Touring - Touring on a Trek Portland

Hello,

I consider buying next year the Trek Portland, for both commuting and touring. By touring I mean one trip a year, 7 - 15 days (700 - 1500 kms), over asphalt roads. Except of this I do another 2000 km / year in the city. I weight about 75 kg (165 lbs), during the touring trips I carry with me the camping gear, but my luggage is never more than 15 kg (I use only rear rack with panniers).

Is the Portland suitable for me? Especially, would 24 spoke wheels be enough? If this bike is in your opinion definitely not for me, what else would you suggest? I've considered the Trek 520, but I think I don't want the cro-moly frame and bar-end shifters. Also 36 spokes wouldn't be necessary for my usual commuting.

Is it possible to put 700x32 tires and full fenders to this bike?

Is it possible to put a 11-28 or 11-32 cassette into it? (I feel the 11-26 one could be not enough on some climbs).

And, finally, does maybe anyone know if the Portland 2012 will be available in Europe?:)

Especially, would 24 spoke wheels be enough?,
no, but at point of sale your Trek Dealer will give you a decent trade in price,
on the un used wheels , take offs,
to trade in for a set of wheels with an adequate 32~36 spoke wheel set
made up of the same level of components.

Trek's Bodega is a real nice bike too, Riser bar Brifters swap easy
onto Trekking bars.

swap the cross style Knobbies for Schwalbe marathon Plus tires ..

And, finally, does maybe anyone know if the Portland 2012 will be available in Europe?

yea but you have a lot of other bikes to choose from, as well
that we in the States do not.

This is a dealer search engine..http://locator.trekbikes.com/locator/search?lang=en

German and Vegas trade shows and pre-season orders, there,
determine how many bikes get made to satisfy the next years sales.

So if they guess short , small shops that cannot commit to big orders
often find zero in stock in this part of the year.

your Trek Dealer will give you a decent trade in price,
on the un used wheels , take offs,
to trade in for a set of wheels with an adequate 32~36 spoke wheel set
made up of the same level of components.

would they really change me the wheels for some 32 spoke ones? (note the disk brakes; I'm not sure trek has any model with 32 spokes and these brakes)


Trek's Bodega is a real nice bike too

I'd like to try now a bike with drop handlebars (that is one of the reasons why I'd like to change from my current Trek 7500). Usually it's not easy to replace a straight bar with a drop one (different geometry, suspension, v-brakes,...)

IMHO, the crank is too big for anything besides flat land riding with a load (even a small 15 kg/30 lb load). The Portland is rather edgy, stylish, rather than a bike build for touring. IMHO.

I'd recommend a Fuji Touring bike, something like a Surly Cross Check built up with a mountain crank and decent (32 or 36 spoke) wheels, etc. In Europe, perhaps you could look at Thorn bikes from the UK; what they call light, sporting rides probably overlaps with most road tours.

According to Trek the carbon fork has low rider mounts and the stock tires are 700x35, whether that means it can take fenders on a 32mm tire is unsure. My opinion is that putting 15kg on a 24spoke rear wheel wouldn't be wise compared to putting low riders on the front and splitting the load fore/aft with the rest sitting on the rear rack.

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/town/commute/portland/portland/#

Trek doesn't make the wheels , sub contractors do, and they are put in the box
abroad, when the bike is partially assembled at a different contract factory.


Disc Brake wheels currently, use an MTB hub
and a Whatever rim.. a built at the dealer wheelset lets you choose ..
study the market for rims , And you can pick

I would talk to the dealer early , perhaps there is an 2011 bike
in the warehouse over there , now, in your size to be found at near end of the season pricing.

as Is its over-geared for touring with the tiny 11t cog in the back even a 44t chainring is plenty.

But as you will note reading back the front shifter and the mountain FD use a different cable pull

some times they will shift OK , some hate it.

48,36 ..and a 24 t is a different choice .. another point of sale swap/takeoff.

i got a 2011 trek portland. wheels are holding up fine under my 200lb butt and a small pannier for commuting. wheels were hand finished though. still true and have not touched the spokes. around 2000-2500 miles on the wheels currently. full fenders are ok. should have enough clearance for a 35