Bike Build · Spec sheet

The bike, as numbers

A rigid steel 26" touring bike for remote, self-supported dirt-road trips of up to about ten days, ridden light. Frame-up build, first ride late 2026.

Two things I'd value an outside opinion on Running 35/23 into an Alfine 8: Shimano say 2.0–2.25, I'm at 1.52. And keeping an XL I probably can't stand over, for its 630 mm top tube. Everything else is detail, and half of it disappears when the frame turns up.

Magic Components' own drive-side photo of an XL Wizard in the purple flip finish — The frame: Magic Components "The Wizard", XL, their own photo. Mine is on a boat. The build as intended is on the parts board.

What's unorthodox, and why

Primary ratio 1.52 on an Alfine 8, 24% under Shimano's range. The point most worth a second opinion; the working is below.
An Alfine 8 on a tourer at all, not a Rohloff. Cost, and because the 8 and the 11 bottom out at the same 0.527; the 11's extra range is all top end, which I don't want.
26" wheels and rim brakes in 2026. The frame dictated both, and I'm happy with both.
A frame I likely can't stand over, kept for its top tube. Long torso, short legs.
A bar-end shifter inside a bullhorn on a swept flat bar, cable routed forward, inverted relative to a drop bar. Nobody sells this as a system.
780 mm uncut bar with a 110 mm stem on an XL. The sweep eats about 100 mm of reach, which is why the stem is long and the horns exist.

Rider and use

Me	186 cm, 70–80 kg. Long torso, short legs: barefoot inseam 83–84 cm, measured.
Riding	Multi-day dirt and gravel touring, remote, no resupply of parts or power. Also the everyday bike. I ride fixed for fun.
Load	Front low-rider panniers, a full-triangle frame bag, a dry bag on a rear rack. Solo camping kit, not expedition weight. Not weighed yet; 15 kg cap on the front rack.
What I want	Reliability without a bike shop, a low gear around 21 gear inches, no dynamo or electronics, fewer and bigger gear steps. Top speed is not a priority. It has to look right to me.

Frame and fork Ordered

Chromoly, rigid chromoly fork, rim-brake only. Bolt-on dropouts, with the maker's horizontal single-speed dropout ordered alongside to tension the chain. Ships this month.

Effective top tube	630 mm	Seat tube, c–t	600 mm
Head tube	180 mm	Head / seat angle	70° / 72°
Chainstay	425 mm	BB drop	50 mm
Fork axle-to-crown	395 mm	Fork rake	45 mm
Rear spacing	132.5 mm QR	Bottom bracket	68 mm BSA
Seatpost	27.2 mm	Steerer	1-1/8" threadless
Max tyre	26 × 2.5	Fork mounts	one M5 boss per blade, mid-blade, outside; dropout eyelets

Retailer's published geometry. Stack, reach, BB height and standover aren't published; where I quote them I've derived them.

Two things I already know about this frame 132.5 mm rear, 135 mm hub. I read 132.5 as "spring it either way", and I'll ask the maker before the wheel goes in.

Standover. Derived at about 85.5 cm, good to a couple of centimetres, against an 83–84 cm inseam. The L clears. I kept the XL for the 630 top tube, knowing that, and I'll stop on my toes or with a foot down from the saddle. Looking at a 27.2 mechanical dropper.

Drivetrain

Hub Owned	Shimano Alfine 8, SG-S7001-8, 36h, 135 mm solid axle, black.
Sprocket Chosen	23T. Shimano list a genuine SM-GEAR 23T (3/32") for the Alfine driver and the cassette-joint manual permits 16–23T. Dish and part number confirmed at purchase.
Chainring Open	Single, 35T or 38T, leaning 35. If no 23T turns up, 33/22 is 1.4% lower than 35/23.
Chainline	Shimano's table gives 41.8 mm with the sprocket dished inward, 46.8 outward. Target 41.8, inward.
Cranks / BB Open	Sugino RD2 is out: 130 BCD, rings from 43T. Crust Heartbreaker is the candidate: JIS square taper, 110/74 BCD, 47.5 mm chainline on a 110 spindle, 170 mm only. Plan is a 35T on the 74 BCD inner position with a shorter spindle to land 41.8. Crank length is therefore 170 unless the crank changes.
Tensioning	Horizontal bolt-on dropout, wheel slid back, Shimano non-turn washers to suit the slot angle (5R/5L expected). No tensioner.
Shifter Open	microSHIFT BS-N08-R eight-speed bar-end, inside the Crazy Bar's forward horn, so the shifting hand is the forward hand. Horn is 23.8 mm outside; nobody publishes the inside, so I'll caliper it and 19 mm or more proceeds. Fallback is a microSHIFT thumb shifter on the sweep.

