Trek 920
#226
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Bikes: Lemond Versailles 2008, Specialized FSR Myka 2008, Mercier Track Bike (grocery getter?) , Trek Emonda SL8 2016, Salsa Marrakesh 2017,Bridgestone V70 1986,Bike Friday Speeding Tikit.
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#227
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Location: Work in St. Louis mo live on the IL side.
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Bikes: Lemond Versailles 2008, Specialized FSR Myka 2008, Mercier Track Bike (grocery getter?) , Trek Emonda SL8 2016, Salsa Marrakesh 2017,Bridgestone V70 1986,Bike Friday Speeding Tikit.
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Lol so true!!!
#228
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Location: Work in St. Louis mo live on the IL side.
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Bikes: Lemond Versailles 2008, Specialized FSR Myka 2008, Mercier Track Bike (grocery getter?) , Trek Emonda SL8 2016, Salsa Marrakesh 2017,Bridgestone V70 1986,Bike Friday Speeding Tikit.
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#229
Senior Member
Back to regular programming....
I wouldn't put too much stock into the whole argument about bike models and materials, there are plenty of riders here like me who are perfectly comfortable with aluminium. I just got a new used bike that happens to be steel, but have ridden and toured on two alu bikes over the last 15 years. No big deal. They work, and work perfectly fine commuting and touring.
#230
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Sorry if you found anything offensive or sexual in the name.
Your issue not mine.
#231
Senior Member
Am I the only one old enough to know the Who song Squeezbox?
I knew you had accordions, I never thought anything about it.
I knew you had accordions, I never thought anything about it.
#232
Senior Member
#233
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Location: Work in St. Louis mo live on the IL side.
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Nickname
Don't know if it's because it's an American term, or if I'm a Canadian who doesn't get out much, but squeezebox to me only means an accordion. Your comment seems to imply another meaning that I think understand, but I've never heard that before.
Back to regular programming....
I wouldn't put too much stock into the whole argument about bike models and materials, there are plenty of riders here like me who are perfectly comfortable with aluminium. I just got a new used bike that happens to be steel, but have ridden and toured on two alu bikes over the last 15 years. No big deal. They work, and work perfectly fine commuting and touring.
Back to regular programming....
I wouldn't put too much stock into the whole argument about bike models and materials, there are plenty of riders here like me who are perfectly comfortable with aluminium. I just got a new used bike that happens to be steel, but have ridden and toured on two alu bikes over the last 15 years. No big deal. They work, and work perfectly fine commuting and touring.
#234
Don't you mean The Who? In the Who song it's a double entandre that's really referencing an accordion.
#235
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Momma's got a squeeze box and daddy never sleeps at night... Maybe it is the who I thought it was Aerosmith. Great song tho!
Last edited by janine1; 06-27-16 at 02:24 PM. Reason: Typed wrong word
#236
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greetings,
I would hope you stick around here, there are a number of very helpful folks here with lots of experience. I personally like to apply the "at a dinner party etiquette" behaviour on internet forums, ie talking to someone as if they were in front of you and you've just met them at a get together--unfortunately this isn't always the case, so I hope it doesnt put you off.
In any case, if you don't come back, have a good riding season, and if you do stick around, its always fun to talk bike and touring stuff. Being a bunch of biking nerds, its fun to discuss, compare and learn about stuff.
re carrying 70lbs of stuff and you being 115....ooof, makes my 140lb but old guy knees hurt just thinking about it--but thats the thing, whatever you ride, whatever you carry and however you want to do a bike trip, if you are having fun doing it and are ok with the various stuff, thats the main thing.
cheers from a very cold Canada with no riding for at least a month and a half...
I would hope you stick around here, there are a number of very helpful folks here with lots of experience. I personally like to apply the "at a dinner party etiquette" behaviour on internet forums, ie talking to someone as if they were in front of you and you've just met them at a get together--unfortunately this isn't always the case, so I hope it doesnt put you off.
In any case, if you don't come back, have a good riding season, and if you do stick around, its always fun to talk bike and touring stuff. Being a bunch of biking nerds, its fun to discuss, compare and learn about stuff.
re carrying 70lbs of stuff and you being 115....ooof, makes my 140lb but old guy knees hurt just thinking about it--but thats the thing, whatever you ride, whatever you carry and however you want to do a bike trip, if you are having fun doing it and are ok with the various stuff, thats the main thing.
cheers from a very cold Canada with no riding for at least a month and a half...
