These look SWEET! Thanks for the encouragement and the ideas. I'll post pics when I've got mine going. There's not much to look at right now.

Thasiet, I love it. That's kind of what I'm hoping to do. With my current shifter/break setup, it would be much easier to use trekker style bars. But I love the drops so much on my roadie, I really want to eventually put them on my tourer.

Looks like we have some aussies on this thread. I spent 1990-1991 in Victoria and Tasmania, and that would be my ultimate dream, to go back to Australia and do a bike tour. I loved it there. Beautiful cities, and more beautiful away from the cities. I could ride my bike and eat those crappy four and twenty pies I like so much. On rainy days I could just hang out in the pub and watch footy. I still barrack for Collingwood, even if they aren't that good, and nobody here knows who they are or what it means to barrack for anything....I digress.

Jibi,

Can you tell me about your drivetrain setup? I've never seen anything like it.

Aloyzius, glad to please. I do love my drops, but I just picked up a set of trekking bars for $10 from nashbar to play around with. They came bent though :( so I'll have to wait for the exchange to come back before I can experiment. Yesterday I discovered and ordered something I've wished existed for a long time, a set of these bar ends from ebay, which can be adjusted rotationally! What I'm hoping is that these can be set up vertically on the fronts of the trekking bar in such a way that they may be used as aero bars with the main grips, perhaps using ergon grips for a flatter contact area, doubling as the forearm rests. If that works out I might just abandon my drops, because I would like a way to get the weight off my wrists periodically, and this idea could potentially work even better than adding an aero bar, since the drastically wider forearm stance compared to a true aero bar would theoretically be much more stable/controllable for the touring cyclist riding on rough roads with lots of gear.

I used this 03 Hardrock as an MTB, rides to ruff, but enjoyed the efficient power transfer to the rear wheel from the pedal, it's tough frame and MTB gearing I decided to use it for touring, I pulled my Nashbar trailer
last trip, great combo, I have 80PSI road tread tires, upgraded ders, seat, and chrome molly fork it's just about where I want it. I wish to change my #5 sprocket on the back, just a bit too much leap from hole # 4.
I am looking into a Nashbar Trekking Bar, on sale now,,,

I figured asked around about what to use for touring, road bike ,,,MTB**********?
I figure at least with the MTB the parts are so strong I may break down less.
and I had the Hardrock,,,,,,if I ever do have to get rough, it will handle it...

Work in progress, 92 Trek 800

http://www.bikemandan.com/stuff/IMG_2827.JPG

This is the bike I used until it was stolen in January, 2006. It's a 1989 Mongoose IBOC Pro, a bike designed for off-road racing, not touring. The modifications I made are as follows:

• Shortened the handlebars by 2.5 centimetres
• Added bar ends
• Added a Blackburn rear rack (with a modified bracket since the bike did not have rack mounts)
• Added an MEC front rack
• Added an MEC handebar bag
• Experimented with tire widths and tread patterns numerous times over the years

The rear wheel was replaced once, as was the rear derailleur. The bottom bracket was replaced with a sealed unit.

This is the bike as it was in 2004
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/c...ycling2004.jpg

I added the front rack and handlebar bag for the 2005 touring season.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/c...ycling2005.jpg

1985 Univega
Still a work im progress, have since added a front lowrider rack and am adding a taller stem.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/...d7a952977c.jpg

This is my GF's Rocky Mountain commuter/touring bike. She has been thinking about getting a LHT for some longer trips we have planned, but we may also just add some drop bars and a LHT fork to this bike since she loves it so much.

I don't have it anymore, but this is a mid 90s Giant Yukon that I built up.



http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/3725/yuk1xt3.jpg
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/3...221cb72997.jpg

http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/2574/yukgo3.jpg
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/2...a7850e632b.jpg

This is a more modern 2006 MTB but somehow I make it work

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...obow7/best.jpg

I have to say I really like the look of your bike. It looks pretty nice to me in that orange (I know it's personal taste, but I like it). The only reason I recommend older mtbs for conversion is that usually they are cheaper and have longer chainstays -but since it works, it works, and that's all that matters! Happy touring on that!

Nigeyy, my chainstays are 425 or 430 mm, compare that to some dedicated tourers with as little as 430-435 mm chainstays, less than 1/4" difference. No big deal since my IRD rear rack allows me to get my panniers much further back than I really need. But then again, I only have a size 9 foot. Maybe someone with a Michael Phelps size 14 flipper would have problems. :D

Whats them tires yall got on that thing,,

Orange P7, Fox Vanilla 140mm, Rohloff (40t x 16t), Tubus Logo & Swing, Avid BB7 cable-disks, B17 (now black!), Mavic EX729s, Marathon XRs.

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/p...s/OrangeP7.jpg

I was looking at the picture, and they seemed pretty long! Looks like a very nice setup to me, and very purty too (saddle goes very nicely with it too).

