Touring - Will I be too slow?

After doing much reading on these forums and talking to others i decided to go ahead and have the crankset on the Trek 520 i ordered switched out to a sugino xd at 46-36-24. Will this be way too slow when I'm unloaded? I didn't really think of this before i made the switch, but also it didn't make sense to me that their racing bikes and their touring bike had the same gearing. save me from regret.

If you've kept the original gear cluster, you will have a top gear of 46x11.

Unless you are riding in 25mph+ pace lines, or are one of those people (unlike me) who wants to go extremely fast down long hills, I don't think you are going to miss anything.

My 520 has a top gear of 44x11. I've never used it. But I don't care much about speed. I use my bike as a loaded tourer and sometimes commuter. Slow and unsteady the whole way :->

I had a low-end Cannondale racing bike back in the 80s. Its top gear was 52x13. Your touring bike now has a larger gear (ratio) than that.

Yeah, I have a 46-36-24 on mine, with a 13-30 cogset (7 spd). I can pedal up to about 28mph if I am spinning really fast - after that I just coast. You will have a more effective top gear so I think you'll be just fine.

Loaded or unloaded, the highest gear I only ever ride in is my 42x11. I've got a 53, but in the two years I've had this bicycle, I think I've been in it for a grand total of about an hour.

The bike I used for touring had a plain old mtb ring set, I think the top end was 43x11. Loaded or unloaded, if you hit that you're stud enough. :)

Even if your smallest cog is a 12, you'll still have over 100 gear inches.....plenty tops.

it didn't make sense to me that their racing bikes and their touring bike had the same gearing.

That is so true. Just what are manufacturers thinking when they put a 52/11 as top gear on a touring bike? It's even higher than the typical 53/12 found on most road bikes! Anyway, my bike came with a top 42/11 and I had no problem hitting 50kph unloaded. I got to 76kph once (unloaded). Now I have 44/12 and hardly ever use it. When going downhill with the loaded bike, I'm more concerned with the brakes than my top gear.

I had the transmission on my Trel C1000 changed from road 52/42/30 at the front and eight speed casset 12/26 at the back to MTB gearing. I now run 48/36/26 at the front and a 9 speed 11/32 at the back. My top gear is slightly higher than before and my lowest is about 4 KPH lower at the same cadence. If I zig zag my way up the gear range I can go up in 1 kph steps. I love it. Geared for touring and riding with the pack.
Cheers Brian

I thought for about 3 years before I changed the crank on my 520 to a Deore 42/32/22. Since changing it I have never looked back. Much better to have extra low gears than high gears that you will never use. My experience is that most of us Americans like to think we are racers and like the idea of having a "fast" bike even though it doesn't make sense for the kind of riding that we do. You did the right thing.

If these manufacturers were smart they would spec their touring bikes using a complete mountain drivetrain and save the LBS from swapping parts every time they sell one of these rigs. I think there will be far more customers happy out the door with that setup than wanting to swap for 'higher gears'.....

I agree with ya, Fixer.

An 11-34 paired with a 44-34-22 is the perfect loaded touring setup.
Even with 60Lbs of gear, I can climb the worst graded hills around New England.

Might be only 3mph, on the some of 'em, but that's faster then I could walk, pushing my rig!

And I can spin out at around 30mph with the 44/11 - take an aero position for the rest (yesterday hit 45 - fast enough for me!)