Touring - Making it on a road bike

I have a new road bike (Schwinn Fastback comp) and am now thinking of going on a coast to coast tour of America. The problems haunting me are that there are no mounts for a rear rack to carry panniers, and the bike has a carbon fork and seat stays, and am wondering if the extra weight will held with out damage.... (It is a medium bike and I am about 170 pounds)

First question, is there a rack on the market that attaches to the seat collar or post and also to the nut/screw that holds the wheel/hub onto the frame? This seems like it would work fine to support a good load, but I have not seen such a rack.

Second, I bought my bike from my local bike store and is still within the return date (up to sept 1st) would you suggest returning the bike for a touring bike. If so, what bike would you suggest around $800. They carry Trek, Schwinn, and Gary Fisher, mostly.

Thank you soooo much. ~John

See the "traditional road bike for transamerica" thread just a few posts below this one. Much better than starting a new thread with the same question.

Check out www.crazyguyonabike.com to read all about touring. If you really want to do coast to coast, I would probably recommend a real touring bike. Surly Long Haul Trucker and Trek 520 are two good options.

Get a rear wheel with more (32+) spokes, some puncture proof tires (Schwalbe Marathons), a comfortable saddle, and maybe an adjustable stem to raise the handlebars. Also replace anything else on the bike that is fragile and likely to break. Then buy a BOB trailer and you should be good to go. If you want to go with panniers then get an actual touring bike.

You can use an Old Man Mountain rack (http://www.oldmanmountain.com) with that bike, but as other folks have mentioned it isn't well suited to a cross country tour, but with some modifications [as DuckFat suggests] you can make it work. Given the costs of such a tour buying a Surly LHT complete isn't a bad idea ~ $900 - $1100 [even less used] and you could sell the bike for 60%-70% of its value when you get back if you've taken good care of it.

Thank you all for your quick responses. I have decided to try to return my bike and get a Surly (I found they are local here in Minnesota and look very unflashy, to my liking), even though the receipt explains the the that the shop only does "Exchanges" with in 30 days. I hope my story, straight forwardness, and concession to letting them keep $50 will appeal to their reason.

I never quite felt comfortable with the bike, it is bright blue, is littered with bright Schwinn stickers, and makes me feel like I have to pedal as hard as I can when I lean over the saddle.

Thank you for your responses, again, they are appreciated.

What about trailing a BOB along?

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/3/37/BOB_trailer.jpg

Thank you all for your quick responses. I have decided to try to return my bike and get a Surly (I found they are local here in Minnesota and look very unflashy, to my liking), even though the receipt explains the the that the shop only does "Exchanges" with in 30 days. I hope my story, straight forwardness, and concession to letting them keep $50 will appeal to their reason.


I don't know of any shops around here that allow 30 days to exchange, but it sounds like yours does. But an exchange may really mean an exchange for the same bike, in case fit or defect causes you some trouble. It may take some talking to get them to swap bikes, but I wish you good luck. You will like the Surly, if that's what you get. Most any shop can get Surly's, as most shops can order from the QBP catalog.

I changed my mind. I like the road bike too much. I am just going to get a bob trailer when I go. So then I can just detach it and be off coruuusing the streets with out much hassle. Plus, I already have an old, heavy Fuji road bike that would prolly work if I wanted to do the long haul with panniers and such, but I think the bob trailer will work best for what I want to do, which is to leave my stuff and be able to take off once I get too the towns.... Thanks for the impute everyone..