Originally Posted by
Saddle Tripper
this has been an eye opening dialogue - and saved me hours of effort and perhaps money. Yes - limited budget. I do the best with what I can afford.
thanks much to all. Tom
yeah - budget - that pesky little thing ... money
if you are planning to do distance riding - good chance it will require a significant budget
if not just for the appropriate gear and supplies - also for lodging, meals etc
the bike $ is a then a smaller part of the entire budget - and becomes even smaller as the number of rides increases
I’m a big fan of vintage off road bikes - they are high on my list and we have a bunch of them - but would not be eager to do long distance riding with them (with flat or drop bars)
and by the time you have your bike ‘converted’ into proper condition for long distance riding - you will have consumed a lot of resources (time and money) - but the end result might be far from optimum