Originally Posted by
LHT in Madison
I have a friend that has three old Cannondales and is considering buying a fourth, but his are all older from 7 speed days. Owning three and looking for a fourth is a pretty good endorsement.
I have another friend that owns a Cannondale but he bought a Trek 520 a few years ago because he specifically wanted a steel frame to absorb the road vibration better. His Cannondale is now in storage. I asked why he bought the 520 when he does not tour and does not even have a rack on the bike, he said it was the only steel frame bike sold by Trek, he lives in a small town where the only bike shop is a Trek shop. He is a high mileage rider and has over 20,000 miles on his Trek. I think about 5,000 of those miles are this year.
If you follow through with your plan to go to northern Canada, schedule will be critical.
Actually I used to live up in Northern Ontario, the last leg of my journey will be by train due simply to a lack of roads, I am more worried about the heat of the south and what not, I can time Canada well and North of North Bay snow isn't even a huge issue as much as cold but still within my time frame I can make it long before, the nights are cool but not so bad when I will be getting there. I am not used to Alabama Heat in the summer and watching my water consumption more than anything. So I am going to leave in the Spring hopefully missing the worst of it.
I used to have a show truck back in the day and went to a huge show 5 years in a row in Daytona beach and we would be walking around at night sweating like pigs in shorts and a tshirt while the locals wore a sweater and were shivering so I may need hot weather advice.