I recently finished building up a 2023 Trek 920 from a bare frame and for this embodies everything a bike needs to be:
durable/robust
resilient/fault tolerant
all the braze-ons
does everything I want it to do: urban commuter, randonneuring, grocery-getter, leisure riding, loaded touring, gravel, single-track, jumps, XC…
fast (enough) yet comfortable: even with the tires I use for thrashing swoopy, mixed surface singletrack; I am less than 0.5MPH down from my average speed on my fast commuter
loads of carrying capacity
will accept pretty much any build configuration: 3x9 to 2x11 to 1x12
doesn’t break the bank
easy/quick to change loadout for different uses
Deore XT direct-mount crank 165mm, 32T
Deore XT SGS rear derailleur
Deore XT Linkglide cassette, 11-42T and 11-51T, depending on use case
Microshift 11sp bar-end shifter
TRP Hylex hydraulic brakes
203mm front rotor for more refined modulation on loose and slippery surfaces
Velo Orange cartridge hubs front and rear
Spank Flare 24 Vibrocore rims, set up for tubeless
Phil Wood double-butted spokes
Bontrager Betasso RSL GX tubeless tires - I strongly believe there is no such thing as an all-conditions tire; this tire just about proves me wrong
Liv Forward carbon rail saddle, because breedin’ hips came attached to my Y chromosome
Jagwire Elite Link shift cable, with an inline barrel adjuster near the handlebars - dial out any shift rattle on the fly
Velo Orange Nouveau Randonneur handlebars, 46cm
Trek Touring front rack (not shown)
Trek Backtrack MIK rear rack (not shown)
Cane Creek 110 headset
Revelate Designs tangle bag (not shown)
Salsa Rack-Lock seat collar for…
Carradice Bagman Expedition mount for Carradice Nelson Longflap transverse saddlebag (not shown)
PNW Components Pine dropper post (not shown, in the mail)
Wolf Tooth drop bar dropper remote (not shown, in the mail)
Just one dream bike? :D
I recently finished building up a 2023 Trek 920 from a bare frame and for this embodies everything a bike needs to be: