Bike for racing *and* touring?

[Zix]

Hi all,

I'm interested in getting a bike that has the advantages
of a racing bike but which will also accept a single pannier
or an equivalent-volume container. I'm trying to avoid
using a small backpack since everyone says that's dangerous.

My goal is doing distance at high speed.

I will not be taking a tent, 12 changes of clothes
or a laptop computer like some people do, but rather
just a very minimal supply kit e.g. food, water, 2 changes of clothes,
a book.

Any suggestions?
Thanks..

 

[Victor Kan]

Zix wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'm interested in getting a bike that has the advantages
> of a racing bike but which will also accept a single pannier
> or an equivalent-volume container. I'm trying to avoid
> using a small backpack since everyone says that's dangerous.
....
> Any suggestions?

How about getting whatever racing bike you want, but get an extra saddle
and seat post (a durable, round one), and a quick release seat post
clamp, then getting something like:

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?...5094&sku=14915&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

and a rack trunk with saddlebags like:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=20085&subcategory_ID=2312

where you can put "heavy" stuff in the saddle bag so it's lower, put
light stuff in the trunk. Of course, a cantilevered rack like that has
a fairly low load limit.

I suppose that having longer chain stays and more slack seat tube may
help with heel interference with the pannier if you've got big feet or
long cranks.

You can leave the rack clamped to the extra seat post all the time and
just pop it on/off when you want to switch.

--
I do not accept unsolicited commercial e-mail. Remove NO_UCE for
legitimate replies.

 

[[email protected]]

Zix wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'm interested in getting a bike that has the advantages
> of a racing bike but which will also accept a single pannier
> or an equivalent-volume container. I'm trying to avoid
> using a small backpack since everyone says that's dangerous.

?? Eh?

> My goal is doing distance at high speed.
>
> I will not be taking a tent, 12 changes of clothes
> or a laptop computer like some people do, but rather
> just a very minimal supply kit e.g. food, water, 2 changes of clothes,
> a book.
>
> Any suggestions?

Very dangerous backpack and a seatbag,
or maybe just the backpack. If you have
water available along the route then you wont
have to carry any on your back and that will
make a big difference.

Robert

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Zix" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I'm interested in getting a bike that has the advantages
> of a racing bike but which will also accept a single pannier
> or an equivalent-volume container. I'm trying to avoid
> using a small backpack since everyone says that's dangerous.

Good heavens! Thank you for telling me. I have repeatedly subjected
myself to this danger for as much as 150 minutes in a single day. Who
knows how I survived?

Seriously, what is everyone telling you the danger is? It's probably not
the most comfortable thing as the distances increase, but dangerous?

> My goal is doing distance at high speed.
>
> I will not be taking a tent, 12 changes of clothes
> or a laptop computer like some people do, but rather
> just a very minimal supply kit e.g. food, water, 2 changes of clothes,
> a book.

Volume is everything. I could nearly get that much stuff in a small
tailbag and my back pockets. Seriously.

I have a question which may not be obvious: will you actually be racing?
The difference between a light touring bike and a fairly typical race
bike is not a lot: a few braze-ons, maybe a pound of frame weight at
most. This amounts to an imperceptible performance difference on a
typical tour. Racers get to care about weight and aerodynamics because
for them, arriving at the finish of a 100 km ride a minute after the
first rider is a really big deal. And I don't think the difference
between a touring bike and a race bike would be that much on most
typical 100 km courses (theory not valid in the Alps, Rockies, or
Pyrenees).

Maybe this is a better benchmark question: will you be putting fenders
on this bike? What happens to your touring plans if it rains?

For the credit-card touring that you are thinking of, maybe something
like a classic English Carradice:

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/bags/originals.htm
http://carradice.co.uk/saddlebags/index.html

It's basically an overgrown tail-bag. The Brits call this a "saddlebag",
a term which in North America often refers to what the Brits call a
"pannier."

The advantage is that you don't need a rack. The disadvantage is that
you can't carry as much in one saddlebag as you can in one or two larger
panniers. The other problem is that on some bikes, the saddle may be
close enough to the rear wheel to limit the maximum size of saddlebag
you can fit.

Taking your request at face value, I think an English saddlebag would be
a good choice.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

 

[Zix]

Victor Kan wrote:

> http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?...5094&sku=14915&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

Thanks for the links.

> Of course, a cantilevered rack like that has
> a fairly low load limit.

That's fine. Having travelled quite a bit, I'm accustomed
to accounting for every ounce and travelling light.

 

[Zix]

>The difference between a light touring bike and a fairly typical race
bike is not a lot.

Which light touring bikes would you recommend?

>What happens to your touring plans if it rains?

I'd stay at the hostel an extra day. My idea of a good ride
is one without rain. Maybe British riders don't have the luxury.
Although I do wonder if any British inventor has yet devised
an umbrella for a bicycle.

Re bags, I agree a large saddle bag would be sufficient,
such as this one:
http://carradice.co.uk/saddlebags/cadet-saddlebag.shtml

Thanks for the links.

