non-fixie 

How appropriate for this thread to resurface today, as the non-fixies are sports touring in Tuscany this week with the DeVos and the Austro-Daimler:

bpeder

NBD last Thursday. '85 Ross Signature 294. This one is stock except for the seatpost and saddle, and I have a new Brooks C-17 coming tomorrow. Squeaky CA clean. I may add a period Campy seatpost and keep my eyes open for a Triomphe pedal set. But for now my old Gran Tour peds are fine with new Power Grips installed. 23" frame and man - what a difference from my old 4130 Hi-ten '81 Ross Gran Tour XV... That bike is officially handed down to my son. It's my 3rd Ross. I also have an '86 Mt Hood with chrome frame and dog-bone stem. What a beautiful tank that MTB is! If you ever see a bike you like at California Bike Pickers, they source nice, clean bikes, a good set-up and well packed shipping and they accept offers. Stay cool!

due ruote 

Congrats on your new Ross. I have one of those and love it to death. What I like: great tire clearance (with a bit of work, I have fit 33mm Supple Vitesse with fenders; 28 fits easily); dual bottle braze-ons; downtube shifter braze-ons; sloping fork crown. My only semi-gripe is I wish it had been spec'd with 022 rather than 024 tubing. I feel like it's just a touch less lively than it might be. Still, it rides and handles great, and I like a bike that kind of flies under the radar.
Btw, looks like some good listening happens in that room!

bpeder

022 might have saved some weight, but 23 pounds is still pretty light? And if you are running wider tires, you might be thinking of riding on gravel? In which case, you might like the frame to be slightly more robust. But doesn't that bike ride like a dream? I liked the Brooks C17 saddle so much that I put it on my Mount Hood, and ordered a C15 for the 294S. Then again - I bet you're right, 022 might give you a more flexie ride If you are not 200 plus... Do we like vintage stereo systems here too? That McIntosh system is what I would have wanted back in 1977 if I had had the bread!

due ruote 

Nice canoe too! You have good toys. Re audio - you might like this thread.

bpeder

​​Thanks! That's at my cabin on Lake Superior's north shore. The We-no-nah Voyager was just getting ready for a 5-day solo trip to the BDub. There's an '81 We-no-nah tandem Jensen 18 in the loft. Yes, enjoyed the link - thanks! Endless chatter about CV systems at Audio Karma too. Do you have more than one Ross? If not, what's the next bike in your fleet likely to be?

Rode the 12 mile paved section of the Sawbill Trail today. An easy 25 mile RT on the Mount Hood - which makes a dandy gravel/back roads/logging trail bike. Technical MTB riding - not so much. Mid 80s MTBs demanded some skill sets that's for sure! It's been a beautiful summer up here!

Chr0m0ly 

‘79 Trek 514

...514

‘74 International... I’m cleaning of some “patina”

1978 Trek 706

...706


I really dig touring bikes, I like the stretched ride, and I like the subdued response. I come from boarding sports, and I like the feel of carving a turn, rather than cutting a turn.

These early touring Treks, (Trek categorizes them as such, this was a little bit before the built to purpose touring bikes were being made off the rack) are about perfect.

They have 44.5cm chain stays, so they are forgiving and “carvy” but a trail of 46 keeps it fun and responsive. I like the combination a lot.

The International.... it’s in the works....

Jmpierce

Posted many times on C&V before but willing to do it again.

My 82 710. Repaint, mostly Dura Ace (7400), Matrix wheels. Purchased as a frame and fork in 83 for $365.00. This is the bike I've ridden all my centuries on. I've changed the gearing to be much lower than this shows.

I love the way this bike rides, very forgiving.

ZudeJammer

stock Fuji Touring Series V, rattled off a few parts this summer, dustcaps on both pedals and one of the barend shifter nuts riding on rocky trails not gonna be gentle with her tho I regret that the Le Tech RD is getting Le Wrecked

polymorphself 

Id call this one full on touring bicycle

Quite the saddle slam!

richardwilson

I love these pics.looks awesome

bikemig 

I picked up this bike a few years ago and I finally got around to building up my 1979 Trek 510. It is a full Ishiwata 022 frameset that was low temperature silver brazed and has a pretty cast fork crown with reinforcement tabs. This was, I believe, the least expensive of Trek's high end frames in part because the dollar yen exchange made high end Japanese seamless chrome moly tubing sets relatively inexpensive when compared to Reynolds 531 or Columbus SL/SP.

I really like the understated graphics and the headbadges on the early Treks (late 70s). I built the bike with a suntour derailleurs (it's tough to beat the suntour ratcheting shifters IMO), sugino AT crank (48/36/26 rings), shimano 105 brake calipers with cane creek aero brake levers (you get better leverage with aero bars and I like the double quick release on the lever and caliper for slipping a fat tire on and off the bike), a shimano 600 headset, a 14-28 shimano 6 speed freewheel, campy tipo hubs laced to superchampion 58 rims (these are super strong rims), and schwalbe marathon racer 700 x 35c tires. The pedals are MKS lambda pedals. I'll replace them eventually with platform pedals and toe clips and straps. I'm riding the bike mainly around town right now and platform pedals make that easy.

The bike rides great. I have other bikes I like a lot but the Trek sports touring bikes remain some of the best riding bikes I have ever ridden.

Boris Dog

Probably not vintage but my 1995 Dawes Giro 600 Audax. Reynolds 531 Competition frame and just upgraded from the original RSX 7 speed triple (46, 36, 26) to Tiagra 10 speed and changed the rings on the triple to 48, 38, 30. Has it lost its authenticity? Probably but it's now a much better ride.
This was my late father-in-law's bike and, back in the day, we rode a few audaxes and randonnees in South East England and Northern France. There is no lunch stop as good as a cheese and ham baguette and a glass of wine or a Kronenbourg.

