Originally Posted by
chrisx
I made a point to look in bike shops in central America Colombia and Peru. Not for 700, but for 29er tires. Would a bus ride to the capital bother you? 12 hours over night perhaps? They are not impossible to get, (700), just hard. Touring means riding your bike from one side of the county to the other, no? Well, the villages you will spend most of your time in have 26 inch mt bike tires and rim brakes for sale, all the villages have 26 inch tires and rim brakes for sale.
Let use Guatemala for an example. In gringoopolis, Antigua, there is a bike shop with four 700 and a single 29er tire for sale. Old Town Outfitters.
Old Town Outfitters: Antigua Bicycle Co-op!! In Guatemala city the fancy bike shop near the small Eiffel tower has only 26 inch bikes and tires. Eagle claw brake pads are under $5. Disc brake pads are nearly $50. They do not have BB7 pads.
In Oaxaca they have a few 700s to choose from. In Chiapas, no. The rest of Guatemala, no. El Salvador, I did not see any. Honduras, 26 inch mt bike with rim brakes. Nicaragua, (beautifull), I saw nothing but 26 and rim brakes. Cycle to puerto Cabezas. How does a 24 hour bus ride, on dusy roads, to Managua for a new tire souond. Costa Rica and Panama, I did not really look, maybe you could find one; maybe.
Colombia has a pencil thin tires, road race bike set, not much good to a tourist. In the unsafe to cycle, Lima, there might be something to choose from, maybe. The beautiful Andes of Peru, 26 26 and 26, no disc. Obviously I have not been to every bike shop or every city. After searching for 29er tires far and wide, I bought a Ritchey Dahone Flow 26er. A 700 40 will not fit the rear of it. When I get home I might try a 700 on my old Mongoose. Thanks for the idea.
ASk your self a couple of questions.
How good is your Spanish. Can you order a bike part in Spanish, and explain the address? As mentioned above, a few days in a little village could be a good thing.
Do you mind a long bus ride to a city of a millions of people to get the part you need.
I must ask myself. Does wearing sensible shoes, riding a bike with common parts cheat me out of enjoyment I could have on a full suspension 29+ bike?
Can you walk past 5 bike shops, with stacks of 26 inch tires, looking for the tire you want, and not get it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZVcRGB1KdQ
I choose a bike with common parts, I do not carry a box of spare parts. A tube and spare brake pads only.
When you get to Peru bad drivers will make you want to take gravel roads. Narrow roads and no speed traps, get it.
thanks Chris, all good points and glad to see someone else brought up the communication issues.
On that note, twice in my trip my language skills were a factor in finding bike stores to get disc brake help for my travelling companion, so I know what you mean.
on the disc brake note, I would say that from my experience with Guatemala City, Tegucigalpa and some other larger towns, disc brake stuff is pretty easy to find simply due to pretty much all newly sold mtn bikes having them--in our case, the stores had BB7 useable pads.
I do think that this change is probably pretty universal, although of course in small places its always going to be easier to just find reg rim pads, but its so easy to carry spare pads, either rim or disc for that matter.
I rode a bit under 3000km and didnt have to touch my already used pads on my BB7 discs, but we hardly had any rain and I use my brakes sparingly and when I do, I use them hard and for short bursts.
My trip certainly did confirm to me that going with discs now isnt a real problem, although I didnt have to search for a rim or whatever, but given what I saw, it would have been doable, although probably a bus ride would have been involved.
re 700, my take on it was as you said, that narrow road tires are around, but as I mentioned, a 23mm Gatorskin isnt going to help you much on your loaded touring bike.
Shout out for a store called Cycle Works in Guatemala City, top notch store, sells all kinds of bikes, road, mtn, hybrids, and they have a proper shop and they know their stuff. I even saw a Schwalbe tire hanging from the ceiling but as I was doing translation duty/verify the work duty, I don't know what size it was.