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Touring is "trendy"?

Old 03-29-06, 04:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Blackberry
Speaking of elegant older bikes, I have a venerable Trek 720 touring bike, bought in 1983 that I still ride a lot. At the time, it was a notch above the classic, still-produced Trek 520. Among bicycles, it ranked somewhere between a pack-elephant and a Mercedes. I used it for all kinds of touring, including a six-month ramble across Europe. Here is some info (not mine) on that great old steed:

https://www.vintage-trek.com/Trek_galleryDT.htm

Personally, I think it's great that touring bikes might be on the way back. They're great for just about everything except racing.
Last fall I bought a 1984 Trek 720 in great condition. Looks like it had only 200 miles on it. I put new tires and a Brooks on it. What a ride! . I LOVE it. I have trouble getting back on my Bianchi.
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Old 03-29-06, 10:37 AM
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I think I forgot to post at some point.


We've got ANT doing the good custom frieght/utility stuff. Paul makes a couple nice flatbed front racks now. And for probably-nicer-than-it-needs-to-be entry-level stuff, Kogswell is making a 26" utility bike AND a dynamo hub.

Yes, we're on the up.
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Old 03-29-06, 01:59 PM
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Another relavent thread, Bridgestone Catalog Predictions:

https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/184426-bridgestone-catalog-projections.html
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Old 03-30-06, 12:17 PM
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Touring seem to be on the rise here. The Route Verte (Green Way) and a multitude of long bike trails helped. If people aren't touring, some take "bicycle vacations", i.e. they go to one or many places where cycling takes a major part of the time.

As for the bike, I think many people want a comfortable road bike that is practical and doesn't look like grandma's cruiser or uncle Joe's hybrid.
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Old 03-30-06, 01:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Matthew A Brown
It'll be true. We're on the way. The fashionista department has been pretty much perfected for a while by Grant & Riv, Bruce Gordon, et al. LHT's covering the everyman utility. And there's always the small wonderous fact that touring is possibly the most amazing thing ever ever ever.

In the same way that the fixed gear curve is spiking upwards (I'm 100% guilty of being a part of that, for disclosure), in a couple/few years the "kids" are going to be bragging about places they've stealth camped and how much freight they can carry how far on their commutes. The guys making custom messenger bags will make custom panniers and saddle/handlebar bags.

Again, I am ****ing stoked. = )

Yee haw. With help from a friend I have a home made messenger bag. I've started collecting the bits for a set of front panniers and am saving up for a touring bike these days. It's driving me nuts, I can't wait to get it!
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Old 03-30-06, 04:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Erick L
As for the bike, I think many people want a comfortable road bike that is practical and doesn't look like grandma's cruiser or uncle Joe's hybrid.
It's true, it's true. I've always been split down the middle as far as being retro-grouchy and newfangled. My newest bike I got for commuting/touring is an Al Trek, one of these->

except I immediately changed the flat bars for trekking bars, and added fenders and front and rear racks. It's a sweet, tough little bike.

I think Trek and a few other companies are starting to pay attention to the list of retro-grouchy complaints and create nice, MODERN bikes that are versatile and durable. I'm really loving not worrying about frame rust anymore.
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Old 04-01-06, 12:26 AM
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I'm one of the really cool kids now? Gawd!
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Old 04-02-06, 07:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Matthew A Brown
And for probably-nicer-than-it-needs-to-be entry-level stuff, Kogswell is making a 26" utility bike AND a dynamo hub.
Boy, that's the first time that model has been refered to as nicer-than-need-be...

For now we're calling it the Porteur/Randonneur.

It's TIG welded and has a brazed (crown) fork.

Three forks, actually, of varying offsets that yield different amounts of trail. That was Jan Heine's idea. He'll have a test of the frame and forks in the next issue of VBQ.

We think it will be a dandy touring bike. The frames and forks are loaded with rack and fender mounting points. We supply the frames with steel fenders painted to match. And you adjust the geometry for front/rear loading bias by choosing the right fork.

