Ryedubs

hey guys, sorry to jump right in and post a massive post with a confusing question but i am getting more confused the more i search and the more i google different things.

i am a complete noob (as you can tell) to cycling (other than the odd 15m cross country routes i sometimes do for a bit of cross training on my old MTB), but am a pretty confident marathon runner and swimmer.

i want to have a crack at some triathlons this year but understand the problems that can be experienced with not being sport specific fit enough (i.e. my joints and muscles will not be up the demands of the bike)

i enjoy charity activities (usually long distance self sufficient mountaineering and running) and have been looking at riding from london to gibraltar for something a little different.

the question i have boils down to the age old problem of price and how to save money.

i wont to get a half dencent road bike that i can use for cross training on the roads, but will be good enough for the odd tri.

but i don't want to buy a road bike and a touring bike for the gibraltar trip.

so the way i see it is i need to either half my budget (around £600) and build a tourer from an old steel frame MTB, then buy a cheeper road/tri bike or;
buy my road bike and use a trailer insteed of weighing the bike down with bags (i want to be self sufficient for the 3-4 weeks too, as i have all the gear from mountaineering), and still have the road bike as a corss trainer and for the odd tri.

do you guys know if a road bike will be strong enough to pull a trailer for anything upto 2000m. i have heard the traingle must be quite strong to pull a trailer???

i know i haven't explained that all very well, as usual, but i hope someone can help me.

Cyclesafe

I have toured more than 5000 miles on asphalt with a carbon road bike and a BOB trailer. No issues. None. Nada.

Booger1

I think if you get an aluminum or steel road bike,the frame should pull a trailer,no problem.You might want to look into getting a back wheel when the trailer is attached.depending on the spoke count of the wheels on the bike.32 spokes in the back should be plenty with a trailer.

antokelly

are you based in london. the reason i ask i know of a guy that's selling a beautiful cannondale six full carbon 58cm all top notch gear 1200 euro he paid well over two k for it .if your interested let me know i will put you in contact with him .you could pull a lookalike bob trailer with this no problem kill two birds so to speak.

bradtx

Ryedubs, Since your primary interest is to have a cross trainer/racer, buy one. It'll not be ideal for your tour, but most likely it'll get the job done. Jealous of your planned ride, BTW.

Brad

Ryedubs

cheers for that guys,
i was worried i might end up twisting the frame or something,
at least it means i can look for a cooler looking bike now too, ha ha

i didn't really fancy the "build around an old MTB option" as although my mechanical skills are above average (i work in construction), my barganing skills are not and i would probably buy a load of crap parts that are broken knowing me.

so from what you say about maybe upgrading the rear wheel, i am guessing the weight will cause more weight enduced stress on the rear wheel than it will horizontal torsion on the frame.

cyclesafe, if i attempted to ride around my block, sitting on something carbon fiber, until i covered 5000miles, i rekon by the end i would be lucky to have my cycle shorts on! where i live it's best not to have anything too pretty!

EDIT:

antokelly, i do live in london (just), but i think the 58cm might be a bit small for me (6'3") and out of my price range.

brad, cheers, that does seem to be the most advised choice, and as you say it covers me for 80% of what i want it for.

skilsaw

Buy a road bike with a triple crank. Maybe a 50/39/30. And get a trailer.
You will need the lower gears for hill climbing with the trailer on, and a 50 tooth large ring should be plenty for the flats when training for endurance.

Dan The Man

How much do you weigh and how much gear weight do you plan to carry? In my opinion, touring frames and trailers are really only necessary for total loads of over 200 lbs or awkwardly heavy baggage. If you weigh around 150 and carry say 35 lbs, you will likely be able to use a $500 entry level road bike with rack eyelets for everything you want to do without even a trailer, just a rack and panniers. A few tweaks such as stronger wheels, a more relaxed position, and fenders can make any bike tourable.

Ryedubs

so just confuse me even further, a mate has suggested looking at a cyclocross!

i weigh about 175lbs (but i have lost about 5-10lbs over the winter while mountaineering, that i will put back on) and would probably be taking quite a lot of gear; when i go walkabouts my pack usually comes in at about 40kg, ha ha, so i guess it will be somewhere about 50kg when cycle touring. so what's that, anything up to 300lbs potentially.

my friend has shown me a tricross sport 2010, that seems in good condition, for sale near where i live for almost half last years price.

he rekons it would be a bit 'beefier' for touring and still be good enough for my, basic, road needs (i.e. mostly training and the odd recreational triathlon)

i have read a lot about CX's for touring and they seem to be a good idea, what do you guys think? it, at this price anyway, would certainly give me a few hundred quid to spend on other things associated with the trip, like a flight/train home

EDIT:

i was meant to ask: i haven't read much about stopping power with all this extra weight on the back, whats the chances of simple standard cantilevers working with 50kg of gear on the back?

X-LinkedRider

These touring bike threads are funny to me. If you are going the route of a trailer, the bike itself won't matter much besides the gearing. If you are not going the trailer route, then your bike becomes much more important. Are there eyelets available and if so front and back? Are there Waterbottle cage braze-ons, is the bike long enough that you won't be kicking it every time you make small turns. Things like this.

If touring is not really the primary function, buy the bike you want for whatever other purpose you have for it and hook a trailer up to it.

