fettsvenska 

Greetings everyone. I was hoping that a few of you would be willing to offer up your 2 cents.

I would like to get a new bike for touring. I don't do a lot of real serious touring, usually 2 or 3 nights at the most and nothing out of the country. I have a Karate Monkey single speed that is just hanging up in the garage collecting dust and I thought that maybe I could convert that to a touring rig but as I was pricing out all of the parts that I would need the $$$ started to add up pretty quick.

Anyway, my personal preferences are:

1. Steel frame, just because that is what I ride.
2. Disc brakes, I know that for touring cantilevers or V-brakes are recommended but I'm kind of a fat ass and the extra stopping power of disc brakes is helpful and since I don't plan on touring out of the country, I don't think that this is a problem.
3. Brifters, again I know that for touring bikes the bar end shifters are recommended but I just like brifters better. Don't get me wrong, I have other bikes with bar end shifters and I like them just fine but I prefer brifters.

When I was down at the LBS I saw one of these Masi Bikes - Cyclocross - CX Comp . This bike seems to meet my preferences and at $1,059 it seems like a decent deal. However, I do have a couple of concerns. First, it might be geared a little high. The cassette seems right for a touring bike but the 50/34 double is more of a CX setup. Second, the wheel base on the 58cm frame (my size) is 1039mm. Is that long enough to prevent heel strike on my panniers. The gearing can be fixed easy enough but, obviously, the wheel base is permanent.

Opinions?

fietsbob

never seen a Masi , Italian made Touring frame , the name was sold long ago .
so its just another Taiwan contract bike for the owners of the name ,

should be OK , steel, &, discs, was what you wanted if it fits , its OK

you can change the drivetrain bars stem seat pedals anything you wish different.


CX style bikes are popular as touring bikes , chainstays are a bit shorter than a touring bike..
so you may want to fit a rack further back, to clear the rear disc caliper, some racks do that,

hueyhoolihan

i'd just permanently remove the 50t chainring for touring.

as for heel strike just run front panniers on the rear.

egear

Ok so some quick checking shows the Masi with 432mm stays and the Surly LHT with 460mm stays. Thats a pretty large difference. You can try running different panniers or even getting a rack that mounts further back. If you do the shorter tours you could just run front panniers on a low rider mount. Does the CX have any eyelets for mounting racks and or fenders? Have you considered changing the front chainring smaller and rear cog larger on the Surly Karate Monkey. You wont have any gears to fiddle with but if you can find the right combo and the hills around you arent to brutal you may be able to get away with it. Just a thought. The Masi may work for ya but I would take a hard look at it first.

bradtx

fettsvenska, There's also a triple equipped model: Masi Bikes - Cyclocross - CX Triple . Still it's geared more as a rando/light tourer, which could be what you're looking for. Medium sized panniers F&R maybe all that you'll need and lessons the possibility of heel strike plus balances the load. Test fit with what the LBS has on hand.

Brad

Tim_Iowa

Gearing: If you're "kind of a fat ass" and you want to carry touring loads, a compact double crank is not going to cut it. You will be much happier with a triple. A 48/38/28, or similar, is best for a touring bike.

You could probably fit a triple on the Masi pretty easily. BUT, shimano brifters are double- or triple-specific. So, to go triple on the Masi, you'd need to swap the left brifter for a triple-specific one, and possibly the front derailer as well. $$$

Plus, the chainstays are kinda short as you noted. I have 435mm chainstays on my Rivendell, and I was able to get Vaude panniers to clear my heels on a Nitto Mt Campee 20R. You may have to fiddle with different racks and panniers to get them to clear.

A dedicated touring bike would carry heavy loads and panniers better. Maybe trade your Karate Monkey in towards a Disc Trucker?

djb

as a reference, my tricross 54cm has 440 chainstays, 8mm longer than the masi. I've had no problems with my panniers on a fairly standard rear rack, so I suspect that if you chose a rack with more setback you may be alright. Would of course depend on specific panniers and your shoe size, I'm 8.5-9

I personally think bikes like this make great all round bikes, especially if as you say you are not going to tour extensively. I like that my bike is more fun to ride than a full on tourer, but can still easily handle riding with full panniers and not be noodley.

fettsvenska 

Thank for all of the replies so far. This is very helpful and gets me thinking about things from different points of view. At $1,059 the Masi is about $450 less than a disc trucker, so I was sort of hoping that the Masi would work for me. But if it is the wrong bike, then that would just be $1,059 that is wasted. I might have to go price out a custom build disc trucker and if I have to save my pennies a little longer to afford it, then so be it.

djb

I would strongly suggest taking a bunch of test rides. Given you are going to be using a bike loaded very very little, I'd think that you would appreciate riding something less "truck" like for the 95% of its riding life. A friend of mine has a Trek 520 and I find it even trucklike compared to my Tricross, he rode my bike and find it all twitchy, but it would drive me nuts riding a slow steering, heavy feeling bike for all the time it would be unloaded.

something to think about

fietsbob

IMO, a bike is just a tool to go touring upon .

summer out here hundreds of people ride thru on all sorts of bikes

if you can get up every morning and the bike feels OK to ride another day for weeks

you are touring ..

market drives opinions .. it seems .. so touring is a thing , not the activity..

fettsvenska 

Although the "truck" is what I'm looking for. I should have probably mentioned that I have 17 other bikes...sort of one for every occasion. The one gap I have is a really good true touring bike.

djb

yup that changes everything! Ya, you might as well go with something that will handle being loaded up a lot and not complain at all, especially if you have a whole slew of other "fun" bikes to ride. I guess though what it comes down to is how much you figure you would take on a trip, if its 40lbs+ then a true truck will be best, but if its less, a much livelier bike would be perfectly fine with two rear panniers and a handlebar bag and you'd enjoy the ride more.
Have fun figuring it out and trying diff bikes, its clear you are a bike addict, but thats a good thing.

WPH

Think radically for a moment:
-- 2nd hand 2011 Giant Defy 2 (<10kg) for say $500 and spend the savings on:
-- Tubus fly rear rack (or similar)
-- Arkel dry-lite panniers ($90)
-- Tarptent shelter
-- Feathered Friends sleeping bag
-- a good down jacket
-- Mavic H2o lightweight rain jacket
-- pop-can stove and titanium pot
-- Exped synmat or similar
-- a light but largish handlebar bag.

Get your luggage load (minus food and water) down below say 6-7kg and you can use a normal road bike with compact cranks, upgraded brakepads and cycle lighter and longer every day (and have less stuff to pack up everyday). People tour long-term with this sort of strategy.

My Thorn Club Tour (531 ST, heavy 36 spoke wheels, cantis, triple chainrings and front pannier rack) is looking more and more redundant every day...

I can't come at the crocs, but I reckon this bloke is onto something: Ultralight bicycle touring.

Anyway, enjoy the Masi, I am sure it's a fabulous machine!