twodeadpoets

Yea but riding any part of it in Toronto is shear lunacy!

DualFrontDiscs

I'm new here.

This is my touring bike, kitted out for a few days in France.

It's based on a 2003 Litespeed Blue Ridge titanium touring frame and Litespeed carbon fork.

It's kitted out with Campagnola 10 speed, with a mix of Record, Chorus, Centaur and now Veloce. The most recent replacement is a new cassette and chain, both Veloce.

I reckon 2010 Veloce is probably as good as 2003 Record (crankset).

The gearing is 53-42-30 and 13-29. The 13-29 cassette replaces a 12-26. I think it will be useful when loaded.

The wheels are 36h Mavic T520s (ceramic). The T520s are tandem/ touring rims.

The rear is laced to a Campagnola hub (can't remember what model), the front to a Schmidt SON dynamo hub.

The tires are 32mm Schwalbe Marathon Pluses. I run 32mm because I'm not the lightest guy (c.85kg), the bike is often ridden loaded and I'm normally on 50mm tires, so 32mm always seems 'fast' to me.

The SON hub is an amazing piece of engineering. From memory, the drag incurred when it's powering something is equivalent to an eight foot incline over a mile. So very little! And at the same time it generates enough power to give car headlights a run for their money

The SON hub powers a number of configurations. The latest being a combination of a B&M Lumotec IQ Cyo R Senso LED and a Zzing power converter.

I really like the Lumotec lights. The new one is LED and the light should be good for 100,000 hours. The 'Senso' means it comes on automatically in the dark. It also has a 'StandLight' which means the light stays on for two minutes after the dynamo stops turning. A good safety feature. The light output is 3 times the minimum German requirement, so I'm assuming it will be sufficient.

The rear light is a B&M combination reflector and 'solid' LED. It's battery powered. I've never gotten around to wiring it up to the dynamo. In winter I'll supplement front and back with flashing LEDs.

The Zzing charger is a new addition and if it does what it says on the tin will prove an invaluable piece of touring equipment. Put simply, the Zzing converts the power from the dynamo into a USB interface. As an iPhone user who plans to use the GPS features of the phone, the availability of unlimited power on the move is essential.

I believe the rack is a Tubus, or something similar. The bike normally has chromoplastic mudguards fitted. They were annoying me, so I took them off.

The saddle's a Brooks Swift, well broken in at this stage.

The only other feature of note is a fork mounted cable hanger on the front brake. It's recently fitted and very effectively eliminates the horrible brake judder that the combination of carbon forks and cantilever brakes seems to generate.

The handlebar bag is a Jack Wolfskin bag. It must be at least 15 years old. I was considering a new Ortlieb bag, but the cassette and chain needed replacing, so….. Anyway, I'd only be changing for the sake of changing, so……

The panniers are Ortlieb back rollers. They can carry loads and they've proved absolutely waterproof. They fit nicely on the rack and go on and come off easily. My one complaint is the lack of small 'cubby' pockets. That's one of the reasons I'm bringing the handlebar bag.

The tent is an MSR Hubba, one man tent. It weighs under 2kgs and has yet to be tested in the field! It's definitely a one man tent.

I've a Thermarest NeoAIR which packs down to about the size of a large water bottle.

My sleeping bag is a Snugpack three season bag. Probably too much for this trip, but I'm not buying another one.

I'm bringing a Trangia stove for morning porridge! I'll carry the fuel bottle in the third bottle cage under the downtube on the frame.

The sleeping bag, mattress and the Trangia all fit in one pannier, probably with the wet weather gear I hope I won't need.

That leaves one pannier for clothing and stuff.

Thanks for reading.

DualFrontDiscs.

twodeadpoets

Very high end yet sweet ride there DualFrontDiscs! I'm lusting now and wondering what it weighs, racks and all (sans panniers)?

DualFrontDiscs

Hi tdp,

Thanks for that. Without the panniers, but with the bar bag mount, it comes in around 13kg. I reckon that's probably down to the wheels.

