Touring - Help Please! groupsets

I know this has been asked many times but always seems to be in relation to racers not tourers. Does it make a difference? I don't know, im new to road bikes. So here goes!

I am thinking about geting a custom built bike, a tourer and want to know if i should put campy veloce/centaur or shimano 105/ultegra. I have read many good things about both and have no doubt all 4are fantastic, but are either of them better on a tourer or does it not matter?

Please give as many opinions as possible.

Thanks in advance. Marc.

I run mtn bike gearing on my touring bikes - not road gearing. Although I use Dura Ace bar end shifters which are road components. LX or XT rear der, deore front der, LX hubs, LX or XT 11-34 cassette, nashbar trekking crankset 28/38/48, dia compe v287 brake levers and deore v-brakes - all hung on a 58cm LHT.

+1 on the MTB gearing. Maybe if you travel very light, aren't in the mountains, and have USCF racer-type fitness you could get away with a road drivetrain. Listen to me now, believe me later; a 30x28 granny is too high for most touring. Ask yourself what you will be climbing, and how hard and long do you want to climb it?

I have Campy Mirage on my tourer but run an LX chainset . The front shifter just about works and the microclicks allow fne tuning. The rear long cage shifter copes with 12-28 but a larger capacity MTB mech would be better. The hubs havent given me any problems but if you load them up heavily the axle is doing a lot of work compared to Shimano designs.It works OK but is not ideal. Sram also make groupsets worth considering.
I always carry a friction shifter in my toolkit on tour. They are small and light and can be fitted to use any replacement rear mech in an emergency.

When touring, you want easy gears and durable and easily replaceable parts. Campy makes components for racing, not touring. Campy components are not commonly found at most bike shops (in the US anyway).

As others have mentioned, mountain bike components are the way to go. They are generally built tougher and better sealed against the elements. Using Shimano components will almost guarantee that you can find a replacement part along the way.

While it's always tempting to use boutique brands to make your bike more unique (especially when buying a custom frame), a good touring bike and its components will, above all, be strong but easy to replace/repair when needed.

Check out Bruce Gordon's bikes for an example of how to build a proper touring machine: www.bgcycles.com

So what are you guys saying then? And please bare in mind i don't know too much of the technical stuff. are these groupsets not appropriate? i don't anticipate doing to much uphill work, but will do a bit i suppose.

And thanks for all the comments. Marc.

I run mtn bike gearing on my touring bikes - not road gearing. Although I use Dura Ace bar end shifters which are road components. LX or XT rear der, deore front der, LX hubs, LX or XT 11-34 cassette, nashbar trekking crankset 28/38/48, dia compe v287 brake levers and deore v-brakes - all hung on a 58cm LHT.

Vik, how many spokes are you running, and what gauge?

Groupsets are irrelevant in touring because nobody really makes them. While the MTB drivetrain adive is certainly one thing to consider, I think more touring bikes are currently using road based cranks they just choose the ones that carry small rings, like the XD 600, or the trekking sets on Nashbar. Anyone using drops is probably using road brake levers and canti brakes, or 287-Vs/or travel agents and V brakes. Most of the deraileurs are like LX large frame, the front can take a lot of stuff. Increasingly people are using the Rohloff internal gear hub, if they have the budget. Witha budget people are using Phil hubs, or DT hubs, though LX is also good for what most people get up to. People use a lot of everything. Look at Bruce Gordon, Sakkitt, etc...

Becuase most touring bikes are a mix between mountian bike parts and road bike parts, you can't get a full gruppo for them, unlike racing bikes.

As far as a parts list, well the choices are almost endless, but most touring bikes have some kind of road bike shifters, road triple frount derailer, mountian bike rear derailer and cogset. People tour using all kinds of cranksets, so that's pretty mixed. Of course there are many bikes that don't even fallow this standard....

I'd think about buying a prebuilt bike......

Vik, how many spokes are you running, and what gauge?

My wheels are LX hubs with 32H Mavic CXP 33 rims and 1.8/2.0 spokes. Not really touring wheels, but so far they have been trouble free for several thousand KMs.

I'm not sure i'm any clearer, but thanks all. I do know i will be using Mavic a719 rims. I may go for the shimano 105 as a few custom bike shops have recomended it.

Thanks again. Marc.

I'm not sure i'm any clearer, but thanks all. I do know i will be using Mavic a719 rims. I may go for the shimano 105 as a few custom bike shops have recomended it.

Thanks again. Marc.

For lightweight "credit card" touring, you should be OK with the road bike gearing. But if loaded down with sleeping and camping gear for a several day trip without nightly accomodations, you'll want to consider mtn bike gearing.

to be honest KK i will probably use the bike mainly for 60km runs and then some weekends and light camping. I dont think ill be going across europe, I just want reliabillity and comfort.

Thanks for your reply. Marc.

to be honest KK i will probably use the bike mainly for 60km runs and then some weekends and light camping. I dont think ill be going across europe, I just want reliabillity and comfort.

Thanks for your reply. Marc.

Bike camping with a light load I can get by with a 32-34 cog on the back and a 38T chainring. For heavier loads I need to move down to the 28T chainring. Just make sure you get a gear low enough to get up the climbs comfortably.

I've never used any 10spd components - are they going to be durable hauling around gear?

FWIW, I think you'd be fine with Tiagra, 105 or Deore. Many riders have put 10,000 miles or more on even Tiagra-grade components. I may be wrong, but I believe Ultegra and Dura-Ace are designed more for light weight than for durability.

One thing you might want to do as well is look at the components on some of the leading touring bikes: Surly LHT, Trek 520, Cannondale, Jamis. That will give you an idea not just of the components but also the gearing ranges typically used.