Loaded touring with compact crankset: possible?
 

I have a dilemma. I'm a reasonably fit 29 year old guy who's currently building a bike. I've already purchased the expensive parts, including a 50-34 compact crankset and SRAM Doubletap shifters and derailleurs.

I also just got the opportunity to go on a fully loaded bike tour (camping, front and rear panniers, etc.) from Chicago to New York City in early September.

The route is mainly flat. I'd go from Chicago to Kenosha, take the ferry to Michigan, continue across Ontario, cross over in western New York, and take the Erie Canal east. Once you get closer to New York City, though, things get a bit hillier. That's the part I'm concerned about.

As I see it, my options are a) work with the bike I'm building, or b) get a new Fuji Touring at $600. (I can get a pretty good deal at my LBS.)

If I go with option A, I'd put a 32t cassette on the back. That gives me a "granny" of 28 gear inches. Or I could get a new SRAM mtb derailleur and put on a 36(?!) tooth cassette, but even that only gives me 25 gear inches--and I don't even know if that'd be compatible with the Doubletap shifters. Plus it'd cost ~$100.

So: is there a way to do this trip on a compact crankset?

I had 34/40 as the lowest gear with a long cage derailer and a wolftooth extender. You could give up some gearing on the high end and go lower by getting one of those super compact (or whatever the hell they're called) crank sets.

So would it work if I got the Wolf Tooth thing, a long-cage SRAM MTB derailleur, and an 11-40 cassette, and used that with my 50-34 compact crankset?

Might be doable. With some good-sized local hills you could use current bike to estimate comfortable power output & extrapolate to touring load & gearing. High cadence helps reduce fatigue but I've seen a lot of pro racers who muscle up shorter hills at a lower cadence. You might need to consider how fast touring partners will be riding up hills. If they're not as fit as you the 3x9 Fuji gearing might help a lot to go slow while keeping a reasonable cadence.

Oh goodness yes you should be able to tour just fine with your intended set-up. When I was in my twenties, I was considered the odd-bird for having a low gear all the way down to 27 inches, and that was for very heavy loaded bike-packing in the Rockies, Sierra and Pacific Coast Range (steeper and higher than what you will see). My wife used the same gear range without difficulty.

Most folks don't need sub-twenty inch gears to get up hills. Sometimes it can be ever so slightly easier to have super low gears, but not by enough to cancel a trip or get a new bike over.

Well that's definitely something I want to hear. Thanks.

Not too sure on the compatibility between SRAM MTB and road parts, so you'll have to do a little research on your end. I don't see why you couldn't run a long cage road rear mech to keep things simple, though off the top of my head I'm not sure what's available for that brand.

I've got the really low gearing on one of my CX bikes that goes on a lot of steep/loose gravel roads. Makes it a little easier to keep my rear planted on the seat and not spin out.

check the tandem forum. There's more interest in electronic shifting with low gears and drop bars than here.
I crossed the Alps in a 38-28 when I was 30. Pack light and you should be okay.

Yep! At 26 I toured all over the Appalachians, loaded with 55lbs of gear, with a low of 39 gear-inches. You'll be fine.

what is "reasonably fit?" how much biking or other sports have you done in the past year?

ever driven a loaded bike before?

how much gear do you plan to carry?

what's your budget?

do you have a similar bike (or can borrow) now?

get yourself a practice bike with a good range of gears....maybe something with
a low of 19-20 inches. do some practice runs, both flat and hills: unloaded, with a
light load (20 lbs), then a heavy load (35 pounds), and then a *stupid* heavy
load (50 lbs). try out (esp. uphill and against wind) 28 vs 25 vs 22 vs 19 inches.

east coast got some steep climbs, i wouldn't wanna try that with front and rear
bags and etc without a triple and a low of 16 or 17 inches. personal choice.
i enjoy biking and hiking and stuff, and want to keep my knees a good long time.

I am not sure of your route. The 'fast ferry' to Michigan leaves from Milwaukee, not Kenosha. You have an option to go to Manitowoc for the ferry but I am guessing you are planning on the ferry from Milwaukee.

Once you hit Albany, there appears to be only one climb before NYC if you take NY bike route 9 following the Hudson Valley. There are shorter options that might be hillier, I did not check them out.

It would be out of your way but the bridge over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie is cool to see. I just rode on part of the Erie Canal, it is in good shape.

Crazyguyonabike is often a good resource to learn routes and equipment. If you have not reviewed that site, you may want to check it out.

all very good points advice.

just be aware that because someone did it back in the day and say that "you'll be fine", doesnt mean it will be enjoyable.
When I was your age, I was told it would be fine, and with 25 gear inches, it wasnt enjoyable at all for the weight I was carrying and the very hilly terrain I was in.

you know what, in the end you need to load that sucker up and hit the biggest hills you can find in your area, and ride around all day up them, or walk, or whatever and figure it out for yourself.

