Since I quit racing, the fun thing has been loaded touring. I've been building and riding touring bikes using the Ritchey "breakaway" system so they pack down for air travel with no oversize luggage costs.

I'm building the frames with light OS tubing and 1" forks. There is a lack of 1" threadless stems and I don'i like the looks of the shimmed-down 1 1/8" so I'm using 1" threaded forks and quill stems. You can still get a decent headset new so you don't have to go vintage - Chris King and Cane Creek are good, also the Tange Levin which is a Campy NR copy, loose-ball headset in steel or Al. Nitto makes a pretty decent quill stem with a longer root so you can get your seat and bars higher as your legs start wanting to use some ankle on a long tour.

My own gearing choice is 9-speed because that size chain can be repaired in the field and/or a developing country bike shop. 42/32/22 in the front and 11-32 or 34 in the rear - SRM makes a nice 9-speed cassette with an Al spider and up front I like the Race Face Turbine four-arm crank, either square taper or ISIS. For the latter, Compass is selling a much-more-durable bottom bracket made for them by SKF.

Almost any decent, long cage rear derailleur will work, lo9ng as it is compatible with your shifters. I like the older Shimano XT/XTR when I can find one that isn't trashed. Front derailleurs are an issue - try finding a 1 1/8" clamp, bottom pull derailleur with a cage that fits the smaller chainrings! Fortunately Gevenalle makes one - it's a braze-on, otherwise you are stuck with a 31.8mm clamp. Shifters, I like bar-end. You can get by with vintage friction units, otherwise Microshift/Interloc makes a pretty decent set in 9-speed.

Wheels! I'm still coasting on the last of my WTB laser beam rims. Finding a decent MSW rim any more is getting a little hard and I am not too keen on re-using rims that may have had a hard life. I'm using 26" wheels on bikes that might be ridden who-knows-where, since the 26'/559 tire is available everywhere. If I find a good set of wheels I will snatch them up and have them tensioned.

For brakes, I go with new V-brakes and a set of levers that pull enough cable on drop bars. Much as I like the look of cantis, Vs are just are more powerful, don't weigh any more and don't require a cable hanger. Tektros are as good as any and Cane Creek and Tektro both make drop bar levers for V brakes. Disk brakes are probably not necessary on a bike that is going to be ridden fairly peacefully and mostly on paved roads.

Racks! I build them from scratch for some bikes, but those are the ones that are welded or brazed on permanently. The breakaway, you have to remove the racks to get the bike into the bag anyway so I buy the racks and adapt them. I like the Tubus Vega for the rear and the Velo Orange "Constructeur" for the front. I adapt them by brazing/welding a pair of struts with tabs at the upper mount. The VO rack has a single strap at the top, while the two-point Tubus upper mount is just a mess of little screws and clamps, A good, solid two-point upper mount really cuts down on swaying and iffy handling under load. That combo of racks is enough to carry your gear, clothes and food without adding a great deal of weight.

Just to share a few thoughts here ...


jn