intransit1217

One reason I started the shelf vs high end bike thread was I cant help thinking I'm trying to do what the title suggests with my dual sport. The sad thing is, I'm almost there.

My initial investment was only 650.
Added:

Pedals for cleats
rear rack
2 cages
bar ends
paragon fork (big $)
Better rear wheel
pair axiom panniers.

Still to add:
better saddle (I hope)
wider tires to mute some of the harshness of the aluminum frame.
front rack and panniers.

That will put me about 1600.

I coulda bought a pretty nice touring bike for that. One that has drop bars.
Why? Because I went out for a zone 2 ride yesterday on my road bike and wound up in zone 4/5 due to a headwind. Where I very quickly learned the value of drops. Free 1 mph ! And there will be wind on tour days. Not to mention those trp hoods over the hydros on some models are big enough for your whole hand.

Pardon my pity party. Feeling kind of stupid right now.

jimc101

Not seeing where you are coming from with some of the mods you have done with the bike.

No bike, high or low end comes with Panniers (bags), few with bottle cages, racks or clipless pedals; in addition, all of these are transferable to another bike.

For changing the saddle, normally these can be swapped when you change bikes, and saddles are a personal preference item.

Tires are consumables, wear out the current ones, or keep them as spares, you would be replacing at some point during the bikes life.

Not getting what you are saying about TRP brakes & hoods either, TRP only make single speed drop bar hydraulic disc brakes, all their other road brakes (currently) use normal SRAM/Shimano type brake levers/hoods.

robert schlatte

I upgraded a 1980 Schwinn Voyageur similar to what you've done and rode it on several long tours. It performed very well but I still had the same questions you do about why spend money upgrading instead of purchasing a new bike. I eventually did just that and purchased a Soma Saga frame and fork. The good news is, for the most part, all the new and upgraded components I purchased for the Schwinn easily transferred to the Soma so i did not feel like the money was misspent. Over time I have purchased newer components for the Soma and have transferred back to the Schwinn my original upgrades. So, now I have two beautiful bikes- the Saga for fully loaded touring and the Schwinn for sport and lighter touring.

Dave Cutter

+1 A friend once said he knew he was really cyclist when he realized his most expense suit.... was actually a "kit".

When I ride my bicycle... I never have to pay a fee to use the court, course, lanes, rink, or field. In many ways cycling is a bargain. But cycling isn't always free, or cheap, ether.

I've put less in building an entire bike than some people put into just a saddle... or even tires. Heck... I've paid less for a bike... than some have paid for a bottle cage. But I've also paid some higher dollar prices for things I've wanted too. I wouldn't worry about the dollars spent to get what you want... as long as you have them to spend. After all.... today is not a rehearsal.

hueyhoolihan

intransit1217

Yep. If I had to do it again, I'd buy a touring bike with drop bars. 2 Huge reasons. 1 Free windfighting tool. 2 No cables and hydraulic lines to impede the use of a bar bag. Sonova.

fietsbob

finding the far reach on Figure-8 bend trekking bars , and bending my elbows does much of the same thing bending over more ...

Tourist in MSN

A friend of mine uses a V brake noodle on each brifter to bend his shift cables downwards so that his handlebar bag does not cause any cable problems. I assume he used a 90 degree small one, but not really sure. I cropped out part of a photo to show that here:



In the photo he also has an inline cable adjuster. If I recall correctly, he did not have adjusters at the stops on the downtube.

intransit1217

Interesting solution. I looked at my situation and I wouldn't gain anything by doing that. Thank you though.

I think my solution will be a wider bar so I can add bar ends. The cables will just have to skwish behind whatever bag I use. But I don't see any problems with kinking.