If you don't like 650B wheels, we'll have 650A (590) available. 590 tires are great for tourists. Every Walmart in America sells them. Nice ones, too. Can't say that about 700c tires.

Utility is a good description. Beside touring duty it can be used as a delivery bike (Porteur). And Jan thinks that it will make a good rando bike as well.

But at sub $500 for frame, fork, fender, HS, and seatpost, I don't think that anyone needs to worry about about it being overly nice. All Kogswell's are a screaming value. Ask an owner.

For more info, see our web page: https://kogswell.com/PR.html
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Old 04-02-06, 12:15 PM
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What's VBQ?
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Old 04-02-06, 12:20 PM
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It would kind of be a mixed blessing, more demand would mean more parts available but at higher prices. However once the fad passed that would leave alot of real nice bikes out there selling for cheap as there owners had moved on to the next big thing, maybe thats how I'll be able to afford that Rivendell.
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Old 04-02-06, 01:19 PM
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Originally Posted by late
What's VBQ?
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly (see https://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/vbqindex.html)
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Old 04-24-06, 09:57 PM
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It'll be great to see more people on the road...though dangerous for those skinny bikelanes, like on Highway 1.
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Old 04-25-06, 05:50 AM
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Originally Posted by KrisPistofferson
I am an avowed "cheap bastard," but I actually, finally broke down and sent my money in for an Adventure Cycling membership. I haven't been "cutting edge" since, well, probably never, so I'm not sure what I'll do.
Dude, if you want to be cutting edge you don't need AC. Cutting edge is blazing your own trail, not following the herd.
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Old 04-25-06, 12:40 PM
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Originally Posted by KrisPistofferson
I think Trek and a few other companies are starting to pay attention to the list of retro-grouchy complaints and create nice, MODERN bikes that are versatile and durable. I'm really loving not worrying about frame rust anymore.
One bike that struck me is the Escape M2 in Giant's 2006 range. See

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/uk/030...sp?model=10403

It has a mountain bike frame with a rigid alu fork that is drilled for front rack attachment. They are selling it as a city bike. There is also a version with Nexus internal gears and another with disc brakes. I'd imagine it would work for touring, if heel clearance is not a problem. Giant also has a set of 2006 bikes labeled 'commuting', a class which was not there last year. The whole range seems to be much more utility-oriented than before.

I wonder how much about the touring trend is due to internet. Surly probably does not need to do much marketing in traditional media. I would imagine forums like this one have done a lot to overcome the marketing of bike companies and shops that (used to) say touring is old fashioned/too much trouble/slow/for old farts.
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Old 04-25-06, 02:03 PM
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I think forums like this help a lot of people wrap their minds around the idea of touring.

I'm sure many of you have experienced this-- mention a long tour and the first question is something along the lines of "How did you survive?!" Breathless and sincere, the reality of it is unfathomable. "You rode a WHAT to WHERE?!" etc.

But really, it's riding a bike. Takes some preparation, research and budgeting, but so does anything else worth doing.


I think THAT is going to be the spark for touring. That moment when someone realizes "****, I could do that." The unfathomable becomes something closer to taking a semester off for school. When people get on here and poke around and realize that some of us are friendly, some windy, some are absolute jerks, some are helpful beyond all rational belief-- that we're just like everybody else. That you don't need a f'n GUN to tour (always seems to come up, maybe its Florida?). That you are far more of an oddity than a target.


I also think once someone connects bicycle touring with weight loss, **** is going to get absolutely exponential. Three months to how many pounds lost? To how much lean muscle? To how big of a very real boost in base metabolism? Are you kidding me?
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Old 04-25-06, 02:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Matthew A Brown
I also think once someone connects bicycle touring with weight loss, **** is going to get absolutely exponential. Three months to how many pounds lost? To how much lean muscle? To how big of a very real boost in base metabolism? Are you kidding me?
Matt eats two of those 1000-calorie honey buns on long-ish weekend rides. I've seen it. He's a model of nutrition.

