The Chainlink

Anyone sell a decent mountain bike without disc brakes anymore?

It's been years since I bought a new bike and my current rides are in pretty bad shape.

Inspired by the Sirrus ad Serge posted, where the second guy is riding a bike with fenders and rack around the city, I started to search various shop and mfg websites.  Have looked at every current offering from Specialized, Kona, Surly I think . . .

But it doesn't appear what I want is still being made . . .?  Almost longing for the days when there was Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale and that was it (but not really.)

 

What I want:

 

-Cantilever Brakes stock

-reasonably lightweight frame. Prefer no shock but could live w/ a front shock if it was lightweight and low-maintenance.  Steel would be nice.

-26" wheels (am mildly curious about 29ers but I think they all have disc brakes?)

-reasonable basic inclusion of rack and fender bosses (is that the right word?) Preconfigured with rack/fenders OK but not necessary

 

I'm sure I forgot something . . . thanks for any pointers. Hoping for something that's available through a LBS I want to support.

 

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Ya, just checked the site.  My mistake.

Duppie said:
That used to be the case when I bought mine in 2007. Nowadays Surly offers 26" LHT's in every size from 42-62cm, and 700c in 56-64cm frames

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
FYI, LHTs 54cm and smaller have 26" wheels, 56cm and larger have 700c wheels.

notoriousDUG said:

Look at a 26" wheel Long Haul Trucker, I think it may be closer to what you want then you realize; it may have longer stays on it but I think the rest of it is close to the sort of bike you like to ride now.

 

Regardless it is a steel frame that takes canti brakes and fits a large 26" tire.

Just curious but why are you against disc brakes?

My only experience to date with disc brakes involved removing a wheel, trashing the brake in trying to get the wheel back on, being unable to get the wheel back on, and discovering that the intended use of the bike that night was a no-go since the trailer mount interfered with the disc. This was in the course of trying to help someone get set up with a sound trailer an hour before the naked ride.

The other piece is that I want there to be interchangeability of parts to a reasonable extent between my bikes.

Disc brakes are really reliable, stop well and are easy to maintain once you get used to them; I would maybe reconsider your opinion after a little education.  As long as a wheel has a braking surface on the rim you can still use it with rim brakes even if it has a disc hub.
How about a Trek Atwood or a Trek FX? Not mountain bikes per se, but the geometry may be close. and they appear to come without Disc brakes.

Howard,

Look for a used first generation (early 90's) Gary Fisher Advance. Cro-moly frame MTB (later generations are aluminum) with rack bosses on the seat stays and eyelets front and rear, cantilever brakes and 26" wheels. They were outfitted with an Alivio group but are easily upgraded to Deore XT, if you are so inclined. Mine has served me well as my utility bike for many years, and I think it would survive being thrown off a building.

Scott has a line called the SUB series, the entry level sub 40 may fit the bill, they have something called the urban kit which is fenders and a rack made just for the bike. 

 

http://www.scott-sports.com/us_en/product/11279/66019/221826

 

RE used to carry the scott line, I know of a couple north side retailers that do still..

This is a very reasonably priced bike $500

I would second or third the Surly Troll.  I know Johnny Sprocket's stocks Surly, if they don't have it they could order it. It seems to fit your criteria exactly, you could easily and cheaply swap out the discs if you wanted to. Any bike shop could throw some V-brakes on and you could offset the cost by reselling the calipers and rotors.  That said, it's a bit pricey at about $1300 complete.  I'd get one myself, but I'm going to wait for the 29" Ogre.

I just bought a Montague X50 folding mountain bike to replace my winter beater. Linear brakes and I just added a rack that attaches to seatpost for my panniers along with fenders.

 

Gracias, Mike. Are there past years' models that come in something other than orange?

I like the color but don't care much for flashy colors in a bike that's going to be locked up outside for 9-10 hours a day. I know I could do black tape but really looking for a buy-it-and-ride transaction here.

Mike Haring said:

I would second or third the Surly Troll.  I know Johnny Sprocket's stocks Surly, if they don't have it they could order it. It seems to fit your criteria exactly, you could easily and cheaply swap out the discs if you wanted to. Any bike shop could throw some V-brakes on and you could offset the cost by reselling the calipers and rotors.  That said, it's a bit pricey at about $1300 complete.  I'd get one myself, but I'm going to wait for the 29" Ogre.

Cool . . . do you happen to recall who carries this besides REI? They're the only one listed on the dealer lookup.

Any idea whether the rack system described is proprietary? Seems like it would be kind of dumb to have mounts that aren't universal.

I don't see other color options  . . .

Michael A said:

Scott has a line called the SUB series, the entry level sub 40 may fit the bill, they have something called the urban kit which is fenders and a rack made just for the bike. 

 

http://www.scott-sports.com/us_en/product/11279/66019/221826

 

RE used to carry the scott line, I know of a couple north side retailers that do still..

This is a very reasonably priced bike $500

Both Element Multisport (damen/clyborn/diversey) and Get a grip (irving parkjust west of i90) carry the scott brand, It looks like each of the different sub models only come in one color choice, I did see the fender rack system on one bike, the fenders looked very nice, but the rack looked a little lightweight. there are eyelets on the frame and fork for other options, The website is for 2012, maybe they still have some 2011 bikes in stock that would yield you more color options and a better deal. These are 700c wheeled bikes with a decent sized tire on them. Add a rack, fenders and lights and it is commuter ready.

 

happy shopping

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