So, for the summer tour this year I'm using two frame bags, a stuff sack, and a hydration pack (and I could probably lose a frame bag). My steel frame bicycle suddenly seems like overkill.

I have been thinking about getting a lightweight racing bike anyways, and touring on it sounds like an awesome proposition.


When I bought my steel frame, I asked my LBS Owner "What bike would be good for touring?" and he put me on a $1000 Raleigh Port Townsend, a beautiful bike. It's served me well.

I know nothing about what bikes are available. If I got an aluminum/carbon racing bike under $1500 or $2000, what are my options?

-I want to go as light as I can in this budget. I don't want to shave grams off my tent and clothes and have a bike 2lbs heavier than it could be.
-I want to be smart, not "stupid light." I need something tried and true, and I need to know if I should avoid carbon fiber or certain types of frames.


Thanks for any and all info! Thank you!

If you strap stuff to carbon, it may abrade more rapidly than metal. Strength is not a problem, any production bike is up to the task.
Consider tyre clearance, bar/headtube height, gearing and tyre clearance. A sportiff style of roadbike (eg Giant Defy) is probably the best option.
You will want a decent set of wheels, pref Shimano hubbed rather than Formula or some other basic OEM hub.

Of course anything that makes you happy is well worth it. This would not interest me though. Most carbon racing bikes are probably overkill for all but the best, actual money making, racers. For touring they aren't the right thing, but then people tour on unicycles, and penny-farthings.

I like to look at what the teams ride on the Paris Roubaix. If a guy can actually make a living on a steel frame with carbon wheels, and fat tires or a cross bike, in a road race. And the guy weighs 130, who am I to buy some carbon wank. Carbon is good, by the way.

You can get the weight of steel frame time trial bikes to the 10 poundish area. So what is one really gaining from going carbon. If I wanted an expensive toy, I would go for a custom. Many people just spend near custom levels of dough, on some marketed junk, and buy bike after bike that never gets out of the LX component range. Good stuff, but a decade goes by and you have spent 10-20 K and all you have to show for it is mediocre rides. For 2K you can start to think about the best lugged frames out there, or all Rohloff drive train (not the wheels you want, I realize). Peter white, wheels with Phil hubs, Paul brakes, Etc...

Another thing I find, and I love to dream about bikes and gear, is that none of this stuff means anything when I hit the road. I no longer care about anything except the trip, reliability, can I climb, and can I brake.

By the way, I think we had a recent thread on carbon bikes. There were quite a few people around here who had them, though they may not have been quite as racy as what you are looking at.

In your case, you want light, fast, durable. It'll necessarily be a compromise, otherwise you'll only get two out of the three. An entry level, steel road bike with carbon touches is probably your most efficient bet. Upgrade components as desired or required. I'd add aerobars for aerodynamics and another ride position.

I was going to run it with Schwalbe Supremes, my new favorite tire (even if it is pricy). What kind of tire clearance should I look for?

https://road.cc/content/news/59716-in...rld-record-kit
here you go world reckord holder take a look at his bike and packing list.

here's my CAAD10 with Williams 30x wheels shod in Vittoria Rubino Pro 28c

My preference would be to go with aluminum for something a bit lighter than steel but also strong.

If you know your touring load will never get any bigger, then almost any bike would work, but if you ever plan to do more than ultralight with that bike, look for something that will accept a rack.

That is really interesting stuff on the record setting. Though one has to take a lot of that with a grain of salt given the nature of promotion. I would be loath to ride a Cross bike, certainly not a road touring ideal. That is where the problem comes measuring some tenuous benefits of carbon vs some tenuous benefits of having the dead correct frame design wise.

All that stuff about carbon durability sounds a little fishy. Carbon is certainly capable of long term durability, when they get the bugs out design wise, and when they don't go nuts in the lightness direction. There is an interesting thread on this in the Framebuilding forum currently. Carbon is also a solution that brings with it a lot of aluminum, which is not my favorite material where they use it. I don't mind it in tubes, but not a fan in steering tubes and drops. I like carbon for a touring bike, light or heavy, but it is not something I would want pres a peddler, so to speak.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-years-or-more

How can I tell if a carbon frame is high enough quality to outdo aluminum, and does a "good" carbon frame leave my price range?

If you pack light enough any road race bike could work, but I wouldn't go too crazy with worrying about every gram on the bike itself. If money is an issue at all it may be best to get a nice entry level road bike with decent but not top end components (105 is plenty good enough).

If I were starting from scratch I'd probably spend about $1000 (less if money was tight) on pretty much the same gear I currently use and then if going with a new bike I'd buy an entry level road bike ($1000-1200). As the prices go higher the weight reduction is less and less per dollar. That said my current ultralight road rig is a used 1990 ish Cannondale road bike that could easily be found for $300-400.