Thanks for the nice note from Canada!!
Janine
#237
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Bikes: Lemond Versailles 2008, Specialized FSR Myka 2008, Mercier Track Bike (grocery getter?) , Trek Emonda SL8 2016, Salsa Marrakesh 2017,Bridgestone V70 1986,Bike Friday Speeding Tikit.
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19" ETT is ~48cm. I think in metric for bikes.
I'm surprised you'd even consider T920 since it's smallest size has a 54cm ETT. WRT to fit for females/shorter persons, the basic problem with the T920 is it uses 700c wheels for all sizes. This forces frame geometry to maintain an inordinately long effective top tube length to help mitigate toe-overlap occurrence on smaller frames. Also seat tube angle steepens and head tube angle slackens with smaller frame size. This is a very common but very compromising solution to TO on small framed 700c bikes, used for years by every major bike manufacturer.
Salsa Vaya in smallest size has a 49.5cm ETT - it is the shortest reach 700c-wheeled touring bike that I know.
If you are amenable to the fact that smaller wheels on smaller bikes for smaller people makes sense, then consider the Surly LHT. Surly sensibly fits smaller (559BSD/26") diameter wheels on sizes <54cm, which permits them to actually proportion ETT length to frame size.
The smallest size LHT has a 49cm ETT with 26" wheels, which is probably as close a match to your stated target ETT as you will find in a stock drop-bar-capable tourer (if disc brakes are desired, then look at Surly Disc Trucker, same geometry for a given size as LHT).
You actually are a good candidate for a custom sized bike frame. I say actually because a lot of people have custom frames made when they could easily fit a stock frame size. Since you have indicated considering multiple frame materials and more costly bikes, I suggest you take a serious look at a custom builder like Rodbikes or CoMo. There are many other custom builders, most do not have touring-specific building expertise, so those are my stock answers for touring bike builders. Since custom is costly and a long wait time, you may also want to consider titanium as a frame material. Look at Lynskey, they've made more Ti frames than anyone.
Getting yourself professionally fit for a bike will probably be money well spent in the event that you do choose to have a custom frame made. Find a LBS that has one of these contraptions.
I'm surprised you'd even consider T920 since it's smallest size has a 54cm ETT. WRT to fit for females/shorter persons, the basic problem with the T920 is it uses 700c wheels for all sizes. This forces frame geometry to maintain an inordinately long effective top tube length to help mitigate toe-overlap occurrence on smaller frames. Also seat tube angle steepens and head tube angle slackens with smaller frame size. This is a very common but very compromising solution to TO on small framed 700c bikes, used for years by every major bike manufacturer.
Salsa Vaya in smallest size has a 49.5cm ETT - it is the shortest reach 700c-wheeled touring bike that I know.
If you are amenable to the fact that smaller wheels on smaller bikes for smaller people makes sense, then consider the Surly LHT. Surly sensibly fits smaller (559BSD/26") diameter wheels on sizes <54cm, which permits them to actually proportion ETT length to frame size.
The smallest size LHT has a 49cm ETT with 26" wheels, which is probably as close a match to your stated target ETT as you will find in a stock drop-bar-capable tourer (if disc brakes are desired, then look at Surly Disc Trucker, same geometry for a given size as LHT).
You actually are a good candidate for a custom sized bike frame. I say actually because a lot of people have custom frames made when they could easily fit a stock frame size. Since you have indicated considering multiple frame materials and more costly bikes, I suggest you take a serious look at a custom builder like Rodbikes or CoMo. There are many other custom builders, most do not have touring-specific building expertise, so those are my stock answers for touring bike builders. Since custom is costly and a long wait time, you may also want to consider titanium as a frame material. Look at Lynskey, they've made more Ti frames than anyone.
Getting yourself professionally fit for a bike will probably be money well spent in the event that you do choose to have a custom frame made. Find a LBS that has one of these contraptions.
I ended up getting a new road bike this spring and it fit me perfect. It's a 47 trek Emonda SL8. It was expensive but had everything I wanted on it including dura ace. I was a bit stretched on my 49 Lemond not bad but this bike is like an extension of my body. And it was on sale! Amazing the Marrakesh is almost the exact same geometry. It took some doing but my lbs got it for me. I wanted the color of the 2016 but settled for the 2017 orange. I would say it doesn't shift as smoothly as my track bike (grocery getter) that has a sturmey archer 5 spd hub. I can't see buying a bike anywhere other than my lbs. it's close and lifetime adjustments besides being awesome.
