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Old 03-09-11 | 03:32 AM
  #4  
cpach
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 2,161
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From: Mt Shasta, CA, USA

Bikes: Too many. Giant Trance X 29, Surly Midnight Special get the most time.

It's a club riding bike and thus isn't as well suited to touring as a touring bike. The big differences will probably be:
- Higher gearing: your bike goes down to about 30 gear inches stock. You could drop this to 25 with a 11-32 cassette. Lower gears are useful when climbing hills when loaded. Lots of touring cyclists cite 20 gear inches as a good low gear.
- Possible problems with heel clearance: touring frames typically have longer chainstays, and one consequence of this is that it places the rear rack further back, which can help prevent problems with heel strike on panniers. However you can likely fandangle something that works on your bike, by shifting the rack and the panniers as far back as they can go.
-Less stable steering: your bike will have more responsive steering than a touring bike, which can be disadvantageous for touring when you may want stability for easy handling.
-Less wheel clearance: you can't fit as wide tires/fenders on your bike. However, your bike actually does apparently have fender eyelets, so you might be able to fit somewhat wider tires and/or fenders than many road racing frames. Wider tires are advantageous for touring because they absorb more road vibration and handle better on bad/unpaved roads, and fenders are nice because you can't always be picky about the weather you ride in when on a tour.
-Less strong wheels: Touring bikes tend to have stronger wheels with more spokes than club/racing bikes because they bear more load, and lighter/lower spoke count wheels can potentially break spokes. Also it should be easier to repair broken spokes on a higher spoke count wheel. Your bike doesn't have very radically light wheels, though.
-No braze ons for front racks: front racks can help you distribute your load more evenly over the bike. There do exist some models of front forks that will mount without them, though, such as those from Old Man Mountain.
-Less strong frame: your frame is probably not as strong as a touring frame. You might experience problems relating to frame flex with heavy loads.

Your bike is more serviceable for touring than many race bikes. It's probably not a great choice for very heavy touring. If I were you I'd give it a try on short trips and see how it works out. You should fine out if you can runner wider tires and fenders, and get a rear rack and some panniers. These would make your bike great for commuting regardless if you use it to tour. A lot depends on how much you have to carry.
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