MattoftheRocks

Someone lucky enough to have spent decades on a nice frame and ridden it in france was unlucky to have a split develop near the bb, then lucky to have someone capable of mending it near where he was. He wrote about it and I read it. He wasn't a big guy by any measure which, along with my experience with NOS guitar and bass strings (they don't last long), makes me feel like the suggestion of keeping my search from going any more exotic than straight gauge 531 is something that I really should heed (until I can afford a new custom) as I do plan on putting extensive miles on, albeit with a trailer rather than with a rack.

So, especially you heavier folks, do you treat your niiiiice old bikes only to sub-century rides and do lonnng rides exclusively on more robust/newer bikes?

theblackbullet

What's the point of having a bike if you aren't going to ride it? If it breaks, so be it.

bikemig 

+ 1.

TimmyT 

The oldest bike I've done a century on is from about 1980. I've done a lot on bikes from the '80s. The newest bike is a 2006 Kona Jake. I would not hesitate to ride any bike on a century. Cracking a bb is not an if but when --- it's a bad build, and there are many that many renown builders would like a do-over (Bob Jackson's from the 70s come to mind).

The oldest bikes I've seen on a century are @rhm's Fothergill which dates from sometime probably around 1938, and his 3 speed Raleigh Lenton(?) from about 1950.

kroozer 

Fully loaded cycle-camping is rather rough on any bike because they get tossed around, dragged through the woods, loaded on trucks, etc. I wouldn't use a nice vintage bike for that if I was concerned about preserving the finish and/or hard-to-find parts. But I wouldn't worry a bit about the integrity of a chrome-moly steel frame unless there was already something wrong with it.

rando_couche

It's a bike. Ride it.

SP
OC, OR

Velognome 

I'm heavy, 240lbs. I'll ride my vintage bikes any and everywhere. If...and I say if, a frame should fail, I'd repair it and ride it some more.

With that said, one of my favorite rides (read that as 25 miles daily) is a very thin tubed, 50 plus year old irreplaceable British one-off frame. It's been repaired sometime in it's life which makes it all the more appealing to me. ( the frame has had a life and you can see it)

Quoting from a vintage Motorcycle Publication; "Ride em, Don't Hide em"!

scozim 

I don't have any "new, robust bikes" so all of mine get ridden. I did my tour on a converted hybrid bike - yes, it's heavy but it's also very sturdy and you don't go fast on a tour anyway. Many of us have done the "tough on the body and equipment" Cino Heroica ride in Montana on our vintage bike - mine was a PX10. My bikes have seen everything from that ride to 118 miles to the short tour last year.

I agree with the others - if ya' got it, ride it.

OldsCOOL

This baby right here.....will get some longer rides next summer.

MattoftheRocks

Hmm. Thanks guys!

daf1009

+10!

John E

My mountain bike is 26 years young, and my road bike frames and most of their components range from 33 to 55 years. These are what I ride, and I would use an appropriate one of them on a long tour, ranging from the Bianchi on a fully supported, unburdened ride like the Los Angeles Wheelmen Grand Tour to the mountain bike on a camping trip.

David Newton

This Italian racing bike made of Columbus SL; I don't think I am going to trust it on a rough ride. The tubes is so thin I can flex the seat tube between my thumb and forefingers.

rhm

I spent the last week of August touring around central New York State. 550 miles. 30,000 feet of climbing. My bike, a 1976 Holdsworth, fully loaded, weighed 80 lbs.



I don't believe newer bikes are more robust; I'm inclined to say they are less so. But I'm not about to go about testing this supposition.

09box

Ride the crap out of whatever is in your garage. If it breaks, fix and get back to riding!

The Golden Boy 

Easy for you to say, Mr. Fuji Saratoga!

