Cycling in Sydney Australia
Tourers, Randonneurs - Rate your ride!
Calling all owners of touring bikes!!
One of my goals this month is a bit of a bicycle consolidation. My needs have changed and my fleet hasn't, so I'm looking at how I can best meet these new needs.
I've been commuting on a Trek hybrid for two years, and it's served me very well for that. Recently I've had a crack at longer, touring-style riding, and it's something I'd like to do a lot more of. I rode the Trek to Melbourne, and whilst we made it without a hitch, I was comfortable for about 20 minutes of those 7 days! It's a great bike, just really not designed for that type of riding. So I'm thinking, whilst a commuter bike can't really tour, a touring bike can certainly commute.
I've had a bit of a look online, and now I'd really like to hear your thoughts. If you own a bike for touring, let's hear about it. Don't be shy, tell me the good and the bad. The more info, the better!
Thanks!
One of my goals this month is a bit of a bicycle consolidation. My needs have changed and my fleet hasn't, so I'm looking at how I can best meet these new needs.
I've been commuting on a Trek hybrid for two years, and it's served me very well for that. Recently I've had a crack at longer, touring-style riding, and it's something I'd like to do a lot more of. I rode the Trek to Melbourne, and whilst we made it without a hitch, I was comfortable for about 20 minutes of those 7 days! It's a great bike, just really not designed for that type of riding. So I'm thinking, whilst a commuter bike can't really tour, a touring bike can certainly commute.
I've had a bit of a look online, and now I'd really like to hear your thoughts. If you own a bike for touring, let's hear about it. Don't be shy, tell me the good and the bad. The more info, the better!
Thanks!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by David Taylor on -
I just recently bought a Surly Long Haul Trucker 50cm with 26" wheels and on the weekend shook the dust off it with a 200km Audax ride, up until then I had just been using it as a commuter very happily.
The LHT is certainly a great bike for touring, I got the stock full build from Surly and the seat definitely needs to be replaced for touring, something more lounge like me thinks. The breaks are ok but they could do with being replaced as well, the stopping power isn't what I'd like it to be.
It terms of ride quality though it's great and carries load very well, the 26" wheels have a lot more RR than I am used to on the road bike but this is partly due to load. The price is pretty hard to beat though at just over $1800 ready to roll (no racks).
The whole bike is basically built for touring, has lots of brazons for racks, guards etc.
I'd be happy to show you over it though it might be a bit small for you :)
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Permalink Reply by Neil Alexander on -
DT, was that you getting off the train at Waitara? If so, I was the cyclist getting out of the carriage in front of you.
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Permalink Reply by David Taylor on
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lol indeed it was , a kitted LHT was definitely not the right bike for the day :) I only got in at 10 to 7pm. Having said that some of those roads on a road bike wouldn't have been much fun.
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Permalink Reply by Neil Alexander on
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Carbon fibre, no racks, no panniers, was fun, light and smmoooth az, bro, at least as far as Wisemans where I bailed out and went home along Old Northern Rd. Still covered 170, a record for me since Jan '08.
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Permalink Reply by David Taylor on
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Yar wiseman's ferry , it was an Audax event http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/The-Ferry-Long-Way-Round great fun in that masochistic way :)
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Permalink Reply by brodes on -
Dave, might I ask where you purchased it from and if it was a 2009 or 2010 model? Is the price the same across all frame sizes? I've been surfing classifieds and ebay for a standard LHT for a while now without success, so if new ones are in the $1800 region I might go that route. Different bike shops seem to be quoting different RRPs for the LHT, so it's a little confusing.
I'm in a similar situation to Kylie, I love the idea of longer trips but my commuter just isn't up to the job.
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Permalink Reply by David Taylor on
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I got mine from Cranks North Sydney (http://www.cranksbikes.com.au/) with racks and panniers the price was closer to $2500, The best place I found to get those was http://www.bikebagshop.com/tubus-racks-c-25.html
Also there is a very active google group for the LHT http://groups.google.com/group/SurlyLHT they have put together a spreadsheet of riders sizes and bike dimensions with different fitouts and their opinion, I'd suggest consulting that before you decide on a size.
