teamtrinity

After literally years of stops and starts regarding a touring bike purchase, I finally bought a Soma Double Cross be my touring/commuting/trainer bike! But I have no idea how to build this thing up! What shifters/brakes/derailleurs/cassette/chain?

I have high end road parts gathering dust in my basement that are left over form previous projects. Can I use any of these?

Dura-Ace shifters, crankset, front derailleur, rear derailleur, cassette, chain
SRAM Red crankset, chain, cassette, shifters, front derailleur, rear derailleur

But from what I understand...roadbike gearing is all wrong! I'm guessing I'll need a new crankset and new cassette. But will that force me to get new derailleurs? And shifters?

Thanks!

pdlamb

FWIW, one roadie looked at my touring bike and said, "Hmm, a road bike with mountain gears." I think that pretty well sums up my gearing, and what I recommend for loaded touring.

cyccommute 

Depends. If everything is set up for a double chainring and you want a triple, you'll need new shifters...at least a new front shifter...and a new crank (if the current cranks are doubles) and a new front derailer (if they are for doubles). If you want to go with a wide range of gearing, you'll probably need a new cassette and, if the new cassette is an 11-34, you'll likely need a new rear derailer.

Touring bikes are closer to mountain bikes in parts and gearing. Start there. You can find trekking cranks that have 48 tooth outer rings and can take 22 tooth inners. Get a Shimano mountain bike rear derailer (XT is very nice) and, if you want to use STI shifters, pair it with a Tiagra front derailer. The Tiagra front derailer is a much better front derailer for wide gearing than the higher level fronts that Shimano offers. It's easier to set up and much more forgiving.

Look for some old 9 speed shifters or go with Tiagra 9 speed shifters. You could also use 10 speed cassettes and 10 speed shifters if you don't want to go with Tiagra. The 9 speed stuff is a bit more rugged, however.

teamtrinity

So...should I get Shimano Ultegra triple shifters (I'm pretty sure Dura-Ace does not have triple shifters, correct?)...XTR front derailleur, XTR rear derailleur, XTR crankset, and XTR cassette? XTR chain? What brakes do I get? Does Shimano have canti brakes?

Thanks!

FrenchFit 

It's a compromise between building a go fast bike or a loaded hill climber. You have to decide where you want to be on that compromise line and choose your components and wheelset accordingly. And, keep total weight in mind...heavy bikes aren't much fun for anything.

late

There are a number of differing ways to go about this.

I have Ultegra brifters on a triple and an XT rear der with a 11/34

Bar ends are also popular with tourers because they are uber reliable.

A Sugino triple doesn't cost a lot. A compact double is another thought.
But I can't imagine trying 70-80 pounds of bike over the Rockies with
a 34-34

teamtrinity

Would it suicide using the SRAM Red Compact crankset I already have with a SRAM Red 11-28 cassette? If possible, I'd like to use what I have so I don't have to buy new stuff. But...I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to go up hills when I'm weighted down with a ton of gear.

Also...someone mentioned wheelset. I use tubulars on my road and tri bike. But that seems like a bad idea for touring. What are some good light weight touring wheelsets? If it makes a difference, I'm 130 lbs.

Thanks!!

teamtrinity

road or mtn triple?

staehpj1

The compromise line will vary pretty widely depending on how much you weigh and how much you will be carrying. Folks who carry 100 pounds or more will be at one and of the range and folks who pack really light will be at the other unless they are especially heavy themselves. If you pack like an ultralight backpacker you can go more road bike like. All of your components with maybe a compact double might work fine.

Since you weigh in at 130, if you really pack light you may be able to get by with using a lot of the road bike components, maybe with a compact double and your 11-28 cassette. Personally I would first evaluate what kind of load you will be carrying. If it is in the low end of the range I'd try it with the stuff you have and see how it goes. If you are carrying much over 20 pounds of gear (Including panniers, but not food and water), you will probably be better off with MTB gearing.

For wheels, I wouldn't go with tubulars, but since you are light your wheels could be pretty light duty or not depending on how much gear you carry. So again, figure out roughly what the load will be first.

treebound 

I'd suggest building it up with what you currently have since it will also be a trainer and commuter bike. That way you can start putting some miles on it and get the fit sorted out, get your racks installed, start collecting the luggage/bags, and start making test rides with loads of various weights. Your front derailleur may or may not work with a triple, likewise with your shifters, check their specs or just give them a try. Then as you sort things out you will have a better idea of how your gearing measures up to your intended needs and can then swap out what you already had for something else that may work better. Go budget now, upgrade as your needs get defined. Unless of course you have a tour coming up very soon and don't have time to play around with options.

