Originally Posted by
kroozer
Cyclotoine makes a good point about 1980's tourers-- most of them used standard guage tubing and can get pretty wobbly with a full camping load. I think they make better sport tourers than serious loaded tourers, especially if you're on rough roads and/or carrying a lot of gear.
That's a very good point. I'm very pleased with my 1982 Univega Viva Touring, which has straight gauge Cro-moly tubing. I don't tour with it, but I use it for commuting and heavy shopping trips, among other things. I do not get any feeling of undue flex with even the heaviest loads I've carried. One one occasion, a liquor store strike, I transported a total of 66 12-oz beers along with a box of wine and a bottle of whiskey.
All of that was supported by the bike only, no trailer, btw.
