Outlander 22
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Outlander 22 was started after I sent Alan Thwaits a scan of
the first drawing of Thom's bike, Outlander 21. Alan has always been interested in pushing
the envelope so to speak. He liked my first low racer style bike, CR 15, so he asked me to
build him one. The sketch on his website is a scan of the original drawing I did. The bike
was orginally concieved as a rear suspension only bike. But after watching me hit speed
bumps on number 15 he wanted front suspension, this changed when we did the first test
fit. He had a problem with the wide crown of the suspension fork, he could not pedal
properly with out the crown hitting his thighs.
Outlander 22 would have been the bike I would have built for
myself if I wanted to replace number 15. The bike is very close to the bike that started
this whole low racer thing for me, the Challenge Hurricane. The bike was built to make use
of the Sachs 3x7 rear hub, there is no provision for mounting a front derailleur. The
frame is all chromoly tubing. The rear swing arm is mild steel, the fork is a chopped down
MTB fork. The elastomers are two blocks of hard rubber. The swing arm pivot came from a
Suntour grease guard hub, which has cartridge bearings. The swing is adjustable in the
horizontal and vertical plane. These adjustments helped to line things up once the bike
was assembled. The rear brake bosses are 10mm too far apart, I solved the problem by using
Shimano XT V-brake shoes. By replacing the threaded post with longer threaded posts I
could extend the inward reach of the brakes. The stem is a convetional 150mm 1" MTB
stem, the handlebars are aluminium three speed style bars.
I find the outstretched arms position is better in a couple
respects; one is that you don't get sweaty elbow pits; and you don't get that funny twinge
in your elbow from riding with your elbow bent all the time. I also think that it's a bit
more aero.
Currently, Alan has outfitted Outlander 22 with fairings, so
he can continue to push the envelope.
