Originally Posted by
mawwwk
I've had my Raleigh Sojourn for about two years now. At the time I thought I had done my research and found the perfect bike! I was able to get it at 20% of MSRP, which was much cheaper than the Surly LHT at the time (I hadn't even heard of the Kona Sutra). After some more reading I've discovered that there is some criticism of the avid bb5 brakes, 32 spoke wheels, and hubs.
Another bike company with out a clue
Gonna rant a little: What idiot would spec a 32 hole disc wheel on a
touring bike? Does a design committee sit around and see what kind of stupid ideas they can come up with? "Hey, Erv! Got an idea. Let's put a dished wheel on the front of this bike and make it even weaker by taking away 4 spokes!"
Originally Posted by
mawwwk
I've got about 1,300 miles on it at this point without a single complaint. It rides like a dream and is my daily commuter. However, I'm looking at doing some touring this summer. I've got a spot in RAGBRAI, and am planning a ride to Wyoming this summer as well. Should I worry about getting different hubs, brakes, and wheels on my Sojourn? While I share some concerns with other members on this site. I kind of think it makes some sense to get use out of the components that came stock and replace them as they show some wear and tear.
For RAGBRAI, you won't need to do anything. You might even want to remove some stuff to lighten the bike up. RAGBRAI (and other mass tours) are more de France than they are Tour. (Personal note: Don't like mass tours because they are too much de France and not enough Tour
) Just ride what you got or, if you have something else that's racier, ride it.
For the Wyoming trip, stick with what you got...including the 32 hole wheels
...unless you have a reason to change them. I'd suggest doing loaded training rides a few weeks to a couple of months before hand. Load your bags with weight (rice and beans works very well and you can eat them afterwards) progressing from a little weight to what you expect to carry on the trip. Front bags are good and should be loaded with small dense stuff to about 60% of the total load. A heavier load on the front improves handling. Keep the back bags for lighter bulky stuff.
Originally Posted by
mawwwk
My wheels are double wall and I've put some hard miles on them in the city without any problems. I threw both of them on a truing stand recently, and they didn't need any adjustment!
I'm open to any suggestions. I'm on a budget so making $$ upgrades aren't really option. Though, I would like to put a Shimano Dynamo front hub on it.
Looking forward to hearing all your thoughts!
Unless you really need a dynamo and the light for touring, I'd just stick with what you have now...even if they aren't right
...unless you start to break spokes during training. The dynamo hub is much more useful for winter* riding so save your cash for now. Only replace stuff that really needs replacing. And don't replace much of anything within the last couple of weeks before a loaded tour. That means don't replace the saddle, the handlebars, do a major overhaul, etc. unless absolutely necessary.
*Not a big fan of dynamo hubs in the winter time either. Sure they work all the time but they aren't all that transferable from bike to bike if you have multiple bikes. Battery lights are more flexible and brighter even if limited in run time. YMMV