Silkroad

The Silkroad features a frame with integrated rear rack for the best possible combination of low weight and high strength. By eliminating the braze-on tabs there are no bolts to come loose or tabs to shear off. The rack itself is stronger, stiffer and lighter. Fitting a rear rack to most disc brake equipped frames has been awkward at best. By designing the rack into the frame, this problem has been solved for good.

The Silkroad is offered in two versions, one is strictly for the internally geared Rohloff hub, the other is for derailleur equipped drive trains. The Rohloff version is equipped with an eccentric bottom bracket, enabling the chain tension to be adjusted without using a tensioner, which is just one more potential point of failure. The 14 speed Rohloff Speedhub gives you a wide range of gears with the most reliable multi-speed drive train ever made. A derailleur drive train is less expensive, but not as reliable or durable as the Rohloff. The derailleur version of the Silkroad frame can of course be fitted with a Rohloff Speedhub if you prefer. The price for either style Silkroad frame is the same.

Silkroad frame with fork: $ 1,500.00

All Tout Terrain frames are designed for disc brakes only. Disc brakes keep working even if your rims are damaged in a crash. There's plenty of clearance for large tires and fenders. The frame has wiring retainers for lights, and the taillight wire even passes through the rear rack, eliminating the chance of damaging the wire while installing or removing bags.

For winter cycling in particular, the Silkroad has significant advantages over other frames. Disc brakes are superior to rim brakes in winter since they are far less likely to ice up. But in the past, disc brakes haven't worked well with rear racks. Not any more. And the Rohloff 14 gear Speedhub eliminates the hassle of iced up derailleur systems. And don't be concerned about the Rohloff hub taking only 32 spokes. Since the Rohloff is dishless, the wheel is significantly stronger than dished wheels for derailleur equipped bikes. With only 32 spokes and a heavy duty 26" rim, a Rohloff rear wheel is tough enough for loaded touring, even on a tandem!

All braze-ons, dropouts and the entire rear rack are made from stainless steel, eliminating rust from those parts of the frame that would otherwise be most susceptible to rusting. Tout Terrain frames all have a special stop built in which prevents the fork from being turned more than 90 degrees to either side. This eliminates a source of damage to lights as well as to the frame and any front rack. The rack has eyelets for mounting a taillight, either battery or dynamo powered.

All Tout Terrain frames come with their innovative "Handlebar Stop". This device works in conjunction with a brazed on block on each side of the head tube. The stop clamps to the steerer tube and prevents the handlebar from turning more than ninety degrees in either direction, protecting the frame from damage, as well as any light mounted at the fork crown. This photo of the Handlebar Stop is of a prototype. The production part is anodized black.

Here's the Rohloff version of the Silkroad. Headset and stem are shown here for display. I have many headset and stem options. As you can see, there are many braze-ons for routing shift cables and brake lines. Three sets of water bottle eyelets are standard. The small triangle at the rear of the left dropout reinforces the seat stay against the torque from the disc brake.

On the left you see a front view of the Silkroad fork. The blade on the left, which is actually the right blade, is thinner at the top. The blade you see on the right of the left photo, the left blade, is thicker at the top to compensate for the twisting action of the disc brake, which is attached to that fork blade. Looking at the photo on the right, you see the same fork, but now looking at it from behind. Now you see the left blade with the disc brake mount near the bottom, just above the dropout. On the back side of the right fork blade you see the three wire holders for the lighting system. A hub dynamo has its connectors on the right side. So the wires from the hub run up the back side of the right fork blade to the headlight mounted either at the fork crown or further up on the handlebar. The connector on the upper part of the left blade is for the disc brake line or cable housing.

The Silkroad fork is designed from the ground up as a disc brake fork. It's asymmetrical to eliminate torque steer from the disc brake. The left blade is much stiffer than the right blade. The dropouts face forward so that the action of the disc brake pulls the hub into the dropout. Everything about the Silkroad tells you that the designer understands the needs of the touring and commuting cyclist , as well as the mechanical requirements for a durable and trouble free transportation bicycle. The integrated rear rack eliminates bolts that can come loose, stiffens the rear rack, while at the same time reducing weight. Anyone touring or commuting by bicycle will have a rear rack, so why not build it into the frame? And doing so eliminates the problem of getting racks to clear disc brake calipers when you use an ordinary frame and retrofit it to take disc brakes.

While some frames treat disc brakes as an added on "cool feature", the Silkroad's design makes no sense WITHOUT disc brakes. The designer knew from the beginning that this bike would be used for every day transportation, so the design assumes that dynamo lights will be installed. Nothing is "added on" as an afterthought with the Silkroad. It's all there, and was intended to be there from the start. For another example, the ideal location for a headlight is just above the front tire, at the fork crown. But if you mount a light there with most frames, you risk damaging it if the front wheel flops over more than ninety degrees, jamming the plastic light against the downtube of the frame. But a Silkroad fork can't turn more than ninety degrees, eliminating damage to the headlight and scratches to the paint.