In regards to Stopping power. Your cantilever brakes and V-Brakes are typically stronger for touring than road calipers. Pads make a difference as well as wheels at some point.

Ryedubs

go back to your own threads then you spoil sport!

i am only making big deal out of it becasue i don't want to waste my money, and as the ride is going to be for my local charity. therefore doing the tour in a targeted 3 weeks (app 70m/day) while being self sufficient, is a much better way of convincing a donator to give me some hard earned, as apposed to saying i will poodle there in six months on my old clapped out bmx from 1992
living lavishly in a load of hotels along the way

bradtx

Ryedubs, Bicycles are grouped as road, touring, mountain bike and etc. for their primary usage. Truth is that most can cross lines and perform nicely outside of their primary definition. A CX bike can possibly be the most versatile of the drop bar road bikes.

Brad

Mr. Jim

No problem pulling a BOB type trailer with a road bike. I did that quite a while. However watch out for the trailers that connect to the stays of the bike. I would not use that on a road bike with a touring load. Get something that connects to the axle and puts the load there via a proprietary skewer.

CX are great all around bikes, they will do everything, however if you are competitive in tris (sounds like you are not) it will disappoint you. If you are just going out for a fun day of racing it will be fine. Slap on a set of skinnier tires and away you go.

QueueCT

You'll be fine with most any road bike with the trailer, get what you will want to ride long term. As mentioned by a PP, think long and hard about what gearing you want on the bike or the hills and mountains will do you in once you start pulling 20 kg or so worth of gear (keep it as light as you can).

Ryedubs

for one reason or another, i might have to have a complete rethink with respect to the style/type of bike/options i can pick from; having to spend a huge chunk of new toy money on my car
i am considering building myself, a bit daunting but at least i will learn a lot about servicing/repairing.
i just a have a few questions if you guys can help me please.

i want to use an old steel mountain bike (boot sale / garage sale jobby probably) when i find a good one, probably approximately 22" (i'm just under 6'3") and was wondering what all the novices ask and you get tired of answering.

reliability is the most important thing for me and i do not have a huge budget, but am willing to spend a little more for reliability. i have been looking at various components but i am stuggling without understanding a few basics.

first off, do any MTB components for any MTB (as long as i stick with components that are compatible with each other)
i understand the BB are different sizes? do i find a BB that fits my bike than work from there?
when components are labled as road bike parts, does this mean that they simply cannot work on a mountain bike?
the tiagra derailleurs for example?

i am finding it hard to find mountain bike chainset with anything over 48/?/?. thats why i am asking about those labeld as roadies.

i hope this kind of makes sense to you all, cheers again.

valygrl

Dude. It's pretty hard to follow what you are asking. I think you don't understand how the gears work, but I'm not sure. Maybe I just don't understand your communication style, in which case I apologize in advance.

For touring, you want LOW gears, especially with the very heavy load you are planning to carry. A mountain bike is probably fine, and you probably don't need to change the gearing, as mountain bikes usually have lower gears than road bikes. The 48 big ring is probably just fine. You understand that for the chainrings (front, on the cranks, there's no such thing as "chainset") the bigger gear is for higher speed/downhill and the little ring is for lower speed/uphill. Don't worry about the big ring being big enough, worry about the little one being little enough. 22 to 26 is good. A stock mountain bike set up is probably good. In back ("cassette") the gears are opposite - the little cog is for higher speeds and the big cog is for lower speeds.

Triathlon bikes and touring bikes are kind of the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of gearing and riding position, so you better just pick which one you want first and get it, rather than getting something that sucks at both.

WIth your apparent lack of mechanical knowledge (and I'm not trying to be mean here) you would be better off spending a bit more up front for a whole, working bike that fits your needs, because you're going to be chasing your own bad decisions around throwing money at them otherwise.

Ryedubs

ha ha, cracked me up.

maybe i no right gud me dunno.

well, i got to admit, i wont be alone in building the bike, but i am alone in buying the components. and to be honest, i have built much more complicated things, it is just i have about a days worth of knowledge on this subject.

with respect, i cannot do this any other way for lots of reason that do not need to delved into in any great length, so obviously any advice is really helpful. especially with my superior mechanical knowledge.

i think mechanical knowledge is a diferent subject all together isn't it? but anyways, i do basically understand how the components work, but i can see i do not explain them very well, the same as i understand how various engines work, but cannot explain too well due to my lack of technical knowledge.

to make things simple, not least for myself, would Deora stuff all go on a early nineties mtb?
e.g:
HG61 11-34
M590 48/36/26

the reason i want to replace the bits rather than staying with what is already there, is because i can also kill two birds with one stone; in that the old stuff can go on my current, very broken, full sus and since i am not very wealthy it is a nice end result.

what i was trying to ask before was, would a 9sp cassette (or what ever you geeks without girlfirends call them ) fit on an old bike and questions similar to this (relating to things to be careful of when attempting this project) because as i say, i know nothing about bikes.

EDIT:

i just read that and it sounded as though i was trying to protect my damaged mechanical skills reputation doesn't it ha ha. i wasn't, i just wanted to get some basic information on where to begin so i can start to get an idea of costs, styles and variety. cheers anyway