Sports touring. Tick.

For some reason each rider got a cauliflower from the local mayor's farm at the end of this one.
Good memories.

noglider 

I guess my 1971 Raleigh Super Course qualifies to be here, even though not many things on the bike are original: the headset and the brake calipers.

Pompiere

1981 Fuji S12-S LTD

331 Chromoly frame

I bought this Fuji last fall and refurbished it over the winter. It had most of the original components and I tried to stay true to the original when I replaced missing parts, even if they did not match the catalog. The paint was a rough respray, so I repainted and applied new decals. I think it fits the "sport touring" category perfectly in the way it handles rough roads and long rides.

gthomson

A bit late to the game here but was working on getting this older bike I picked up to ride on the trainer but was not very happy with it so just put in the garage. I saw a few touring bikes posted on this forum and thought, hey they look cool so why not put the bike to use?
This was a CDN made bike by Raleigh I believe, heavy frame, cheap components but I liked the Oval-Tech crank and that it was 18 speed. Good for handling some hills. Added a few accessories and voila - touring bike!

Moisture

Whats the main difference between thse bikes versus a regular road bike? I'm noticing a slacker head tube and increased fork rake.

thook

excluding racing bikes, regular road bikes can vary a bit in geometry themselves. what typically classifies a sport touring bike is the frame having accommodations for a rack or two, fenders, and fatter than racing tires. having said that. "sport touring" (aka credit card touring) is simply a genre of cycling....ie. taking whatever road/sport bike you have and touring about for a day or few while minimally loaded and generally relying on businesses for food and lodging....vs loaded touring where mostly you're supporting yourself in those needs

i had an '82 trek 614 marketed as a sport touring model. 73 degree head tube and seat tube, 55mm fork offset, 72mm bottom bracket drop, fender eyelets, rear rack mount, triple crankset (half stepped), and 27" wheels (enough room for 700x35mm tires when i converted). reasonably light in weight, but very nimble handling with a road vibration friendly tubeset (double butted reynolds 531). comfortable for long rides and well geared for any geography

Het Volk

Fascinating all the disagreement on what makes a sport touring bike, and why they are tough to describe and also, why are they increasingly extinct as a category.

• Sport is in the term for a reason. These are supposed to be fast handling bikes. They are and never were meant to be bikes that were meant to handle heavy loads or rough, rough terrain. It should be a bike that basically is a bike for fast club rides, but when you need to load on a pannier, it can do it.
• Chainstay length is critical. Once you go all Grant Petersen, and lose the "road" bike chainstay length, you are a "Touring" bike. Again, it is meant to be nimble.
• In general, these were meant to have a rear rack and panniers, vs. front loaded bikes we see so often now.
• Centerpull or Sidepull brakes. Caniti brakes were meant for true Touring bikes
• Ideal tire size was 28mm. They were not meant to become the Rene Herse, French Constructour style 650B style bikes.

Why they kind of went away.
Honestly, these were the original commuter bikes. These were the original hybrid bikes, before hybrid meant between a road and mountain bike. I think the entire modern hybrid, and mountain categories kind of killed touring bikes, but really killed sport touring. Last of the really true sport touring bikes readily available was the Surly Pacer, and that is no longer available, and likely never will be. I suppose the new Midnight Special is its replacement, but if you look at it, the chainstay length is more "Touring" than "Sport Touring" length. Which is just Surly reacting to the Gravel craze. Still, I think Sport Touring bikes are an underrated category, and for me at least, the perfect balance I want out of a tarmac specific bike.

My Fuji America from 1981 is a perfect example or a sport tourer.


Fuji America Fork Rake / Trail

Moisture

Het Volk im just under 200lb. I've ridden my Norco sport tourer with up to 45lb of load a few times; distributed front/rear. I thought the bike handled it very well.

- With the aggressive fork rake and 435mm chains, the bike definitely strikes a good balance between agility and stability

- can be a bit slow at low speeds. She's designed to perform well past a certain speed

- over very rough and badly damaged road surfaces, the ride is remarkably smooth and controlled

- i rarely ride loaded, so I would prefer a steeper head tube for better response, but based on my typical commute full of steady pacing, rough surfaces, bumpy sidewalks, gravel, slippery and loose turns, and lots of spirited cornering, the bike handles it all fantastic. At my weight, the bikes intended purpose is not far off from how I ride - mainly just a sports commuter.

Mr. 66

Your bike I would call it a Auto parts store type, set up as a Frankenstein hybrid.

cb400bill

My 1980 Trek 710 seems to slot nicely into the Sports Touring category.

bikemig 

I think it was Trek who came up with the name sports touring or at least they used it pretty heavily in the catalogs. In the early 70s, there was no need for a "sports" touring category as racing bikes generally had eyelets and room for a little fatter tires. That changed by the late 70s/early 80s with short reach brakes. The market sort of divided at that point between "racing" bikes, "sports" touring bikes, and "true" touring bikes. But those were also late 70s and 80s marketing tools.

That is great looking bike. I'm a big fan of Trek sports touring bikes.

IsleRide 

Only the Modolo brake levers and Specialized touring pedals are vintage but I built my Rambouillet in the tradition of classic sports touring bicycles. With 73 and 72 degree head and seat tubes, 2 degree up-sloping top tube and 44.5 cm chain stays it has the geometry that encourages long rides. If I can't do the distance it will never be the bike's fault.

non-fixie 

Since my previous - pre-Covid - post (ah, the memories!) I've acquired this Olympia Sport and built it along the lines of that A-D: