What sort of equip one gets for touring can depend largely on how much
one has to spend. Working from extreme poverty as I have requires a bit
of ingenuity.
I have 2 bikes, an '89 raleigh ovation mtb, and an '88 5 spd. raleigh mixte.
For the mtb I've fashioned a single whl. off road trailer using 2 alum. 26"
rims cut at the weld and bolted together into an oblong hoop. (note:
aircraft grade aluminum is fairly brittle. you'll need to heat it to about 300
F. before bending in a vise. ) Now to the hoop i screwed a deck of epoxy
painted 3/8 plywd. using other scrounged bits of alum., I mounted the
the fork from a kid's 16" bike. The vertical swing arm that attaches to
my chainstay is a old pugeot fork which hinges horizotally using eyebolts
and aluminum tubing from an old golf caddy reiforced inside by green
hazelwood dowel. To the deck I have screwed a big HD plastic, lidded
tub from walmart. The lid is secured with window cam locks; the tub is
reinforced by alum. strips from a screen window and totally water-
proof with room for bag, tent, clothing, & misc.
I'm lucky to have access to a ' bike salvage yard', total for bike &
trailer including new tires and tubes: $125
If your broke, but want to tour I suggest scouring thrift shops and
recycle centers.
Setting up the road bike was even cheaper.( just finished today by
the way) I found the '88 raleigh mixte covered with dust & cobwebs
in a thrift store. When i cleaned it up, to my delight, I discovered it
had never been ridden, no rust, no mechanical wear, not so much as
a single pit in the paint inside the fenders. i had a new bike for $25.
It had a large frame for a mixte, but being 6'4" i made a few modif-
cations. I got rid of the granny bars & stem, spent $6 on an extend-
alu gooseneck stem and some semi-straight bars from the 'yard'. I
made a longer seat post by cutting the end off a dumbell bar and
ground it to fit. For 2$ I got a large front basket at thrift; didn't
fit there,but remanufactured to go the long way, it became a combi
rear basket & pannier rack. At walmart i got another eastport daypack.
(had one already gotten from the goodwill, 4$) With harness thread
and some old denim I rigged the daypacks to attach as panniers yet
still function as packs. grips 8$. Total + tires, tubes, misc. : $95
Be patient, frugal, keep your eyes open, and your mind agile. Do
this and you can accomplish anything.