Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - What style of bike should I get?

Hello! I am new to the forum and relatively new to cycling as a sport/organized thing to do. i started riding a bike around since...whenever i can walk, pretty much.

I have a question for all of y'all more experienced folks:

I have a 1980's Lotus road bike, on which I did a century.

i am planning on buying a new bike.

other than more LDC, i am also interested in touring. I also got rid of my car, so my bikes need to also be my commuter and grocery-hauler.

I am thinking that the new bike should maybe be a nicer touring bike. i can commute on either, tour and bring home grocery on the touring bike, and do LDC on the Lotus.

But I am also worried that maybe soon i'd want something better for the LDC. So I thought maybe I can convert my Lotus into more of a utility bike, use it to tour, commute, and do grocery. My new bike could be a nicer road bike.

I can spend no more than $ 1000 totoal. I have no idea which way to go!! help!!

While it's possible, I doubt that the Lotus has clearance for the larger tires generally used for touring, much less the geometry and brazeons needed for rack and hauling gear. I would think it would be best to leave this as a road bike for centuries and such.

As far as a touring bike, you'll be hard pressed to get a new "touring bike" within your budget. However many hybrids come with full brazeons, room for wide tires, low gearing and relaxed geometry. The Jamis Coda I have for example, is very much a flat bar touring bike.

I think that baturtle is right about the Lotus. I have a '79 Lotus Legend out at my parent's house. It's fine for commuting and long-distance riding, but it really isn't set up for touring. It has pretty responsive tubes, Tange #2, so it is a joy to ride.

If you can add $100 to your budget then you can get a fully-equipped Surly Long Haul Trucker (LHT), see http://www.surlybikes.com/bikes/long_haul_trucker_complete/

The LHT should do everything you want in touring, grocery-hauling, commuting, etc. Whether your Lotus is good for long distance depends on the model. They made some really nice stuff, and some not so nice. But keep in mind, many long distance riders really like to ride on lugged steel and pay a lot for frames from places like Rivendell. You already have a lugged steel frame! So if it is top-end steel, in a geometry that's suitable, then there's no need to look any further. You can keep replacing parts as they wear out, and if you want you can probably spread the stays a bit to put in a "modern" drive train.

Nick,
OT, but I'm ordering fork parts today to build forks for the experiment of comparing different amounts of trail.

I was commuting 6 miles one way to work on a Cannondale Road Warrior 4, wearing a backpack. That was fine for that distance, but when I moved 18.5 miles away from work, I found advice on BF that said if you commute more than 15 miles, you will want a touring bike with rack and panniers. So I took that advice and went looking for touring bikes, and found this link:

http://bicycletouringpro.com/blog/touring-bikes-bicycles-made-specifically-for-long-distance-touring/

From there, I went looking for the closest bike shop to my house that sold one of these brands. As luck would have it, the closest bike shop my new house was a Bianchi dealer, so I ordered the Bianchi Volpe set up for touring (most touring bikes these days are marketed as cyclo-cross bikes, as is the Volpe). The nice part about ordering it is, I got it set up the way I wanted it: full fenders, rack, panniers, and clip-in pedals. The bike was about $1,100, but once you add the rack, fenders, pedals, shoes, and water proof panniers, you are out about $1,600. If you have some of that gear already then you save that money (I already had a bike helmet, for example).

Most folks here recommend the Surly. But I just picked the brand from the list that was sold at my LBS. People always tell you to test ride and see what feels comfortable, but that wouldn't work for me - doesn't every brand new bike feel comfortable? Lance Armstrong could probably ride two different Trek Madona's and tell you which one had tire brand X on versus tire brand Y just from the feel of the ride. And, he could probably tell you exactly what behavior was good or bad about each tire. But I'm not that experienced or sophisticated. I would probably test ride every bike on the list and love them all, and be totally clueless as to which one was best for me. So I just picked the one my LBS sold. And I'm perfectly happy with it. But I have no idea if I would have been happy with one of those others. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.

My budget was the same as yours, but after buying all the accessories (and I just realized I forgot to include my expenses for lights) you better plan on going about $500 or $600 over the basic cost of the bike itself. If that is your budget for everything, you better start at Wal-Mart.

Nick,
OT, but I'm ordering fork parts today to build forks for the experiment of comparing different amounts of trail.

Cool beans (as my sister used to say in 1968). Let me know how it goes ...

I was commuting 6 miles one way to work on a Cannondale Road Warrior 4, wearing a backpack. That was fine for that distance, but when I moved 18.5 miles away from work, I found advice on BF that said if you commute more than 15 miles, you will want a touring bike with rack and panniers. ...

That's a really nice link full of touring bikes that you posted.

I've commuted 10 miles each way to work, every day, in all kinds of weather, for the last 5 years. Unless you're carrying the biggest lunch in the universe, a touring bike is overkill for commuting. You just don't need tubes that are stout enough to handle a 70 to 80 pound load if all you're carrying is lunch and some spare clothes in a pannier on a Blackburn rack. You do need wheels that are stout enough for city streets, with tires that will help absorb some shock (e.g 700x32), and room for fenders. But the Salsa Casserroll, Surly Pacer, or Soma Extra Smoothie (among many others) will all do that just fine. I ride an '82 Trek 614 with Reynolds 531 frame tubes, which are light and responsive. (In the winter for ice and snow I'm on Cannondale MTB with spiked tires.)

But the original poster wants a touring bike for touring, as well as for commuting. At the OP's price point, the Bianchi Volpe you cited would be a good choice for that, as would the Surly LHT, Fuji Touring, or Jamis Aurora.

At the OP's price point, the Bianchi Volpe you cited would be a good choice for that, as would the Surly LHT, Fuji Touring, or Jamis Aurora.

The Novara Randonee would fit the bill, too.

I did a lot of research before I bought my touring bike. Bianchi Volpe was high on my list. I think the only thing that prevented me from buying the Volpe was the fact that the year that I went to get the Volpe, they took the braze-ons off of the fork so you couldn't set it up with front panniers. I think the Volpe is still that way and is marketed more as cyclocross bike than a touring bike. I didn't really want a purist touring bike either. The LHT comes with bar end shifters... I preferred integrated braking and shifting. The LHT also came with 26" wheels in my frame size... I wanted the 700C wheels. I found the bike that came perfectly spec'd for me... it's the Rocky Mountain Sherpa 30. It's a little heavy for a rando bike, but it's perfect for commuting, hauling stuff, and I'm sure it would make an excellent touring machine.