Touring - Touring on a Cannondale 2003 R600

I have a 2003 Cannondale R600 road bike with a double chainring. Can I tour on the bike? That is, will it accomodate panniers/racks/bags? Does any one carry a back pack on a bike? Can I pull a trailer with a road bike? Would I want to?

Thanks,
Lou

The R-600 is a good road bike, but a good touring bike it's not. But it could be used, you may want to make some changes.

1) Set it up with a tripple, your going to want a low gear around 18" You will have to change the crank and more then likly the front d-rail. If your bike has down tube shifters, use the friction mode for the front shifting.

2) You could mount a rack to the R-600, but due to the shorter chain stays on road bikes, you may need use small bags so your heal wont hit the bags. You will want to avoid using a back pack, if you try it you will understand:)

3) If your going to tour loaded then you may want to use a trailer. A BOB trailer will work well with the R-600. I used to use one behind my R-600

4) If your going to on tour more then two weeks you might have to ride in the rain. So you may want a set of fenders.

5) Mount the largest, tuffest tires you can. My 600 had 27mm tires, to small really for loaded touring.

Are the Al chainstays and dropouts strong enough for hauling a BOB?Just asking.
You can go BOBless if you ride ultra-light. If you stay in hostels, then a set of small panniers and/or a large Carradice saddlebag (20l) + a bar bag should be enough for extended hostel touring.

You can tour on anything. You could keep the double but maybe drop the gearing a bit if you are going somewhere hilly, by changing the chainrings and/or the rear cassette.

If you can get a rack to fit you could use a saddlebag or panniers (depending on heel clearance)

main thing is to get out and enjoy it.

My first tourer was a 10 speed 52-42 12-24 steel (gas pipe ) bike with a Pleischer alloy rack and a cheap set of nylon throwover panniers. Not ideal but I covered the miles on it and it got me hooked.

That's a good bike, but you will find that you will not have heel clearance for anything but the smallest of panniers.

If you don't want to buy a new bike, consider adding a triple (new crankset, BB, front and rear derailleurs and shifters. Ouch!) and going the trailer route. Many folks use the BOB and they are highly rated. Myself, I have and really like the Burley Nomad two wheel trailer--it has some definate advantageous over single wheeled trailers.

Swap out the tires for 28c, Conti TT's are my favorite. Try to get your handlebar height up to near your saddle height. Carry a spare spoke or two.

Good luck,
Davy

PS> If you don't mind walking the big hills, you can still tour with your double--converting to a triple will run min $200-300!

I forgot to add, you can now also swap out your rear der for a mtn bike der and swap the cassette to something like a 11-30 or 11-34. You get big gear jumps, but it will work with your stock shifters. It's a lot cheaper than changing out to a triple and almost as low a gearing. For a little more money you can also swap out the chainrings for, say a 38/48, which will just fit your 130mm BCD crank spacing. Then your gearing will actually be lower than the stock 30/42/52 with 12-27 cassette on most triples!

Dave

As far as some of the other suggestions are concerned:

Before you go out and install an ATB derailleur, make sure that it will work with your shifters.

Short chainstays will likely cause heel interference with most larger touring bags, and I'm not even sure if there are rack mounts in the dropouts on a C'Dale R600, anyways. A front rack isn't possible, unless you replace your fork with a touring fork.

Pulling a trailer with a roadbike is not a good idea, especially if it is heavy. You may end up ripping your chainstay out from the BB shell if it's connected to the dropouts. A rack mounted connector will spread out the stresses of the trailer, but I doubt that an R600 has the sort of heavy-duty mounts needed.

Originally posted by hayneda

If you don't want to buy a new bike, consider adding a triple (new crankset, BB, front and rear derailleurs and shifters. Ouch!)

Modern STI shifters will work with a double or a triple crankset, and with either road or MTB rear derailleurs.

You should be able to put a road triple crankset (+ new FD and BB) on that frame (maybe $150 total for the front) plus a long-cage MTB RD and a wide-range 9-speed cassette (12-32, say; call it $70 for the rear). That's still a fairly high lowest gear if you're dragging a full load up a steep grade, but it will work with your existing shifters.

But if you like the R600 the way it is for most of your road riding, adding a second bike to your stable, one that's optimized for touring, will pay off over the years. You'll find that a touring bike is also an excellent commuter and utility bike, and if you use it that way it'll pay for itself.

RichC

yeah what Rich said!... lol
you really thinking of putting fenders on that beaut?
common we have the same bike! jkidding ya.. but i usually just back pack it, and for longer trips.. so far its only been 341 kms and i did that in 18 hrs.. got lost lol.. so get a map and plan your stops.. you really don't need a lot when you are on the road.
.. and find friends that live in that area ..hint hint.. and stop awhile
just a thought
nice bike by the way :p