakes on this one. The setup would be along the lines of 8-speed bar end shifters and the Cane Creek V-brake drop bar levers.

Discs? Lots of good frames with discs available

I've thought long and hard about discs, but cable operated discs have a pretty variable rep. My heavy tourer has V-brakes and I like the balance between ease of setup, simplicity of design and stopping power. Parts for them are more widely available too.

ugo.santalucia

DesWeller wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

DesWeller wrote:

I don't fancy caliper brakes for stopping a (relatively) heavy bike. I'd be putting V-brakes on this one. The setup would be along the lines of 8-speed bar end shifters and the Cane Creek V-brake drop bar levers.

Discs? Lots of good frames with discs available

I've thought long and hard about discs, but cable operated discs have a pretty variable rep. My heavy tourer has V-brakes and I like the balance between ease of setup, simplicity of design and stopping power. Parts for them are more widely available too.

A good set of cable discs, like Avid BB7 are pretty good stuff... only downside pads have to be
very close, hence every time you refit the wheel you need to readjust the pads position... but if you have brake levers with good pull ratio, that should not be an issue.
Pads per se last much longer than rubber pads, especially in wet conditions... hubs for MTB have better seals than road hubs... there's a lot of advantages in going the 135 mm disc route, rather than 130 mm road. Disc wheels are also stronger due to the better rear dish

unixnerd

I've thought long and hard about discs, but cable operated discs have a pretty variable rep.

I had a mtb with single sided cable operated discs. Great a first but a nightmare to keep in adjustment and no power at all when out of adjustment. Now you can get cable discs where both sides of the calliper move, just like car brakes. Much better idea.

Monty Dog

Avid BB7s are the most powerful cable brake period - if you can't get them to work then suggest it's down to cables, levers or something else - I've got some calipers that are nearly 8 years old, absolutely bomb-proof. Next up, mini vees like TRP CX8.4 or 9 - way stronger than any caliper, but maybe lacking in 'feel'. Decent cantis like TRP 920s or Avid Ultimates next - just more fiddly to set-up.

desweller

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

The Uncle John does have disc brake mounts, so it's looking favourite at the moment whichever braking setup I pick...what else is out there that takes a disc, rack and 700c wheels?

unixnerd

what else is out there that takes a disc, rack and 700c wheels?

The current version of my Edinburgh Country comes in a disc version, wish it had when I bought mine.

MichaelW

Dual Pivot calliper brakes have more than enough stopping power, they just lack the tyre clearance; that is why tourists resort to cantilevers. Long drop callipers at max extension can handle 32mm + mudguards, which is fine for almost any light touring. If you think the bike is going to be heavy enough to challenge the braking, then I would drop the "light touring" requirement and go for modern disks
I use calliper, cantilever and disk brakes on various bikes. Disks are for best stopping power under all conditions, calipers are good enough, easy to setup and matched to STI levers. Canti and V brakes need more cable pull than most STI levers can handle so they are tricky to setup and never quite work as well as they do with matched levers.

unixnerd

Dual Pivot calliper brakes have more than enough stopping power,

Except in the wet, that's when I wish my tourer (the winter bike) had discs.

desweller

If I go V-brakes then I will use brake levers designed to pull the right amount of cable. I'm not using STIs (8-speed bar end shifters), so I don't have to compromise in this area. I hate setting up cantilever brakes so I won't be using them!

I find the V-brakes on my heavy tourer stop the bike better than the caliper brakes on my roadie, even when it's mildly loaded; that's why I'm not keen on using calipers. I'm a pretty heavy guy (95kg) so I do tend to want better braking than a lightweight racing snake.

PeterBL

If you want v-brakes and STI, the new Sora levers fit the bill just perfectly! I would get those if I wanted drop bars and v-brakes.

jonomc4

I am just in the middle of upgrading my Specialised Sirrus Frame to drop bars.

The Sirrus Frame takes V brakes and there are a large variety or frames from Steel through to full carbon out there (mine is aluminium with carbon fork and rear seat stays) additional to the variety they will also be quite cheap second hand as they don't register to a lot of people as road bikes but as hybrids.

The frame is the same geometry as the Specialised Roubaix - so it is very comfortable and with a proven track record - I think it may be worth your while investigating one.