If interested in my rig check out my southern tier journal and my article on U/L touring.

What's your price range?

Also, how long are you going on tour, and where? There's a difference between touring the Midwest and touring the Rockies....

that 2011 CAAD10 (rival) was $1500.

at the moment the approx $2000 road bike is the bread and butter for the bike industry.

I really like that CAAD10

My price range tops out at about 1500. I don't want to specify a destination, but I need a bike that can really move. South America, Europe, and the US.

think BMX -406- 20" [bike-friday] or 26" wheels like Mountain bikes ,
if you plan to do really remote South America trips.. due to availability..

tire spares for most others will be needing an international mail drop,
with those inherent complexities.

Carbon , set up mail replacements when that breaks in remote places.

Bike Fridays are being hugely considered for the South America trip next year. Do the wheels follow BMX wheels exactly?

And just so we know....

• How light of an "ultralight" bike are you looking for?
• Do you plan to stay on paved roads in South America?

I'd be looking for used titanium or a light steel road bike, in your shoes.

If you're traveling around the world, you'll probably need to box & ship it a few times, and carbon probably needs a little more padding and careful packing than you'll be able to give it.

How much does your current bike weigh, without racks, fenders, and other attachments? THere's a point of diminishing returns with $/gram, and $1500 doesn't buy much weight savings.

The Raleigh Port Townsend is 29lbs with the extras. I took off all the reflectors and replaced the seat with a lighter one. I got tires that weigh 1/2 as much, and I took off the metal fenders. I did put on a light 500g rack. If I had to guess, I'd put it at 25lbs right now.

I want light enough that I don't immediately see another road bike for $100 more that shaves 2lbs. I want to know which company/bike is doing it right, in other words.

In South America, I will try to do only paved roads, but I feel like anywhere is going to have rough spots. I was thinking I'd need to use heavy-duty rims and schwalbes, rather than the "stock" rims most racing bikes come with.

Equally useful as reccomendations would be "bikes to avoid" because of known issues, difficulty in replacing parts, or things like extremely low clearance or weak frames that aren't immediately noticeable.

just had a quick look at your journal on cgoab excellent stiff but tell me this with your light load how did you manage to keep warm and dry.is your sleeping bag a down 4 season.

Sure, it's possible to shave the grams on your tires and it's possible to run a lightweight rack and bottle cages. It's even possible to find lightweight panniers if you want. But if you go with lightweight gear as a priority, you'll have to make sacrifices, either in terms of quality or price. You've stated your budget, so I don't think you have a lot of room to move there. The only other savings you might find would be at the expense of quality and durability. In the case of a saddle, you might also lose comfort, and that won't be much fun if you're spending long days riding.

Your Raleigh Port Townsend comes in at a very reasonable weight. My bike, a Devinci Destination, weighs 27 or 28 lbs. That's the weight of the bike with the rack and bottle cages in place and with a small tool pouch under the seat and a pump attached to the frame. My tires are not lightweight because I went with durability. The rack is not an ultralight for the same reason. I could go a bit lighter on the tires if I went with something narrower for good paved roads, but the weight difference is something I won't notice when I'm riding. The panniers, not included in the weight I stated, are heavier than some on the market, but after being caught in a few too many rainstorms, I wanted something waterproof.

The sleeping bag is a goose down Mountain Hardware Phantom 45+ but it is EN lower limit rated at 32 F. It is surprisingly warm for a 17 ounce bag. I found it quite comfortable to a bit below freezing without need for supplementing it with clothing especially when in a bivy. With my tights, two pairs of socks, a silk liner, and a warm shirt I was fine at what my thermometer showed as 18 F (the locals said it was colder than that). I had a down vest that I used as a pillow and figured it was my insurance against being cold, but I never needed to wear it.

On that trip I took lightweight rain gear (pants and jacket combined weighed 15 ounces) that I figured could also be used as a vapor barrier for sleeping in the extreme case, but again never used it that way.

We had only one cold and rainy day and I managed fine with my warm shirt, tights, and rain gear.

It probably helps that I am pretty tolerant of cold weather and put out heat like a furnace when sleeping. I know that I am often comfy when folks around me with a lot heavier duty gear say they are freezing, so what works for me probably wouldn't for everyone.

It was kind of funny because much of the way I was riding with a guy who grew up in Southern Florida and recently called San Diego home. He was cold a lot of the time and even wore a face mask in what I considered ideal riding temperatures (probably in the 50s F). I guess that to some extent it is what you are used to. On the last day, and first hot day of the trip, I commented that the heat was oppressive. He said he was just thinking that it was the first nice day of the trip. He went on to mention that it was the first time he heard me complain about the weather the whole trip.