jawpain

Hi all,

I've read the very informative sticky thread for newcomers to touring - as usual for these forums, the info. is excellent.

I'm planning my tour - the French section of the "Way of St. James" (or in French, Chemins de St. Jacques), from Le Puy-en-Velay, France, to Roncesvalles, Spain. I intend to go towards the end of July.

My question for you all, is the following: Do I kit out my current cyclocross or try to revamp/recycle my old Raleigh mountain bike?


Here is my CX, a Cannondale Cyclocross Optimo Disc 2:
https://www.cannondale.com/bikes/07/c...del-7XR2C.html

My thoughts, opinions and reservations concerning both options are the following:

- Is the CX suitable? I've purchased both front and rear Nashbar panniers today, and when these are loaded with gear and camping equipment, there will be increased weight on the frame. Is the frame string enough to support this extra weight?

- In terms of racks, as there are no eyelets on the frame, I must purchase the Old Man Mountain racks which will come to about 200euros including postage. I'm on a budget. This is affordable but if it's possible to achieve a cheaper options then that's of interest.

- This CX is my baby, hence I'm concerned about damage to bike, including any scratches. As this would be my maiden tour, I'd love to benefit from the engineering of this bike, while being aware that the varyious enviroments may damage the bike. I couldn't even imagine being comfortable leaving the bike unattended for any duration.

- I'm not familiar with terminology to include chain stay lengths. Would this be an issue for my bike?

- Gearing!! I think this may be a big issue. As it stands, my bike, as just two front rings so I dont have the 'granny' gearing referred to in this forum. Would gearing with the possibly heavy loads be a big problem. I'm a strong cyclist but have not much experience in mountains, and no experience lugging a load.

- I have an old Raleigh mountain bike. I was thinking of recycling the bike, similar to the achievement on this site: https://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/BikeTheBikes.html. I have time on my hands, and envison the costs of the upgrade being within budget - I also anticipate a sense of achievement, and great knowledge gained.

So what do you think? Any pointers, information, tips, advice etc. is greatly appreciated.

All the best, Joey.

Skewer

I vote for the Raleigh mountain bike recycle project , but in answer to your questions:

Frames....both bikes with some changes could be made in to very nice touring bikes.

Racks.....Besides being limited to Old Man Mountain racks in the event of no eyelets, some companies make adapters so you can use a wide variety of racks.

Gearing......You are going to ride over the Pyreneese mountains, right? The Cannondale, even with compact cranks is undergeared for carrying a load in the mountains. I am a strong enough rider to have one time won a USCF road race in the mountains, albeit a low category, but I would still want much lower gears than your 36-26 to comfortably carry a load in the mountains!!

Chain Stay Lengths.....A short chain stay length can create an issue where someone's heel clips their panniers on the back of each crank revolution. The solutions are to mount your panniers further back on your rack or to buy a rear rack that extends back further than normal. However, I suspect the chainstay lengths on both of your bikes is 43cm or better, which is pretty good. Unless you have extra long feet, it probably won't be an issue. Check it out though.

"Cannondale is my baby".....Since the Cannondale is practically brand new, you love it as it is, you are worried about getting it scratched, and it currently lacks eyelets and lacks touring gearing, I would leave it alone and take the Raleigh on your first big tour.

The Raleigh........The Raleigh likely already has good a range of gearing for touring, likely has rack eyelets to fit a wider variety of racks, including a relatively inexpensive rear Blackburn Expedition rack from Nashbar and a Nashbar front rack. You could always use whatever racks you buy for the Raleigh now with adapters on the Cannondale on a later tour. Throw a set of Nashbar Trekking bars on the Raleigh too.

Have fun!

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...B%20Handlebars

BlueDevil

I'd have said everything skewer said. Well, except for the "I am a strong enough rider to have won a UCSF road race in the mountains.." bit. I am a strong enough rider that the uninitiated look at me and say "damn, he's working hard, but moving a pretty good pace", while the strong cyclists look at me and say "That Fred is working way too hard to be going that slow!"

And with my level of fitness, there is no way I'll be hitting mountains with a load, without plenty of "bail out" gearing. Aww hell, who am I kidding, those aren't "bail out" or "last ditch" gears.. they are gears I use every time I hit anything more than a slight incline with a load .

jawpain

I completely agree to what you both advise and thank you for your replies. While I'm excited about going on my first tour, I think the Raleigh project adds an extra bit of spice so think I'll stick with that. Also, I really do treasure my Cannondale (I bought it in the US - it costs a small fortune here in Ireland!) One question comes to mind though. I've done quite a bit of research into this and I haven't come across the adapters you are referring to. Do you know off-hand, any websites or information areas where I can learn about these adapters? Thanks again.

Skewer

I am thinking that there should be a solution where you can buy one set of racks one time that you could use on either bike in the future with adapters. Here are some rack adapter solutions at The Touring Store, including quick release skewers with rack mount attachments. I have heard that the owner of The Touring Store is very helpful with coming up with workable solutions.

https://www.thetouringstore.com/TUBUS...ONS%20PAGE.htm

Here is a monostay rack adapter at The Touring Cyclist:

https://www.touringcyclist.com/gear/model_18130.html

SJS Cycles in the UK seems to have a lot of rack components and may be able to help you out with something as well.

And some of the Old Man Mountain rack mounting hardware that they sell separately, like their front and rear quick release skewers made to attach Old Man Mountain racks, probably work just fine with other brands of racks as well. You could contact Old Man Mountain and tell them you are looking for one rack solution (with any necessary adapters) for two different bikes, if indeed that is one of your objectives, and see what they suggest. I am sure their racks are high quality too.

And then of course you can find various clamps at your local hardware store too.

Good luck.

Newspaperguy

I'll also cast my vote for the Raleigh project.

In the late 1980s, I bought a Mongoose mountain bike which I began converting for touring. It had a range of gears suitable for hills and wind and the riding position was comfortable. It didn't have all the braze-ons necessary for racks, but I still managed to add a Blackburn rear rack and later an MEC front rack. This bike performed well on the highway and could easily handle rail trails, gravel and dirt roads and even sandy forestry roads. The only drawback was doing maintenance in the last couple of years as some part sizes have changed a little since the 1980s.

A few years ago, a thief decided he needed the bike more than I did. I replaced it with a Devinci touring bike. This one's built on a cyclocross frame and is great in almost all the same conditions. It's got a triple ring up front and a huge range of gearing. For off-road use however, an old-school mountain bike is still the clear winner.

If you're going with the Raleigh project, you'll have a great bike by the end of it.

jawpain

Now I'm really getting excited about the "Raleigh Project" - even has its own official name. Thanks for all your help. As the project unfolds I'll keep you posted. There is so much info on these forums, that I'm sure I'll find my way through the learning process in the construction of my new touring bike

Skewer

Sounds good. Keep us updated on the Raleigh project and post a picture when you are done. I like seeing old bikes get new life!

By the way, regarding the cross bike, I have a friend who tours on a cross race bike, and he takes off its carbon race fork and puts on a beefy, steel Surley touring fork when he goes on a tour. If you ever tour with your Cannondale cross bike in the future, and your fork is race light, thin walled aluminum, you might want to consider putting on a beefier, steel fork when touring as well. Besides adding strength and durability, you also save your OE fork from scratches.

jawpain

"The Raleigh Project" has lift off. I've run into my first stumbling block so I've posted some pictures and questions in the Mechanics forum, here: https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-mechanics/435933-revamping-old-raleigh-touring-some-questions.html