Touring Bicycles

Hey Yall, 

I just posted about a Seattle-SanFran trip that I'm taking in the fall and wanted to create a separate post about touring bikes....

If anyone can provide any advice on what kind of brand of bicycle is best, any requirements, musts, do's and don'ts about buying and riding a touring bike for long 1000+ mile trips. Thanks so much. 

Ride on. 

Jakki

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 30, 2013 at 6:40am

The design of a frame has way more influence on the riding characteristics of a bike than tires ever could.  Change out to a bike with shorter stays, higher BB and a more aggressive head and seat tube angles and you will have a much different feeling bike.


Joe M said:

Steel is usually recommended for heavier riders (not that you're all that heavy).  REI has a nice summary page on frame materials: http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/bike-frame-materials.html

 

I'd really encourage you to hang on to your LHT.  It's cool and has a huge cult following.  But if you really want to go faster, you should look at the two real obstacles: aero drag and rolling resistance, i.e. make sure to always wear a lycra jersey and shorts and replace your tires with slicks.  If you want it to feel more nimble, jack up the air pressure.

 

IME, tire tread and inflation pressure is really the most effective way to change ride characteristics.  Beyond tires, you're looking at diminishing returns.


 Duppie 13.5185km said:

Thanks. Does the double butted tubing place any limits on rider weight? I am 190-195 LBS and 6'2".

I have an LHT and I am thinking of upgrading the frame to something a little nicer/speedier/nimbler/insert-any-lame-justification-for-a-bike-I-don't-need-but-still-want.

Permalink Reply by Joe M on July 30, 2013 at 7:03am

Completely agree.  The question, however, was going from one tourer to another (LHT vs Campeur) with virtually the same geometry.  Would that result in a "nicer/speedier/nimbler" ride?


notoriousDUG said:

The design of a frame has way more influence on the riding characteristics of a bike than tires ever could.  Change out to a bike with shorter stays, higher BB and a more aggressive head and seat tube angles and you will have a much different feeling bike.

Permalink Reply by Will on July 30, 2013 at 7:27am

Very subjective, IMO. Even seemingly minor differences in geometry can feel like big differences, or not. If the geometry is truly the same, then there would theoretically be no difference, unless something else changes, like weight (somewhat drastically) or touchpoint components.

Joe M said:

Completely agree.  The question, however, was going from one tourer to another (LHT vs Campeur) with virtually the same geometry.  Would that result in a "nicer/speedier/nimbler" ride?


notoriousDUG said:

The design of a frame has way more influence on the riding characteristics of a bike than tires ever could.  Change out to a bike with shorter stays, higher BB and a more aggressive head and seat tube angles and you will have a much different feeling bike.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on July 30, 2013 at 8:00am
The Campeur has a butted fork which is porbably going to make the biggest difference. The fork trail of the VO is 55mm compared to 66mm for the LHT. This will make for a more lively ride while unloaded
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 30, 2013 at 8:51am

They are not that similar.

Joe M said:

Completely agree.  The question, however, was going from one tourer to another (LHT vs Campeur) with virtually the same geometry.  Would that result in a "nicer/speedier/nimbler" ride?


notoriousDUG said:

The design of a frame has way more influence on the riding characteristics of a bike than tires ever could.  Change out to a bike with shorter stays, higher BB and a more aggressive head and seat tube angles and you will have a much different feeling bike.

Permalink Reply by Thedutchtouch on July 30, 2013 at 10:17am
Duppie, we are the same size, if you do get rid of your lht let me know, because you know, n + 1
Permalink Reply by ilter on July 30, 2013 at 1:50pm

Another possible difference between the LHT and the Campeur is in tubing diameter. LHT seems to have more oversized tubes.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on July 30, 2013 at 2:25pm

But I ride a 56 cm. Unless you have short legs/long body, that bike won't fit you.

Anyhow, I am not selling soon. First I need to convince myself that I need a new bike.

