Touring/Commuting/an all Rounder



Tigerish Lip

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Jul 28, 2005
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Yet another post that's looking to change a bike and needs advice. I currently have a bike that's a city bike (Raleigh) and it's okay for the commuting that I do on most days and some weekend and night/early evening rides. But I'm doing longer routes and planning to do some short tours building up to a longer tour next year - and ending with a trek in Cambodia.

I'm seeking advice on either a hybrid or tourer - I'm getting the feeling that a tourer would be better as an upgrade? And I'm looking at Treks.

I saw one today, the Trek 7300FXS and feel in lust with it - but it has the same crankset as I've currently got - although the Trek has more gears. I need more speed as well, as I'm finding that on the flats I go for it, but my bike can't handle it.

Any input and pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated :)
 
Tigerish Lip said:
Yet another post that's looking to change a bike and needs advice. I currently have a bike that's a city bike (Raleigh) and it's okay for the commuting that I do on most days and some weekend and night/early evening rides. But I'm doing longer routes and planning to do some short tours building up to a longer tour next year - and ending with a trek in Cambodia.

I'm seeking advice on either a hybrid or tourer - I'm getting the feeling that a tourer would be better as an upgrade? And I'm looking at Treks.

I saw one today, the Trek 7300FXS and feel in lust with it - but it has the same crankset as I've currently got - although the Trek has more gears. I need more speed as well, as I'm finding that on the flats I go for it, but my bike can't handle it.

Any input and pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated :)

Hi, I'm looking at the Trek 7200FXS for my wife as it's a lite bike for weekend tours and can handle the occational 3/4 week self supported tour. The crank can be changed to one with a small grany gear 22 or 24, for the huge hills and heavy loads. And the lifetime warranty is really nice to have.
Partialy loaded I do 30/35 kms per hour on flat road on my Gazelle Playa, with the same gears. How fast would you like to go?
Another good reason for going with a cheaper bike if it get's stollen or damaged it wont hurt so much.
I cycled from Maastricht, The Netherlands to Athens, Greece (3000kms) begining in June with a used Gazelle Playa (300 euro's) riged for touring (mudguards and racks)with no problems.
http://www.geocities.com/xilios/index.html
I hope that is some help for you to decide.
Cheers
 
about the trek 7300 fxs - for a bike that cheap, it would probably be ok. the low tech components would probably be easy enough to replace even in cambodia. i'd recommend replacing the flat bars with drop bars because riding all day in one position gets uncomfortable and riding upright into the wind, especially with panniers and luggage really sucks. the stiff aluminum frame and stiff fork design will be transmitting a lot of road shock though. not your most comfortable ride.
if you'll be riding paved roads, going for thinner, slick tires will boost your milage, but perhaps someplace like cambodia the stock sized tires might be good if you run into poor/gravel roads.

look at some of these other threads to get some info on what to look for in a touring frame:

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t278838-my-experience--gt-nyc-to-baltimore-with-adventure-cycling-maps.html
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t263016-touring-101-needed.html
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t278316-giant-ocr-tourer-vs-specialized-sequoia-elite.html
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t260357-touring-bike-what-is-your-favourite-and-why.html
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t261005-touring-bike-set-up.html
 

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