A comment regarding his S&S Coupled travel bike:
I haven't used the S&S couplers for travel yet, but I am very impressed with their design. It really is easy to split the bike in half and I don't notice the couplers while riding. They are very strong and require minimal maintence.
Alex Wetmore, Seattle, WA (1993 Bridgestone XO-1 retrofit by Courtney Custom Cycles)
Description and photo from the home page of Alex Wetmore
This is my new road bike, which I also plan on using for touring. It is built around an S&S coupled XO-1 frame which I bought used from Courtney Custom Cycles. The frame had extensive front-end damage, and the toptube, downtube, and steerer were replaced. It also had the custom paintjob shown above.
This bike is different from most bikes in that it is really designed as a "do-anything" bike. It uses 26" mountain bike wheels, and has clearance for tires up to about 2". On the other hand it has the steering geometry of a roadbike, making it a bit sportier on the road. The Rivendell All-Rounder is the closest thing to a production version of this bike, and there is more information about the design goals on their webpage.
The majority of the components on this bicycle were bought used. The only exceptions are the cables, wheels, fenders, chains, 40t chainring, and racks (looking at it another way, all of the drivetrain, braking system, and user interface components were purchased used). You can find some very nice 8sp components out there for great prices now that 9sp has become popular.
Here are the components:
- Front Derailleur - Shimano XTR
- Rear Derailleur - Shimano XTR (changed since picture was taken)
- Crankset - Ritchey Logic Pro, 172.5mm, 110/74 BCD, 50/40/24 chainrings (changed since picture was taken)
- Pedals - Shimano SPD 535 (changed since picture was taken)
- Shifters - Shimano 8sp barend shifters
- Brake Levers - Shimano Ultegra 600 (changed since picture was taken)
- Stem - Nitto Dynamic II, 9cm, 25.4mm clamp (changed since picture was taken)
- Bars - Nitto B185, 44cm, 25.4mm clamp (changed since picture was taken)
- Brakes - Diacompe 986 medium-profile cantilevers with Koolstop salmon pads (changed since picture was taken).
- Saddle - Brooks Conquest
- Rear Rack - Tubus Cargo
- Front Wheel - Schmidt Dynohub, DT 14/15 spokes (36), daVinci V-22 rim (changed since picture was taken)
- Rear Wheel - 1999 Shimano XT Freehub, DT 14/15 spokes (36), daVinci V-22 rim, 12-32 XTR cassette (changed since picture was taken)
- Fenders - ESGE Mountain with homemade mudflaps (changed since picture was taken)
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