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What in your mind makes perfect loaded touring bike?
wrote in message ... What "features" in your mind make the perfect loaded touring bike? Is it upright or recumbent? Converted mt bike? Steel? Ti? Does it fold? Or not fold? Bottom line.... I'm wanting to take my first ever bike tour next summer. I plan to spend the winter researching and acquiring equipment Recumbents look appealing to me since I'm 48 and things "hurt" more than in past.... but have never had one and "just don't know". So....what YOU think makes good touring bike feature wise? P.S., I've crossposted this over to rec.bicycles.rides, where the touring folks hang out, since I didn't see it posted over there. -- Warm Regards, Claire Petersky http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/ See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky |
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#2
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What in your mind makes perfect loaded touring bike?
What "features" in your mind make the perfect loaded
touring bike? Some of the things you mention below are matters of personal preference and sources of flame fest otherwise. What I do like is: - having enough braze ons to carry water bottles, racks, etc. - wide range of gearing from low to high - reasonable components for not too much trouble on the road Is it upright or recumbent? Personal preference. I have two long wheelbase recumbent touring bikes and two upright touring bikes (and no automobile :-)). I'll ride both. The uprights are easier to transport. I like exercising different muscles so if I do a weekend tour on one style of bike, I'll commute to work on the other style. Recumbents will collect some pretty strong proponents who swear by them. I like my recumbents fine, but also like variety. Converted mt bike? Haven't tried. Some claim that mountain bike handle bars do not allow enough hand positions, so they switch that out. One of my recumbents has 26" wheels since this can be a more common tire size. Steel? Ti? I dunno. One upright is Aluminum which is ok though easier to ding and harder to weld (I have a broken aluminum bike frame from tour in Australia). Others are steel. Titanium is more expensive. Does it fold? Or not fold? My brother has toured on folding Dahon upright bikes. Not quite durable enough for me even with upgrading components. Bottom line.... I'm wanting to take my first ever bike tour next summer. I plan to spend the winter researching and acquiring equipment What are you riding now? How well does it work if you do a 3-day mini tour? What are your preferences. You may not need to wait for a new bike to try some smaller scale touring now...(though it is sometimes a fun excuse for bike shopping :-)). Recumbents look appealing to me since I'm 48 and things "hurt" more than in past.... but have never had one and "just don't know". Do you have an ability to borrow or rent a recumbent for a few days riding? There are more choices there (e.g. under-seat steering vs above seat; long wheelbase vs. short wheelbase vs. compact; ...) People tour in all sorts of bikes - so there likely won't be the perfect bike for everyone. Your preferences need to come into play as well. My other suggestion would be that whatever bike you end up with, get it with plenty of advance time before any long tour so you and the bike can break each other in...nothing like starting a long tour with a new unadjusted bike and straining something on day two of the tour... --mev, Mike Vermeulen |
#3
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What in your mind makes perfect loaded touring bike?
I just posted a report of my 2218 mile Key West - Milwaukee trip this past
April 21 - May 6. See the first page of that post for a list of what I took along. The bike was a TREK 520 touring bike with 700x35 Bontrager tires with kevlar lining. Not the fastest, but the most long-lasting and durable tires I've been able to find. "Claire Petersky" wrote in message hlink.net... wrote in message ... What "features" in your mind make the perfect loaded touring bike? Is it upright or recumbent? Converted mt bike? Steel? Ti? Does it fold? Or not fold? Bottom line.... I'm wanting to take my first ever bike tour next summer. I plan to spend the winter researching and acquiring equipment Recumbents look appealing to me since I'm 48 and things "hurt" more than in past.... but have never had one and "just don't know". So....what YOU think makes good touring bike feature wise? P.S., I've crossposted this over to rec.bicycles.rides, where the touring folks hang out, since I didn't see it posted over there. -- Warm Regards, Claire Petersky http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/ See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky |
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What in your mind makes perfect loaded touring bike?
Mike Vermeulen wrote:
My other suggestion would be that whatever bike you end up with, get it with plenty of advance time before any long tour so you and the bike can break each other in...nothing like starting a long tour with a new unadjusted bike and straining something on day two of the tour... Not to mention, if you do decide to go for a custom bike, some of the makers will have six to nine month backlogs by the first of the year. Kinda hard to ride the bike now that's being built in two months! Pat |
#5
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What in your mind makes perfect loaded touring bike?
Mike Vermeulen wrote:
Do you have an ability to borrow or rent a recumbent No I don't I wish I did tho |
#6
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What in your mind makes perfect loaded touring bike?
The "perfect" touring bicycle is the one YOU LIKE. Could be a three speed.
Or, an old 10 speed. A Mtn bike, anything. I have toured all over and met hundreds of bicycle tourists. I have seen so many different bicycles it boggles the mind. For me; I own three bicycles I have toured on. My old Trek touring bicycle circa 1984. To me this is about the perfect touring bicycle. It has plenty of low gears and is tough enough. But, one big problem. It has 27" wheels. For the life of me, I still go nuts when I think that the bicycle industry got away with changing the wheel size and not offering a "fix" for all the 27" wheel riders. I tried to put on a 700c wheel and the brake won't work. Then, I decided to tour on a Mtn bike. So, I go out and buy a Bridgestone MTN. Good bicycle, and I toured all over on it BUT: the Mtn is heavy. A couple of years ago I see a Cannondale Touring bicycle on sale, end of season deal. I must say the fact that the Cannondale is so light appealed to my old body. What a beautiful bicycle. Light, fast, etc. So, all three worked. Oh, I forgot .. my first touring bicycle. A Schinn Top Touring 10 speed. I thought this was the cat's meow. What a heavy lug. But, in its day it was sweet. Still, my favorite is the old 1984 Trek. This bicycle was built for touring when touring was the "thing" to do. It is in my cellar. When I look at it I actually get misty. The Trek carried me long and far, it introduced me to some great people, allowed me to go to places. --------------- "Claire Petersky" wrote in message hlink.net... wrote in message ... What "features" in your mind make the perfect loaded touring bike? Is it upright or recumbent? Converted mt bike? Steel? Ti? Does it fold? Or not fold? Bottom line.... I'm wanting to take my first ever bike tour next summer. I plan to spend the winter researching and acquiring equipment Recumbents look appealing to me since I'm 48 and things "hurt" more than in past.... but have never had one and "just don't know". So....what YOU think makes good touring bike feature wise? P.S., I've crossposted this over to rec.bicycles.rides, where the touring folks hang out, since I didn't see it posted over there. -- Warm Regards, Claire Petersky http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/ See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky |
#7
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What in your mind makes perfect loaded touring bike?
In article pVLGg.8508$cQ.5371@trndny07,
"Thomas Wentworth" wrote: Still, my favorite is the old 1984 Trek. This bicycle was built for touring when touring was the "thing" to do. It is in my cellar. When I look at it I actually get misty. The Trek carried me long and far, it introduced me to some great people, allowed me to go to places. It's an old friend, and that's what meeting old friends does. Cheers for a great post. |
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