Cyclist0108

In 2014, I got a custom steel framed "adventure" road bike. It has Ultegra hydraulic brakes, and Di2 gearing (50/34T -- I may get something smaller, and 11-32). It also has a carbon Enve fork, with no mounts for low-riders. I have a 32 spoke rear wheel, and the bike can handle 40mm tires. This is the best ride I have ever experienced with my clothes on, but I do sometimes kick myself for having given away my 1989 Trek 520 about 10 years ago to one of my grad students (who didn't appreciate it enough) since I haven't toured after 1992 (breeding and blimping, job, etc). To tour with the adventure bike, I would likely have to get some lower gearing (maybe an XT or WI crank), and probably a trailer. (I do have a rear rack and small panniers).

Trailer + new crank + ? starts to approach 50% of the cost of a new 520 or comparable bike, but I would kind of get a kick out of touring on the "adventure" road bike (unless I ruin it).

Here is the bike (I've since leveled the rack):


Because the frame size is fairly small (I have short legs), I can't get much in the frame triangle apart from 2 water bottles.

prathmann

Your new bike might be fine for touring the way it is depending on what kind of tour you have in mind. Most of my camping tours have been with just a couple rear panniers mounted on a crit-geometry Cannondale (53/39 - 13/32) which can only fit 23mm tires.

dabac

Ignoring some of the nuances of touring - severity of climbs, amount of gear/food/water you'll need to carry, distance and how to get to technical assistance should it be needed - I say go for it. Sensible tire widths, sensible spoke counts, go ahead.

bradtx

I agree with this, in particular if you're going to use a trailer for your 'loaded' touring. Gearing will probably have to slide down to something lower overall, but there has been several variations of a 'sub compact' double springing up.

Brad

PedalingWalrus

Are we talking weekends or are we talking about a trip across the continent starting with a flight to the starting point?

Short overnight tours are a great way to tweak your gear...i say go for it 😊

reppans

Beautiful bike... have you considered investing in some UL camping gear? < 20lbs/30L fully-loaded in a set of rear panniers or bikepacking bags can be quite comfortable and useful across multiple outdoor/travel endeavors. In my particular case, I actually went UL for backpacking and thought this might also work for getting back into bike-touring... and now prefer bike-touring. The stuff can be so small/light/multi-tasking, that I actually EDC and travel (hotel) with a good chunk of it.

mstateglfr 

You have a rear rack- so get some bags that fit it. If the small ones you have are enough, perfect.
Toss a compression drybag on top of the rack. like this- Alps Mountaineering Dry Sack - Storage & Compression Sacks - Backpack Accessories - Backpacks & Bags - Camp & Hike :: CampSaver.com
Get a small partial framebag to hold tools, snacks, etc. Jandd and many others make these.
Get a handlebar roll. like this- https://www.blackburndesign.com/outp...l-dry-bag.html there are many many others available too.

Pack up and do a few overnighters to campgrounds 20-60mi from home to test the setup. You are in one of the most beautiful regions of the country with forest camping to the east and beach camping to the west, get out there!




...the above info isnt cheap. Another option is the small panniers, and a large Carradice saddle bag like this Bicycle Saddlebag | Super C Saddlebag | Carradice or like this Bicycle Saddlebag | Originals Camper Longflap | Carradice. The saddlebags are $100USD and between 32 and 35 liters.
I would think panniers and saddlebag would be more than enough room for overnights. You could then refine the setup before doing longer tours(add a handlebar bag to reduce rear packed weight or add a partial framebag, etc).

andrewclaus

Ditto, too much depends on your touring style and how much gear you carry for us to make the call.

For instance, my old 90's touring bike is way too heavy for my current UL style of travel, and I would kill for your bike! Wanna trade?

manapua_man

Slap a rear rack on, or go CC touring with some extra clothes in a saddle bag (or backpack) and you'd be fine as is IMHO. You can make pretty much anything go, it's just a matter of what you want to do/carry that limits the bike choice.

My lightest "touring" bike is a SuperX with a fat saddlebag and ghetto rigged rear rack for when I'm fairly certain that I won't have to jump on a train to do something over the weekend.

Edit- I didn't see the pics on my phone for whatever reason. Looks like that thing is good to go as is.

Cyclist0108

This is what I have now (and used to use as my front panniers, with low-riders):



I think I still have bigger bags somewhere, but they kind of sucked at the time and now they are 25 years old, beaten to hell, and still suck.

Cyclist0108

Maybe ultra-light, as some of you guys are suggesting, is the thing to try.