Just my opinion, listen closer to the long milers.

teamtrinity

I'm totally guessing here...but I imagine the weight will be between 30-50 lbs for everything (clothes, food, spare parts, tent, ect). I'm basing this on a week long backpacking trip I went on this summer on Isle Royale. What range of that 30-50 I'll be carrying depends on how much my wife is willing to or capable of carrying on her touring bike.

Any suggestions on where to start for wheelset? Lighter would be better! Thanks!

Cyclesafe

The most critical part of your build is your rear wheel. If you can get your load down to 30 lbs, your 130 lb body will let you use road wheels. Maybe too with 50 lbs. But stop thinking "lighter" and start thinking "more sturdy". A 36 spoke Open Pro with 25mm tires may be all you need.

I think the idea of building with what you have and then replacing as needed is a good one. Plenty of people tour with a 34 / 28. See if you're one of them before you start spending money. Swapping out a MTB rear der and cassette would be the first step. If you keep your load light and don't plan to do mountains, that might be all you need to do.

hybridbkrdr

Shimano Deore LX trekking V-brake groupset: https://www.bike24.de/p29129.html
or
Shimano Deore M590 trekking V-brake groupset: https://www.bike24.de/p211929.html

Then you can google Handspun Deore LX wheels with Velocity Dyad rims. Semi-slicks I find interesting are Michelin Tracker and Continental Tour Ride. Some people tour with 37mm tires or larger.

bradtx

teamtrinity, From a long time roadie who built my first touring bike earlier this year, throw out what you know about building road bikes except for fitment. Reliability is king in the touring bike world as you're often far from help should there be a break down. I was able to use quite a bit of my roadie parts from the parts bin, but hubs and drivetrain are all mountain bike parts. I had a couple of Ultegra integrated lever sets and a set of bar ends in the bin and used the bar ends, again for reliability.

I wished I'd have built this bike a long time ago.

Brad

BigBlueToe

I agree.

Personally, I think a 9-speed cassette is the sweet spot for touring. I have a 10 speed cassette on my road bike, and I don't think it would be as good for touring as the 9-speed on my tourer. It doesn't offer as wide a range, or as low a low. Also, the chain and gears are narrower (right?) so I don't know if they're as robust.

A really low gear combination is highly desirable - I don't think it's possible to go too low. It's very possible to not have low enough gears and you can suffer as a result.

I have bar-end shifters on my tourer and it's a good, simple way to go. Don't avoid them just because you've never had them. They might seem odd at first, but you'll quickly get used to them and they're fine. On the other hand, I really like my brifters on my road bike. Some say that they're too problematic for touring - if they break you'll be out of luck. Mine seem pretty reliable and I wouldn't shy away from putting them on a tourer. There could be an issue with the cable housings bumping into a handlebar bag, but plenty of people have managed to avoid this; I really don't think it's an issue. I would say either setup - bar ends or brifters - would be fine. (For that matter, I started touring on a bike with downtube shifters, and those were fine too!)

I have cantilever brakes on my tourer and v-brakes on my 26" mountain bike. I really like the v-brakes and would definitely consider putting them on the tourer. If I was building my tourer today I'd probably go with them. There's a problem with using normal road brake levers with v-brakes, but there are some fairly easy solutions - not a problem.

I have disc brakes on my 29er. They're nice, but I'm not convinced that they're superior enough to rim brakes to make them worthwhile. They're good stoppers, they work great in the rain (or riding through puddles), and they don't heat up the rims (although the discs get REALLY hot). But they're also heavy, they get in the way of installing racks and fenders, and they add to the dishing of the wheels. I know some people think they're great and the future of cycle touring, but I think I'll pass. (I won't be taking them off my 29er though.)

teamtrinity

Ok...so would this be ok?

Shimano Ultegra 9-speed STI shifters
Shimano 970 series XTR crankset set (24-32-44)
Shimano XTR front derailleur 970-series (Compatible with the Ultegra shifters?)
Shimano XTR rear dearilleiur 970-series (Compatible with Ultegra shifters?)
Shimano XTR cassette (Not sure what size...11-32?)
Shimano XTR chain

Would any of these this be not that great for touring? Thanks!


