I'll defer to any engineers here, but titanium is sturdy - I'd be confident it could take all kinds of paraphernalia. 17lbs is light for a metal bike, and the Dura-Ace parts are swanky.

benadrian wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 6:21 pm Perfect NYC bike. Not a lot of parts to break, looks like hell, secretly awesome, hella functional, and not a huge expense if something terrible should happen.

48x16 still seems big, especially if you're carrying a load. My city cruising gear is probably a 38x15.

48x16 IS big. I meant 48x18!

jeff fox wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 6:51 pm This is the bike I'm currently J.O.'ing over. My main concern is that 57cm is on the very small end of what I can ride. Though my current bike is 58 and it feels pretty mostly perfect, so I feel like adjustments can be made to the fit of the Litespeed. It's a little more than I wanted to spend, but it seems like a lifetime bike, so the extra few hundred is not a huge deal in the long term.
Talk me into it or out of it.

https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/ ... 44140.html

Dude! That is all top of the line circa 20 years ago. It has a triple, so it’ll be great for touring... especially with that tiny cassette. (let me clarify for people.. a tiny cassette mean a bike are faster gears that are harder to pedal. However, a triple up front adds an extra, smaller chainring, and smaller chainrings make it easier to pedal. The triple chainring setup up front just give a few easier gears, which is unusual with such a small cassette.)

I think it should be fine with rack adaptors, but you might also take a look at bike-packing bags.

Ti rides great and doesn’t corrode, so the frame will outlive you if you don’t crash;)

This is a bike that someone might use for Paris-Brest-Paris 15-20 years ago.

Plus, it has a pump peg... I love a pump peg.

Downsides; narrower tires only, if the shifters break you’ll have to do some digging or switch to bar-end/downtube, and part replacement could be a bit of a dig.

This podcast episode is worth a listen if you're interested in classic steel racers. We'd cycled a few times with Bob, and the club reflects his personality: open to all, generous, and good humoured. A mutual friend introduced us when my wife's beloved Mercian was stolen and Bob, who didn't know us, gave her a Negri frame he found in a shed that he built up into this for her. We're very much dabblers in this world, but no-one minds. While the bikes are often stunning and magic to ride, we're as much into just spending time with a fascinating bunch of people in often spectacular countryside. They have a lot of stories. A friend made this video of a ride we did to celebrate Coppi's centenary in 2019 (the club are Coppi/Bianchi fanatics); those of you who know me, might recognise a couple of cameos near the end. Heat stroke absolutely fucked me. I really recommend these events. You don't need anything flash to participate in the rides - as long as it is steel and pre-indexing, any old banger would do. The people are by and main so nice.

jeff fox wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 6:51 pm This is the bike I'm currently J.O.'ing over. My main concern is that 57cm is on the very small end of what I can ride. Though my current bike is 58 and it feels pretty mostly perfect, so I feel like adjustments can be made to the fit of the Litespeed. It's a little more than I wanted to spend, but it seems like a lifetime bike, so the extra few hundred is not a huge deal in the long term.
Talk me into it or out of it.

https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/ ... 44140.html

If you get as far as looking at that one in person, it's probably a good idea to pay extra attention to the used carbon fork, check it for cracks, etc. When those fail, it can be catastrophic.

benadrian wrote: Downsides; narrower tires only, if the shifters break you’ll have to do some digging or switch to bar-end/downtube, and part replacement could be a bit of a dig.

Hmmm. 28's should be good, I'd think. Can you explain why current production brake lever shifters wouldn't be compatible with this setup? Bar end/downtube would be an absolute deal breaker, as I shift a fuck ton.

jeff fox wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 6:16 pm

benadrian wrote: Downsides; narrower tires only, if the shifters break you’ll have to do some digging or switch to bar-end/downtube, and part replacement could be a bit of a dig.

Hmmm. 28's should be good, I'd think. Can you explain why current production brake lever shifters wouldn't be compatible with this setup? Bar end/downtube would be an absolute deal breaker, as I shift a fuck ton.

To the best of my knowledge, the only 9 speed level/shifter that Shimano currently makes is for Sora, their super-budget line.

I went down a group-set rabbit hole a while back. The indexing for shifting is done by the lever. When Shimano moved from 7 to 8 and then 8 to 9 speeds, they just made the cogs closer together and the chain more narrow. The 7, 8, and 9 speed derailleurs all work the same, but the shifters just pull less cable per shift. If you wanted to move from 8 speed to 9 speed, you just bought a new shifter and cassette and you could keep your derailleur.

Then, Shimano when to 10 speed and higher, and they changed the cable pull ratio for the derailluers to make them perform better for more cogs. This broke any kind of compatibility between shifting from the 9 speed and before world. TO make things even worse, 10 speed dura ace and 10 speed ultegra and below aren't compatible. Also, 10 and 11 speed and not really compatible.

So that badass Litespeed has a 3x9 dura ace setup. When tuned up, that will be amazing. However, non of those parts are currently made, and no intermediate or higher end Shimano parts are made for 9 speed. You would have to jump on the used market to find a compatible shifter, or buy the "Squier" version of the shifter (to use a guitar analogy).

Here's what's cool, though. As road bikes shift to disc brakes and wider tires, really high end components like wheels and groupsets can be found for pretty cheap. Even bikes from like 5 years ago are not really compatible with current bikes. that's why they're asking $1,400 for a titanium bike that would have been $5k -$6k 15 years ago.

Cool, thanks for the info! I guess I'm pretty confident in the reliablility of even old as hell dura ace- hopefully it all has many years left in it. My current bike has relatively crappy Tiagra stuff, and it has operated flawlessly for the most part even despite the harsh climate. I'll probably go for a test ride. If it feels awesome instantly, I'll probably go for it.

Also, I just learned about electronic shifters, and THAT IS FUCKING AWESOME.

Last spring a friend gifted this bike to me after having it being sat in her garage for over year. It served me well during lockdown. Suffered a flat on its front tire, but Jeff Fox helped to fix it because I don't know what I am doing to be completely honest. Over the winter it has sat unused in my place. Both tires are now deflated. My plan for the summer was to get it professionally overhauled, but it has been suggested that instead of throwing away good money on an old bike to purchase a new or used bike that is more appropriate for a person of my height. Last I checked I tower at 6'3", maybe 6'4"...somewhere in the weight range of 190 - 195 lbs. My question: are there any bike shops in Chicago that do trade-ins? Also, what is the right height/specs for a guy my size? I wouldn't call myself a serious cyclist - just a boy about town getting back and forth to work, hangs, and the occasional zen ride.

Should I just fuckit and buy a new/used bike, or is it worth it to look for a place or individual willing to do a trade? Make and model is a Schwinn Moab. Not sure of the year or any of the particulars. Thanks in advance!