I've had my '84 Trek 610 for about two years now. It's set up as a geared/fendered/650B bike right now, which had me missing a nice 700c fixed gear. I put up a wanted post on the iBOB list and ended up meeting Andrew to buy this old Specialized Sequoia frameset. I quickly got to building and set it up in an image of what my Trek used to be, a 700c Albastache-barred fixed gear:
A 44t crank drives my 17/20 Surly dingle cog, and a 22t freewheel on the flip side, giving me three gears:
In theory, this gives me a normal fixed gear, an easier fixed gear if I'm tired, and an off road gear.
In practice, I have yet to change gears and probably never will, but it's fun to set this kind of thing up.
The Sequoia, at 66cm, is about a half size bigger than my litany of 25.5"/65cm vintage Treks. I like the taller head tube, but the reduced standover isn't so exciting.
These frames seem to have a better reputation than old Treks, but so far, it rides pretty much the same. The lugs are slightly thinned, but I've had that on some of my older Treks as well. They're both fine riding machines.
Here's my latest setup, really just moving the bag up front:
I'm playing around with making PVC pipe stand offs to hold the bag slightly off the bars. I need to refine the cuts on these somewhat to make them more stable, but they're not bad now.
The tire clearance seems about the same as the Treks as well, though right now that's limited by my Tektro R539 brakes, not the frame. Here's a Soma SV tire, claimed at 33mm, but actually more like 30mm:
Andrew said he could fit 700x38mm (35mm actual) Gravel Kings on the bike, so now I'm trying to hunt up some brakes with better clearance... though that will exacerbate the standover issue. But perhaps I could fit the current tires with fenders.
I like this bike, but at seven right now, I'm getting the down sizing itch. I think I'll only end up with this or the Trek, but not both. Stay tuned for the churn!
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