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Help me pick a bike

Old 04-15-12, 08:42 AM
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Help me pick a bike

I've gotten the bug to try a multi-day long-distance ride. I'd like to ride from San Francisco bay area to San Diego, or roughly 577 miles.

I'm an alpine climber (mountaineer), and amateur roadie (which I do to keep in shape for climbing), on account of my climbing background I'm pretty obsessed with gear and particularly ultralight gear (my road bike is sub 13lbs). Mostly I ride 60-100 miles around the hills of the bay area, the occasional TT, etc.

I have all the ultralight camping gear I could possibly want. I'm thinking of traveling with a lightweight sleeping bag, 3/4 length self-inflating sleeping pad, bivy sack, etc, since I'd rather avoid hotels (and people) on this trip. I'm thinking a stuff sack on a rear rack, no panniers and maybe a handbar bag.

I plan to ride around 100-150 miles per day.

I'd love the advice of the community on:

1) what your ideal bike for this trip will be. If money was no object, what would be the ideal frame (Ti, Steel, Carbon), wheels, brakes, shoes and etc.
2) what I should bring beyond basic bivy gear, tools, etc.
3) any route suggestions (I was just planning Hwy 1 the whole way, but maybe thats a dumb idea, I've ordered a couple books on amazon for route planning, but realtime advice is helpful too.)

I plan to ride at the end of May.
Thanks in advance!
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Old 04-15-12, 10:47 AM
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Check out Pete Staehling's articles at https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?...c_id=9738&v=D7

His low-weight load seems to jive pretty well with your ambitions.
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Old 04-15-12, 12:18 PM
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you might find some more information in the touring forum. This is the forum for people who ride long distances but aren't sensible enough to stop for the night
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Old 04-15-12, 04:55 PM
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Originally Posted by unterhausen
you might find some more information in the touring forum. This is the forum for people who ride long distances but aren't sensible enough to stop for the night
I think to some extent you are right, but I can tell by his post that he's not going to get the kind of answers he's looking for in the Touring Forum. They are not into lightweight bike packing over there. For the most part, what he's looking for bike wise would be more like a bike someone would want for randonneuring than for touring. I feel like things like the Tour Divide Race would fall more into this forum than the touring forum even though the riders would be stopping to sleep. What the OP is looking at is very much like a road version of a Tour Divide rig.

alipineclimber -
You may want to check out https://www.bikepacking.net/. For the most part though, I think a slightly more robust version of your road bike (possibly with fenders) that you find very comfortable is all you need. To carry your stuff, get some bags made up by Revelate Designs, Porcelain Rocket, etc.
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Old 04-15-12, 05:52 PM
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For what the OP is looking for I'd look at two bikes. Both carbon and light with the ability to carry some luggage. The first is less expensive, the Pedal Force CG2. Barrettsc has one of these and seems to be happy with it. The second is the Volagi. It's around $5k but has also gotten some good reviews from long distance riders. Both bikes will easily handle a large seatpost bag and the ultra-light weight hiking gear should fit in there easily. As mentioned above, you could also use your regular road bike but at 13lbs you probably have some less than robust parts on there that might no make it the whole distance. I could do what you are talking about on my Colango C-50. As far as the route goes, hwy 1 is pretty standard for most of the distance. You'll have to do a little stint on 101 north of Santa Barbara as well as some bike paths you'll want to use. In LA there are beach routes that avoid all the traffic lights on Hwy1 from a little south of Malibu on. You'll also have to ride on I5 or Camp Pendleton between San Onfre and Oceanside.
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Old 04-15-12, 06:04 PM
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still haven't convinced my mother that a tent wasn't needed on PBP.

You might be surprised what you will find in touring. I have an obsession with touring, even though I never do it. Lots of lightweight touring going on in the touring forum. The people that post about lightweight touring here always end up there eventually.
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Old 04-15-12, 06:29 PM
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Originally Posted by unterhausen
still haven't convinced my mother that a tent wasn't needed on PBP.

You might be surprised what you will find in touring. I have an obsession with touring, even though I never do it. Lots of lightweight touring going on in the touring forum. The people that post about lightweight touring here always end up there eventually.
This. There are ultralight tourers in the touring forum.

OP, for tours of just a few days I have used a carbon road bike with a Carradice saddlebag, about 10 lbs of gear. After a discussion in the touring forum I have swapped out the carbon seat post for aluminium, on the grounds that the saddlebag would tend to apply a twisting force to the post. Other than that (and SPD pedals so I don't have to take two pairs of shoes) no modifications.
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Old 04-15-12, 11:45 PM
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Originally Posted by chasm54
...After a discussion in the touring forum I have swapped out the carbon seat post for aluminium, on the grounds that the saddlebag would tend to apply a twisting force to the post...
How would it do that? One could argue that a seatpost rack might do that but not a Carradice bag. Either way it doesn't matter too much. Carbon seat posts don't really offer much over aluminum ones.
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Old 04-16-12, 01:47 AM
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Originally Posted by Homeyba
How would it do that? One could argue that a seatpost rack might do that but not a Carradice bag. Either way it doesn't matter too much. Carbon seat posts don't really offer much over aluminum ones.
I have the bag fixed to the seat post, rather than e saddle, using one of their SQR brackets. Makes it very easy to take it on and off, and carry it around when necessary. I was persuaded that in cornering and climbing the bag would swing somewhat and apply a degree of torsion to the post. It may be marginal, but I decided to err on the side of safety and as you say, I don't lose much.
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Old 04-16-12, 05:31 AM
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Originally Posted by Homeyba
For what the OP is looking for I'd look at two bikes. Both carbon and light with the ability to carry some luggage. The first is less expensive, the Pedal Force CG2. Barrettsc has one of these and seems to be happy with it. The second is the Volagi. It's around $5k but has also gotten some good reviews from long distance riders. Both bikes will easily handle a large seatpost bag and the ultra-light weight hiking gear should fit in there easily...
Hi Everyone.

I would recommend the Pedal Force CG2 that I have. But I would also consider the Pedal Force CX2 for ultra-light or credit-card touring.

The CX2 is a Cyclocross frame but has a lower BB height than most CX bikes, making it a good road and touring bike. It has eyes for a rear rack and has longer chainstays for added tire clearance and extra stability under load. This bike takes larger tires than most road bikes. It would also make for a great winter bike with plenty of room for fenders. See: https://pedalforce.com/online/product...5c6d3acd3eb246

The CG2 is a stiff and strong endurance road bikeset frame that would accept a seatpost rack and light bag for dry-weather fast-touring. Designed for tackling fast and hard long days in the saddle, the CG2 features a full carbon frame, tapered head tube, BB30 bottom bracket, internal cable routing, and a balanced geometry for a confidence-inspiring ride. It is available in eight sizes so you won't need to compromise on getting the perfect bike fit.

•High modulus carbon monocoque construction with oversized downtube and bottom bracket junction for optimal torsional and lateral stiffness.
•BB30 bottom bracket - a new standard that is stiffer, lighter and narrower than traditional bottom bracket systems. BB30 shell adaptor available to allow use of a traditional crankset.
•Asymmetric 1-1/8" top & 1-1/4" bottom head tube for extra front-end stiffness
•Internal cable routing for a cleaner look and better aerodynamic efficiency.
•Race proven geometry combined with a slightly taller head tube for a comfortable fit and great handling

See: https://pedalforce.com/online/product...ducts_id=20947

The cost of either of these frames is low and the owner can build it up with a road triple drivetrain or compact double drivetrain. I have a 50, 39 & 26t chainring set on mine.


My review of the CG2 is here: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...a-Century-bike
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