Whoever said you have to define "touring" first is dead right. You'll
get, as you're seeing, a zillion opinions. Here's mine. And by
"touring" I mean the full-meal deal: No sag, just you, all your gear
and the open road. Indefinitely.
1. Steel frame. Heavier than aluminum, yeah, but more durable. In
general, more comfortable to ride when you're going 70 miles a day or
more. What brand is a matter of personal preference, but, really, there
are a jillion possibilities. True touring bikes take a beating, so
don't spend a lot of money getting something pretty. If you're an
average-sized person (that is, not a midget, not a giant and limbs in
proportion to your frame), an off-the-rack model will do fine, and for
considerably less than $1,500. I'd look for something used--you'll save
huge, huge money--then customize it with select components, paying
careful attention to wheels and gearing (see below). If you look at
hard-core tourists, the folks who live on their bicycles and travel for
months at a time, very few have bikes that cost more than a thousand
bucks. They're riding Treks or equivalent, and they're spending what
they save on the road, which is as it should be. I use an ancient
Peugeot PX10 from the early 70s for touring, and I wouldn't trade it
for a Mercian or a Waterford or anything else, no matter the cost. Why?
Because it works. It fits. I can take it down to the tiniest ball
bearing and put it back together again in a city park. It looks like
****, but it works. It also underscores an important point: Racing
bikes today are totally different than they were three decades ago, but
not so for touring bikes, at least, when it comes to frame geometry:
Long wheelbase, decent amount of fork rake, roomy chainstays. There's
no advantage to buying the latest and greatest because the core
principles haven't changed.
2. KISS (keep it simple stupid). You're gonna be in the middle of North
Dakota or the equivalent of nowhere some day and something's gonna
break. Make sure you can fix it, because that next bus stop/bike shop
might be a long haul. For my money, that means leaving the
fancy-schmanzy disc brakes and STI shifters at home. Friction levers (I
prefer downtube, but bar-ends are fine also) and either cantilevers or
calipers. Any fool can figure out how to fix these, and spare parts are
light and few.)
3. Panniers front and rear, with low-riders in front. Can't emphasize
it enough: Balancing the load is critical, and you need front panniers
to do that. And don't bother paying more for waterproof ones. That's
why God invented ziplocks and waterproof stuff sacks. Waterproof
panniers weigh a ton. Sure, we're not riding the Tour de France here,
but paying more--and, more importantly, carrying more--when there are
lighter and less expensive ways to accomplish the mission doesn't make
sense. I'm also astounded by what racks weigh these days. Admittedly,
I'm an old-school guy, but I've never had a Blackburn break on me, and
I've pounded 'em.
4. Bomb-proof wheels. You know the kind of wheels they make for
tandems? Get those, 48 spokes if possible. May seem like overkill, but
busted spokes in the boonies suck. There is no wheel too strong when it
comes to full-loaded touring. If you're an adventurous sort, sooner or
later you're gonna find yourself on a dirt road. Make sure you have
wheels up to the task.
5. Fenders, kickstand, lights. Fuggedaboudit. You've gotta save weight
somehow, and you do that by leaving these off. Carry a clip-on red
flasher ($10 or so) for emergencies and a cheap-o headlight that clips
on and off a handlebar-mounted bracket that can double as a flashlight
when you make camp. If it rains, put on your GoreTex. That's why you
brought it.
6. Gearing. If you're older than 35, make sure you've got a
ridiculously low bail-out gear. 28t in front and 32t in back isn't
absurd. Unless you're very, very fortunate, whatever bike you get isn'
t going to have the right gearing for your style of touring. Be
prepared to buy new chainrings and a new back cogs. You can scrimp on
any number of things, but do not scrimp on gearing or on wheels.
Period.
7. Drop bars. If you're gonna ride on the road, leave the upright stuff
to the mountain bike set.
There will be, I'm sure, a lot of disagreement with the above. Fine.
Everyone has their own experiences and opinions. This is what works for
me
Patrick Lamb wrote:
> On 20 Jun 2006 07:29:03 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
> >Closeout is right. Why pay premiums? Not to mention a lot of touring
> >bikes fall well below $650...Mercier Galaxy for one. If you think
> >touring bikes BEGIN at $800 then you've bought into the marketing.
>
> If I point out a few flaws in this strategy...
>
> First, there's no surfeit of touring bikes in stock in most markets.
> If I bet I could find a touring bike in my size within a week, I'd be
> looking at two small areas in the US. I heard there are two more.
>
> Second, you've got to catch the closeout in a narrow time frame. In
> at least one of the areas touring bikes are popular, you may have one
> month out of the year when the bikes are on sale at closeout prices.
> For four months after that, the dealers won't have a tourer at any
> price.
>
> I really wonder how many touring bike sales are missed because they
> aren't in stores for people to try, and sales people actively
> discourage touring bikes in favor of whatever they have in stock. My
> personal opinion is that a tourer is the standard by which other road
> bikes should be judged; YMMV.
>
> Pat
>
> Email address works as is.