I'd take the advice about not needing low gearing in your 20s with a grain or two of salt. Yeah I've done it too and I was fine in my 20s with a low in 30 inches or so. But I did a tour through mountains with a low in the high 20 inch range and that was frankly not low enough. So ideally you'd go lower than you can get with your compact.

But you also need to be practical. I'd ride the bike you have with a compact, make sure you have a reasonable low gear (that's not too crazy price wise), and keep the weight down.

i would fit the biggest cassette your rd can take for sure. you may push up some hills. it happens.

ASSUMING that the frame you are using on your build has the capability of attaching racks or bikepacking bags that can carry everything you need to carry, I wouldn't worry too much about your gearing. If you've got gearing down to 28, you should be fine. That said, as someone else pointed out, talk with whomever you are going with, and determine how your setup is going to affect their pace.

The fast ferry does indeed leave Milwaukee, not Kenosha, and the slow ferry is up in Manitowoc. If you take the slow ferry, it will connect you to US Bike Route 20 (including a VERY nice rail trail which you won't need less than 50x13 for 30-some miles), which takes you across Michigan to Port Huron, but it is further north.

How are you getting from Michigan to Ontario? AFAIK, the only way to get a bike across without taking a taxi is the Bluewater Ferry in Marne City. They do not allow bikes on the Bluewater or Ambassador Bridges, or the Detroit Tunnel.

If you can fit a larger cassette granny, do so. Otherwise ride it as is and determine what needs buying after the trip.

Brad

I did it for a 10 day tour and I wouldn't do it again. My knees were killing me by the end. That said, I'm a woman, so you're probably a lot stronger than me.

I do not know how much gear you will be carrying, but if you had bad knees like I do, I would not go for it. But, if like you say you are in good shape and if you pack light, the worst thing that can happen is that you push the bike up some of the worst hills. And quite frankly, that is not such a bad thing.

Or, if you got the Fuji, after the trip you still would have another bike you might find a reason to keep and use. Several of us have more than one bike.

My derailleur touring bikes have a lowest gear in the 20 gear inch range.

I don't have a full knowledge of what kind of hills are in New York, but I hiked the Appalachian Trail once. Based on that experience, the hills in southeast New York aren't even the worst hills on the east coast. They're not worth worrying about.

34:32 is nearly a 1:1 ratio, which is usually low enough. Maybe not ideal, but enough. If you're young, in good shape, and you pack reasonably light, you'll be fine.

Save your money on derailleurs or new bikes and invest in waterproof everything. The east coast is cold and rainy ALL THE &*@#! TIME, even in the summer.

Another option is to swap out the crankset with one that will yield a lower range of gears. For under $200, you could replace your compact double crankset and bottom bracket with a Sugino XD2 wide double crankset (26/40T), and lower your whole gear range (at the expense of losing some top end). The crankset requires a square taper BB too, but if you are replacing the cranks anyways, its not a huge job.

The advantage is that you could have a dual-purpose bike, depending on the drive train you install.

I use this approach on my cross bike for road touring (with a 32T cassette), and it has worked very well for me.

You can always walk up the hills if too steep. Or make your own switchbacks.

Has Already done , for a few years. transcontinental riders.. over the Rockies, etc..


29 you are in your prime..






:50:



...

Fuji Touring is a nice bike with stock gears down to 20". If you want one, $600 is a good price - get it!


If you don't want to spend that kind of money, ride what you got. As [MENTION=1797]alan[/MENTION]_s says, you can walk the hills you can't ride.

Unless someone here has SRAM on a road bike, there just wont be much experience in this forum with SRAM road components since SRAM doesn’t in any way support touring thru its products.

1- 34/32 is something I wouldn’t want to use to get up hills with a packed bike. If its whatcha got though- cool. There is what cant I do if needed and what I want to do if given the choice. If needed, sure I could climb hills in that setup. If given the choice, no I wouldn’t climb hills in that setup.

2- Look up your component’s limitations. How much chain wrap can the drivetrain handle? Once you know that, you can figure out how large a cassette you can slap on the back wheel. Get a wolftooth roadlink if needed to clear the largest cog or two of that bigger cassette.
I use a wolftooth on my gravel bike. Its 105 11sp shifting with an 11-36 cassette and a 46/34 crank setup. The reason my rear derailleur can handle this setup is because it has the wolftooth to help it clear the largest couple cogs and also because the total chain wrap is within the overall limit due to the 12t spacing of my chainrings. If it were 16t like normal compact cranks, then that may be too much chain for the midcage 105 road derailleur to handle.

3- Get a fuji touring and sell it afterwards. If you can get $350-400 for it on craigslist, then you will effectively only spend $200. That could be close to(or cheaper than) what a wide range cassette, wolftooth, and subcompact crank would cost.

I know E-tap exists, nothing more. Drop bar levers and MTB derailers are frequently incompatible. So check out the compatibility.
Is the $600 better spent on fixing the touring issues on the good bicycle? Or better spent getting a beater touring bicycle? No easy answer.
Has anyone mentioned bikepacking gear?