Thanks for the suggestions I was looking at Rivendells but the salsa is cheaper. Thank you for the nice post. The 920 is just too big.. Sure is pretty tho.
Hats off to the engineer yes 29/700 wheels are the same 😝
#238
Senior Member
Thanks for the very nice message. Is 70# what most people carry? I didn't know for sure I haven't bought any gear yet. A tent sleeping bag and pad plus cooking supplies I guess. I'm more of a credit card tourer I think but would like to try camping a bit.
Thanks for the nice note from Canada!!
Janine
Thanks for the nice note from Canada!!
Janine
live and learn, lowered my gearing a bit and was much more strict in what I packed the next time, but probably ended up in the 35-40lb range, which just made things more enjoyable.
I can't remember if this has been brought up here, but a good general rule of thumb is to have your "gear+bike" weight to be about half your body weight. In my case, 40lbs gear+roughly 30lbs bike=70lbs, which is about half my body weight.
Of course, your gearing should be roughly in the typical touring bike "general rule of thumb" range of 20 gear inches for a low gear (a bit lower is always going to be better for steep, long hills) , but in the end, you will have to try a given total bike weight and a given bikes gearing to see how it works for you.
To be honest, I've lost track of what was said about your specific bike, but in any case, keeping your load to a minimum, and chosing reasonably priced/weight camping gear is going to be easier than lugging a really heavy tent for example.
cheers
#239
Senior Member
#241
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#242
Senior Member
#245
Senior Member
#246
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More spokes are better for wheel longevity, and the incremental weight added by a few spokes for Touring use is utterly trivial. Well built 36h, 135/100mm QR hub wheels are fairly common among the Touring crowd because they are sensible low-cost, low-maintenance, proven wheels.
The Surly LHT, probably the most popular touring bike ever, uses mid-tier Shimano ball bearing hubs, inexpensive Alex rims and 36 straight gauge spokes. I cannot recall a single thread on the Touring forum where someone complained about the cheap wheels on their LHT. It is unnecessary to reinvent this wheel for touring.
The fact that the Trek 920 has 28 spoke wheels is not it's major shortcoming; rather it is the fact that the 920 frame/fork will accept ONLY 142-12mm rear and 100-15mm front thru-axle wheels. These will likely be a special order item at any North American LBS you'd stop at for a wheel replacement. If you plan on touring outside NA the Trek 920 is not the best choice.
I'll conclude by noting that steel is well known to be a more durable material with a fatigue limit that is several orders of magnitude greater than aluminum. A well built steel frame can last lifetimes if protected from corrosion. An aluminum frame can fail in relatively short time used regularly in a rough off-road setting, which makes the choice of Al for the Trek 920 all the more puzzling. Evidently Trek is aiming for the MTBing crowd with this bike, and since more than half the bikes sold spend their entire lives in a shed, basement or garage, Trek probably isn't risking much in the design of the 920.
The Surly LHT, probably the most popular touring bike ever, uses mid-tier Shimano ball bearing hubs, inexpensive Alex rims and 36 straight gauge spokes. I cannot recall a single thread on the Touring forum where someone complained about the cheap wheels on their LHT. It is unnecessary to reinvent this wheel for touring.
The fact that the Trek 920 has 28 spoke wheels is not it's major shortcoming; rather it is the fact that the 920 frame/fork will accept ONLY 142-12mm rear and 100-15mm front thru-axle wheels. These will likely be a special order item at any North American LBS you'd stop at for a wheel replacement. If you plan on touring outside NA the Trek 920 is not the best choice.
I'll conclude by noting that steel is well known to be a more durable material with a fatigue limit that is several orders of magnitude greater than aluminum. A well built steel frame can last lifetimes if protected from corrosion. An aluminum frame can fail in relatively short time used regularly in a rough off-road setting, which makes the choice of Al for the Trek 920 all the more puzzling. Evidently Trek is aiming for the MTBing crowd with this bike, and since more than half the bikes sold spend their entire lives in a shed, basement or garage, Trek probably isn't risking much in the design of the 920.
#247
Banned
#248
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Bikes: Lemond Versailles 2008, Specialized FSR Myka 2008, Mercier Track Bike (grocery getter?) , Trek Emonda SL8 2016, Salsa Marrakesh 2017,Bridgestone V70 1986,Bike Friday Speeding Tikit.
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