celerystalksme

hello,

so my purchase if FINALLY on the horizon. i have two bkes in mind. one is a brand new Surly Long Haul Trucker (small size, with 650 wheels). the other is a year 2000 Bianchi Volpe with front and rear racks and fenders...i'm gonna go check it out in person tomorrow but it is supposed to be in very very good shape.

i THINK the only MAJOR differences are that the LHT has three water bottel bosses...and 650c wheels. and i THINK the volpe has lower grade components...but it comes with old man mountain rear rack, jandd front rack, and fenders...$500.

any thoughts or input?

wrk101

I am biased, I pretty much always go with the used bike. Ride them both, whichever one fits the best is the winner...

You might be able to get the Volpe for a better price than that. Back in 2000, it had a list price of $850. I would think the price would be down below $500, more like $350 or so, depending where you live.

celerystalksme

well, i think it's going for $500 because it comes with front and rear fenders, front and rear racks...plus he has since replaced all the components on the bike to ehere they are either new or 'like new'...shimano LX cluster and rear derailleur...shimano tiagra hubs, front derailleur, and crank...shimano durace barcon shifters...shimano rx100 brake levers...avid brakes...ritchy clipless pedals...upgraded (easton?) handlebars. OEM saddle and seat post. continental top touring 700x27 folding tires.

not sure if that makes it worth $500 or not. but i know it's still half the price of a new LHT. but would the new LHT be worth it? i just don't know.

splandorf

Wow. As long as the Volpe is functioning, that's a *really* good price w/ racks & upgraded components. If the Volpe fit you comfortably, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

superslomo

With the Volpe you also save yourself the special, special joy of mounting all that stuff... it's not fun.

antokelly

buy the volpe take some allan keys and a spanner with you to make a few adjustments and if it fit's hand over the money, and smile all the way home.

valygrl

The volpe is a light touring bike - i rode with someone who had his fully loaded and it was not stiff enough - had the wobble/shimmies all the time.

If someone here has experience with the volpe and feels it handles ok, i'll defer to that opinion, but you might want to research a bit. The LHT is supposed to be fully-loaded-ready.

Bacciagalupe

I am biased, and pretty much go with the new bike every time.

Surlys are also pretty well made and spec'ed out quite well. Nothing wrong with 26" wheels, unless you're planning to take the bike on a fast club ride.

However, if you are good at fixing up your own bikes, and the Volpe is in good shape, and the Volpe fits, and/or you have lots of spare parts around, it'd be fine for touring.

P.S., I'd be less worried about what year the Volpe was built, and more how many miles it's got. If they put 2,000 miles on it, you might need to replace the chain and that's it. 10,000 miles, and you might need to replace the entire drivetrain soon...

Skewer

I would think that the Volpe is plenty sturdy enough for the vast majority of riders and their loads, but I could be wrong. And I think I have read favorable comments about the Volpe on these forums. The shimmy referred to above could possibly have been caused by poor load distribution (not enough weight up front) or a loose headset. Compared to a regular road bike, which some people take on loaded tours from time to time, the Volpe is still a tank, although perhaps it isn't one compared to a Trek 520, LHT or Randonee.

Here is a guy that posted on a Bike Forums thread last December that weighed 220 lbs. He took the Volpe out fully loaded for two weeks and loved it.

"I am a very big volpe fan, I weigh abot 220 and went fulley loded for two weeks with no problems. I have been a hang around at the LBS for 15 years, they sell volpes as touring, cross and drop bar hybrids, and I don't think they stretching anything . My volpe has full touring brazeons inc. ft. low rider mounts(the mid fork mounts arn't on all volpes) the bb hight is 85 mm the LHT is about 72. The Volpe is more fun to ride".

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ighlight=volpe

I vote for buying the used Volpe and spending the dollars you save on touring accessories, but if you are concerned about stability, you could take some weighted panniers over for your test ride. It already has the racks on, so it wouldn't be that tough to load it up for a test ride. Good luck!

brianmcg123

The LHT does not come with 650c wheels. It is either 700c in sizes 56 and larger or 26inch in sizes 54 and smaller.

NoReg

"The LHT does not come with 650c wheels. It is either 700c in sizes 56 and larger or 26inch in sizes 54 and smaller."

Which is one pretty good reason to prefer it if you fit the smaller wheels. The hot money these days is with MTB wheels, though 700C do ride great also. If the wheel size is based on rider size it becomes very compelling to go with the 26" wheels.

The one problem with second hand bikes are the number of people with who clearly saw dollars floating in front of their eyes and end up with the wrong thing, often size problems. Maybe in this case there is a function issue also. If you are doing test rides take full panniers and water. Bikes can hold their mechanical value almost indefinetly. I've seen canoes that were trashed the first trip they were on, bikes can hold up for decades.