HandsomeRyan

I did a search of the forums but it came up with 500 responses and none of them had much to do with my question so i appologise if this has been covered before, i really did use the search function first.

i was given a 70's model fuji road bike for free by a generous craigslister. i rode it a few times and it was creaky so i took it to the LBS- when i got it back from a tune up the guy said it was an okay bike but for what i wanted to do- it was not the ideal bike. I asked what bikes they had that would be good for road riding, and light touring on a strictly recreational level. he recomended the Specialized Sequoia. i looked at it and it can have racks mounted to it, it can hold 3 cages, and i would love to have the shifters at my fingertips instead of those silly downtube shifters.

Any other recreational roadies/tourers riding a sequoia?

linky: https://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=22259

If you guys/girls think its a good deal i'll go order one. i really like this shop and it seems like the bike would fit my needs pretty well.

Thanks in advance.
HandsomeRyan

HandsomeRyan

also the LBS has this bike priced $45 below MSRP.

old and new

I didn't see your first posting,I'm not going to look either. I read what you type now AND: Specialized,he likes it ,he sells it,it's aluminum. Jamis..do yourself a favor,click on their site, same with Bianchi.These are very user-friendly sites.They have nice pictures and the products are great,year after year these two firms offer very sensibly spec'd, well made, good (and not overly complex) range of choices. Trek has a really nice tourer, one of the few reasonably priced steel bikes with bar-end shifters(barcons). The Trek has all the fixins of a full-blown tourer,a rack too. So, unless you're lookin' for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the bread, I see no cunfusion! Your choice is limited to the shops you care to visit,the color,frame material and to a very small degree price.Click on the sites and see for yourself or don't

DevLaVaca

Hey, you're never going to find the "ideal" bike, especially if you let the guy at the LBS sell it to you! Seriously, though, he might be right, but I can't tell without a picture or more info about the Fuji. Give the old bike a week or two to fully check it out; take a test ride on the Specialized, see which you like better, and then you can decide whether any difference is worth $750.

One thing to keep an eye on with that Specialized, though, is the short chainstays. If you plan on carrying panniers, you may have trouble with heel strikes. Of course, that could be a problem with your Fuji, too (but it was built in the heyday of tourers, so maybe not). Ask your LBS if you can check that out before you make the decision to buy.

HandsomeRyan

thanks for the advice. i had not even thought about clearance issues with luggage. the fuji doesnt even have the mounting holes for a rack and it is abou 4" too short from seat-to-stem for me to do 30+ mile rides like i'd liek to. the guy at the bike shop was cool he just said- "of the stuff we carry here, this is the bike i'd put you on based on you wanting to ride locally and a bit of light touring."

i tried to look at other manufacterers websites but the trek tourer i found was almost four hundred dollars more expensive, the bianchi webstie was allmost un-navigable (couldn't tell WTF i was looking at?).

i really liked the Jamis tourer i saw online but they do not have a dealer for almost 100 miles in any direction and although it looks like a sweet bike, i hate to drive 100 miles every time it needs to go to the dealer for service.

DevLaVaca

Braze-ons for a rack can be a killer. You can still mount it, but you'll need special hardware for it. I don't see braze-ons for mounting a rack on the Sequoia, either, though. I could just be missing them in the rear, but the fork definitely doesn't have them; also, a carbon fork, while light, might not be the best idea if you plan on making it a high-miler. (Also, the Sequoia definitely doesn't have clearance for fenders... that alone would end the plan for me).

What exactly do you mean by light touring? This term can encompass a lot, but if you let us know what exactly you plan on doing, maybe we can give better advice.

HandsomeRyan

by light touring i mean maybe 30-60 miles per day. probably camping in a hennessey hammock and credit carding most of the food. so i would have some stuff to pack but i don't need 60+lbs of camping/cooking gear.

I believe the sequoia can have a rear rack mounted to it. I had not really thought much about fenders but i suppose they would come in handy in wet weather.

I am open to other ideas for tour-able bikes but i'd like to buy new if at all possible. I'm trying to stay under $1000 for the bike, tax, a rear rack and luggage if at all possible.

DevLaVaca

Yeah, if you're going to be doing multi-day touring, you need fenders. Nothing worse than waking up to road grime flying in your face because of an unexpected storm or street-cleaning.

If you're dead set on a new bike, the Fuji Touring isn't a bad deal at $910; it's a cromoly frame and fork with double brazeones for fenders and racks, and low-rider front mounts. It's also got 44cm chainstays to keep your heels from hitting, plenty of room for fenders and comes with a rack (which probably isn't up to heavy-duty trekking, but will suit your trips just fine). This bike hasn't changed much for a few years, so if you can find an older model new, you could get an even better deal on it. I almost bought a Touring before I found my Dawes Super Galaxy on craigslist, and now I'm lusting after it again. Jeez.

The retrogrouch and tinker in me, though, says you could probably do pretty decent things with your present Fuji for much less. You could swap stems or get an extender to make your cockpit longer, and use clamp-on mounts for fenders and rack: I don't know that I'd trust those for 60 lbs, but they'll take a Hennessey and two days' food and drink no problem.

cminter

This bike is popular for touring and will fit fenders and racks. https://www.surlybikes.com/lht_comp.html
Msrp $930

HandsomeRyan

thanks for more advice. i'm totally digging that fuji touring. its a little more money but i think my buddy gets a discount at the local fuji dealer so i'll ask him this weekend.

i wish i'd known bikes would be this addictive.

dynodan22

Hi
I have the sequoia expert model I believe its a 2005 model bought it used from a bike shop.
it has the 105 package on it so I thought,till I broke the spline on the cranks. Specialized
still backed the bike though and ended up putting in a 105 crank instead of specialized brand
crank. I also destroyed the rear hub internals . They replaced that to no questions since these
2 fixes have had no issues with it. I am 6'2" 220lbs I run it with 28cc wide tires.
The geometry is definetly different to me compared to older ten speeds I grew up with.
The Bike feels more compact to me . I have ridden 50 mile rides in it comfortably. The only
thing I did not like about it was the seat post had a shock in it . It bounce my but around like
it was a jello jiggler. I went to a carbon specialized post that was much better. No rack on
my bike yet enjoy it to much riding it around the city to dilly it up with a rack.
I think I like to try more of a pure road bike down the line like the allez or a another
cannondale. Only one cannondale dealer here in the milwaukee area and there not to
sharp.

Dan

Velo Dog

This doesn't address your whole question, but mounting racks for light use on a bike without braze-ons isn't that big a deal. You'll need some C-shaped clamps that fit around the tube (usually the seatstay), then the rack bolts to them. Home Depot has 'em sometimes, and most bike shops should carry them. They look like this: https://www.bikeparts.com/pimage/thum...C102199_tn.jpg
The Sequoia is a nice bike, BTW. My boss has one she's ridden all over Europe.

DieselDan

Go ahead and get a real touring bike like a Cannondale T-series or a Trek 520. Those are easy to set up for touring and ride smooth enough for short easy rides. Specialized does NOT sell a true touring bike in the USA.

As for rack mounting bolts being hard to find, think again. All braze on eyelets have M5 threading and hardware is readily available at your LHS.