I've had my Raleigh Sojourn for about two years now. At the time I thought I had done my research and found the perfect bike! I was able to get it at 20% of MSRP, which was much cheaper than the Surly LHT at the time (I hadn't even heard of the Kona Sutra). After some more reading I've discovered that there is some criticism of the avid bb5 brakes, 32 spoke wheels, and hubs.

I've got about 1,300 miles on it at this point without a single complaint. It rides like a dream and is my daily commuter. However, I'm looking at doing some touring this summer. I've got a spot in RAGBRAI, and am planning a ride to Wyoming this summer as well. Should I worry about getting different hubs, brakes, and wheels on my Sojourn? While I share some concerns with other members on this site. I kind of think it makes some sense to get use out of the components that came stock and replace them as they show some wear and tear.

My wheels are double wall and I've put some hard miles on them in the city without any problems. I threw both of them on a truing stand recently, and they didn't need any adjustment!

I'm open to any suggestions. I'm on a budget so making $$ upgrades aren't really option. Though, I would like to put a Shimano Dynamo front hub on it.

Looking forward to hearing all your thoughts!

brakes work, wheels work, $$ upgrades aren't an option. A dynohub and quality headlight is a $$ upgrade. Only reason I'd consider changing anything is if your pending trips involve significant rear wheel loads and you've never ridden the bike with those loads. If you're a light person and you've been riding with occasional heavy loads in those 1300miles then it sounds like you really don't need to do anything.

What exactly do you mean by upgrades not being an option? I'm just curious.

I've got Ortlieb Backroller Panniers for the back which will probably get loaded up with about 50 lbs between the two. I'm thinking of adding a front rack with smaller panniers to distribute weight across the wheel base a bit more evenly.

I'm sorry, just repeating your comment that expensive upgrades aren't an option but it looks like you're already doing that with quality racks/bags. Since your rear wheel has held up so far the only thing I'd suggest is loading up the back and and riding it around for a few weeks and see if there's a change in the wheels condition. 50lbs sounds like all the gear you'd be carrying, instead of another set of panniers and low riders maybe just a small front rack and piling a couple compression bags on top? Experiment with load placement.

if it aint broke, dont fix it.

Another bike company with out a clue Gonna rant a little: What idiot would spec a 32 hole disc wheel on a touring bike? Does a design committee sit around and see what kind of stupid ideas they can come up with? "Hey, Erv! Got an idea. Let's put a dished wheel on the front of this bike and make it even weaker by taking away 4 spokes!"



For RAGBRAI, you won't need to do anything. You might even want to remove some stuff to lighten the bike up. RAGBRAI (and other mass tours) are more de France than they are Tour. (Personal note: Don't like mass tours because they are too much de France and not enough Tour) Just ride what you got or, if you have something else that's racier, ride it.

For the Wyoming trip, stick with what you got...including the 32 hole wheels...unless you have a reason to change them. I'd suggest doing loaded training rides a few weeks to a couple of months before hand. Load your bags with weight (rice and beans works very well and you can eat them afterwards) progressing from a little weight to what you expect to carry on the trip. Front bags are good and should be loaded with small dense stuff to about 60% of the total load. A heavier load on the front improves handling. Keep the back bags for lighter bulky stuff.

Unless you really need a dynamo and the light for touring, I'd just stick with what you have now...even if they aren't right...unless you start to break spokes during training. The dynamo hub is much more useful for winter* riding so save your cash for now. Only replace stuff that really needs replacing. And don't replace much of anything within the last couple of weeks before a loaded tour. That means don't replace the saddle, the handlebars, do a major overhaul, etc. unless absolutely necessary.

*Not a big fan of dynamo hubs in the winter time either. Sure they work all the time but they aren't all that transferable from bike to bike if you have multiple bikes. Battery lights are more flexible and brighter even if limited in run time. YMMV

No worries LeeG. The stock rear rack on the Sojourn is well made. Which is a bit of a curiosity that they put such a great, beafy, load bearing rack over a 32 spoke rear wheel. I like your idea of compression bags on the front rack. I do have an extra set of panniers already though (Seattle Sports Fast Packers) which I think would possible work on a lowrider front rack. I may ride down the LBS and beta test this idea before procuring a low-rider rack.

I agree with loading down the rear rack and going on some distance rides when the weather turns nicer (snowing in the Twin Cities today!).

