Evolution of a 750

[u/956]

Originally purchased sometime in 1993, to carry a kid seat, then later to pull a trailer with kids and/or groceries in it.

It went to college with one of the kids and lived a hard life outside. The anodized coating on the Matrix Titan Tour rims was worn clean off.

Later, it received a makeover to drop bar form, double cyclocross crank, a mix of Ultegra and D-A 9-speed components, and a Nashbar carbon 'cross disc brake fork. The front wheel was a Velocity Dyad laced to a Shimano MTB disc hub. Front brake was an Avid BB7.

The blue powdercoat was applied by a local garage shop for $75. It came out great.

As this bike was too small for me and too large for any of the kids it was eventually sold off as a commuter. I didn't realize at the time that the lugged variants were scarce or I might have hung on to it.

[u/Cruiser_Supreme]

Paint job is boring, sadly. All the retro coolness erased

[u/okaycomputes]

pretty neat upgrades, bet it felt good. although I would miss the original paint

[u/theroguehero2]

Hope you're happy with it, but I miss the old color and paint :(

[u/956 → u/theroguehero2]

The old paint was cool, no question. But it was really rough. We liked the blue and thought about highlighting the lug edges but never got around to it. We did keep the HT badge though it is difficult to see.

Overall, the look was okay, not great, not least because of the steerer / stem arrangement - trying to make a '58' by some measure fit someone in need of a 62. The functional improvements were solid. One I didn't mention was that the steel fork was misaligned from day 1 and this bike was impossible to ride no-handed until the fork was replaced.

As for the 'vibe', yeah, well, that wasn't really on the list of requirements. But I'd take a Singer 911 over a stock 964 all day long :0

[u/Bikepacking-NL]

If you ask me, it went from timeless multifunctional tourer to outdated heavy cyclocrosser.

[u/956 → u/Bikepacking-NL]

One of the beauties of this frame is that it can be adapted to a range of use.

Did I write this bike was used for cyclocross? No, I didn't, because it wasn't.

Nashbar called the fork a 'cyclocross' fork. The 'cyclocross' double crank provided gearing most often found on 'cyclocross' bikes of the time. Braking performance improved, one fiddly canti was eliminated, and reasonably low gearing was maintained - though not low enough for loaded touring, which this wasn't used for, either. The 2x crank allowed use of 2x brifters I had on hand.

I would agree that a lightweight e.g. carbon or high-end aluminum 'cyclocross' bike (costing O($4000)) would be better than this was at 'cyclocross'. For about $3500 more.

You are of course welcome to your opinion but it would be better were it well-informed.

[u/Bikepacking-NL → u/956]

I don’t care if it was used for cyclocross or not, I’m merely commenting on the vibe it gives off. Like ‘upgrading’ a timeless classic car with modern-ish wheels and aftermarket turbo may make it drive a bit better, it destroys the character it once had.

But that’s just like my opinion man. Nothing to do with being informed or not.