greetings from the long distance backpacking community. i have just recently agreed to ride a bike across the country (USA), but to do this i really have to count pennies. so here i am reading every thread as well as any info i can find on maitinence on line. all the while eying my dads old faithful road bike from the 70's. this thing has a great, strong frame, fork, and handlebars. but the gears are a mess. firstly, its only a 10 speed. secondly , the front crank/cogs are all bent out of shape. i have determined through some research that i could stretch the 120mm frame easily enough in order to accomidate the wider hub that comes along with modern gear systems. but i havent found any info on cranks, namely if any old crank from nashbar is gonna be compatible with this oldie. will i need a bottom bracket too?

is this whole scheme feasable? i figure i got 300 bucks to do this.

what is the cheapest way to get this thing tour worthy? any recomendations or warnings about specific kinds of derailers, cranks, freewheel hubs, and so on? i have truly tried to inform myself as much as i can before coming to you guys, but still i am swimming in confusion. i simply need to get a shopping list of parts that will work and go from there, but this has proven difficult. any help is so, so, so appreciated. help me make my budget dreams come true.

Hi. Can you provide any more info (brand, tubeset..) about the frame? Maybe the frame is not suitable for self-supported touring, if this is your intention.

For any such thing I'd recommend a trip to your local bike shop as your first stop. That old 10 speed might not be up to the task, or it might. Getting parts might be more expensive than you can afford. You might consider doing what I've done: Get an early 90's or late 80's mountain bike, put touring style tires on it, appropriate racks (my Specialized Rock Hopper, late 80's, has braze-ons for everything) and call it good. I spent less than $200 total on the deal. I use mine for commuting but I would have no problem hopping on this bike for a few days on the road, if my legs could handle it

First thing you must do is look for braze-ons. A Braze-on is a small bit brazed (a form of welding) on to the frame, they are neccessary for mounting a touring rack and a rack is nessesary for panniers. Any bike enthusiest should be able tho point them out to you. For touring you need at least one pair in the rear and one pair in the front but four pair all together is best, so you can mount fenders as well as racks.

No braze-ons of the right type, no go, get a different bike.
Braze-ons yes, move to step two.

Step two, and beyond, really need more info about the bikes current components. Pictures of things like the crank and chainrings would be great. If its a good model of frame then better components may be worth it, if not buy a different bike the late 80s and later.

I just restored an old ('74) ten speed but its not for touring. The components were all good but in dire need of cleaning and I was able to do the project for the cost of a tube of high quality ball bearing greese and a gallon of kerosene for parts cleaning.
Those old ten speeds are only worth $50 in fair condition $80 in very good condition and $100 fully overhauled; cleaned, greased, polished, adjusted, and worn bits replaced and maybe $25 in the poor condition you described.

A good cheap source of parts for an old 70s bike are the local charity thrift stores. If you look around, you might get an entire bike worth of parts for as little as $3. You take what you need and dispose of the rest. Most bikes at thrift stores are more neglected than worn. You could almost certainly get a good set of cranks off an old bike. You may be able to find a triple chainring and derailler that you can make work with your old bike.

I have an early 80's 12speed Fuji sports tourer that I use for touring and I have recently replaced the gearing on it cheaply.It has touring geometry but without all the brazeons and originally geared similar to a road bike.It does have an attachment point on the rear dropout for a rack which I then clamped to the rear seat stays with no problem.But I understand even w/o that you can use an Old Man Mtn rack if you can find one cheaply perhaps on ebay.

I assume being a long distance backpacker you have light(ultralight)weight gear which would make touring long distance with just rear rack feasable and would also be essential if your bike isn't ideally suited geometrically for touring with heavy loads.

As to the gearing for the rear check out the new shimano hyperglide multirange cassette/freewheels.I got a 6speed 12-34 freewheel online for around $10-12 not including shipping from great american. I believe others such as bikeman and AEbikes also had similar prices but in some cases wouldn't ship online per agreement with shimano.I believe with theultralow rear gearing you will need a mtn bike derailler but luckily i had replaced my rear derailler about a year earlier with a $20(incl. labor)cheap mtn derailler at the lbs. For chainrings I stayed with double chainrings to remain with 12 overall speeds and went with 34/44 tooth stronglights I found real cheap on closeout on the thorusa site(I believe $14-15 for both plus $5shipping).This gives a low ratio suitable for touring around Fl but for cc you may want to go the triple route to get lower gearing .You don't really need alot of gears just the right gears ie a few low for climbing a few mid range for everyday cruising and maybe a high or two for decents.

As far as hubs,cranks,bbs and the like i didn't really bother with all that preferring to keep things simple but between the advice you get here and various online sites I am sure it is well w/in the feasability of a motivated do-it-yourselfer.

I suggest to avoid confusion you first determine the gearing you want/need then figure all the nuances of spacing compatiblity etc. to minimize undue confusion . Good Luck

we really, really, really need more info. first...you're wanting to ride cross country.
is this alone and self-contained? are you carrying camping gear? is this an
organized tour with your baggage carried in a vehicle? are you sticking to the
pavement, or do you expect to hit some dirt/gravel roads? when are you going?
what is the expected daily mileage?

second...you have some kind of bike. a road bike. what brand/model? frame size?
braze-ons? components? at the least, it'll need a complete overhaul - new cables,
new brake pads, repack or replace bearings, adjustments, new tires and tubes,
new chain......

you'll probably replace the crank with a triple, get new hubs and new freewheel.
may need to switch out the bottom bracket, too. replace the deraillers to handle
the gearing. now new shift levers if the old ones don't have enough throw. does
the bike have old weinmann center-pull brakes? will they stop a fully-loaded bike?
what's the widest tire you can fit in the frame or between the brakes? since you're
getting a wider hub, i assume you'll be getting a new wheelset in 700c rather than
the 27" it now has. will the brake pads adjust to the new rims? probably want a
new saddle, too.

replace all this stuff, then hope it all works together. of course, before you do all
this, find out if the frame fits you, and whether the chainstays are long enough
so that your heels don't hit the panniers.

whoa, sorry guys, this thread started out slow, so i gave up on it and in the meantime bought a trek 420 that fits me very well, the more i looked into parts the more i realized that they would most likely total more than the 300 it cost me to buy the trek. and that doesnt say anything about weather they would work or not. plus i dont really know quat about bike mechanics. i was just a bit starry-eyed when i made that post.

thank you very kindly to all who took the time to respond, my consolation is that the info you posted will perhaps be useful to anyone who is in the same situation as me later on. sorry to be so irresponsible with my post. peace.