Pompiere

If it is a touring bike, I wouldn't worry about loading it up for a long tour. However, I wouldn't load up a lightweight race bike for touring, no matter what the vintage. I wouldn't worry about riding a lightweight bike over rough roads if it only was carrying the rider, since that is how they were raced back in the day.

gaucho777 

Nice work Rudi!

cobrabyte

I don't think I would tour on a lightweight C&V bike, I've done it before ( 1985 Trek 420 )and the frame was like a noodle when loaded up. The rear wheel was whacked out of true by the time I got home, too. A C&V MTB or touring bike? Sure, of course.

crank_addict

+1

Although, the OP mentioned a trailer. I've thought of doing the same or perhaps try a yak-bob type. We have a few trailers to haul kids and once you get going, they sail along fairly easy. That said, I'm not keen about a dual wheel trailer for the road. Path, trails and secondary roads fine but I'm not comfortable with them in busy traffic or poor road shoulders.

rhm

I would agree with this in theory, but in practice it comes down the specifics of the bike in question. Specifically, what is it about a "race bike" that makes it unsuitable for touring, and what is it about a "touring bike" that makes it better?
Fundamentally, we expect the touring bike to have longer chain stays to accommodate panniers without interfering with pedaling; heavier tubing to better handle the heavy loads; and a variety of eyelets etc to facilitate the mounting of racks, fenders, etc. The latter are easily added, but changing the frame tubing and geometry is not really an option; so, you would think, don't tour on a race bike.
But the Holdsworth I mentioned (above) is a race bike. Someone added eyelets etc. as if that's all it took to make it a touring bike; and it was fine.
Ironically my touring partner was riding a real touring bike, indeed a Fuji Saratoga, and my botched up race bike seemed to handle better than his dedicated tourer.
I can't really say why this was the case; I'd speculate the Fuji might be styled like a touring bike but not really stout enough for the job.

TimmyT 

Well, I won't speculate on whether your Holdsworth was better than my Fuji, but I will say I was happier riding my own bike. I did not ride the Holdsworth. The Saratoga's gearing, lighting, racks, hubs, and tires were all better suited to touring, but these can be changed on the Holdsworth.

I've ridden three different bikes on tours, and the Saratoga was both the largest and had the longest stays. I think the key feature is that you want the stays to prevent heel strike but be no longer than necessary. This is where the Saratoga fails. The stays are long enough that a rear load, even a small one, makes it feel whippy. If they were shorter by a few centimeters, they would still prevent heel strike, but the whippiness would not be as bad.

Having the weight focused low on the front aids in stability. I think the next time I tour, I will carry very little weight on the rear.

Also, we were carrying far too much weight for 8 days.

Chrome Molly

I'm not heavy, but not light either. I expect any bike I own worthy of staying in the stable to be able to do many days of metric and full century rides each year. I do several back to back in the summer in the weeks prior to big events, not fully loaded. My relatively lightweight trek 760 has held together for years of this sort of thing. Everything I own without knobs should fill the role of credit card tourer with minor changes. I don't worry about things breaking. I find that when I baby stuff, the stupid accidents occur more frequently.

My concern about touring is more related to handling when loaded than any ability to handle the abuse.

Wildwood 

A vintage touring bike ('84 Centurion ProTour) took me twice down the California coast from Santa Cruz to San Luis Obispo. I think you are about right with the 531 straight gauge estimate, but it depends on how it is loaded. No matter the generation - for loaded touring a touring bike is best. For credit card touring a lighter frame would be OK. I'm just over 200 lbs and would be happy to credit card tour on any of my vintage bikes (SL/SLX & 531 butted).

For hilly and/or fast rides I take newer bikes but it has nothing to do with frame considerations.

-holiday76

looks that way. I think it's easy to get carried away though, and if you have the space you'll use it. I've never needed more than one set of large panniers for a several week tour. A bob trailer was used once, I can ended up mailing 35 pounds of stuff home a week out that i hadnt even touched.

Ideally having a loaded rack, and an empty rack is nice. Then you can strap a gallon of water on your bike after dinner and for that short ride from the dinner spot.

Anyhow, back to the subject, I'd certainly tour on my Jack Taylor SuperTourer. Though it was built in 1999. Using 1930 technology.