I also agree with your comment's (positron). Perhaps picking up some spare rotors and pads for the BB5's is better than replacing anything.

When first learning about touring I was really looking at the LHT and perhaps should have gone that route. Though, I do really like my Sojourn, if not for some of the puzzling choices Raleigh made on it. I think they've since remedied this blatant build contradiction in later models.

As for the Tour de RAGBRAI, I have to agree with you once again. I have a flexible summer and being from Iowa I thought I should do the ride at least once. I'm not much of a "mass" rider. I enjoy small groups with good friends rather than throngs of people all dolled up in spandex on their $3000 road bikes that they ride on the weekends. I'm a bit pessimistic about the experience of riding with yuppie "weekend warriors", but I've paid my fee and have the time so I might as well do it!

As for WY, I'm looking forward to the solitude and experience.

So, while there's a few followers to this thread. I'll pose another question. Originally I was attracted to the Sojourn for having Disc Brakes (increased stopping power in adverse conditions). Is there really a noticeable difference in stopping power, brake wear, $$ on these vs. a good set of cantilever brakes? From what I've gathers discs will preserve the rim, but put some stress on the hub, while Cantilever basically do the opposite.

Unless you and your gear are an extremely heavy combo 32H wheels are fine - especially on the lightly loaded front wheel. Don't just check that they are true though - check the tension on each spoke to see that the wheel is properly balanced. My LHT rolls on 32H 700c hoops and I've never had an issue.

BB5's are not my favourite disc brake, but if you have them and they are working for you why do anything? When they fail replace them with BB7s.

The Shimano dynohub is a good idea - I just built up a dynohub front wheel for my LHT. Buy yourself a nice B&M IQ CYO Plus and you'll be very happy.

Vik,

Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty light (about 155 lbs) and I don't imagine my gear to be super heavy either. A background in backpacking/climbing has kept me pretty minimalist most of the time. The fact you haven't had any issue on your LHT with 32H wheels is promising. Thanks for the testimonial.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for avid bb7's floating around for cheap.

Just checked out the B&M light - Awesome! That will certainly make the christmas list!

I've had, and have, discs. I really don't see what all the fuss is about. First bicycle rim brakes are discs...just ones with really large rotors. Second, braking is much more than just how hard you can clamp the wheel. Every brake I've owned (with the exception of some centerpull brakes) are capable of sliding the rear wheel, even with a touring load and me hanging off the back of the saddle as far as I can. That's the limit (almost) of how hard you can brake a bike. Moving the center of gravity of the bike, i.e. the rider because we are most of the weight of the system, back and down does more for braking power that any brake system. Even in adverse conditions.

And having very powerful and touchy brakes in adverse conditions isn't necessarily the bees knees, either. If you slide the front wheel, you are going to be on the ground. Not much can stop that happening. On ice, you want to have a very light touch to avoid that. In water, you still need to have a light touch, just not as light.

But the type of brake is moot in your case because the Sojourn is set up for discs without an option for anything else. You has to dance with them that brung ya.

Just get appropriate sized spare spokes and the tools to replace them if they break.

and provide yourself with a Low gear ratio, small in front , Big in the Rear.

+1. I have a 2009 Sojourn as well, and I have made a few upgrades to it. The first was in fact to get new wheels (36 spokes, XT hubs, A317 rims). Given the number of commuting miles and potholes I put on the stock wheels before I got around to replacing them, this probably isn't necessary. That said, I do like the idea of having an extra wheelset so that I can still get to work the next day if I trash a wheel on my commute.

The other upgrade I made was to replace the small chainring (30t stock) with a 24-tooth. This is the best thing that you can do to the Sojourn, especially if you intend to ride it up big hills with a load.

1+ front rack for better load distribution. I carry about 35-40 lbs of gear and food for comfortable summer touring, so I'm betting you'll end up with about the same, rather than 50. Also toured for several years on cheap 32 spoke wheels with no problems. Might get yourself a FiberFix temporary spoke for piece of mind, or carry spares.

I probably wouldn't change a thing if I already had that setup. As others said, carry a few spare spokes just in case, and rotors if you're worried about that. Spreading the load over front and rear will help. I wouldn't bother with the dynohub either. A couple of LED lights like the Planet Bike Superflash blinky and something like the Blaze 2w headlight will work just fine and won't hurt the wallet as much. And since they run on AAA and AA batteries, replacement is not a problem.