On Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at 3:54:08 PM UTC-5, sms wrote:
On 6/3/2018 9:06 AM, Emanuel Berg wrote:
sms wrote:

True. It would be odd for them to be the tire
it shipped with. I recall that during the
touring bike heyday of the 1980's

OK, what was it about the 80s and
randonneuring? Good bikes and roads but still
not insane traffic like today?

For some reason, bicycle touring was extremely popular then. I think
that it grew out of Bikecentennial
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikecentennial.

The Hosteling movement was also at its peak so it was easy to find cheap
places to stay. Now, at least in the U.S., the number of hostels has
been drastically reduced, and the remaining ones are often not much of a
bargain, even though I prefer them if they have private rooms. We stayed
at a hostel in San Diego a couple of months ago, and I stayed in one by
myself near Yosemite last month.

Back in 1992 when I toured Europe for the summer, I spent many nights in hostels. Pretty common in Europe. Not the USA. Sort of rode from hostel to hostel for determining my route. Also stayed in cheap pensiones. And friends, people met along the way, distant family. Have not checked recently on whether hostels are still common in Europe or not. There was/is an age limit. It is International Youth Hostel. Think 27 was the max age. If it was enforced.