Gearing, worked

35/23 = 1.522. Rollout assumed at 2.100 m for a 26 × 2.10 on a 19 mm rim, to be measured. Speeds at 90 rpm.

Hub gear	Hub ratio	Step	Gear inches	km/h @ 90
1	0.527	—	21.1	9.1
2	0.644	+22%	25.8	11.1
3	0.748	+16%	30.0	12.9
4	0.851	+14%	34.1	14.7
5, direct	1.000	+18%	40.0	17.3
6	1.223	+22%	49.0	21.1
7	1.419	+16%	56.8	24.5
8	1.615	+14%	64.7	27.9

Top gear at 110 rpm is about 34 km/h. The alternative, 38/23, lifts everything 8.6%: 22.9–70.2 g.i., 37 km/h at 110.

Under Shimano's recommended primary ratio, on purpose Shimano's manual for the cassette joint gives 2.0–2.25 for the 8-speed; 35/23 is 24% under, and their ring-and-cog matrix doesn't include a 23T at all, though the joint takes one. Their minimum puts my lowest gear near 28 gear inches. I want about 21, and every tooth of low end costs a tooth of top end. My bet is that a 70–80 kg rider with a light load puts less through the hub than the cases Shimano are guarding against. I might be wrong, and I haven't done a torque calculation. If you've seen Alfine 8s fail under low primaries, that's exactly what I want to hear.

Wheels and tyres

Rims Chosen	Ryde Andra 30, 559, 36h, black. Machined track, 19 mm internal, pinned, no eyelets.
Front hub Open	Any decent 36h QR rim-brake hub, black. No dynamo.
Tyres Chosen	Panaracer GravelKing SK 26 × 2.10, brown wall, TuffTex casing, tubes. A second everyday set is still being argued about.

Brakes Chosen

Paul Motolite V-brakes with Paul Love Levers, long-pull, 22.2 mm clamp. Salmon pads.

Cockpit

Bar Chosen	Velo Orange Crazy Bar: 780 mm, 35° sweep, 40 mm rise, 31.8 clamp, 22.2 mm sweeps, 23.8 mm horns 420 mm apart. Uncut.
Stem Chosen	Velo Orange Happy Stem, 110 mm, +45°, 31.8, black. On a 70° head angle that runs 65° above horizontal: +46 mm reach, +100 mm rise.
Headset	Crust 24 Palms, shortlisted.
Saddle	Brooks C17, black. The post will show short on this frame.

Fit is arithmetic until the frame arrives. The grips sit at least 25 mm above the saddle even slammed, so there is no saddle-to-bar drop to be had with this bar and stem. Saddle height starts at 733–742 mm. The steerer gets cut after a loaded ride.

Carry

Front Open	Tubus Tara low-rider, chromoly, black, 18 kg rated, loaded to 15. Standard Tara is rated for a 50 mm tyre and mounts 124–140 mm; the Big Apple version takes 60 mm and mounts 124–134. Tyre is 54 mm plus a fender, so probably the Big Apple, once I've measured the fork bosses.
Frame	Full-triangle bag, home-sewn first. Water rides in it or on the racks; the frame has no bosses to spare.
Rear Chosen	Surly Rear Rack, steel, two-tier tube platform. For rope.
Fenders, stand Open	Full black fenders sized after wheels and tyres. Clamp-on double-leg centre stand.

Still open

Crank and chainring size, shifter (waits on the horn measurement), Tara variant, front hub, headset, pedals, fenders, the panniers and the bag. Chain width follows the cog. Spokes follow the ERDs.

And the question I haven't answered for myself yet: what I do on day four of a ten-day trip if the hub fails. An opinion on that is worth as much as one on the ratio.

Geometry is the retailer's published figures; anything I've calculated says so. Last updated 3 September 2026.