kingnutterrick

Hi Everyone,

I have been reading the touring forum for several months, and reading touring books. I have never toured in my life, but I would like to experience several medium size tours or short tours between 400 miles to 600 miles in 2009. I have been riding a trek 7200 for 0ne year to date. I average 20-50 miles a day. I use it for everything. I am car free. But, I have this dream of touring to different places in the U.S. and later overseas. A dream, and reality are very different from each other. I am 47 years old, and need to experience the reality before investing in a dream tour, and high end touring bike. I know you will say to buy a touring bike, and the trek 520 is a nice bike. But I don't want to purchase another bike until I see if I like touring on short trips of several hundred miles. And if I like touring after next year, I would buy a high end touring bike with all the bells, and whistles. So this winter, I want to make my hybrid more like a touring bike.
I want to change the handle bars to trekking bars, get rid of grip shifters, change seat to brooks 17, maybe go with different tires. I want to put a good rack on the rear. I was wondering if a front rank can go on the front. Can I change out the gear range to make the granny gears lower. I know these are a lot of questions. But you folks on this forum are great, and knowledgeable. I would really appreciate your insight.
Thanks

xilios

It seems you already know what is needed to make your bike more comfortable for touring. A good saddle B17 or Champion Flyer, Tubus racks, Ortlieb bags, Schwalbe marathon plus tires and 46-34-22 with 11/30 cassette. All of the above (with the exception of maybe the gears) can be transfered to the new bike whenever you decide to buy it. More tips on our page below.
cheers

LetDiceFly

Hi, I have used a Trek 7300 for touring and commuting (as seen in photo) for about 4-5 years. It does very well. It is being retired and I am building a overly expensive bike, but this one did just fine (I am still riding it). I replaced the crankset/front derailleur/bottom bracket in the middle of my first tour because the stock gearing was too high. The stock rear wheel eventually was replaced with one with 36 spokes although it made it from Seattle to LA (replaced a total of 6 spokes during the trip). If you have one of those Treks that have less than 32 spokes don't even consider loading it down.

LetDiceFly

On a note about changing the gearing in the front. On my Trek the crankset was rivited together so it needed to be completely swapped. You will probably find that you need to change the front derailleur and bottom bracket along with the crankset to get everything to work together. I did this with Shimano Deore level components which were really inexpensive and have surprisingly lasted 1000's of miles although the chainrings are looking pretty ragged now. You could move up to Deore LX or Deore XP and get more refined components, but the Deores have help up impressively for me.

kingnutterrick

Thanks for your advice, I will start with the crankset, and look at the Deore components.

kingnutterrick

xilios I have been to your web site, and enjoyed every bit of it.

sunburst

Consider the On One Midge,https://www.mtbr.com/cat/controls/Han...78_123crx.aspx I installed these on my tourer and love 'em!

or Nitto Randonner bars, https://www.benscycle.net/index.php?m...8&currency=USD

Cave

Why not start with the things you will need regardless, like a rack, panniers, camping gear and maybe a new saddle. If you find on your practice / commute rides that the gears are too high, or the handlebars no good, then you can change those and see how you go on a few more commutes or long day rides.

Chris L

This is pretty much all I've done. I've been touring on hybrids since 2005 (my original hybrid suffered broken forks after several rides on surfaces it shouldn't have been on), and all I've changed are the gearing, the addition of a pannier rack (and panniers/camping gear), and attaching bar ends on my old hybrid (I haven't bothered on my current one, but will probably do so before I head for New Zealand next month).

Juha

+1. Don't overdo it before your first "practice" tours. Get what you really need, then use the experiences to figure out what must be improved. Somewhere along the line you may find it better to buy the ultimate touring bike you mentioned instead of improving what you already have. It's also possible you'll be perfectly happy with your modified current steed.

--J

Longfemur

You don't really need to change anything for what you want to do. A hybrid is in many ways already very close to being what a touring bike is. All you need for handlebars is a flat handlebar to which you have added bar ends (best is the slightly longer, L-shaped style). You already have the gearing for the most part. You already have the room you need for panniers at the back, and at the front, you can certainly rig a front-mounted rack on it, but for your initial experimenting with touring, a good bar-mounted bag might be good enough. When it comes to tires, I know the big mantra on American internet is "comfort", but in my opinion, you shouldn't go to extremes with this. It depends on how much weight you're carrying, but I would use the narrowest tire that is suitable for the weight. I know many people ignore this, but why would you want to push more tire than you really need? For light touring, 25-28 mm should be fine, for loaded touring, 32-35 mm unless you're a real heavyweight. Any tires that isn't too heavily treaded should do. I never care about the weight of the frame and components too much, because touring is NOT about racing. But when it comes to the rotating weight (tires, tubes), lighter is more pleasant to ride with.

Saddle is a very personal matter. Just make sure that you don't start off on a long tour before you have given that B17 you plan on buying a good workout on longer local rides.

Other than that, it's not about the bike, as a famous doper said without meaning it, and it's not about the saddle, the tires, the handlebars or anything else. It's about riding position. Experiment with that to see what works best for you, without going to any extremes about it. Many people have never-ending troubles because they buy into the often repeated misconception (in North America at least) about having the saddle as far back as possible. A touring bike should be a road bike or a close approximation of it. This means not a racing position, but a good, efficent, moderate road bike riding position. Too far back, and then you need higher handlebars because the bend at your waist is too sharp and it's very uncomfortable and harder to breathe. What follows is the very bad news of too much weight on your saddle, poor handling, and a very significant loss in pedaling efficiency (this due to a too upright back). Touring is not racing, but even a tourist should want good efficiency. Aim for a combination of saddle and handlebar placement (even with flat bars and bar ends) that allows you to ride comfortably with your handlebars and inch or two lower than the top of the saddle. This has long proven to be the best compromise between comfort, pedaling efficiency and aerodynamic efficiency.

