Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
This week’s Reader’s Rig comes from Michał in Poland, who shares the modified Stonehill Monza 26er with a Surly Troll fork he built up for rides around his home country. Get to know Michał and his bike and read about his recently discovered love of bikepacking here…
Words and photos by Michał Lisiecki
Hi! My name is Michał, and I’m from Gdańsk, in the Pomeranian region of Poland. I love riding bikes, fishing, and listening to good music. I’ve been passionate about bikes for a long time. I started with fixed-gears, then moved on to vintage road bikes. Recently, I’ve really gotten into bikepacking and traveling by bike.
For about a year now, I’ve been packing up my bike and setting off on trips, mainly exploring my own country. These are still the early days of my adventure travels, which is why I needed a solid bike that I could build myself, perfectly suited to my needs.
A little bit about my bike: at first, I had the idea to build a retro MTB. However, after assembling the bike with old parts, I felt quite limited. The riding position wasn’t comfortable for me, and the 3×7 drivetrain didn’t suit my needs. Later, I discovered BIKEPACKING.com and other sites, and I got hooked on bike travel. I also found many people online building great bikes using old MTB frames, which inspired me to start upgrading my bike.
I ended up replacing almost everything, from the fork to the drivetrain, and I even had the frame modified by a company called Ghettopatent from Bielsko-Biała. Thanks to this modification, I was able to install a rear disc brake, which significantly improved the bike’s performance both off-road and during longer trips.
- Frame: Stonehill Monza
- Fork: Surly Troll
- Rims: Dartmoor Tomcat 26″
- Hubs: Novatec D041SB and D042SB
- Tires: Maxxis Ikon 26 x 2.35″
- Handlebars: Ritchey Classic Kyote MTB
- Headset: Neco
- Crankset: Shimano Deore XT (FC-M785) 175mm
- Chainring: Garbaruk 36T, 104 BCD
- Pedals: Race Face Atlas 22
- Cassette: Shimano Deore CS-M5100 11-Speed (11-51T)
- Derailleur(s): Shimano Deore RD-M5100
- Brakes: Avid BB7
- Shifter(s): Shimano Deore SL-M5100
- Saddle: Brooks Cambium C17
- Seatpost: BLB Cobra
- Stem: Hope Gravity
- Front bags: Riverside 4L
- Frame bags: 7Roads custom
- Light: Bookman Volume 1500
- Cargo cages: Tailfin Small and Blackburn Outpost
- GPS: Garmin Edge 840 Solar
After all the upgrades, the bike is now very comfortable, has wide tires, handles rough terrain really well, and, most importantly, offers plenty of options for mounting gear, whether for big adventures or shorter trips. Finally, I’d like to encourage everyone to build their own bikes and not be afraid to use their imagination when creating or modifying frames!
And for those traveling around the world, I warmly invite you to visit Gdańsk and the whole Tricity area (Gdynia, Gdansk, Sopot). Here in Pomerania, we have a fantastic cycling route, the R10, part of the EuroVelo network, perfect for bike travelers who want to explore beautiful places along the Baltic Sea!
Follow along with Michał on Instagram.
Send Us Your Bikepacking Rig
Use the form below to submit your bikepacking rig. We’ll choose one per week to feature in a Reader’s Rig Dispatch and on Instagram. To enter, email us your best photo of the bike (preferably at a 90° angle), your Instagram username (optional), and a short description of you and your rig. If your bike is selected, we’ll need a total of five photos and a little bit more info.
Readers Rig
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