Some of you may remember that my Tumbleweed Bikes Stargazer was my most ridden and most loved bike of 2022. I wrote about it here. I haven’t mentioned it much since. What the heck?
Last fall when my wife and I returned from Steamboat Springs two things happened; winter hit MN fairly early and I took the Stargazer apart. The main reason I took it apart was that not only was it time for a complete cleaning and overhaul, but also I wanted to update the components to reflect a true bike packing spec and set up. I also planned to sell the steel frame and replace with a titanium frame. While the titanium frame didn’t happen, I still planned to update the build. My build was motivated by a week long trip scheduled in July. Unfortunately this trip got cancelled and I lost my motivation for the rebuild. As a result, I set the Stargazer project aside. Little did I know that this rebuild would take me a year!
Sometimes patience pays off. I am quite smitten with the final result. I am not going to go through every part and change on the bike, but I will share some key changes to my build that really improved the capabilities of this bike.
Two-Thirds frame bag, double bottle and Wolf-Tooth cage. These changes solved some things for me. I love full frame bags. I love carrying lots of stuff. However, I have always struggled with full frame bags because with my pedaling style and calf shape, I rub the frame bag with my calves. On long rides and tours, this becomes an issue as I rub the skin off my calves….Yuck and ouch! So, I decided to sew a new, custom bag designed in combination of the double tall water bottle and cage. With this new set up, I still 100% utilize and maximize the carrying space AND I no longer have calf rub! The Wolf Tooth cage with their dot and dash mounting plate allowed me to lower the front cage to the perfect position to allow the double tall water bottle to fit perfectly.
Ratio Technology rear derailleur cage. When I was in Steamboat Springs last fall and spent a couple days on the Divide riding to Wyoming and back, I quickly realized my midwest touring gearing was insufficient. I also wanted mechanical braking for both maintanence and reliability. I made the decision to go SRAM brake/shift levers, SRAM rear derailleur with a Ratio Technology cage and a Shimano 11-51 11 speed cassette & chain. These changes gave me the changes I wanted in gearing as well as made the wheels interchangeable with my Meriwether Klunker flat bar mountain bike. I could not be more impressed or pleased with the final gearing and shifting results.
Shimano 170mm crank arms and Wolftooth chainrings. There are plenty of crankset options out there, I went with Shimano because I have always had good luck with them and Wolftooth gives lots of gearing options for Shimano. I use a larger 38tooth ring back home in the midwest and can quickly and easily drop that to a 34 for loaded touring and bike packing. The 170mm arms are a game changer for my hips. I will write about my move to shorter cranks another time. But this set up and arm length changed my comfort and my ability to ride back to back longer days.
Wheels – I originally built my Stargazer to have fairly light wheels and a gravel flare. I found out on the Divide last fall that when loaded, I went too light on the wheels. I had Ben at Heath Creek build me some new wheels using the White Industries rear hub and a SON Dynamo front. The SON will eventually be set up with a USB charger capability and light. Ben laced them to WTB I25 Tough rims. I couldn’t be happier. I also had him build a non Dynamo front wheel for general riding when I didn’t need or want the weight and functionality of the SON hub. These White Industry hubs have ruined me. They simply roll and roll and roll.
All of this has resulted in an incredibly versatile and capable bike. I still hope to do that trip in 2024. I need to focus some energy and time on my off the bike touring gear (tent, clothing, tools, etc) and on bike attachment/mounting. When I finish the set up for full on bikepacking and touring, I’ll share another update.
Please note: None of the components mentioned today were given to me for review. I paid for each of them with my own money.
ImagineGnat 
Allways great to see, how other people set up the same frame as a base and why 😉 Happy riding and greetings from Germany. And sometimes my projects take much longer….
Greetings! Thanks for the comment. I love my Tumbleweed Stargazer. Hope you do too. I agree, it’s so much fun seeing other peoples set up and where I personally learn the most because I think for the most part people are so intentional about their set up. I love learning the why behind a product choice or set up.
Thanks again for stopping by and leaving a comment!