Reader’s Rig: Andrey’s Triton 27.5+

Words and photos by Andrey Serdyuk (@a.serdyuk)

I’m Andrey Serdyuk from Moscow, Russia. I got into MTB and bike stuff when I was 14, but gave it up at some point. Gravity disciplines have never been my forte and I had no idea about bicycle touring at that time. A few years later I was in Norway and by chance spotted some guys travelling on bikes with drop bars and bags from the car window. Some kind of a ray of light went through my brain. I gave it some thought then and went ahead trying to match my forgotten childhood enthusiasm for bikes.

My first touring bike was an On-One Inbred frame back in 2013. It was a quirky build: a 29er with butterfly handlebars, pedal straps, and 35mm road tires. Not long after, I got back to Norway for my first bike trip, making my way to Nordkapp.

While taking care of the bike and planning the trip I got busy with a local project dedicated to bike touring called Cykling (check out our short films on Vimeo). It’s still there helping us get the word out on what’s going on around the globe and share our own stuff. Now, there’s more emphasis put on bikepacking, lighter gear, and so forth.

Thanks to BIKEPACKING.com, I also started digging in to the subject and started thinking more about bikes and gear. My panniers and rear rack were switched out for a bikepacking kit from local makers. These days, I use a combination of bags from two trusted Russian makers and an Ortlieb seat bag.

My next bike was a custom titanium Triton gravel bike, though before the time when everyone was talking about gravel. I enjoyed riding it for three years, but never made any long trips on it. Riding in the woods often made me think I’d rather go with a 29er or a plus bike, which had also been gaining popularity among bikepackers.

That’s actually where my new Triton B+ comes from. It’s setup was largely inspired by riding Surly ECR 27.5+, which first helped introduce me to the concept of a half fat bike. My Triton is the perfect bike to just throw a bunch of shit in my bags and hit the trail.

• Frame/Fork Triton 27.5+
• Rims Velocity Dually
• Hubs Race Face Vault 32h (148×12/110×15)
• Spokes Sapim Force
• Tires Onza Canis Skinwall 27.5 x 2.85″
• Handlebars Thomson Ti Flat 12°
• Grips ESI Chunky with Cane Creek Ergo Control bar ends
• Headset Cane Creek 110
• Crankset Race Face Atlas 170mm, Neutrino 30T chainring
• Cassette Shimano XT M8000 (11-46T)
• Derailleur Shimano XT M8000
• Brakes TRP Spyke, Tektro MT 5.0 Carbon Eclipse
• Shifter(s) Shimano XT M8000
• Saddle WTB Pure Pro 148mm
• Seatpost Thomson Elite 30.9mm
• Stem ControlTech TiMania 70mm 5°
• Front bags Grishka Gear
• Rear bags Ortlieb
• Accessory bags PolarFox
• Other accessories Topeak Ninja bottlecages, Garmin Etrex 20x, Spurcycle bell

The aim with this build was simple: put together something that can handle long rides on rough roads and is easy to maintain. And that’s exactly why it has a rigid fork and mechanical disc brakes. Also, thanks to the CNC machined yoke, the chainstays aren’t exceedingly long to properly fit the B+ tire. The rest of the build is rounded out with bunch of my favorite proven parts.

My Triton is my only bike for now, the other three got sold. The only thing I’ve been considering is swapping out the chainring for something that’s a bit faster on overnight trips and for everyday rides with my friends here.

You can find more from Andrey on Instagram @a.serdyuk.

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