indyfabz

Why not? Are you suggesting that the ride organizer won't have the stops promised?


"This is a fully supported deal. Like seven consecutive T-shirt rides they say.

We meet up with SAG trucks every 15 miles or so that have water, food, our luggage, spare bike parts, etc."

bradtx

I have the same inclination as 10 Wheels. Not to suggest anything negligent concerning the touring company, just that schedules, meeting places or plans in general can simply go awry.

Brad

fietsbob

Bring them both Since its Fully Supported, they will haul the back up Bike.

winston63 

Without hesitation I'd take the steel touring bike. I know for sure I'd want the lower gears and I like to be able to pack some extra clothing just in case conditions change. Sure, you'll probably go slower than many of the other riders but who cares? This is a tour, not a race.

I'd also go with 28 mm tires - I find they roll well enough and offer more comfort than 25.

Wilfred Laurier

At the end of a long day of riding, or on the last day of a week of long rides every day, I have never wished for a lighter bike, but I have certainly wished for lower gears.

Also, I prefer handlebar bags to saddle bags for stuff I might need while riding. I can get a snack and check a map or route sheet without stopping if I have a handlebar bag.

wheelinthai

I'd would listen to the tour leader. He has the experience, and know what to expect. Personally, I blow away my stronger friends with their heavy mountain bikes, while I'm on my light road bike. but I only weigh 154 lbs . 34-28 should be sufficient for most climbs.

wheelinthai

Simply

djb

his other bike is not a heavy mtn bike, but a 27lb drop bar bike with 28 slicks.

wheelinthai

When I mentioned heavy mtb, I was referring relative to my 7.9kg carbon road bike. My friends were all on their racing Klein Adept Comp, weighing around 10 kg.

djb

Kinda funny referring to a 22lb bike as heavy, but I still see drop bars and 28s being the big factor. When I ride my MTB vs my Tricross, there is a fair speed increase.

pdlamb

I'd treat the tour leader's advice like I would advice from someone at a bike shop, or, for that matter, from the internet. If the rider is close to the advisor's age, weight, experience, strength, and fitness, perhaps he should take that advice. But should a middle-aged, heavier rider with a desk job from the flatlands take the word of a young up-and-coming Cat 2 who trains daily in the mountains when selecting equipment? (Where's that salt shaker again?)

Jarrett2

That would be a nice service for them to offer, but its not *that* fully supported

I'm mostly worried about not having a back up set of wheels or more specifically a spare rear wheel. But having the SAG van haul that was also not an option. I'm hoping Stan's builds a solid wheel.

I guess it boils down to:

Would you want more climbing gears or 7 less pounds of bike if you were going on a trip where you'd test your climbing abilities beyond their previous limits?

I'm picking more climbing gears.

djb

very wise words, and what I hope the fellow asking the question takes into consideration.

CliffordK

It sounds like you have a lot of climbing on the course. So, how well do you climb on each bike?

Up until recently I had my lowest gear ration at 42/(21 or 23), and did quite a few hills with it. So, the 42/28 would be like a breeze... If I would ever get that low.

Weight, of course is an issue. I have been using a cargo bike, and pulling cargo. I start dropping a lot of gears as the weight increases.



My vote would be to use your CF road bike, but to customize it with the gearing you want. Put the smallest chainring your crank supports up front, and perhaps a 30T or 32T cassette in back.

Once you get your gearing set, head out and try some hills.

cyclist2000

What would I do? I would use the bike with gearing for the hard climbs, so I can spin up the hills. I have learned to treasure my knees and don't want to do any more damage to them.

saddlesores

why? it's a supported tour.
you won't be carrying baggage, and you'll be riding on pavement.

i'd be more worried about being 275 pounds, doing my first multi-day tour,
that being a tour of 7 days with no break days, in the mountains, and not
properly trained.

get that 3rd water bottle. it gets hot, really hot, riding uphill in the
mountains, especially if you're not trained for it. 15 miles doesn't sound
like much, but you can blow through two water bottles pretty quickly.

what if the support van runs out of water before you reach the supply
point? what if the van has moved on the next point after waiting the
allotted time? are they required to wait for all the stragglers?
......you're not gonna be *hammerin' it* with the pack leaders.

Jarrett2

Thanks again for all the input. I'm taking the steel touring bike. Headed out in a couple of hours.

CliffordK

If your bikes are more or less compatible, you can take what you consider the sturdiest, or most standard rear wheel. Perhaps snag a couple of spare spokes.

A supported trip should have some provisions for mechanics and repairs.

Quarryman32

Good luck! Definitely let us know how things go.

winston63 

Good luck! We're pulling for you - ride your ride and have a fantastic time!

Jarrett2

Should have taken the carbon bike... and a spare set of wheels.

This really wasn't a tour, but more of a race through the desert, so the touring bike wasn't appropriate. I needed my fast bike.

Also 140 miles in, I broke a spoke on my NDS and had no spares or backup wheels. Tour over. Bummer.

I guess I will know better next time.

djb

sorry to hear it was a head down sort of affair.
Im surprised the support folks didnt have any spare spokes etc, mind you, I've broken only a couple of spokes in 25 years of touring and general riding, so its not something I expect (and would never even consider the idea of "backup wheels").

wheelinthai

Sorry to hear of your plight. Better than spare wheel or spokes, is to have local bike mechanic go over the bike, tuning the spokes, replacing the chain if needed.

CliffordK

I'm surprised for a "supported" tour, they didn't have the ability to replace spokes, and you weren't able to find a bike shop to help out.

I've trued a wheel to compensate for a broken spoke. Not too bad to do as long as you have quite a few spokes to begin with. The problem, however, comes later trying to fix the messed up truing when the spoke is actually replaced. But, not wanting to cut a ride short, I've put in over 100 miles on a 35 spoke wheel.

Obviously there are a lot of different spokes, but one could cut straight spokes to length, then roll on new threads, and thus only need to take a very limited number of spares.

Anyway, I hope you had fun with the trip while it lasted.

Jarrett2

The problem was I had disc wheels with a 135mm hub. If I had brought my other bike that had rim brakes and a 130mm hub, there were a number of people that could have loaned me a wheel.

There was a bike shop in the small town we were in, but it was a kid in a garage basically. He said he had never seen my type of wheel or spoke before and wasn't sure if he could fix it. Based on that, I didn't want to chance riding another 300 miles in the desert on this kid's expertise. And the idea of riding the SAG van for the rest of the week was not at all interesting.

I know how to true wheels and could have trued around the missing spoke, but in my experience, if a wheel starts to crap out at less than 200 miles in, it's a downhill road in terms of reliability from there. If we just had one easy group ride left the next day, I would have chanced it, but I was looking at 300 more tough miles through the desert with a SAG group that had already left one person behind on the trip already. I wasn't going to chance it.

So a nice guy in the group (thanks again, Steve) gave me a lift back one town to pick up my truck so I had a way home. Lots of lessons learned on this one. Looking forward to the next, better planned tour.