Some frames (Santana comes to mind) use a shell design that has set screws to lock the eccentric in place. This holds the eccentric securely, the first time you use it. But the set screw puts an indent in the soft aluminum surface. This is not good, because if you need to make a fine adjustment, the set screw can dig into the edge of the indent made earlier, and you won't be able to make the very fine adjustment you would like. Other eccentric bottom bracket shells (Cannondale) use a complex eccentric in two parts that wedge against each other. These can hold very tightly in place, which is good, but will very often hold too tightly, making later adjustments extremely difficult if you can't loosen it.

The Tout Terrain eccentric works by clamping the bottom bracket shell itself around the eccentric with three heavy duty bolts. Provided the surface of the eccentric is greased, it won't seize in place, and you'll never have any difficult making precise adjustments to it. Why all frame builders don't do it this way is a mystery.

Here's the left dropout of the Silkroad frame. See the cap screw head to the left of the dropout? That's to hold the Rohloff OEM2 axle plate in place, keeping the axle from rotating. All Tout Terrain frames are designed to take the Rohloff OEM2 hub with extrenal shift box.

The two machined holes, one above and the other above and to the right of the left dropout, are the mounting holes for the disc brake. Notice that these holes are machined after the frame is painted. That assures extremely precise positioning of the disc brake caliper. And you needn't worry about rust, since the dropouts are stainless steel, as are all of the braze-on bits.

To the right of the dropout is a mounting point for a bolt-on kickstand, which I will have as an accessory for those so inclined.

The two little tubes are for mounting a taillight to the back of the rack. They are 50mm apart, perfect for mounting European standard taillights, which I import from Germany. Just under the light mounts is a button head screw. It's for mounting a fender. There are other screws positioned properly on the rack and chainstays for the fender struts. Hidden from view is the outlet hole for the taillight wire which you can easily run through the top tube of the rack. The top tube of the main frame has stainless steel mounts for the wire which is picked up from the fork crown, where a headlight would mount. You can wire the entire bike for lights without using a single zip tie.

How Heavy?

The demo bike here at the shop is outfitted with a Rohloff hub. It's the bike pictured at the top of this page. It's a medium frame size. It weighs a bit over 32 pounds as pictured. The maximum carrying capacity of the Silkroad is 350 pounds. That weight includes the bike itself, the rider, and any gear being carried in panniers. Naturally, that assumes the wheels you use are up the task. If you're buying the Silkroad from me with wheels built by me, don't worry.

700c Wheels?

For medium to light touring on good roads, either paved or well maintained and smooth dirt roads, you can equip the Silkroad with 700c wheels. You won't be able to use the same big fat tires that you can with 26" wheels. But you can use a 700 x 35c tire like the Schwalbe Marathon Racer and have a rather quick riding bike for commuting and light touring. This can be done because there are no rim brakes on the bike. The disc brake means that the only restrictions on wheel size are the height of the fork crown and the clearance of the rear rack. I stock 32 spoke Velocity Dyad rims in both silver and black finish to work with the 32 spoke Rohloff hub. And if you use the derailleur version of the Silkroad and use a 9 speed cassette, you'll need more spokes for the dished rear wheel, and we can accommodate that as well, of course. 32 spokes is plenty for the Rohloff since it is dishless.

These are hand made frames. These are not custom frames. If you need something similar to a Tout Terrain frame, but with some different feature, you'll need to speak with a custom frame builder. To keep our prices reasonable, we must build these frames in batches. That precludes making a single frame with features different from what you see here.

The top tube slopes downward to the rear. So these standover dimensions are approximate.

The front disc size is 180mm, rear is 160mm.

This suggested component group for a derailleur equipped Silkroad has reliable and inexpensive parts from Japan, Taiwan, Italy, France, UK and the US.

Remember, these components are suggestions only. I have lots of component options.

The second component group is my so-called "best of everything" group. The TA Axix bottom bracket has replaceable cartridge bearings. The TA Carmina crankset is available in many arm lengths from 155mm through 185mm to provide a perfect fit for just about every cyclist. The Phil Wood rear hub is the most ruggedly built hub available and very easy to service. Mavic and Velocity make a wide range of suitable rims. The Nitto seatpost is very easy to adjust for any seat angle. The Brooks B17 Champion Special saddle is beautiful and comfortable. The XT disc brakes are very powerful with good modulation.

Remember, there are many options. These are just one of many groups available, and you can customize to your heart's content.

Shimano, Phil Wood, and TA bottom brackets all require special tools for installation. I have them available for sale.

But most people will probably want their Silkroad fitted out with a Rohloff internally geared hub. The Rohloff has fourteen well spaced gears for a wide range of ratios to handle any touring application. It's far more reliable than derailleur equipped bikes. Just keep the hub oiled and clean the chain. The hub will outlast the rider! The Rohloff version of the Silkroad uses an eccentric bottom bracket shell, just like on a tandem, to adjust the chain tension. And there's no funky wedge system to adjust this eccentric. Just three heavy duty allen bolts clamp the bottom bracket shell tightly around the eccentric, with no set screws digging into the eccentric itself, and no wedge to seize up. It's simple and reliable.

