Touring advice, one bike or two?

Maury Markowitz

On May 25, 8:55*pm, landotter <landot...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Strong as a non-breakaway bike, just a few ounces heavier. Super neat
> engineering.

Done, I'm going for it. I'm going to start checking craigs for a good
starting point. Two more things:

I found riding the '91 Marin steel road bike really tiring on the
rough. Should I consider using a carbon fork? I won't be carrying
front bags, so the lack of braze-ons there doesn't phase me.

And the other question: after smelling my breaks on the Cabot Trail
downhills and hearing horror stories of blown front tires, I'm really
thinking that a disk on the front makes sense. Any reason not to?

Maury

landotter

On May 27, 10:43*am, Maury Markowitz <maury.markow...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> On May 25, 8:55*pm, landotter <landot...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Strong as a non-breakaway bike, just a few ounces heavier. Super neat
> > engineering.
>
> Done, I'm going for it. I'm going to start checking craigs for a good
> starting point. Two more things:
>
> I found riding the '91 Marin steel road bike really tiring on the
> rough. Should I consider using a carbon fork? I won't be carrying
> front bags, so the lack of braze-ons there doesn't phase me.
>

Carbon's fine if you need new fork and they're on sale. Comfort wise,
running a wider tire is what's going to help. A high quality 32mm+
skinwall tire is going to cost you two to five seconds per mile over a
23mm tire, roughly, but be much more easy on your body if you have a
bit less pressure in there. You can run a skinnier tire in back if the
caliper doesn't allow for fatter than, say a 28.

> And the other question: after smelling my breaks on the Cabot Trail
> downhills and hearing horror stories of blown front tires, I'm really
> thinking that a disk on the front makes sense. Any reason not to?

Go for it. Here's a cheap 1" carbon disc cross fork even:
http://tinyurl.com/2j24w2

+ you'll need a disc wheel...

and a cable disc brake like an Avid compatible with road levers:

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/prod...c+Brake+08.aspx

Hank

On May 27, 8:39 am, Maury Markowitz <maury.markow...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On May 25, 9:22 pm, Hank <h...@wirtznet.net> wrote:
>
> > I hope that made any sense at all.
>
> Yes, it's great! A couple of smaller questions then, if I may...
>
> On my road bike I stay in the 53 ring at least 99% of the time, the
> other one's the 42 IIRC. I'm definitely leaning towards a 50 on the
> big end, so do you think that a 50-39-26 would work with the 2203? Or
> maybe a 38 middle if such a thing exists?
>
> On the back end, any old cassette I can find should work, no? I'm
> thinking maybe the long-cage Ultegra 9-speed that they put on my 5000
> by mistake, and replacing it on that bike with the short-cage. I've
> got a 12 to 27 cassette on the 5000, so what would be more suitable
> here, perhaps a 13 to 30? Can you go that high?
>
> Maury

2203 would work, but the Sora Triple 3403 would be better, since
50-39-30 is its native combination. They claim a total capacity of
22t, so a 26 might not work, but probably would. There's usually some
wiggle room.

As for the RD you use, 30 would be pushing it for the Ultegra
RD-6500GS that you have. I got a Tiagra RD-4400GS to work with a 30,
but only by flipping the B-tension screw around, to give the added
extension of the screw's head against the hanger tab. Official maximum
cog size is 27T, but a 28 would work fine. Are you going to index?
There are no off-the-shelf 13-30 9s cassettes. They have to be custom-
made by combining the parts of 2 other cassettes. There's a dead spot
between 12-27 and 11-32, selection-wise, and the 11-32 would require a
MTB RD.

Don't bother with a 38T ring, if you get a crank with a 50-39-30
combo, like the new 105 FC-5603, Tiagra FC-4503 and Sora FC-3403 all
come with. It's not enough of a difference to matter, especially if
you have a granny gear.

Good luck!

Maury Markowitz

Ok, the picture is getting much clearer now.

I visited Urbane and they have a Jamis set up for touring. Low-end
grouppo, but pretty much everything I'm looking for -- drop handles
with STI, standard sized steel tubing that could be cut for break-
down, and a nice head-up geometry. I'll live with the calipers for
now, although I've never been a fan of them. The only real concern was
the front crankset, which was 53-something-30ish. I'd definitely want
to take that down a step, perhaps with the Sugino crank. All this for
$1100, which seems like a steal.

The other option they had was a Richey frameset with built-in
breakdown points. It came with a carbon disk-read front fork, and a
little less wheelbase (which I like). The frame was $1000 though, so
it would likely run me 2k for the full buildout. I'll be trolling
craigs and e-bay and see if anything turns up though.

They also had a couple of the Huffy frames, but he said it would
basically be identical to the Jamis, and only recommended that I go
that way if I wanted to do a complete build-up. Of course at that
point I'd just go with the Richey for a few more bucks, but already
with the breakdown points.

Maury

SMS

Maury Markowitz wrote:
> Ok, the picture is getting much clearer now.
>
> I visited Urbane and they have a Jamis set up for touring. Low-end
> grouppo, but pretty much everything I'm looking for -- drop handles
> with STI, standard sized steel tubing that could be cut for break-
> down, and a nice head-up geometry. I'll live with the calipers for
> now, although I've never been a fan of them. The only real concern was
> the front crankset, which was 53-something-30ish. I'd definitely want
> to take that down a step, perhaps with the Sugino crank. All this for
> $1100, which seems like a steal.
>
> The other option they had was a Richey frameset with built-in
> breakdown points. It came with a carbon disk-read front fork, and a
> little less wheelbase (which I like). The frame was $1000 though, so
> it would likely run me 2k for the full buildout. I'll be trolling
> craigs and e-bay and see if anything turns up though.

Two other options.

The Dahon Tournado uses the Ritchey frame. It's $2000, but think about
how much it'll cost for S&S couplers on a standard steel frame touring
frame (I expect that it's at least $350). See
"http://www.dahon.com/us/tournado.htm".

The Panasonic touring frame breaks down, and is available for $795. See
"http://www.yellowjersey.org/posd7.html" Beautiful lugged frame, and
threaded headset.

Dane Buson

Hank <hank@wirtznet.net> wrote:
>
> And when it comes to touring triples, by far the best choice is the
> Sugino XD600. The 110/74BCD is the most sensible format for touring,
> allowing lows down to 24t and highs up into the 50s. MTB cranks are
> geared too low for most folks' tastes, and the rings are too small to
> work with STI-compatible FDs.

I love the XD600. It's *so* cheap and it also makes a ducky compact
double replacement if you use a shorter BB with it. The 110/74 gives
you a really nice selection of chainrings (unlike 130/96 or some of the
others).

--
Dane Buson - sigdane@unixbigots.org
"Besides, I think [Slackware] sounds better than 'Microsoft,' don't you?"
(By Patrick Volkerding)