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Permalink Reply by Dabba on -
Mine is a Trek 520 and I've done nearly 70,000kms on it, although the only thing that is original, apart from moi, is the frame and fork. I bought it in 1994 and had it resprayed a couple of years ago to stop the rust from where it had the paint damaged over the years. I believe that they cost around $2,500 now. The picture below is now a few years old, but it is roughly what it looks like when doing its job.
The gearing of it is such that the 48-36-24T chainrings offer a wide enough gearing with the 11-34T cassette to get up most hills, and still provide enough opportunities when circumstances allow faster travelling. I think that the gearing on the new models is not as good as this. The chainring setup is non standard, but I find that having the 24T just makes it a little easier with a full load and the hills that I seem to travel over. I seem to recall having seen the latest gearing as being 52-39-30T, which I consider to be ridiculous for a touring bike.
I put V-brakes on it so that I could stop with a full load on board. I would consider cable activated disks for a future bike, just to save having to stop on long/steep descents to allow the rims to cool from the continual braking. It's not a critical issue, but it would make the bike a better all rounder.
I do not use nobbly tyres on my bike, even when touring over gravel - about 10% of each of my tours covers gravel roads. Generally I use Continental 700 x 32 Contact tyre.
I replaced the Trek rear rack with a Tioga because it was shaped in a way that kept the rear of the panniers away from the rear wheel. Blackburn low rider front rack works well for me, and I use an Arkel handlebar bag for maps, odds and sods that are light and need to accessed while on the road.
I put a woman's saddle on the bike (does my arse look big on this bike? Don't know and don't care!). I figured that the extra width would be good for the long days in the saddle, and it is. I never end the day with a sore bum regardless of the kilometres or hours in the saddle.
I have 2 sets of 700 wheels - one for touring (Velocity Dyad) and Velocity Razor for riding around everywhere else. The originals cracked on the walls after 20-30,000k's. These have both been good 36 spoke wheelsets. The hubs in particular seem to roll very freely, and I often freewheel past those on their flash bikes when going downhill. They are Deore Parallax, and I usually service/get them serviced every 2-3,000kms. I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere and have the bearings kark it. My LBS suggested a set of hubs with sealed bearings, but I shied away from that. I thought that if I needed to get new bearings out in Whoop Whoop, that I would be likely to get ordinary bearings more easily than sealed bearings, but I don't know just how right I am there.
I originally bought the bike for commuting and social riding. It does that very well, but it really excels when you load it up with touring gear. It is as solid as a rock and very stable in handling.
The bike really excels in rolling terrain where you can stay in big ring. It just scoots away from my touring companions then. The hills bring it back to the pack, but the MTB style gearing keeps it just ahead of them.
Would I buy another? Yep, but I would want the gearing, racks and tyres to suit my requirements. Good luck with your decision.
BTW, I've had a Trek T100 tandem, this Trek 520 tourer and a carbon fibre Trek Pilot 5.2 and I've been pleased with all of them.
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Permalink Reply by Dabba on
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Bare bike weight with touring wheels and all racks is about 13kgs - something that you might need to consider if going bike flying.
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Permalink Reply by Bob Moore on -
The latest 520 has 48/36/26 front rings, 11 to 32 on the rear. The 52/42/30 ? on the previous models was pretty tall but useful downhill. I put a 26 on at time of purchase and it works ok, and changed later to a 34 mega range rear sprocket. The Vivente sure has some extras thrown in, like the lumotech lighting. I see King St cyclery has one left on its website- dont know how up to date it is- for $1799. Who else sells them?
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Permalink Reply by Paul on -
That is the same front rings as my 7.5FX. I looked at the specs on the link, and the Crankset listed for the 520 is actually a typo. Checked the official website and it appears the crank is an FC-M543-K 2-Piece Crank that uses external bottom bracket cups. The one on my 7.5FX is an FC-M443 which uses an internal cartridge bottom bracket.
I run the 7.5FX with a 12-27 on the back (it originally had 11-26). I rarely use the small ring on my daily commute, but it has come in very useful when faced with nasty hills on unfamilar routes!
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