When I am done putting my Maruishi Roadace 7 back together I am planning on using it for commuting, but I'd like to try doing some touring on it too.

Are there any particular changes and upgrades I should consider for touring purposes? For example, it is currently 12-speed with downtube shifters. What are the possibilities of upgrading it to, say, 18-speed and use bar-end shifters? Would this even be a good bike for touring? From what I have read about touring bikes I think it could work well (frame geometry, wheel construction) but what do the masters say?

Suggest taking a look at the spec lists of the Trek 520 and Bruce Gordon Rock n Roll for a jumpstart on touring specifics.

But, you are on the right track in thinking about a triple crank. The gearing on the triple is based on your own preference and the type of rear end the bike has. I (strongly) prefer half-step/granny gearing but this takes some study with a gear chart and a commitment to lots of double shifts that many dislike. A typical hs/g triple crank would be something like 46/42/24. The other option is so-called range gearing. A typical set up would be 48/34/24. Regardless of the gearing, a 110/74 triple is a safe bet with lots of options. Avoid road triples.

Regarding shifters, imo it depends on the gearing. For range gearing, I prefer barends as most of the shifts are single shifts on the rear. For hs/g gearing, I actually prefer DT shifters as it's possible to make 1-handed double shifts easily.

In terms of geometry, you can compare yours to many touring bikes here:
https://home.comcast.net/~pinnah/dirt...y-project.html

More thoughts on touring bikes here:
https://home.comcast.net/~pinnah/dirt...-function.html

Wow, great resource! You've got a lot of good information on there. I'll try to get my measurements to you so that you can keep it running.

Your response has gotten me thinking some and I have a few questions:
-How much of a difference does 1-2 cm make in the chainstay length? Is it just to keep your feet from hitting panniers or is there more than that?
-You mentioned staying away from road triples. The two I have right now are 52/44 or something like that (pretty sure of the 52, not so on the 44), and I have noticed on Bruce Gordon's page that some touring bikes (not his) have a large chainring this size. Is this too big? I know a smaller one would be beneficial but I am wondering about the upper limit.

I'm a bit of a newb so I am trying to throw myself into all of this, but have a lot of questions in the process. Hope you don't mind. Thanks again for the help.
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Touring is a ball. Just a ball. While I don't follow the touring forum and while I'm not a thread categorization purist, I will note that Bike Forums has a dedicated touring forum which will probably give you a lot more varied inputs. Fish where the fish are!!

Regarding CS length... I find its almost entirely a matter of heel clearance. It depends on foot size and rack/pannier combos which vary. I've got really big size 13 feet. I get heel strike with 43cm stays. It's close but workable at 44cm. For me, 44cm is the min. Some will argue that you get more stability with longer stays and 46/47cm stays have been used (early 80s treks) but 45cm seems to be the agreed upon norm now. Lastly, you can get tire clearance issues with stays in the 43cm range. On my bike with 43 cm stays, I can get 30mm tires in there but am flirting with tire rub.

Regarding road triples and gearing.... I find that when touring, speeds are low and small variations in road surface or incline make huge differences in the amount of power needed to move forward. So, I really prefer to have narrowly clustered gears in the mid range. No need for big gears as downhills mean coasting, not racing. And then really small gears for hill climbs on the granny.

Regarding the difference in the gearing on the Bruce Gordons versus Trek 520s... IMO this shows that BG is focusing on pure tourists while Trek understands that many people by 520s for commuting and other purposes. I'll betcha Trek sells more 520s.

I have actually looked at the Touring forum quite a bit and love it. The nature of the bicycle being regarded as a C&V led me to ask here first, with people working on old bicycles. (I wondered if I asked this in the Touring forum if they would send me here!)

Your points regarding frame geometry and gearing are well-taken. I have wondered about these things; thanks for the knowledge. I appreciate it. Someday I will hopefully get to tour on this bike.

I've got a Maruishi Roadace RX7. I'm guessing your Roadace 7 would be similar. Per the Maruishi catalog I have that model is the top of the Roadace series, ".....is an exceptionally light-weight sport model with all the style of a racing machine but the ride you expect for around town, commuting, and weekend jaunts."

