DaveLeeNC

I'm considering an unsupported 4-5 day credit card tour starting/ending at my home in NC (summer season ride). It would be strictly on paved roads and I am guessing 100 miles per day. I have ridden a couple of 'hard effort' solo centuries but have never ridden a casual 100 miles. So I am just guessing WRT what I can do here on consecutive days.

I would be on my road bike carrying (obviously) a very limited amount of 'stuff'. I would almost certainly use a messenger bag as I do a lot of local riding on this bike with a messenger bag and am quite comfortable with that. So the question is the wheels/tires.

When bopping around town or in the country with a local stop planned in (this is probably 90% of my riding total in the last year) I have been riding my older Mavic, 32 spoke aluminum wheels with Gator Hardshell tires. Unless it is that REALLY bad chipseal stuff, they are quite tolerable on my bike (EL-OS Steel Bianchi, 90's vintage) which is reasonably forgiving. But my race wheels/tires (Bontrager RXL-Lite wheels with Vittoria Open Corse CX-III clinchers with latex tubes) are obviously more comfortable (and slightly faster although that would not be the point in this case). I am tempted to just ride my race setup as is, take several extra latex tubes (I'm not at all sure that latex really flats more than butyl), and take the additional flat risk (it isn't like a flat is the end of the world when you have all day) and overnight latex pressure loss. In the pressure loss case I tend to top up my tires before every ride even with butyls, so it is just some extra/daily pump strokes. Or maybe I just carry a handful of CO2 canisters and do it that way.

Thoughts or comments on this? It would be my first 'tour' (if a credit card tour really qualifies).

dave

fietsbob

You're probably overthinking this.. the tires you have will be fine , leave the CO2 at home. bring spare tubes ,
I prefer a full length frame fit Pump.

Patch the one you remove and that tube is your spare. you can do a careful patch job with Lunch..

for insurance bring a 3rd, folding, tire..

Credit card touring is just like a day ride, you just are staying somewhere other than your House at night.

DaveLeeNC

But overthinking it is half the fun

Thanks for the comments.

dave

imi

Are your Hardshells 28mm? I toured loaded around NZ on those tires. Lowered the pressure to 7 bar, 102 psi for the ubiquitous chipseal.
If I was to do it again I'd probably go for 32mm, but not a deal breaker. On regular asphalt 28mm are great imho

Hardshells have great flat protection, so I wouldn't bother about a spare tire, just an extra tube, patchkit and air-pump.

imi

True that

jrickards

Yes, a CC tour counts but bring an extra credit card

Enjoy the ride!!

DaveLeeNC

My Hardshells are 25mm. 28mm might fit on my bike, but it would be close.

7 bar in 28mm tires - WOW. I run a bit less than that in 25mm tires.

dave

alan s 

A messenger bag, in the summer, in North Carolina, 100 miles a day, for 5 days? No way I would do that.

DaveLeeNC

My messenger bag (and me, of course) put in just over 2000 miles in June, July, and August this year. I just don't notice it unless it is overloaded. Typically it has my spare stuff and a light duty cable lock (I live in a low risk bike theft area) except for the last 3-5 miles. I will often throw in a grocery store (or something) stop at the end of the ride and whatever I buy goes into the messenger bag. I don't notice it but on rides that do not include a stop of some kind I usually don't carry it.

dave

DXchulo

I used Maxxis ReFuse on my CC tour across the country last summer. They're heavy, but very flat resistant and have good durability. I overthought a lot of things, but tire choice was easy for me because the ReFuse is my main training tire and it's been great to me over the years.

FWIW, having something on your back isn't the end of the world if it's not too heavy. My only bags were a Vaude Cruiser frame bag and a little drawstring backpack. The backpack was no problem in the heat. There were a couple days when I packed too much heavy food in there, though, and that got annoying after a while.