homebrew13

Sorry for such a newbie post, but after doing some research it seems that this is the place to go to if you have a question about touring on a bike. First let me introduce myself. I am a touring newbie. I have been doing research for the last 3 months. I have found Ken Kifer’s site extremely useful as well as touring101. I also bought lonely planet’s “Cycling the West Coast.” My girlfriend and I are considering a move (it would be in about a year and half) from Philadelphia, PA to the Pacific Northwest. We decided that we should at least travel there before we jump right in on the move. Well, what better way to visit an area than to see it up close by touring on bike? So the plan this summer is for a 2 1/2 week tour in August. Starting in Vancouver, BC. And ending in Portland OR.

I realize that for most of you this is probably a fairly short tour but like I said before it will be our first. We plan on doing a mixed tour for the most part doing stealth camping with a few stops at hostels in Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland.

My first question is what bike does everyone suggest? Unfortunately neither of us have much money or even good bike shops that cater to touring. So I came here. We are looking to spend approximately $900 on a decent bike but with all the gear (panniers and such) we need probably a total of $1100 each. But that is really our max range of what we can afford so cheaper is better.

Now after lurking here for about a month here are some of the ideas that I have come up with, please correct me and add a ton of suggestions to best outfit us. (Just to give you some ideas about us we are both 25 and I am 6’2” and 180 lbs. the girlfriend is 5’4” and 115 lbs. We are in decent shape but will be doing training a great deal once we get the bikes. In fact we have already committed to doing Kevin Tabotta’s “getting fit for a tour” schedule as well as doing a couple of charity rides.)

• Going to a LBS and ordering and having them build a bike with:
  Surly Long Haul Trucker frame (the girlfriend is a little scared about the weight although neither of us have seen it)
  Brooks B-17 saddle
  Shimano 105 components (I believe I have seen good reviews on them)
  And a low (mountain bike style) gearing
  Murraylove’s bike is one of the prettiest I have ever seen not that that matters at my price range
• Buying a new Trek 520 and swapping some components
• Buying a new Cannondale T800 (I am partial to Cannondale, I love my mountain bike that is 10 years old from them but can be easily persuaded into something else I know it is an AL frame now)
• Buying a new REI Randonee and swapping some components
• Finding a place in the city that I have been looking for but can’t find that has old steel racing bikes and upgrading them to touring specs.

Please help me fill our requirements on bikes (specs and all that you would recommend within that price range). And tell me which option you think is best. Thanks for your help and sorry for the book.

Dougmt

This is a tricky question. The problem with the LHT is that (per your post) you are gonna pay someone to build it. That gets expensive fast. The LHT is gonna set you back at least 400. By the time you outfit it your looking at another 800-1000 in parts (LX-XT level) PLUS a couple hundred in labor costs. You can get a Trek 520 for probably 1000-1100 out the door with the components swaped like ya want. I don't know what the cannondale costs but I think the T800 comes with some lower end components. The REI is an OK bike but again it comes with a who knows who made it frame and a witches brew components mix.
If I were you I think I'd look at Ebay..... If you can find a good deal from a trustworthy seller go for it.
OR
Buy the LHT and hunt the online discount bike shops like a madman. I picked up a XT crantset and BB for $119. I had Nashbar price match my Continental TT 2000 tires and then they gave me 10% off. It'll take you awhile but you could spec out a bike for probably 700-800 with top quality parts.
Then pay a shop to install the headset and bottom bracket/crank. You can put on the chain, mount the seat and seatpost, mount your stem and handlebars, install your shifters/brakes and cables. You might save quite a bit by doing it that way.
Good luck. Don't let the bike hunt get you down either, as I know it can. Look at this as an adventure and part of that adventure is getting the gear :-)
D

jnoble123

Hi Homebrew.

I am a bit curious about your old mountain bike. Many of the older ones were quite successfully used as touring bikes with some slight modifications. This is especially true if you can add a rear rack and if you are lacking front suspension at the front of the bike. Even if you currently have a front suspension fork you can usually switch it out for an old rigid fork at relatively low coast. Add some slicks or other touring tires and do some preventative maintenance. There are a couple of bicycle case studies on BT101 where people have done exactly that with great success.

In your case it might be worth considering since you mention liking the bike. That implies that you enjoy riding it and that it likely fits you well. This might be an approach that would significantly help your budget too since you said it was tight.

This also allows you to try touring at a much lower initial cost. You can always upgrade your bike after your first tour if that's your wish.

An alternative is to consider a trailer like a BOB or Burley especially if you could find one or two used ones and if you already have bikes with stiff rear triangles. I actually own a Bob COZ that I purchased secondhand and that I fill up with groceries on a weekly basis. I tow it with my Icebike, a 2001 Norco Scrambler worth $359.00 CDN when I purchased it four winters ago.

Another good touring book is the Essential Touring Cyclist by Richard Lovett. That book has a lot of good information in it that's still relevant today.

BTW: Personally I don't worry about the weight of the bike too much with a touring bike. It's going to be carrying a lot of gear plus my body weight. With all that to carry I would rather have it be durable and heavier then light and broken. If it helps you will likely lose some weight everyday on tour while eating more food then you ever thought possible!

I also find that when I ride my Trek 520 fully loaded it handles so much nicer then it does when not carrying a load. It's almost impossible to describe but when unloaded it's more twitchy and when loaded it seems to ride almost silky smooth.

I hope that helps!

~Jamie N
www.bicycletouring101.com

MichaelW

Fuji and REI are a good brands for value touring bikes.
The Canondale is often thought of as a big guy's bike because of the extra stiffness of the frame. It may be too ridgid for a short woman.
Small women can also benefit from using 26" MTB wheels to make a proportionally small frame. Smaller Surly LHTs are available in this wheel size.
The Bruce Gordon BLT is above your price range but the spec is a good guide to what a tourist needs.

cyccommute 

I've found the same feeling with a T800. Under load the bike is a gentleman but without a load it tends to be harsher. As for weight, a good touring bike will weigh about what a high end hard tail mountain bike weighs - about 25 to 30 lbs. You don't want a superlight bike with a lot of boutique parts because those kinds of parts aren't that durable. Remember what Ken Bontager says "You can have light, cheap or durable. Pick two."

As for building your own bike from a bare frame. It is fun. It can be frustrating. I frankenbike stuff all the time but I have been doing all of my own wrenching for nearly 20 years and I know how to make things on bicycles work. If you are going to depend on a bike shop to do the work for you, you will start to get a lot of money invested in just labor not to mention parts. If you have the experience to work on bikes or if you are willing to break a few things to learn, by all means start with a bare frame and build it yourself. But realize that it will cost a lot more than buying a bike from a manufacturer.

cyccommute 

I'd second the Fuji touring. Good starter touring bike that's realitively inexpensive. They don't really make a size for very small women (if your girlfriend is small). The Trek 520 also comes in a very small size.

homebrew13

Thanks for all of the help everyone. My mountain bike is an AL frame so I am not really looking into converting it. After the suggestions on here I started looking into the Fuji Touring for both of us. I have called a couple of shops and will be going for a test ride this weekend. My thanks to everyone! I am really hoping we like the Fuji as a store has already quoted us a decent price on the 2005 model. I am not sure how I was unable to look at the Fuji Touring earlier it must have just slipped under my radar.

If I do go with the Fuji I am still probably going to want suggestions on upgrades that will be necessary or at least recommended.

Also I was wondering if anyone knew of any panniers that when detached from the bike can be worn like a backpack?

Thanks again

cyccommute 

You will probably need to change the gears on the Fuji. It's gear a bit too high for touring. As bike shop to change the chainwheels to something like a 48/38/24. It will probably have a 52/40/30 on the front. If they don't have the chainwheels maybe you can have them change the rear cassette to a 14-34. I toured of a long time with a 52/40/24 crank and a 14-34 cassette.

You will want to get a lowrider rack for the front of each bike. You load should be split about 50:50 between front and back. If anything err on the side of putting more in the front bags (60:40 split) then in the back. It improves handling.

There are a lot of bags that can be converted to backpacks but only on bag at a time can be used, so for touring, they are kind of useless. Here's one from Delta but the $50 price is for one bag not a pair. Ortlieb also make a backpack converter but it's kind of expensive as are Orlieb bags. They are great bags but pricey.

Dahon.Steve

The last statement is the most important one. I will never buy a bike unless I can test ride it because you don't know if the cycle will fit. You can use the online calculators but until you get on the bike, you'll never know how it feels and more important, if you like the ride! A bike that's one size too big may never be comfortable so test ride them first. This is especially true with your girlfriend.

A Trek 520 that fits is better than a poorly fitting Rivendale any day of the week.

homebrew13

Well due to the weather here on the east coast I was unable to go for the test ride on Saturday. We will be going on Wednesday instead. Now for the details. I did stop in today and this is what I was quoted. He has the 49", 58" and I believe a 64" Fuji Touring bikes from 2003 in stock (new not used). Now I looked over some of the components and asked him if he could swap a couple things out.

Components:

swap in a 22/34/44 crankset (already has an 11/32 cassette)
already has avid shorty 4 brakes
Change Front Derailleur from Shimano Tiagra to Shimano LX
Change Back Derailleur from Deore to Shimano XT
And change the saddle to a Brooks B-17

Total price of approximately $750. With a free year of service (I think everyone offers this).

Is that a good price for that bike?

Should I look into upgrading the wheels to Mavic T520s with Conti Touring Tires at 700 x 32 (or maybe even 26" for the girlfriend?) How much should I expect these to add to the price? $300 per set? Can I save money by just upgrading the tires??? Do I even need to mess with the tires??

Please tell me your thoughts. Thanks again to everyone. This board is a great site for knowledge.

cyccommute 

If the bike shop owner is willing to make all of those changes and still keep the price at $750, it's a hell of a deal!

As for the wheels, ride the stock ones for a while. They are rugged enough to tour on for a year or so. Look into upgrading them later since you will still need some equipment to tour with like a front rack and bags.

By the way, you can't change the size of the wheels for your girl friends bike to 26". It won't work with the brake bosses the bike currently has. Train with the tires you have (depending on when you want to leave and how far you plan on going, you might want to start soon) but change over to a 35C or even a 37C. The bikes will be a bit slower but the ride will be better.