Mine has only one set of bottle braze-ons, single eyelets on the dropouts, and the caliper brakes aren't nearly as strong as Cantilevers.

Ah, a fellow Maruishi rider! Good to have company. I see from your signature you are looking for information on them. Any luck? I'm pretty desperate to find anything I can too, but pickings seem pretty slim.

Mine has two sets of bottle brazeons but everything else sounds the same. Any ideas for workarounds on the single eyelets and weak(er) brakes?

There isn't much info out there about the company, so don't bother digging too much. There are a few BF members with Marus, and the brand shows up on ebay infrequently. AFAIK Maruishi now goes by the name of Jamis here in the USA. The catalog I have is for 1985. Re the brakes, try Kool Stop pads or similar. Dual-pivot calipers would probably perform better with a load. Those in the Touring forum are best to ask about attaching racks, etc.

Can you post some photos of your bike? What kind of tubing does it have?

I haven't found much myself. Hoping that someone else might know more, but it sounds like a fruitless search. Too bad

I'm in the process of getting it fixed up right now, but when I am done I will post some pics. Tubing? Well, I saw a decal that said CrMo triple-butted, and the fork said Ishiwata. I'm pretty sure the fork is original (trademark kangaroos), so...could I say Ishiwata, triple-butted? (My bike knowledge began with working on this one, so I am still building my vocabulary)

In the catalog I have the generic looking tubing stickers that Maruishi placed on a number of their models were actually on Tange and Ishiwata tubesets. (There's one that bigbossman posted in this thread). Forks were commonly made of lesser material than the main tubes, but a fork is a high stress point so some denser material there isn't a bad thing.

RE: brakes, I prefer Wienmann/Dia-Compe center pulls. Use with QR capable levers (new: Tecktro/Cane Creek; old: Weinmann/Dia-Compe) and, if you can find them, QR cable hangers. C-pulls are a bit harder to set up than cantis in some regards as they pretty much demand the use of cable puller tool (aka 4th hand) for the initial set up. It is possible without, but much easier with. But in other ways, they are much easier than cantis. Centering in particualar is a snap as you don't have to balance spring tensions. Use these with KoolStop mtb pads and you get fully adjustable pads to deal with toe in. They offer as much or more mech advantage and more clearance than modern dual pivots. IMO, the Weinmann c-pull is one of the all time great achievements of bike design. Seriously.

I'll grant that you need to use cantis (or horrible looking u-brakes) for tires in the 35mm and up range. But, 32mm with fenders is fine for road based touring imo and 32mm with fenders is going to be the most you're going to fit on most bikes that have rear brake bridges any how. That is, if the existing frame isn't made for cantis, you've got a tire upper bound already and the c-pull happens to be the best way to maximize that.

Re: eyelets.... Mount the racks to the eyelets. Then use steel and rubber wrap around clamps to attach the fenders to either the rack stays or seat stays or fork.
https://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FCLAMP

Since you guys are getting frustrated about finding info about the brand you love, how about creating some?
Would love to get the geometry of those bikes documented. Instructions on how to measure the frame are on the bike geometry projects web site (in my sig). Send in the numbers and we'll add them to the list!!

I think this is an excellent touring bike! I tour on a somewhat comparable mid-1970s Raleigh Grand Prix. I gave it a triple crankset off an old mountain bike, and replaced the original wheels with some nicer 700C wheels and 35mm tires -- neither dimension is a problem with the original caliper brakes (which stop me just fine). I've never owned a bike with bar-end shifters; I suspect I'd get attached to them quickly, but the downtube shifters work just fine if you don't know any better.

My suggestion is to modify nothing and go on a short, easy, low-mileage tour for a couple of days on a route without super-challenging hills. Observe what bugs you and make changes to address that. You've got a fine starting point -- the changes may be quite minor!

That is my plan. More than anything I just want to know if my ideas are valid or out in left field.

But, from the overall responses, I'd say I've got a green light.