My latest bike build - A Light Blue Darwin MT

This post is an overview of my latest bike build. Originally I was going to restore/renovate my Dawes Super Galaxy but due to excessive corrosion and some seized parts I decided it was not cost effective. I decided I wanted a bike that could take a greater range of tyre sizes as a priority, up to around 45mm with mudguard clearance plus the option of using disc brakes. I wanted to build from a frame-set as I wished to use some components taken from the Super Galaxy( front mech, rear mech and bar-end shifters ). I searched and short-listed many frame-sets online then one by one discounted them by my chosen criteria. My final three listed frame-sets were the Genesis Vagabond, Spa Wayfarer and Light Blue Darwin. After "drawing" up each frameset to measure important dimensions I settled on the Light Blue Darwin. Importantly though I chose the Light Blue Darwin but selected the optional MT fork. The fork of the standard frame-set will accommodate up to a 38mm tyre with mudguards, 45mm without. The optional MT fork allows up to 2.25" tyres on 700c or 2.35" on 650b wheels without mudguards. The rear triangle accepts these by default so the MT fork really opens up possibilities. One other point regards to the medium frame-set is toe overlap. With my size 44 cycle shoes it is non-existent. There is approx 25mm of clearance between shoe tip and mudguard, so good margin for slightly larger tyres than the 42mm currently in use. I'm not expecting to go much wider as the tyre I would like to try in the future is only 43mm, Panaracer Gravelking SK....... when I win the lottery perhaps.

Below is an image of the completed build:-

The summary of parts is as follows-

Light Blue Darwin Frame Medium + MT fork
Shimano Deore LX front mech, rear mech 9spd
Shimano Acera Hollowtech 2 Crankset 44-32-22
Shimano HG-400 cassette 11-32
Shimano Ultegra 3x9 Bar End shifters
Wheels( handbuilt by myself ) Shimano Deore Hubs+Ryde Taurus Rims
Disc Brakes - Avid BB5 new and spare from another project
Tyres - Conti Contact Speed 700cx42mm
Pedals - Jobsworth single side SPD's
Saddle - Medicus MTB saddle from Lidl
Handlebars - Ritchey Evocurve bars with slight Flare, 44cm
Rose Gel Bar Tape

That sums up the spec but the most important aspect is how does it ride? Well it is the most comfortable bike I've ever owned. I'm past the honeymoon period having put around 5-600mls on her but I'm still smiling as I ride it. It eats up Sustrans gravel tracks and rough UK road surfaces. I feel no road buzz through the forks/bars and my rear is seriously comfortable( that £8 saddle is superb ). A complete revelation on the whole and it's relaxed handling inspires confidence. The comfort is the sum of several parts but I must say the steel Darwin frame-set is excellent, also no BB flex for my lightweight. It is a very flexible frame in build terms accommodating derailleur, rohloff/hub gears, fixie plus all mounts for various disc cable routing an mudguards/pannier racks. A real "around the world" tourer I feel. I can heartily recommend the LB Darwin with MT fork for those looking for a comfortable all round load carrying bike. It weighs just over 28lb's in this build and it's weight is felt just like my Dawes was but not in a negative way. I hope this summary will help others as there aren't too many user reviews out there.

Addendum: Just thought I'd add a point with respect to the bar-end shifters. These came from my Dawes Super Galaxy which prior to buying I had looked into umpteen options to avoid having them. I felt at the time in 1998 that combined brake/gear levers were the way forward. Anyway after a couple of weeks on the Dawes I really grew to like the simplicity and flexibility of these bar-end shifters. For this LB Darwin build I knew I wanted a triple set-up with MTB gearing for a good touring range( 19-112 gear-inches in this build ), the bar-ends were definitely to be part of this. On a road bike I like combined levers but for a bike of this genre aimed at long steady miles, with likely less frequent gear changes, they work perfectly. Gear changes are slick, trimming on front mech easy by ear and also easy to shift across cassette in one quick movement. Easy to fit, reliable( these have done over 20000mls from previous life ) and low cost. I also looked at levers combining bar-end levers, Gevenalle, but they were way too expensive, I wish Microshift would apply their excellent skills to making a similar but low cost lever. Anyway as they stand I thoroughly recommend  bar-ends even though to many they may seem old fashioned and low tech... they just work and work well.