 

[Steve Freides]

"Zix" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm interested in getting a bike that has the advantages
> of a racing bike but which will also accept a single pannier
> or an equivalent-volume container. I'm trying to avoid
> using a small backpack since everyone says that's dangerous.
>
> My goal is doing distance at high speed.
>
> I will not be taking a tent, 12 changes of clothes
> or a laptop computer like some people do, but rather
> just a very minimal supply kit e.g. food, water, 2 changes of clothes,
> a book.
>
> Any suggestions?

You don't mention price being an issue here. If you can afford it, get
something custom-made for you. I love my custom-made bike - it's
exactly what I wanted, which isn't what you're asking for here, but
that's the beauty of a one-off bike. I got mine from someone known
primarily for tandems, http://www.bilenky.com in Philadelphia, PA- we
got to know them because we got a tandem of theirs, and he did a
fantastic job on a single bike for me about 6-7 years ago. Mine is a
15.5 lb fillet-brazed steel bike, that's with everything on it but the
water bottles - SweetWings cranks/bb, built-by-me sewup wheels w/ old
Fiamme Ergal rims, designed for long club rides, sized to my particular
weird build, handles just like I asked for, and I wouldn't trade it for
all the tea in China. Cost me $1500 at the time for the frame and
included a carbon fork.

-S-

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Zix" <[email protected]> wrote:

> >The difference between a light touring bike and a fairly typical race
> bike is not a lot.
>
> Which light touring bikes would you recommend?

Well...I'm really cheap, and I've never been in the market for a really
nice light touring bike. So my first instinct is to say this:

"The best price-performance on a light touring bike is to spend a
$100-200 on the fanciest touring bike you can find that was built in
1982."

I more or less live that advice: my standard commuter is a rather odd
Japanese-made "Bianchi" from the early 1980s, found at a garage sale for
$10. My father rides my previous commuter, a 1970s Mikado tourer.

But that's probably not the advice you're looking for. My only other
experience is with race bikes, where I just went and bought what I could
find in my size on eBay. It works.

Your needs are, frankly, so easily met that there's a vast number of
bikes that would fulfill them. Your bike will be carrying, what, 20
pounds more stuff than your own body weight, which is not really into
the realm of touring loads.

My general recommendations would be to eschew boutique wheels for
boring, conservative 28-36 spoke wheels, and then go find a nice bike
shop and purchase a bicycle which is within your budget, makes you smile
when you look at it, and isn't stupid-light in any of its componentry.

Picking a manufacturer at random from the sponsor logos on my team
jersey, I'd look at Cannondale's Synapse (their new carbon fibre
"century ride" frame) with the caveat that it is afflicted with
16/20-spoke Shimano wheels, which seems unnecessarily radical for a
light touring bike. See if your dealer will swap you for some nice
boring wheels with more spokes.

Like I say, I'm bike-agnostic. If you had the money and the time,
Richard Sachs or about a hundred other makers will build you a custom
frame, and that's lovely. Mark Hickey does simple, inexpensive titanium
frames in either off-the-shelf or custom geometry: a friend has one as a
race bike, and loves it.

> >What happens to your touring plans if it rains?
>
> I'd stay at the hostel an extra day. My idea of a good ride
> is one without rain. Maybe British riders don't have the luxury.
> Although I do wonder if any British inventor has yet devised
> an umbrella for a bicycle.
>
> Re bags, I agree a large saddle bag would be sufficient,
> such as this one:
> http://carradice.co.uk/saddlebags/cadet-saddlebag.shtml
>
> Thanks for the links.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

 

[Steve Freides]

"Zix" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >The difference between a light touring bike and a fairly typical race
> bike is not a lot.
>
> Which light touring bikes would you recommend?
>
>>What happens to your touring plans if it rains?
>
> I'd stay at the hostel an extra day. My idea of a good ride
> is one without rain. Maybe British riders don't have the luxury.
> Although I do wonder if any British inventor has yet devised
> an umbrella for a bicycle.
>
> Re bags, I agree a large saddle bag would be sufficient,
> such as this one:
> http://carradice.co.uk/saddlebags/cadet-saddlebag.shtml

Whenever I've tried a Carradice, it's rubbed on the backs of my legs and
drove me crazy - didn't last 5 minutes on my bike. I hear there are
some gizmos you can buy to push them further back but I've never tried
one.

-S-

 

[Alex Rodriguez]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>Hi all,
>I'm interested in getting a bike that has the advantages
>of a racing bike but which will also accept a single pannier
>or an equivalent-volume container. I'm trying to avoid
>using a small backpack since everyone says that's dangerous.
>My goal is doing distance at high speed.
>I will not be taking a tent, 12 changes of clothes
>or a laptop computer like some people do, but rather
>just a very minimal supply kit e.g. food, water, 2 changes of clothes,
>a book.

Back pack dangerous? Where did that come from? You are travelling light
enough that I can't see how a back pack could be dangerous.
-------------
Alex

 

[ronaldo_jeremiah]

Dumbass -

Most of the racing done by the masters fatties of this newsgroup is
indistinguishable from touring.

-RJ