Thedutchtouch said:

Duppie, we are the same size, if you do get rid of your lht let me know, because you know, n + 1
Permalink Reply by Joe M on July 30, 2013 at 6:13pm

Here's another nice CL deal: Barely used 2001 (?) Jamis Coda Hybrid for $300

 

I think the brakes on a flat bar bike might be a good call for long, mtn descents (anyone else?).  While road bike brake levers work fine from the drops, that takes a little getting used to.  And working brakes from the hoods is generally no problem but can get tiresome during extended, hard applications.

 

The Coda is equipped with v-brakes which provide a lot of brake force with minimal effort/max comfort.  It's also made of steel, has an mtb crank with 32t climbing gear, braze-ons, wide tire clearance, 25-26 lbs, 36-spoke wheels ...

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecs.aspx?Year=2001&Bra...

 

To be honest, I think this is the kind of bike I'd use on a long, hilly tour.  Add some Ergon grips, lights, racks and bags and you're good to go.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/3958849930.html

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on July 31, 2013 at 2:38am

Yes, except a disadvantage of flat-bars on tours is the lack of variety for hand positions. On drops you have a lot of places for your hands and after riding all day for many days in a row this becomes surprisingly important. That issue can be addressed with a set of bar-ends.  Also, bar-ends help when hill climbing. For my style of riding (that is, slow!) having an optional higher hand position provided by bar-ends is actually a lot more useful than an optional position lower provided by drops. 

Joe M said:

Here's another nice CL deal: Barely used 2001 (?) Jamis Coda Hybrid for $300

 

I think the brakes on a flat bar bike might be a good call for long, mtn descents (anyone else?).  While road bike brake levers work fine from the drops, that takes a little getting used to.  And working brakes from the hoods is generally no problem but can get tiresome during extended, hard applications.

 

The Coda is equipped with v-brakes which provide a lot of brake force with minimal effort/max comfort.  It's also made of steel, has an mtb crank with 32t climbing gear, braze-ons, wide tire clearance, 25-26 lbs, 36-spoke wheels ...

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecs.aspx?Year=2001&Bra...

 

To be honest, I think this is the kind of bike I'd use on a long, hilly tour.  Add some Ergon grips, lights, racks and bags and you're good to go.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/3958849930.html

Permalink Reply by allison on July 31, 2013 at 4:53am

I'm a shorter lady and I ride a cross check for my "touring bike".    I've taken it across the country fully loaded and it worked out just fine for me  (just had to change out the cassette to something more suited  for hills and add a third chainring).

 I had a long haul trucker before I got the cross check and wasn't too thrilled on how sluggish it felt.  I know that touring is not a race, and maybe I'm not the strongest rider, but the cross check just feels better to me; a little more peppy, great as a touring bike and a city bike.

Permalink Reply by David P. on July 31, 2013 at 5:49am

They are sort of super-uncool, whatever that's worth (not much, I think), but trekking bars, which are very popular on such bikes in Europe but sort of invisible here, give you lots of hand positions and two upper-body positions while allowing you to use flat-bar controls.

Tony Adams 7 mi said:

Yes, except a disadvantage of flat-bars on tours is the lack of variety for hand positions. On drops you have a lot of places for your hands and after riding all day for many days in a row this becomes surprisingly important. That issue can be addressed with a set of bar-ends.  Also, bar-ends help when hill climbing. For my style of riding (that is, slow!) having an optional higher hand position provided by bar-ends is actually a lot more useful than an optional position lower provided by drops. 

Joe M said:

Here's another nice CL deal: Barely used 2001 (?) Jamis Coda Hybrid for $300

 

I think the brakes on a flat bar bike might be a good call for long, mtn descents (anyone else?).  While road bike brake levers work fine from the drops, that takes a little getting used to.  And working brakes from the hoods is generally no problem but can get tiresome during extended, hard applications.

 

The Coda is equipped with v-brakes which provide a lot of brake force with minimal effort/max comfort.  It's also made of steel, has an mtb crank with 32t climbing gear, braze-ons, wide tire clearance, 25-26 lbs, 36-spoke wheels ...

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecs.aspx?Year=2001&Bra...

 

To be honest, I think this is the kind of bike I'd use on a long, hilly tour.  Add some Ergon grips, lights, racks and bags and you're good to go.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/3958849930.html

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