Touring - choices choices choices

Sigh. After reading the recent post on touring bike recommendations, I remember now why it took me so long to end up with the bike I have... *and* why it appeared magically on my birthday without any input from me. If it had been up to me, I would still be scouring the newsgroups and forums searching for the perfect bike and fretting over which parts I need to fight over with the bike shop guy without even knowing the difference between one part and another. Fortunately, my wife made a decision for me. I certainly wouldn't have picked my Giant Cypress, but it sure has been a good bike to me and I'm glad I have it.

Now I'm interested in touring and I'm afraid I'll end up riding my hybrid across the USA before I can come to a decision on a good touring bike and which gears and chains and brakes and wheels and... well, you know. Oh well. I don't exactly have $1100 to throw around anyway (although I just spent $400 on that damn useless P.O.S. car...).

That's all. Nothing real to contribute. Just yackin' away.

...now, what should I make for dinner?

:)

After riding across America you could retire your Giant Cypress and buy the touring bike you desire. Start saving your spare change now! Oh, Moroccan stew would be great for supper.

I have just ridden 4200kms across Australia, I didn't really know what sort of bike to get for it either, wish someone could tell me. I rode a Norco RD-3, with stock standard Shimano 105 gearset all over. My only complaint about that was that I lost a gear shifter leaver cover, that's it. A bit of lock tight on that will do the trick next time.
Some of the guys I rode with had a granny gear for the hills in Tasmania like "break-me-neck-hill", great name I know, I didn't have 1 and didn't really need it. Also some got the larger 26 tooth gear on the back, I don't think you need it, but I know there are probably bigger hils in the USA.

I have to mention that one of the guys that rode, came with a steel bike that still had lugs in to it, it was soooo old, he had to leave it halfway across, cause some other guys found a crack in the frame. Basically he had a bike that was just too old.

On touring, I'd say that a nice new bike would be great but it's more the rider and the training that make the difference. We has some guys come across with steel bike, sure they were alot heavier than my alu bike, but they were just as quick riders cause they'd done the training on their bike. that I'd say was more important that having the 'perfect' bike.

Cheers
Andrew

A steel bike with lugs you say... man that must have been
sooooo oooold!

What was the guy a hundred or somethin?

and they're soo much heavier than aluminum bikes, you have to be a weight lifter or on 'roids or both

I second the vote for Moroccan Stew

www.rivendellbicycles.com/html/bikes_riv9.html

Hmmm........my brand new track frame is lugged... or did my LBS sell me some new, really, really, old stock?

George

Hmmm........my brand new track frame is lugged... or did my LBS sell me some new, really, really, old stock?

George

Definitely conned - post it to me and I'll put it in my private museum ;)

I have to admit that I didn't wiegh this bike that I'm talking about, but we had a raffle on how much it did wiegh, we got up to 17kgs. Not really surprised... I wasn't! It's rather funny story about why he brought his bike on the ride, he was offered a very reasonably steal frame bike by another rider before the ride, and he gave it a test ride and said it was just too twitchy compared to his other bike. But the only reason the newer one was "too twitchy" was cause his old heap of junk was so heavy the thing just didn't twitch at all...it was 'dead' so to speak.

Cheers
Andrew