Shimano now makes a mechanical disc caliper (BR-R505) to work with road brake levers like STI, Ergo, Cane creek or the very popular R400 and R600 levers. So if you want a Silkroad set up with drop road bars like the Nitto Noodles or Modolo X-Tenos, we can do it. The Rohloff shifter can be attached to the end of any road bar with an adapter from Hubbub that fits a bar the way bar end shifters do.

Shimano, Phil Wood, and TA bottom brackets all require special tools for installation. I have them available for sale. If you order a kit, the bottom bracket and headset will be installed for you, and the wheels will be built by me. To assemble the above kit, you'll need to install the cranks on the bottom bracket, install the brakes, the stem and handlebar with brake levers and Rohloff shifter, run the cables and brake lines, drill holes in the fenders for the struts and frame fixing points, attach brake rotors to the hubs, trim fender stays, install seat post and saddle, and pump up the tires.

Stainless steel braze-ons keep all cables under control, not only for the Rohloff shifting system, but also for the hydraulic brake lines and wiring for the headlight(s) and taillight. Nothing is left dangling and you'll need no zip ties either. All the braze-ons are painted to match the frame. But given that braze-ons are the places where paint is most likely to chip, the use of stainless steel means you'll get no rust after those inevitable chips happen.

Special fenders are available, 60mm wide, in both plastic/aluminum sandwich from SKS and stainless steel from Gilles Berthoud. Since the fender braces and mounting points are a bit different with the Tout Terrain frames, I've had these fenders made without holes predrilled, so that you can locate the holes precisely where your frame needs them, for perfect fitting of these extra wide fenders. Before now, the widest Berthoud fenders available have been 50mm. But I've managed to get Gilles to make us some of his wonderful stainless fenders in a 60mm width for the Tout Terrain frames. And they'll still have his super light aluminum struts, so even though the fenders are the toughest available, they aren't heavy.

When mounting these plastic/aluminum sandwich SKS fenders, be sure to pad each side of the fender where it bolts to the frame to reduce the chance of cracking. Cork from a wine bottle works well.

Many other component options are available. I have Avocet, Continental and IRC tires; Avocet and Terry saddles; Velocity, daVinci, rims; TA, Shimano, WTB and Speedplay pedals. I stock many Phil Wood bottom brackets. Many stem choices including Dura Ace and Ultegra stems, Specialites TA Zephyr or Carmina cranksets, TA or Phil Wood bottom brackets, Chris King headsets, Original XTR M900 headset and hubs, and many saddlebags and lighting systems. With TA cranksets, you have many more crank lengths to choose from.You can have a dynamo lighting system installed with either an internal hub dynamo or tire driven dynamo. I have Tubus front racks and Ortlieb panniers for touring and commuting. Call or e-mail with inquiries.

Panamericana

The Panamericana is Tout Terrain's all terrain expedition frame. Shown here is a complete bicycle with suspension fork, Rohloff rear hub, and TA Carmina crankset. The rear suspension has 80mm of travel, which makes the chain tensioner necessary for the Rohloff hub. No bottom bracket eccentric is used, so this frame can be set up with either a Rohloff or a derailleur drive train.

The prototype, shown here, has silver anodized suspension parets. The production versions are anodized black.

Panamericana frame with shock: $ 3,250.00

Singletrailer

The Singletrailer uses a suspension to keep your child comfortable when riding offroad trails. Great care is taken in the construction of the trailer to maximize safety. Your child will remain safe and dry if it rains. Even if your bike has no fenders, your child is protected from spray by the black plastic barrier in front. The side windows are thick plastic. There are reflective strips down each side and across the back.

In good weather, just use the mesh screen to protect your child from those big nasty bugs while riding.

The sun shade is removeable.

You can roll up the shade and store it in an inside pocket.

When you don't need the mesh screen, just tuck it away behind the seat.

If there's a chance of rain, pull down and secure the plastic window. Your child will remain dry.

The suspension can be adjusted for both weight and ride height. Adjust the pressure in the shock to compensate for your child's weight and the terrain, and adjust the position of the shock on the suspension arm to change the ride height of the trailer.

Singletrailer: $ 2,400.00

Sherpa

The Sherpa pack and support let you take your backpack with you on a ride, without having to wear it during the ride. Put the pack on its support while riding, then wear the pack at your destination. You can also keep a hydration sack inside the Sherpa pack.

Sherpa Pack $ 127.00

The Sherpa support rack clamps to your seatpost. There are several sizes of inserts so one support can fit most seatposts.

Sherpa Support Rack $ 118.00

The Sherpa Pack rests on the support, and a fabric pocket slides over the vertical section of the support, keeping the pack securely on the support.

The straps lock the pack onto the support frame.

Dealer Inquiries Invited. Peter White Cycles is the US and Canadian distributor for Tout Terrain. See this page if you have a bike shop.

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This page updated: Thursday, February 14, 2008

Peter White Cycles
24 Hall Rd.
Hillsborough, NH 03244
USA
603 478 0900 Phone
603 478 0902 Phax