Touring - Should you be touring on that?

Do you tour loaded on a bike that isn't a tourer or an expedition bike? I saw a guy on an
old 3 speed the other day with full camping equipment, must have weighed a ton, but he
looked happy which is what really matters.

Do you tour loaded on a bike that isn't a tourer or an expedition bike? I saw a guy on an
old 3 speed the other day with full camping equipment, must have weighed a ton, but he
looked happy which is what really matters.

I have met a couple that came from France to Israel and heading to Madgaskar. They are both on MTB with 32 spokes both wheels. 5000km and no problem. Its definetly not a touring rigs but they where happy, and didn't seem to know and care much about touring geometry.

I did my first tour on a titanium mountain bike. It was great, except for the hand positions.

Look at this motley bunch from the early 80's.
Not a real "touring" bike in sight. And we had a lot of fun.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b400/fj40/Untitled-18-1.jpg
The bike is only one part of the equation.

Isn't there some English guy who is touring on a very old style bike. The one with the giant wheel in the front and tiny wheel in the back?

Isn't there some English guy who is touring on a very old style bike. The one with the giant wheel in the front and tiny wheel in the back?

http://www.pennyfarthingworldtour.com/

This guy is one, though I've seen at least one other at Crazyguyonabike, though I can't find the link at the moment. His pics are brilliant, pith helmet and all!

Isn't there some English guy who is touring on a very old style bike. The one with the giant wheel in the front and tiny wheel in the back?

I met a guy touring on an Ordinary in 2003. He stopped by the start of the PBP just to take in the atmosphere although he was not participating in the event. I believe he was going around the world on his Ordinary.

My personal opinion is that you can tour on whatever you want. There are no rules. :)

My bicycle isn't really a touring bicycle ... it's a "Sport Touring" - sort of a cross between touring and racing, or a very light touring bicycle.

Rowan's touring bicycle was something he picked up at the dump for $10 and converted to a fixed gear.

Our choices worked well for us.

but he
looked happy which is what really matters.

It is the only thing that matters. Way too many people are fixated on bicycling gear rather than what really matters on a tour. You can tour on anything as long as it is comfortable for you to ride and you got the mental mind set to do a tour.

It is the only thing that matters. Way too many people are fixated on bicycling gear rather than what really matters on a tour. You can tour on anything as long as it is comfortable for you to ride and you got the mental mind set to do a tour.

Yes, but if we adopted this philosophy, there would be only ~200 posts total in the Touring forum, consisting of 100 posts on "which bike should i buy", 30 posts on "what size bike should i buy", 30 posts on tents, 30 posts on panniers vs trailers, and 10 posts covering all other subjects.

Plus, what would I do with all the free time? :rolleyes:

Do you tour loaded on a bike that isn't a tourer or an expedition bike? I saw a guy on an
old 3 speed the other day with full camping equipment, must have weighed a ton, but he
looked happy which is what really matters.

Oh yeh? Did it look like this guy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_St%C3%BCcke

The first tour I ever did was with three of my friends (were we 14... summer after freshman year in HS; I'm 52 now... you do the math and figure the year)

One Schwinn Varsity w/ten speeds
One Schwinn Varsity that had ten speeds until the rope that was holding down the 'gear' on his rack unravelled and got chewed up in the drive train... that lowered the number to about 3 gears.
One Schwinn 5 speed, upright type rider
One coaster brake bike, 26" wheels

We wore back packs, had some saddle bags, racks, used ropes (no bungees), metal canteens for water, bandanas for helmets (I got sunburned so bad on one ear that the blister popped and my hair dried in there... eeee). the guy with the coaster brake bike was always about 400 yards ahead of everyone.

We had a blast.

The first tour I ever did was with three of my friends (were we 14... summer after freshman year in HS; I'm 52 now... you do the math and figure the year)

One Schwinn Varsity w/ten speeds
One Schwinn Varsity that had ten speeds until the rope that was holding down the 'gear' on his rack unravelled and got chewed up in the drive train... that lowered the number to about 3 gears.
One Schwinn 5 speed, upright type rider
One coaster brake bike, 26" wheels

We wore back packs, had some saddle bags, racks, used ropes (no bungees), metal canteens for water, bandanas for helmets (I got sunburned so bad on one ear that the blister popped and my hair dried in there... eeee). the guy with the coaster brake bike was always about 400 yards ahead of everyone.

We had a blast.

Exactly.
While I love new gear, bikes ect, the things I remember most about my tours are the fun I had with the people I was with.
Primitive touring was and is a lot of fun for a young man or woman on a budget.

http://www.pennyfarthingworldtour.com/

This guy is one, though I've seen at least one other at Crazyguyonabike, though I can't find the link at the moment. His pics are brilliant, pith helmet and all!

Same guy that is his old website. Here is the link to his journal at Crazyguyonabike (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/joff1)

You can tour on anything you desire. To me the tour is more about the ride than the equipment. My very first "tour" was on a balloon tire cruiser. We rode all of 7 miles out to the edge of town. Our equipment was a wool blanket, poncho, canteen, sardines, crackers and PBJ. I rode transcontinental in 1977 on a rebuilt basket case Motobecane Nomade 10 speed. I still do day tours, B&B tours, and the occasional out and back weekend camp tours on my 1972 Raleigh Superbe 3 speed. I have at least 2 other bikes that can be used for touring. One is a converted European "trekking" bike, a Giant Excursion with drop bars, brifters, full fenders and racks front and rear. My other bike that is currently being built up is based on an old Giant Iguana rigid frame MTB. It will be equipped as an expedition tour bike to take advantage of fire roads and the like.

Aaron:)

My last 2 tours were done on a folding bike, 20" wheels, really made more for urban warfare than for touring.

In general I had fun, but the flaws of that particular bike did dampen my spirits on occasion - mostly due to comfort issues. Set the bike up for all-day, day-after-day comfort, and appropriate gearing for your trip, and it hardly matters what type of bike it is....

Come to think of it ... I did my first tour on a department store "Venture" ... a 57 cm, 40 lb steel bicycle. I had padded cycling shorts (mtn bike style) but wore a T-shirt and running shoes, and used toe clips.

My current touring bicycle is 49.5 cm (which is exactly the right size for me), and weighs about 27 lbs.

Wait ... I might actually have a photo of me and that Venture. My first tour was supported, so I don't have much stuff on the bicycle. I had a great time! :)
.

Isn't there some English guy who is touring on a very old style bike. The one with the giant wheel in the front and tiny wheel in the back?

Funny, I met up with that guy in Queenstown, NZ. We stayed at the same motor camp. He had come from Tasmania. Told some great stories. Had a lot of positive things to say about rolling through Eastern Europe. He built the bike himself from what I understood. Nice guy, but totally crazy:D

Yes, but if we adopted this philosophy, there would be only ~200 posts total in the Touring forum, consisting of 100 posts on "which bike should i buy", 30 posts on "what size bike should i buy", 30 posts on tents, 30 posts on panniers vs trailers, and 10 posts covering all other subjects.

Plus, what would I do with all the free time? :rolleyes:

Ride? :o

I've seen one guy touring on a bent. I asked him how he did climbing up hills, as bents are notorious for being non-climbing bikes. He just smiled and commented he had never had a problem pushing it up any hill he had to get over.;)

I've seen one guy touring on a bent. I asked him how he did climbing up hills, as bents are notorious for being non-climbing bikes. He just smiled and commented he had never had a problem pushing it up any hill he had to get over.;)

I know of, and have seen, a lot of people touring on bents. A good friend of mine has done several tours on his bent, and doesn't seem to have a problem negotiating hills, etc.