tcs

If one is expedition touring in a large American town or city, ISO622s are walk-into-the-store common. In rural areas and fly over country, they can be scarce to non-existent. By far the two most common tire sizes in the USA are ISO406 followed by ISO559.

cyccommute 

While I hate to give any more business than I have to to Helmart, they do carry 700C tires in many (if not most) of their rural stores. I found one is Richmond, KY which is about as rural as you want to get. I've also found presta tubes at Helmarts in Richmond and in Texarkana, AR. They are listed under "hybrid" tires and tubes and are boat anchors but the one I bought in Richmond was better than the Continental I bought in Cincinnati 200 miles earlier. It didn't split open on me.

dwmckee

If you go the Fargo route they sell used on ebay for about $1100 well equipped and little used. I know as I just sold mine there for $1125 and it was practically new. I had it 2 years and just never did the rough touring I expected to. I guess I am a committed road guy.

arctos

Answering the thread question seems to depend on how you define "expedition". The Divide Ride was given as an example of the type of terrain expected by mtn.cycle and his son. On my Divide Ride i saw every type of bike and wheel/tire size: Rigid, hard tail and FS; 26" and 700c/29er.

I rode my rigid Ti Bruce Gordon RNR with 700x47/1.75" tires. Only the deepest sand and mud presented problems at times. I prefer simplicity over complexity in bike equipment. Fixing suspension shocks or disc brakes does not interest me. This approach has worked for this bike tourist from the Stone Age for over forty years. Speed enhanced by suspension while touring seems an oxymoron to me. I actually enjoy seeing the terrain I pass through on tour. Finally I think that bike handling skills are best learned on a rigid bike and then supplemented by suspension experience afterwards.
Have I won the Curmudgeon of the Year Award yet?

rifraf

Although a Moulton fan from way back and APB owner for many years, I would point out the TSR allows for quite skinny tyres (compared to the APB) and more importantly for long distances between watering points, limited luggage carrying capabilities.
This has shown up in my cross Australian tour where there can be many days in-between towns and resupply of water.
I think from memory the rear rack is limited to around 16kg.
Keep in mind water is 1kg per liter (approx).
I got around this on my last tour with a trailer but this isnt ideal for a small wheel suspension bike which the first touching of base with an off tarmac situation will show.
In fact the evolution of the APB (being the TSR), is something of a disappointment to me in some respects, hence my building of a Surly Ogre to better suit the local conditions.
This after around 20 years of Moultoning in four different countries.
Great for tours with regular supply options like towns within a couple of days apart.

mtn.cyclist

Hey Arctos, I agree that touring should be simple and I approach it with as little time constraints as possible. Trying to go fast is not the point for me, except just trying to get a desired location before dark. I do use a front suspended mt. bike for touring but that's only because I already have the bike, not for increased speed. The benefit is a little less beating to my old body. I suspect my son's new bike will be unsuspended but we have no real rules about that. A suspended mt. bike would give him a true off road bike as well as a touring bike.
Disc brakes are not really that difficult to repair on the road, especially cable actuated, any more than fixing a wheel or broken derailleur might be. I am running hydraulic discs which are a bit complicated, but again, I have the bike and just choose to use it as is. A world tour might require a change to cable disc brakes.
Thanks for the input!

mtn.cyclist

We ended the debate this weekend by finding a nice Troll. Thanks for all the input!

enigmaT120

Cool! Are those Fargo forks on it, or is Surly making those, too, now? I mean they have the mounts for the Salsa Anything Cage or any other water bottle.

mtn.cyclist

The fork has the Surly logo on it so I can only assume it came stock but it was a selling point for me. The down tube has the multiple bottle cage bolts as we'll so it all seems stock to me. I'm slightly jealous of my son's new bike but we ride the same size

fietsbob

The commonality of A 406 20" tire makes Bike Fridays a good choice,

+ the ability to pack the bike in a smaller carton, or even Use the suitcase pack scheme to
skirt the
it's a bicycle, special handling fee structure ..

Likely bike , trailer and a bunch of luggage will go in a bike box that the bike alone will fill up.

of a usual big wheel rig.

Tourist in MSN

From the photo, I can't tell what size you have for a granny gear, but I suspect that your son may want a small chainring, maybe 22t or maybe a 20t if that is not what you have.

rifraf

I think when it comes to bang for buck the Surly make for a fairly easy choice.
The mounts look a little fussy but for shear "bolt on" choice the bikes are hard to beat.
IMHO they are a little more versatile than the Fargo.
Not better, just a little more versatile.
If your son likes his Troll as much as I'm enjoying its big brother (Ogre), I'm sure he'll be very happy.
The different width tires the Troll will accept is incredible.
Happy Spinning OP (and son).

rifraf

https://surlybikes.com/bikes/troll/bike_specs

"Surly Troll, TIG-welded tapered & butted 4130 CroMoly, 100mm suspension corrected, tapered straight blade. Low- and mid-blade fully threaded through-blade rack eyelets; fender mount eyelets at dropout; 1-1/8˝ x 260mm threadless steer tube, 51mm disc mount (203mm max. rotor diameter), removable cantilever pivots, two sets of bottle mounts on each fork blade. Note: you can’t always mount bottles on the fork with every rack."

The Troll and Ogre have the ability to add bottle cages to the forks.
The brand/model of rack will depend on whether or not the cages and rack can be used at the same time.
I cant utilise my Tubus Nova and Salsa Anything cages at the same time.
However my Ogre carries two 1.5 Nalgene bottles on the frame as well as a MSR fuel bottle (1 liter).

rifraf

https://surlybikes.com/bikes/troll/bike_specs [h=3]"Drivetrain Crankset Shimano FC-T551, 26/36/48t. Black"[/h] [HR][/HR]

mtn.cyclist

i agree, the Troll was an excellent value. Fargos of similar age and condition are $1100-1200 and up. This newish, nicely appointed Troll was $800 +shipping. A great deal, IMHO.

mtn.cyclist

I think my son intends to use a rear rack only plus a frame bag. He is excited about using the hold anything cage so he will make it work. Those big cages allow carrying lots of water which is a huge plus as well.

djb

the trolls and ogres look like great bikes. Have fun with it (especially when you can steal it from him)

tcs

On the internet, Trolls usually start the debates.

LeeG

Good choice, it's worth experimenting with under handlebar loads if the weight on the rack makes the front end too light.