My latest conversion for rough stuffing is this 1995 Giant Terrago. Added parts include :

- Pletscher Athlete rear rack
- Louis panniers 2 x 20 litres (german make for motorcycle)
- XLC 80 mm adjustable quill stem
- Continental Traffic 2.1 tires (too heavy but excellent grip)
- Brooks Flyer saddle (not on the picture)
- 3 bottle cages, the bottom one holds the tool kit so I always have easy access to it
- No name aluminum handlebar 1.5" rise, 60 cm wide with barends placed between the grips and the levers for a different hands position, always welcome during long journeys and giving a kind of aero position (good against bloody headwinds !).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/...a1cd36da_o.jpg

I love it.
Total cost ? Well something around 250 euros, the (used) bike itself was 80.

Cheers.
Carlos

Hi,
Thanks for the post.
I have a few questions:
1. Would be able to give some geometry details about the frame? (size, stand up hight, CS, vTT...)
2. Are there eyelets for the front rack on the fork?
3. In general, panniers of motorcycle will fit a bicycle?
4. How much those panniers cost?

Thanks,
Kfir

The frame has a sticker saying "18 inches" but the effective top tube lenght is 59 cm. Its' a bit too long for me and I'm 172 cm, 56cm would be perfect.

Yes at the bottom AND at the middle of the fork.

They are wider than the ones for bicycles at 38 cm. In order not to have them rubbing against the wheels, I had to modified my rack with a brace and shift it rearward with metal plates to avoid heel overlap, like this :

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/...94cfbb41_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3197/...c70670a0_o.jpg

Mine are no longer avalaible. The dutch company BASIL has a similar model named Kavan :
http://www.basil.nl/producten/17031L.jpg

They sell for around 50 euros here in Europe.

Note that with those panniers, weight is distributed more rearward than with Ortliebs for example. It means that stability can be affected if overloaded. I never put more than 15 kilos in mine and I've never had any problem.

Hope this helps.
Carlos

Thank you very much for those answers.

kfir

heres my specialized hardrock.http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...y/P8310046.jpg

I must say WOW.
Hehe, It looks at the first glance like the big dummy ;)
Well done my friend.
How the Xtracycle feels while touring?

Thanks,
Kfir

thanks! it feels great touring. the biggest problem I have is being able to haul to much stuff.

Before:
http://i37.tinypic.com/2dv206p.jpg

After:
http://i38.tinypic.com/b5g000.jpg

Well, here's a picture of my old Specialized Hard Rock. Frame was about $4 including a headset, rest of the components came in about ~$550 in total (that's a top end estimate too, since I had many components in my spare parts drawer, I really had to only put out about $350 for what I needed). Sounds expensive until you realize I have a really nice 27spd commuter/backup tourer with a completely new drivechain all for about $550. Having said that, it still isn't cheap -and it makes you realize how close to a Windsor Tourist the cost is -particularly since I did all the mechanics myself including lacing the rear wheel and used 20% coupons for almost all the online components I bought. Usually building up a bike just isn't that cost effective unless you have some spare parts already like I did; however, I really like the setup I ended up with as it really suits me and I have the satisfaction of knowing I built it.

The photo doesn't show the Nashbar front rack and Axiom front low rider racks I have that I can put on, nor the front handlebar bag with attachment I have. I really do think the colour and graphics scheme is particularly putrid and evocative of the 1980's, and would love to refinish the frame in gloss black one day if I have some spare money (hmmm... this is not really likely to happen to be honest, and likely goes against the grain of this being a knocked together bargain bike for me anyway).

Costs were:
frame $4
Mtb Nashbar crankset: $26 inc shipping
*Nashbar pedals: $25
Shimano Deore Front Der: $30
Shimano Deore Rear Der: $30
SRAM chain: $25
SRAM rear cassette: $35
Fenders: $20
*Saddle (stock take off from another bike, let's call it $20)
Seatpost: $15 ebay, inc shipping
Nashbar brakeset: (given these for free from my friend, but let's call it $30 inc shipping)
Nashbar Trekking bars: $20 inc shipping
SRAM Centera GripShift: $15 ebay inc shipping
*Brake/Gear cables: $16
*Old style brake levers: $5 used
Panaracer Urban Max Tyres: $40 inc shipping
*Inner tubes: $8
*Wheelset (old rims, built up with a Deore hub I had, so approximate $100 to get them)
BB: $25
*Adjustable Stem: $20 ebay inc shipping
Threadless stem adaptor: $20 inc shipping (had to buy this as I had the stem I wanted already)
Bar tape: $10
*Bottle cage: $5

*indicates I already had the part in my spare parts drawer, so I've included what I think was the original cost or a reasonable cost to buy used

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_G91oAUDO7i...00-h/img46.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_G91oAUDO7i...00-h/img46.jpg