Hello,
This is the bike I've built over the past couple years:
![Image]()
I built it specifically to be strong; to explore my city and surrounding areas on all sorts of terrain. Weight, while the lighter the better, has been a secondary consideration.
The terrain it's built for ranges from paved to grassy to muddy, with the most challenging terrain probably being loose rock made to make railroad rights-of-way.
![Image]()
I started with a Schwinn base 29er because it fit me well. I also didn't know any better. There was no local bike shop, and Schwinn was good when I got out of all-terrain biking 25 or thirty years ago. I went with what was familiar.
Over the years it's gained four piston hydraulic brakes, a Suntour 63mm travel fork with remote hydraulic lockout, a rear Shimano freehub, and several other goodies. I'll probably get a suspension seatpost (have, in fact, a G3 Thudbuster for which I'm trying to dig up a bottom seat bracket,) but that's a little ways off.
I've debated swapping the Schwinn frame out for a Rockhopper frame, but I need to know this would be better for my uses. I've heard that Pacific Cycle (Schwinn) frames are thicker, but does that mean they're stronger? How would strength compare to a Rockhopper frame of similar design and geometry? Weight?
I plan on getting a Fuse in the next year or two, but this Schwinn build will remain my local exploration bike. I'll keep the Fuse for things like jumps. The Schwinn build's job is to be a sure-footed billy goat that takes me places I can't see from a car window, faster than I can travel by foot.
So, what do you think?
This is the bike I've built over the past couple years:
I built it specifically to be strong; to explore my city and surrounding areas on all sorts of terrain. Weight, while the lighter the better, has been a secondary consideration.
The terrain it's built for ranges from paved to grassy to muddy, with the most challenging terrain probably being loose rock made to make railroad rights-of-way.
I started with a Schwinn base 29er because it fit me well. I also didn't know any better. There was no local bike shop, and Schwinn was good when I got out of all-terrain biking 25 or thirty years ago. I went with what was familiar.
Over the years it's gained four piston hydraulic brakes, a Suntour 63mm travel fork with remote hydraulic lockout, a rear Shimano freehub, and several other goodies. I'll probably get a suspension seatpost (have, in fact, a G3 Thudbuster for which I'm trying to dig up a bottom seat bracket,) but that's a little ways off.
I've debated swapping the Schwinn frame out for a Rockhopper frame, but I need to know this would be better for my uses. I've heard that Pacific Cycle (Schwinn) frames are thicker, but does that mean they're stronger? How would strength compare to a Rockhopper frame of similar design and geometry? Weight?
I plan on getting a Fuse in the next year or two, but this Schwinn build will remain my local exploration bike. I'll keep the Fuse for things like jumps. The Schwinn build's job is to be a sure-footed billy goat that takes me places I can't see from a car window, faster than I can travel by foot.
So, what do you think?
