I never bought this bike with the intention of it becoming a long distance bike. I originally got it so I could get into cycling more and go on the group rides with the LBS. Then, as most do, I became an addict. I started using it to commute to work and then last summer I did several centurys with the urge to combine something else I love, camping. Luckily, because I have been into hiking for years, I already had all of the fancy light weight stove, tent, air pad, etc. I didn't have the money to get a dedicated touring bike (I want a surly LHT) so I had to make do with what I had. For less than $100 I got a Planet Bike Eco Rack, Sunlite Tourer 2 bags, and a new stem to bring the riding position up a bit. I have been on several over-night trips so far and want to take a 3-4 day trip soon. I am just waiting to save up the money to convert to a triple before I take on any longer trips.

I do know one thing for certain though: Once you do this to a nice road bike all the roadies look at you with disgust and will no longer talk to you.

Very nice setup. I've been thinking about doing something similar with my full carbon Spec Roubaix since it's a lot lighter than my T2000 and I need to so something useful with it. Just wish I could get 28mm tires on it to improve the comfort. Don't worry about what the lycra crowd thinks - most of them are pricks anyway.

I have 23's on there now and have a set of 28's I have used occasionally and will put on permenantly when I switch to the triple. It is a super tight fit, but somehow they clear.

Nice bike.

Checkout my profile pics, I took a similar approach but ended up with more of a touring bike then roadie. Though I still haven't got to put it to a full blown test yet.

hey it does the job and you are happy. Who cares what those roadies think. tourers are the real roadies.

Is that a Surly fork?

WTF? That's not very nice. It's possible to be both a roadie & a tourist, and not be an a-hole at the same time.

Nice bike, BTW. I wouldn't convert it to a tour bike, for not that much more $, I think, if you shop carefully, you can get a separate tour bike and have both.

What she said. Some of us have no problems running in both crowds. Always best to avoid sweeping generalizations.

No worries, I just have it set up like this until I have the $$$ for a Surly LHT, then I will change it all back to low and fast. I think I have decided against turning it into a triple though. That will put me at least $250 closer to getting the Surly.

I sure hope so! I'm using a similar setup with my road bike to ride some of the PCH. I start next week!