briedel

Hey,

I am eyeing the Raleigh Sojourn as a winter/touring bike and was wondering what its maximum weight was (I clock in at 240 pounds give or take a few). Raleigh says their touring bikes can take 355 pounds (300 rider and 55 luggage), but I am not sure if the Sojourn fits in that category according to them.

Any other recommendations for treking bikes for taller people (I am 6'7") would be nice as well.

Cheers

Jamesw2

I Have been doing research on touring bikes and asking a lot of questions. The only bike I would load down me being 275,and loosing is the
https://www.koga.com/us/bike.asp?coll...tid=&id=547188
I called the dealer and he sent me the specks on the rims
You may need to call the mfg. of the rims to see what they recommend

briedel

I looked at that one, the problem is that the frame only comes in 60 cm, which is borderline for me.

Giantsoobs

their traveller G is offered in a 66cm frame. small step down in a few accessories (deore XT down to LX) but otherwise looks appealing.

jeveretts

I went with the Surly Long Haul Trucker and couldn't be happier. I started at 330lbs and I am down around 265 now, riding up to 55 miles at a time. The LHT is like my best friend, with a Brooks Flyer, I have never had such a comfortable ride.

briedel

I saw that the problem is that the closest dealer is supposedly in Canada (at least i cant find one in my region, Madison, WI, or i am doing something wrong with the search) and i want to use it as a winter bike and the disk brakes seem a lot better in wet conditions than the regular breaks.

mthayer

https://www.surlybikes.com/dealers/de...ist/region/WI/
There is a dealer in Madison, the search didnt pull it up for some reason. Look at the The cross check may be a better option if your looking at doing more commuting than touring. Specialized has the Tri-Cross, I believe thats the name, its similar to the Cross Check but has a Triple crank.
If your looking for a touring bike, Co-Motion looked like a good choice also. Salsa has the Fargo line which is a 29er. They released the Vaya which is on road version of the Fargo. Just a few more suggestions on bikes.

Rhodabike

Check out the Rocky Mountain Sherpa. I've heard that they're practically bombproof, made for serious expedition type touring.

briedel

I actually meant a koga bikes... I totally did not see the post about the surely bikes. I will check those out when I get the chance

I looked at the Rocky Mountain Sherpa, and it looks great, but it only comes in sizes up to 59 cm.

I actually went down to the bike shop down the street again. They said the rayleigh would take 355 in total and offered me to hand build the wheels for 300 dollars a pop. i think my heart sank to my feet when he said it would cost 300 for a wheel

Anyway, can anybody give me an advantage of the regular breaks over the disk breaks? I know they are easier to maintain/fix, but I am not really planning on going on a month tour of the backwoods Wisconsin and would be riding in the winter for the most part as well.

mthayer

I had this discussion with a wise mechanic one day while I was looking at touring bikes. The advantages that cantilever or side pull brakes have over disc is the simplicity of them. They are easier to fix in a bind over the disc brakes. The pads for cantis or for rim brakes can be found just about everywhere bike stuff is sold. The disc brake pads are not really distributed everywhere other than bike shops. The disc breaks work better though in the rain and wet weather, but how often are you going to really be riding in the rain and wet weather.
Thats the way he broke it down for me and it makes sense for me. I was looking at the Raleigh, when I had the above conversation with the mechanic. Its a nice bike but it was a bit out of my price range at that current time. I wouldnt worry too much about the wheels. I weigh 255 +/-, and I have Mavic A319 on my randonee. I loaded the bike down with 40 pounds of gear plus me and the weight of the bike. I didn't have any problems with it. Never heard a creak, pop, nothing. You should be fine with any stock double walled rim. Get a 36 hole rim preferably and youll be fine.

briedel

thanks for the reply

I am really impressed by the raleigh when i test rode it. the hand position was comfortable (not as good as my Soho, but different types of handle bars). It has 36 hole rim, so that shouldnt be a problem. The whole wet/rain thing is a little important to me because i was going to use it as a winter bike, so there will be snow on the ground and this for a month to two at a time.

I have personally been a bit weary of the normal bike brakes. I have a had bad experiences with them and considering that I might go through 3 to 4 sets during a season I am just not that convinced that easy to fix advantage outweighs the disadvantages

mthayer

Everyone has their own preferences. I ended up going with a Novara Randonee, which is a fully loaded touring bike. I felt the most comfortable on it, and I looked at a lot of bikes. If you were to get the Raleigh, I would recommend switching out the rear rack if your going to use panniers. It is a funky design, and some panniers wont work. My rack is the same way and I have problems with some panniers.

briedel

Yeah I still have to think about the bags i want to buy as well because I havent toured in a while and always used somebody elses spare bags if i did....I will check out the other bikes and see what I can do after my IRS check arrives.

zzyzx_xyzzy

Salsa Fargo is the biggest off-the-rack touring bike I know of in the US market. The headtubes are very long. "virtual seat tube" on the XXL works out to 72cm, with a 61cm top tube and 72 seat angle. It's actually a less reach than I'd like with drop bars, but beyond that you're in custom frame territory (or import something expensive from the northern Europe market) I'm afraid.

briedel

I am from Germany originally, so I can always get something from there. thanks for the tip though

wrk101

+1 If you are going to buy new, you cannot beat the deal on an REI Novara Randonne, and you cannot beat their guarantee either. If you look used, there are many nice vintage touring bikes out there. I have owned several of the Japanese versions from the 1980s.

briedel

I looked at that, but REI only has it in 52 cm.... I might drop by my local REI store and check with them