touring bike

Ken wrote:

Dan Daniel wrote in
:


Heavier- yes, maybe 5-10 pounds? On a 180 pound total setup- rider and
bike- that's a small percent.

Slower? Not sure how this comes about.



5 or 10 pounds will make a noticable distance when climbing large hills. You
might be a minute or two slower when climbing a 2000 foot hill. Around town,
you won't see much difference, especially when you factor in stop lights.


Also, touring bikes always have triple chainrings. "Racy" bikes have
doubles, usually. The touring bike gearing is way friendlier on hills.
The longer frame gives a more stable ride to boot. Tourers are easily
ridden hands free, and can be pushed easily with just one hand on the
back of the seat.
My $0.02 Bernie

Frank Krygowski wrote:
LJ wrote:

Hello all,

Initially I was considering a road bike. Then I found there was the
touring category, including the Fuji Touring, Trek 520, Jamis Aurora.
It seems they are sturdier and good for riding around town, but
heavier, slower and more sluggish.
I would mainly do fitness runs on pavement; if the bike is OK for errands
in town, it is even better. Do you think a touring bike will serve me
well compared to a purebred road bike?


I think a touring bike is the most versatile bike, for reasons others
have stated. The few pounds extra weight will give you much better
reliability (especially regarding wheels & tires). And fitting fenders
and racks is very valuable unless your bike will be a toy used only on
perfect days. All this is worth the very slight reduction in speed - if
any.

Are there other (touring) models that I should consider? I expect to
spend
$600-700 (the Trek 520 costs more).


Cannondale make some very well-regarded touring bikes. I ride one.

Which one? Just curious. :-)

-km

--
the black rose
proud to be owned by a yorkie
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 16:37:51 GMT, the black rose
wrote:



Cannondale make some very well-regarded touring bikes. I ride one.

Which one? Just curious. :-)

Their T-series.

-Luigi


-km

the black rose wrote:

Frank Krygowski wrote:


Which one? Just curious. :-)

Well, it's an old, old bike. A 1986 Cannondale ST-800. It was their
top of the line touring bike back then. My wife has one, too.

They took us coast to coast last year, I'm proud to say, camping gear
and all. :-)

--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

Thanks.

I think, between a touring and a hybrid bike, I will choose the former.
With the drop bars, I can change riding positions.

-LJ

On 15 Aug 2004 15:34:35 -0700 in rec.bicycles.misc,
(LJ) wrote:

I think, between a touring and a hybrid bike, I will choose the former.
With the drop bars, I can change riding positions.

my touring bike is a mountain bike with scott at-4 "bow tie"
handlebars. lots of riding positions there, and i hardly ever
have to fix flats since i ride with 1.9 inch cross tires. fat
tires make a more comfortable ride, too.

the black rose wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:

LJ wrote:

Are there other (touring) models that I should consider? I expect to
spend
$600-700 (the Trek 520 costs more).

Cannondale make some very well-regarded touring bikes. I ride one.

Which one? Just curious. :-)

The T series which is more along the lines of the Trek 520 in price.
The T-2000 might actually be a little more expensive. They used to
make a T-1000 as well but I think it's now the T-800 (???). Not certain
if it's in your price range or not.

I've seen some Giants and Marin road bikes that seem rugged enough for
light duty touring use (commuting/creditcard touring) and the prices
in your range.

Can't go wrong with a touring bike IMHO. Put some panniers on the back
and load it up with some lights and fenders and you've got your commuter
for all year use. Broad selection of tire sizes and good range of gears.

Thirty-six spoke wheels combined with wider tires make for very few flats.

I've been searching for a better road tire on my "joy bike" to match the
reliability on my tourer/commuter (Trek 520 with Conti Top Touring tires
in 32mm). I've tried IRC, Conti (GP1000 I think) and now Hutchinson Excels.
Friday was my first day with the new tires and I didn't even make one round
trip commute (22 miles) before flatting. Needless to say, the search
continues, but the Hutchinson's sure are snazzy looking.

The tourer just keeps rolling along with rarely a flat, nor barely even a
wobble in the wheels after 10 years!


SMH

"Dan Daniel" wrote in message
...
On 14 Aug 2004 13:10:03 -0700, (LJ) wrote:

Hello all,

Initially I was considering a road bike. Then I found there was the
touring category, including the Fuji Touring, Trek 520, Jamis Aurora.
It seems they are sturdier and good for riding around town, but heavier,
slower and more sluggish.


Heavier- yes, maybe 5-10 pounds? On a 180 pound total setup- rider and
bike- that's a small percent.

5-10 lb??? No way a good touring bike is anywhere near that much heavier.
Touring bikes are only a little different than "racing" bikes, the differences
are subtle and are spread across frame and components. Cantilever brakes and
larger frame clearances allow for wide tires and/or fenders, wheels are
generally sturdier, bottom brackets are lower (easier to dab at stop lights),
angles are slacker wheelbases longer for more stability ( good no-hands, less
high speed shimmy), triple chainrings for wide ratio gearing. You can set up a
touring bike for racing, but not vice versa, ditto for commuting.

Not sure where you live but considering the two Performance bike
stores I've been in (NOVA and LA) you're much better off finding an
LBS. If you are thinking you might move and want the safety of a chain
store REI Novarra brand has a nice touring bike. I also like
Bianchi's- the Axis (which is a cross bike but very nice- I own one)
and Volpe. The Specialized Sequoia has many of the features of an
all-rounder but looks more like a "racing bike" being equipped with
dual pivot brakes and all. All of these bikes are pretty reasonably
priced and easy to find.

(LJ) wrote in message . com...
Thanks. This NG is great, very helpful.

What is the difference between a cyclocross and a touring bike? And
how is a hybrid bike different? As I see it, they are all somewhere
between a road and a mountain bike.

There is a Performance Bike chain store in the area. I suppose they
have better prices and probably carry more brands. Do you think a
chain store, if there is one, will be a better choice than an
independent shop?

Have a great weekend.

-LJ

Dan Daniel wrote:
|| On 14 Aug 2004 20:55:27 -0700, (LJ) wrote:
||
||
|||
||| There is a Performance Bike chain store in the area. I suppose they
||| have better prices and probably carry more brands. Do you think a
||| chain store, if there is one, will be a better choice than an
||| independent shop?
|||
||
|| Depends on the shop itself. I doubt that Performance is large enough
|| of a fanchise/chain to be able to have consistent skill and service
|| levels in all of their stores. And independent shops are all over the
|| place- some are amazing and should be preserved as national treasures
|| and some should be tossed faster than a cartoon of milk.
||
|| Shop for a bike shop!! That is half the battle right there. Keep
|| looking until you find a shop that is willing to work with you. Pick
|| one that you will want to return to again and again... because you
|| will be going back- for bike adjustments, for questions, for clothes,
|| parts, etc.

Those are nice words and stuff, but the practicalities of it seem doubtful
to me. You can ask around, but really finding out how good a LBS is seems
to be a hit-or-miss affair. Also, depending on where you live, your options
could be severely limited.

I say a generally better plan is to become self-sufficient to as great an
extent as possible.