I have to agree...the weight-loss potential of touring is impressive.
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Old 04-25-06, 02:14 PM
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Critical Mass. Pittsburgh’s Critical Mass rides have a number of bikes along for the spin sporting racks and panniers, piloted by today’s twenty something punk rocker hippy blends. Trends typically begin in some sort of close knit subculture before being adopted by the rest of society, and I have a feeling that’s where this is all heading. Like the fixed gears before them, and the mountain bikes before that, this is a sign of things to come.

I have seen the same thing here in Vancouver, Canada and have met many young 20 year olds out cycle camping for the weekend out the BC coast with everything tied on to their bikes the best way possible ,,the bikes often 1980's or ninety's vintage. They gather around me and my highly refined touring bike like car people gather around Ferrais. Check out momentumplanet magazine for the latest trends ,,
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Old 04-25-06, 07:04 PM
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Originally Posted by chipcom
Dude, if you want to be cutting edge you don't need AC. Cutting edge is blazing your own trail, not following the herd.
Uh, thanks.
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Old 05-02-06, 09:55 PM
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[QUOTE=Peterpan1]
While the bikes of the likes of Gordon, Mariposa, Beckman are pretty rare, I have yet to see anyone who was in that demographic out touring on one.

And something like that pisses Bruce (Gordon) off. He gets upset when one of his bikes is left hanging on a wall for show. Or just playing around for show. He wants them ridden. And he makes a lot of bike types besides touring bikes. Lugged steel anyone?
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Old 05-02-06, 10:43 PM
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Sweet!
I've always wanted to be one of the cool guys!
Plus I already own everything I need so, i won't be impacted by the price increases
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Old 05-03-06, 04:23 AM
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Originally Posted by KrisPistofferson
Uh, thanks.
Adventure Cycling only have 40,000 members. I think you're safe. The group does a lot of good work. And speaking of Adventure Cycling, I live near the TransAmerica Trail. Last week I met to Englishmen who were cycling it using the Adventure Cycling maps and were delighted. For example, the AC info included cheap and free camp/sleeping sites--such as the firehouse they had slept in the night before.
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Old 07-22-06, 01:15 PM
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Originally Posted by halfspeed
1) LX/XT level front derailleurs that clamp on a 28.6 seatpost without fugly shims that get in the way of bottle cage mounts. They should also be able to smoothly shift a ten tooth difference between middle and outer chainrings without grinding or filing or replacing with a road component. They should also be normal in every way, no rapid rise, top pull, BB mount or other tech weenie BS. Make them polished alloy while they're at it.
The shims don't interfere with my bottle cage mounts.

My FD shifts just fine with a 22-32-48 setup (FD is a cheap Deore 510). No mods at all.

Originally Posted by halfspeed
2) LX/XT RD Same as FD as far as action and finish.
Nothing wrong with the XT SGS RD. Could be cheaper perhaps...

Originally Posted by halfspeed
3) Off the shelf Cassettes with 12 or 13 tooth small cogs and 34T big cogs in both eight and nine speed.
How about the LX 11-34 cassette? That's what I use.

Originally Posted by halfspeed
4) 110 BCD cranks that come with 24-36-46 chainrings.
That's not a very efficient chainring combo. Gives plenty of overlapping ratios.

Originally Posted by halfspeed
5) Heck maybe even LX/XT barcons that index the FD for the clickaholics.
Only reason would be cost. Otherwise DA barcons work perfectly.

Originally Posted by halfspeed
7) V-brake road levers that are cheaper than the Dia-compe 287V.
Agreed!!! Better still - a road brake lever with variable pull! Use it for anything you like!
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Old 07-22-06, 01:20 PM
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Oops! Just realised I posted in an old thread...
I was browsing through old posts and kinda forgot about them being old...
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