Oftentimes, we find the best bikes for us at the most random times. Andrew shares his build of this beautiful FW Evans with us on this week’s Readers’ Rides!

Two years ago, my wife and I bought our first place in our hometown of Franklin, TN and the space dictated we’d have enough room for one bike each. Since then I’ve been building swiss army bikes with varying degrees of success, usually overkill, and it’s only been in the last few months I’ve been completely honest with myself about what the bike will encounter…

99% of my rides will start from my front door and will be solo efforts. I might encounter a mile of gravel for every sixty and I’m not willing to drive the bike to find more. I’m an over-packer at heart but not past what a basket can accomplish; even S24O’s are a hard sell when my wife and pups in a cozy bed is the alternative.

So on a whim, I went hunting on the RBW Owners Group for sport-touring frame options and I got a message from Reid, an individual I bought my BMC Monster Cross frame from and nearly a Trek 614, telling me he’s got this FW Evans frame in fantastic condition, 531 tubing, lugged construction, canti bosses, and braze-ons for racks and fenders. It goes without saying that I snatched it.

Here’s the full build list:
Wheels: 24h Astral Solstice rims laced to Bitex RAF/RAR 12 silver hubs
Tires: Jack Brown green labels
Shifters: Silver2 bar ends
Front Derailleur: NOS Shimano 105 (FD-1055)
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore RD-M591
Cassette: Shimano 9 speed 11-32t
Crankset: Stronglight Impact 110bcd with 46-30 bikinGreen chainrings
Pedals: Spank Oozy Trail Platform
Chain: KMC X9SL silver
Brakes: Dia-Compe 980’s w/ Kool Stop pads
Levers: Shimano 105 (BL-1055)
Saddle: Brooks B17 Special
Seatpost: 27.0 Dajia Cycleworks 1b
Stem: 90mm VO removable faceplate stem w/ nickel finish
Handlebar: Nitto B135AA SSB Randonneur Touring 45cm
Tape: Newbaums underneath Green Grips Bar Tape
Headset: Grand Cru 1” threaded
Front Rack: Nitto M12 with Wald basket & Waxwing Bag Co reflector
Fenders: SKS P45’s w/ Waxwing Bag Co mudflaps
Bags: Sackville ShopSack Medium and Banana Sax

I use the bike for grocery runs, poking around town, picking up the occasional XL pizza, and long weekend rides. I bring a camera and notepad on those rides and document both and then some on my website.

We’d like to thank all of you who have submitted Readers Rides builds to be shared over here. The response has been incredible and we have so many to share over the next few months. Feel free to submit your bike, listing details, components, and other information. You can also include a portrait of yourself with your bike and your Instagram account! Please, shoot landscape-orientation photos, not portrait. Thanks!