EDIT: Is there any way I can do this with SRAM? The problem I see with SRAM is that I don't see a mountain triple front derailleur with a 28.6 clamp diameter. And SRAM does not have a triple road shifter.

teamtrinity

OR!!!

I suppose the other thing I could do in order to avoid buying all sorts of new components is...

Use the SRAM Red stuff I have (compact crank, shifters, front derailleur)....but replace the rear derailleur with a SRAM mountain derailleur (probably SRAM X0) and get a SRAM 11-36 cassette. That would give me a 34 ring up front and the 36 cog in the back.

Thoughts?

LeeG

Lighter is not better once you've put 30lbs on the bike. Lighter is better if you're racing and time trialing up a mtn. Think of the components for your touring bike like you'd use for a commuter or training bike, it's not high end stuff nor does it need to be. Cyclists with an unlimited budget buy high end stuff. Racers on a budget train and race. Tourists on a budget ride. If you're buying high end stuff for a touring bike then you aren't too concerned about needing money while on the road or replacement costs and simply like having the most expensive stuff.

Even though you're light 50lbs is a heavy load. A 200lb rider with no weight on the bike can ride on lighter wheels than you with 50lbs on the bike simply because they can hop over holes and rocks and you can't with all that weight on the bike.

I'd suggest getting some basic Handspun wheels with Dyad rims and Deore LX hubs. The rims are only a couple oz more than racing rims and you'll get a wider range of weight with different tires than looking at different rims and fewer spokes. The ONLY reason I'd get lighter wheels is if heavy touring with wider tires is something you do 20% of the time with unloaded riding and narrower tires 80%. In that instance consider getting regular road wheels and a spare rear wheel for loaded touring.

The only reason for getting XTR level components is because you have the money, it'll have no practical benefit on the road.

LeeG

spacers, it's what I"ve got on my Surlys

Cyclesafe

Mountain front ders are not compatible with road left brifters. They pull different amounts of cable. Use a IRD Alpina or an Ultegra 6503 front der or reportedly a Tiagra 9 sp front der.

I'd also confirm that the XT crankset/bb will give you an acceptable chain line with your non-MTB frame. You might have to use shims / spacers.

But, like I wrote above, try what you have and then swap out whichever MTB rear der and 9 sp cassette you want after you've determined you need them. If you were me (160 lbs and 50 lbs of gear) and you will find yourself in the mountains, for sure you'd need to do this. I found that 24 / 34 on the Sierra Cascades was adequate in my situation, but there were times I'd have gone even 22 / 36 if I had them.

Also, XTR is designed for lighter weight, not for durability. When touring, durability is paramount.

But being 130 and carrying 30 gives you the realistic option of 34 / 28. If you have to buy a new cassette anyway, you might want to consider swapping out the rear der also because, it certainly won't hurt - gives you more leeway on the hills and doesn't sock it to your wallet too much.

cyccommute 

Most everything but the XTR front derailer. Those don't play nice with STI. Go with a road triple front derailer. Don't be fooled into thinking that the higher end front derailers work better with triples. Shimano sculpts the crap out of their higher end road and mountain bike derailers but all that sculpting doesn't really improve their function. It just makes them narrower and harder to adjust. For an STI compatible front derailer, get a Tiagra. It's the best triple front derailer that Shimano makes.

The XTR crank is a little low for a top gear and a little high for a low gear for loaded touring. A 44 tooth high means you do a whole lot of coasting since you can only spin it up to about 25 mph at 80rpm. A 46 or a 48 would give you a little more top end speed.

cyccommute 

The XTR is plenty durable.

LeeG

or 38mph at 120rpm.

antokelly

ok put me up against the wall and shoot me for this, but if i were you use what you have the compact will be fine coupled with a good range of gears on the rear, if your going with just year panniers you should be fine, but anyway build the bike withe sram give it a go before you dismiss it entirely.could save you a small fortune.

Cyclesafe

If going 25 mph loaded it's while descending. The time spent "pushing" at 25mph or "pushing at 28 mph is not meaningfully different on the way to achieving terminal velocity. Rarely does anyone on this forum complain for lack of gearing on the high end - even those with MTB drivetrains.

I think you'd agree that XTR cassettes wear out sooner than Shimano's "lower end" offerings. The better finish of the XTR line is wasted when all components other than the crank are obscured by panniers and the weight savings afforded can be more economically achieved by better camping gear selection. Durable enough? Perhaps. But a waste of money for touring.