DFD.

Loaded, it's between 23- 25kg.

twodeadpoets

Wow! Not too bad at all! This has made me reconsider Ti!

DualFrontDiscs

Just for clarity, I don't think the Blue Ridge is any better a bike than my Dawes Super Galaxy. Nor am I a Campag zealot, or even a 'road bike' fan. My daily ride is normally a Christiania or an xtracycle I do like the Litespeed though and it is nice to have nice things . Though I'd happily trade nice things for nice memories.

DFD.

mr geeker

https://cgi.ebay.com/HANDLEBAR-AERO-D...item43a05b52ba

Lost again

I've done a tour on this rig from WA to SoCal. Since then I changed the bars and added a front rack and panniers.

deepakvrao

Thanks. Have some friends who might like this on their MTBs.

Diamond

Bike..jpg


Compared with many of the bikes on this post, this bike isn’t much to look at (and I even forgot to face the bike the right way when I took this shot). This bike is my old REI Novara Randonee that I bought over 10 years ago for bike commuting. I have 6,000 miles on it but this is my first time touring with it. The packs are even older. The front one I use commuting but the rear packs are from 25 years ago (Kirkland brand).

The bike isn’t much but it was very satisfying to use the equipment I already owned and have a wonderful vacation without spending lots of money. I don’t mean to be elitist here, I’m sure that if I tour some more I’ll end up buying Co-Motion or similar but for this trip I got a real kick out of taking 10 days off, cycling through beautiful country (Olympic Peninsula in Washington State), and saving money. Bikes are amazing vehicles.

If interested, pictures of my trip are at:

https://www.scottdiamond.com/2010_pho...tone/index.htm

-Scott

AaronJohnTurner

I'll have to get me a flag or two like this for my tour, just for the novelty!

bmike

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this was for an s24o shakedown ride late last fall.
missing the jandd frame pack for cook kit / etc and a small bento box for on bike food.
add in a wingnut hyper hydration pack for layers / rain jacket and extra h20 if needed.

bjjoondo 

Here's our bikes set up for touring, (motel) on our first tour (ok, mini-tour), started on July 12 thru July 15, we had a great time!

jdom

Looks like you had a great time,well judging by that smile.
Were are you,it kind of looks like Florida.

bjjoondo 

Starting point on the Rock Island Rail Trail to head out of S. Nevada St. and CO. hwy. 115 S, Colorado Springs, CO. LOL, Co. Springs is actually "extreem Western Kansas, with a really pretty backdrop"

dokydoky

Just got back from my first tour, SF to LA!

illwafer

do i spot a 1981-2 miyata 1000?

dokydoky

I'm actually very puzzled as to what year it is. The paint, decals, and most of the build it came with put it as a 1984, except for two things: The rack looks like the original one but it's silver instead of black (Maybe it got it's color stripped off at some point?) and it lacks lowrider mounts on the fork (introduced in the catalog 1984). Perhaps lowrider mounts were an option, or perhaps early 1984s didn't get them, perhaps the fork was replaced at some point, though the color is a perfect match.

Beyond that, it came with a non-original wheelset, Exage hubs to Matrix Touring Titan rims, and I've changed the saddle to a Brooks and installed Suntour barcons. A fine ride, I don't see myself parting with it any time soon.

jenmag

Took the old (1997) Giant hard tail for a tour last year around Tasmania.

Grace Johnson

A picture from a tour around South India in 2007

SteveA

On our Ohio River (Cincinnati, OH) to Lake Erie (Vermillion, OH) trip.

traceyh

I have this exact same bike and at first it killed my butt, but now I quite like it.

RB1-luvr

over-nighter on Mt Greylock....





my buddy riding up Mt Greylock on his $130 ex-Canyon Ranch spa bike. They sell them to the employees every few years. Just added a rack and it's making a great tour bike.

jharte

Dude those fenders ROCK!

Jerry H

Geo Cruise

Okay it isn't loaded to tour, but it is the best clothes line I have in my bachelor apartment LOL