Cyclist0108

I'd like to work my way up to it. Fortunately, I live at the starting point (assuming I go west to east).

fietsbob

PCH, People do , all the time , Put your stuff in a BoB trailer and You dont have to alter the Bike at all .
Or, Extrawheel trailers use the same tire/wheel type as you have on the front and carries another rear Pannier set..

robow

Yea, looks great to me, other than the gearing being a little too high for myself, but then for you, it might work if you are extremely fit and/or a lightweight and/or don't plan on heading up too many steep hills. But that's easy to change and doesn't have to be too expensive.... mere fluff.

DeadGrandpa

You don't need bigger bags; you will only fill them up and you will have excess weight on the rear (though some tourers prefer that). Get a handlebar roll or a dry bag and some nylon straps to attach to the handlebar, and put some weight up front. Check discount stores for small storage (for tools, snacks) to sit on your top tube. If absolutely needed (overnight/weekend trips will determine), an inexpensive rack/trunk bag can ride on top of your rear rack. I find the cost of small or partial frame bags to be excessive considering their limited volume, but the frame bag filling the full triangle of my Renegade works for me.

Then there is your gearing, which would not work for me on hills. It is a different experience pedaling your loaded bike rather than your naked bike, especially if you ride up hills. You can change your crankset without breaking your budget, by going less than Ultegra. Or, if you spend half the cost of a 520 getting your custom ride tweaked, isn't that the way to go?

I have toured with and without an Extrawheel trailer (the lightest trailer option). Without the trailer, the bike flexed from being overloaded. With the trailer, the bike handling improved but the effort required up hills made me re-examine my packing philosophy and gearing selection.

Btw, I put an inexpensive triple crankset on my "adventure" bike. Money well spent.

bikemig 

Going cross country is fun. I'd like to do another one of these days, sooner rather than later. You'll probably want a triple though for doing a cross country and you'll have to decide whether it's worth the cost. I've also been thinking about a west coast back to the midwest where I live kind of ride so there's only one plane ride involved. The best part of a cross country tour, I think, is the west.

In terms of frame geometry and the like, this bike is more than fine. You can't run low riders with that carbon fork which is not a big deal if going with just 2 rear bags or a trailer. But if running more bags, low rider are awesome in terms of bike handling. A loaded touring bike with 2 bags down low up front just tracks really, really well.
You can pick up a used touring bike; they tend to hold their value better than most bikes though. An older rigid mtb can work and those are relatively inexpensive even for the good ones. I don't know if you've seen this but this is a velo cheapie touring thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/10...d-contest.html

I'd certainly start out touring on this bike if the gearing works for you (you have a different thread on this bike where you're thinking about lowering the gearing) but you may want to think about N plus 1 and keep your eye out for a used touring bike.

Big Lew

If you want to buy an ultra-touring bike, go for it...but really, people tour, often great
distances, on all types of bikes including single speed. There was a fellow on this site
that toured up the west coast on a Penny-Farthing. My first multi-thousand mile tours
were done with a basic 18 spd rigid frame mountain bike. My first tour of a couple
hundred miles when I was 14 was on my grandfather's old 28" single spd CCM from the
Second World War era....if it rolls, it can be used to go on tour.

Cyclist0108

Strangely enough, absolutely none of those descriptions is even remotely accurate.

CliffordK

All the decisions depend on the person.

50/34 x 11-32 gearing gives you almost 1:1 gearing. It sounds low to me.

I can carry just about anything I need in rear panniers for a few days out. Maybe a week? With food & resupply stops?

I pull a trailer around town enough, I have no desire to pull one on a tour, unless I'm towing for several people.

Anyway, pack up and do a few weekend rides, and do a good shake down before making any big changes.

robow

Then a 34 x 32 low (29 gear in.) is likely to be more than a little tough at times. No sweat errr, actually probably a lot of sweat.

Cyclist0108

Di2 limits me to a double, so either I put an XT (or similar) crank on it (a 46/30T buys me only one lower gear), or I get a different bike. Well, I justified buying an extra wheelset for this bike, so maybe i can use that as justification for getting an extra frame for that wheelset.

Cyclist0108

Even if I never tour, I am going to get a 46/30T crank.

robow

I have two of those Sugino 46/30 cranks, LOVE them. Coupled with my 11-34t in the back, you're looking at less than 24 gear in. >>> good stuff

bikemig 

The new soma DC frame set is pretty sweet. Although there are a lot of good touring frames to choose from.

Low gearing on a touring bike is a big deal. I'd want gearing in the low 20 inches. You're dealing with more weight and there will be days that you're pretty beat from a long day in the saddle.

bikemig 

You were one of the early adopters of those on BF. You did a couple of threads where you spent some time talking about them. Agreed it's a great design.