What are some good touring bikes...looking for a touring bike now. Please share your experiences with the bike as well and pros and cons. Thanks.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...ing-bikes.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...-raleighs.html


1981 Schwinn Super Sport - factory stock with triple


Late 1980s Cannondale ST400 - I second Lescauxcaveman's recommendation below in Post #4 . This will be my Adirondack bike version of a Swiss Army Knife. If pressed into longer distance riding, I would upgrade the steel crank rings.


1986 Trek 620 - looking to spring to install drop handlebars and barcon shifters

UNivega Ground Tour


It has a brooks on it now, and different bags. I put a cartridge BB in just because, and the tires are different. Eyelets everywhere, rack points, fenders, etc etc. Only things it doesn't have is 3rd bottle mount, and spoke holder.

If you're really going to load it down, a Cannondale aluminum bike might be a good choice. I haven't toured on mine yet, but it's notably stiffer than my Peugeot Vagabond is or Centurion Pro Tour was, and I think it would handle a serious load better.

My 1990 ST600 as-found; I haven't refurbed it yet:

Based on the univega you bought here's one that probably fits you.

Trek 520 touring frame/fork

1980 motobécane grand jubilé

I'm sure it's pretty obvious to everyone here that THE BEST TOURING BIKE OF ALL TIME is the 1985 Trek 720.








The 1984 Voyageur SP is not too shabby either!





And the 1985 Trek 620 is quite the stylish bike as well!






I love the comfort and the style and the "business" of touring bikes. The long wheelbase, the canti brakes- built for all day comfort. They hearken to an era when "touring" was what drew people to biking- just getting out and going "that way." Now it's more like "go that way, really fast, if something gets in your way- turn."


I've kind of set most of my bikes up to that ideal- I think my prettiest bike is my 1986 Trek 400 Elance. I've "upgraded" a bunch of parts to some of the top of the line MTB parts from the era and a little later:






And I've also set up my 1987 Schwinn High Sierra up as the "rough stuff, drop bar" bike.






Right now, the Trek 720 is my favorite bike. But it's funny, when I ride the VSP I think "this is my favorite bike!" and then when I ride the 620 I think "this is my favorite bike!" and when I ride the 720 I think "this is my favorite bike!"

They're all REALLY great bikes.

Miyata 1000 - a great bike for heavy touring with full camping gear, it can handle it

Fuji Touring Series 4 - more of a mix of lightweight and heavyweight - has a little more spirited ride than the Miyata, but can still handle full touring if packed correctly

Let me guess, Stillwater and the East River Road?

Not bad, one out of two.

Stillwater and Wakota bridge.

Lots of good options here:

Show Us Your Vintage Touring Bikes

There are a bunch of different models out there, and even a bunch of bikes that weren't built as touring bikes that are adaptable for the task. So instead of talking specific makes and models, how 'bout what makes a good touring bike a good touring bike? Here are a few ideas:

• Wide gearing range, often a triple crankset and wide-range cassette.
• Ability for the frame and fork to take wide tires (28 mm and up), racks, and fenders.
• Long wheelbase and relaxed frame/fork geometry. You want a stable, predictable bike -- not a 'twitchy' racer.
• Long chainstays so your heels aren't kicking your panniers.
• Reliability and field serviceability. (Hence why downtube and friction shifters still have a following in the tourer crowd.)
• Comfortable fit, including handlebars that provide multiple hand positions and a comfy saddle.
• Strong wheels, generally 36-spoke or more.

Thanks! This makes a lot of sense...that being said, I see a lot of people using MTB as a touring bike.

Old rigid mountain bikes hit a lot of those points. Wide gearing (typically triples), wide tires, big frame/fork clearances, relaxed geometry, etc. They're pretty easily adapted and customized for touring.

Also, I think old MTBs are not as valued ($) as c&v road bikes. So you see some MTBs getting re-purposed by owners and some others are flat out getting mis-represented as touring bikes by flippers on craigslist.

My Bilenky fits the bill perfectly.

I correctly bought this lightly used to keep the costs under control and made a few modifications.

These pics don't show it, but I have added a Schmidt dyno with Schmidt E6 front and Dinotte rear lights. When I built the new front wheel, I matched the rear Velocity Dyad rim. Forum member KonAaronsnake turned me on to Dyads when he built his beautiful Vanilla and pointed out their toughness.

I think they look nice as well and they are easy peasy to mount new tires on.

I also added a Quad Lok mount/charger for my iPhone.

I use that to navigate out on the road.

For bags, I use a combo of Ortliebs and a Swift on the front.

This bike is incredibly comfortable to ride and took me on a trip to Thunder Bay from St. Paul last summer.

Time permitting, I will ride a lap around Lake Superior with several retired teacher buddies this summer.

I really love this bike and even the wacky color scheme has grown on me. Not everyone gets to ride a bowling ball.

Here are last year's pics... but I am sure you'll see this in many pics this summer.

[IMG]Untitled by gomango1849, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Untitled by gomango1849, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Untitled by gomango1849, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Untitled by gomango1849, on Flickr[/IMG]

I grew up about half a block away from this pic. Brings back some great summer memories from my grandparents' house on Broadway.

I still ride to Stillwater 2-3 times per week during the summer. There used to be a fabulous Belgian bakery on 4th Street, but I am certain I will find a new destination this summer when they have the new trail access link open to Stillwater from the Gateway trail.

No kidding, my wife's side is from Stillwater. Mother in law grew up in one of the big houses of 4th st, just west of what's now the Veteran's memorial. Father in law grew up in Bayport, his parents owned the bakery there. Now you get to talk something other than bikes if you bump into me and my better 3/4 again.

The Gateway to Stillwater link will be a real heavy use corridor. Makes me wonder about taking the old Milwaukee Road trail down to Hastings/Prescott, then wrap it back up to St Paul on the west side of the Mississippi along all of that undeveloped riverfront. Dreaming big...

If I could tour on one of the bikes in this thread, it would be Oddjob2's Cannondale in post no. 2. It gets bonus points for having an original Cannondale Bauhaus-style rear rack. Love the way those look.

Don't know that I would upgrade the steel chainrings on that bike, though. I wore out the aluminum chainrings on my '87 Cannondale SM-500 within three years. I had done a lot of off-road riding under sandy conditions, so wearing the rings out wasn't too surprising, but steel rings would almost certainly have lasted much longer.

Gotta dream big. This winter stinks here.

Not really enough good snow for cross country skiing and fat bikes. The city streets are dangerous with ice everywhere.

We took off and skied Copper Mountain and Vail last weekend.

As for your route idea, we need to get some ideas going for a big C&V get together this spring or summer. Some folks have expressed interest in a gravel ride and some want nice trails. The route you just mentioned would really fill the bill for an all day paved route. Not too hard, not too easy. Plenty of scenic beauty and restaurants along the way.

Let's start outlining some dates for folks soon.

We could use some pics of Aaron's cool tourers in this thread.

His Koga and Mooney are outrageous. They would likely be joys to spend some time on.

I bought a new Haro Flightline 29er several months ago...may use it for touring, I would have to change out the stem though.

Love the fresh frames paint. What size tires are you rocking on that?

Ask and ye shall receive!

This gets the thread a bit off topic but + 1 on this. I just signed up for BAM in August.