One more piece of advice...

If you're going to ride long distances, choose a pedal system that provides a good, wide, stable platform for the ball of your foot. Whenever I want to set off on longer rides, I take off my double-sided Shimano SPD pedals and put on the M323 I've had and loved for years. Same SPD mech, but the actual supporting surface for the shoe is a bit wider, and if I do develop some numbness or hot foot, I can just pedal on the non-clipped side of the pedals. And I exclusively use Shimano's multi-release cleat. ATB-type SPD and other similar pedals are not as stable a platform as some road pedals, but they do have the advantage of allowing reasonably-walkable shoes. This is probably best for touring.

By the way, I never suggest things I haven't tried myself. I much prefer a proper road bike for long rides, but I have also used good, mid-range hybrids as well. If you do insist on swapping to a "trekking bar", I would say just go for a drop bar with non-indexed bar-ends shifters on it. Set the drop bar so you are comfortable on the tops, the corners, the brake hoods and the drops.

staehpj1

I'd buy an inexpensive rack like a Blackburn EX-1 and inexpensive panniers (Performance or Nashbar Waterproof worked well for us for a 4244 mile tour). If you want front panniers too I would add Nashbar or Performance low rider style racks and the smaller waterproof bags. All that can be done cheaply and would work well.

If the saddle is comfortable on local rides I would stick with it. I would consider the possibility that you might want a bit lower gearing if you will tour in the mountains or where there are steep hills. You could used the bike on a transcontinental tour with no other changes.

Personally I don't like the upright riding posture and flat bars, but there is no reason it can't work if that is what you want.

kingnutterrick

Thanks for the advise from everyone. I went to my LBS, and had the owner adjust the handlebars. My hands feel a lot better. I am going to leave the handle bars alone, but switch out the grip shifters to the trigger shifters. I will get everything else suggested for the bike. I will try the bike without upgrading, and see what it feels like on the first couple trips. I like the Axiom panniers,so I will probably will order them, and old man mountain pannier racks.

jkmartin

I've used a 7200 as my touring bike for several years now. Tried barends, like the trekking bar much better. Replaced the rear wheel. Swapped the cheap suspension seatpost for a rigid model and put a sprung Brooks on it. Still have the Gripshifts and suspension fork. I only use the front rack on longer tours and haven't had any problems with the cheap Nashbar rack. Minor heel strike with my Jandd Large Mountain panniers but they are admittedly huge. Love SPD pedals and Continental Travel Contact tires.

While not as fast as my road bike, the hybrid is far more comfortable. I did a century (unloaded) with it last week and averaged 15mph.

LetDiceFly

I have had good experience with Conti Contact Tires too, it's what I have on my bike now, no flats in 1000 miles, reflective sidewall, medium weight, reasonably priced. Due to an overwhelming amount of positive reviews on Schawbe tires I am putting the Marathon Supremes on my new bike, but I've ran Continentals on various bikes for over 25 years.

kingnutterrick

My hybrid was stolen today at my job. They cut the locks under our security noses, and rode off.

kingnutterrick

so my winter project is over before it started. Thank god, I have my beater to commute.

Juha

The suckage. Sorry for your bike. It seems you will be buying the touring bike after all?

--J

kingnutterrick

I will be saving this winter for the koga miyata traveler. I will just ride my mountain bike through out the winter. So I will take my upgrade money and put it towards the Koga Miyata. I like the two models the trek bikes: world traveler, and the traveler. I hope to find one of this models in the USA.

joe_5700

King, sorry to hijack the thread as well as revive an older thread, but I am doing exactly what you had planned on my Trel 7200. Also sorry to hear about your loss. For the money they are great bikes. So far I have swapped out the 700X35's for Michelin 700X28's, had the suspension fork replaced with a solid aluminum fork and swapped out the suspension seat post for a solid one. It has made the bike lighter and noticeably faster. I have a seat post rack and trunk on the way from Nashbar. I too have never been on a tour, but have plans on going from Omaha to Des Moines in 09.

kingnutterrick

Joe where did you buy your fork, and seat post from?

kingnutterrick

I did buy another trek 7200, it is a great commuter bike. I am going to carry on my upgrades, and have my rear wheel replaced with a 36 spoke wheel. I have replace the seat with the brook saddle.
I hope to have my upgrades done by May, so I can tour around Michigan.

cyccommute 

You should be able to get a seat post from just about anywhere. Pricepoint has a RaceFace Cadence for $25. This is a nice seatpost for really cheap. The RaceFace post has one of the best adjustment and clamping mechanisms I've ever used. They are completely separate from each other and the tilt is dead simple to set up.

They also have a few forks that would work. This one would probably work well and has midfork eyelets for a front rack.

They have this one also. It's adjusted for suspension which you might need.

I'd go with a threadless headset over the threaded one that the bike has now. It's not too hard to change and the threadless is much easier to install and adjust.

joe_5700

I went to my LBS and told them what I was looking for and they happen to have the parts on hand. The fork was silver and matched my bike perfectly too.