touring on a trad touring bike?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
reohn2
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Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by reohn2 »

pwa wrote:I use bar end shifters. If you tap them with your knees, did you cut a bit off the end of the bars to allow for the extra length of the levers? If not, do that. Most drop bars have an overly long bottom section with a few cm that your hands never use. Carefully saw it off to make the gear lever occupy the area where the end of the bar used to be. It works for me.

We're back to preference.
There may be a section of unused drop/hook of h/bar for you,but others may use it all.
I use every bit of drop part of my compacts,(forgetting the RVM FTM)I could cut some off to compensate for the b/end boss,but it'd be no more than 25mm,the pointy bits of the levers are a hazard where knees are concerned YVMV:-

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pwa
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by pwa »

reohn2 wrote:
pwa wrote:I use bar end shifters. If you tap them with your knees, did you cut a bit off the end of the bars to allow for the extra length of the levers? If not, do that. Most drop bars have an overly long bottom section with a few cm that your hands never use. Carefully saw it off to make the gear lever occupy the area where the end of the bar used to be. It works for me.

We're back to preference.
There may be a section of unused drop/hook of h/bar for you,but others may use it all.
I use every bit of drop part of my compacts,(forgetting the RVM FTM)I could cut some off to compensate for the b/end boss,but it'd be no more than 25mm,the pointy bits of the levers are a hazard where knees are concerned YVMV:-

Image


It certainly is personal preference, but to that 25mm bar section that you would be content to cut off you could add maybe another 10mm or more because the bar end levers include the bit that the lever pivots on, which acts like a part of the bar for the hand to rest on. So in total you could lose 35mm, which may be what it takes to give some people the room their knees require. I can't remember how much I cut off my bars (on 2 bikes) to get the levers where I want them, but I never touch the levers with my knees and I have relatively long femurs to accommodate. And I don't have a long stem as I don't like to be too stretched out. I'm not interested in selling bar end levers to anybody who does not want them: I just want to suggest this solution to anyone who is using these levers and taps them with their knees.
reohn2
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by reohn2 »

pwa wrote:It certainly is personal preference, but to that 25mm bar section that you would be content to cut off you could add maybe another 10mm or more because the bar end levers include the bit that the lever pivots on, which acts like a part of the bar for the hand to rest on. So in total you could lose 35mm, which may be what it takes to give some people the room their knees require. I can't remember how much I cut off my bars (on 2 bikes) to get the levers where I want them, but I never touch the levers with my knees and I have relatively long femurs to accommodate. And I don't have a long stem as I don't like to be too stretched out. I'm not interested in selling bar end levers to anybody who does not want them: I just want to suggest this solution to anyone who is using these levers and taps them with their knees.


I've just been out to the workshop and measured some Shimano B/end levers(I keep a pair as spares when touring,should I have a problem with the STI's on the tandems)the boss measures 30mm,but I don't think I'd ride with the heel of my hand up to the end.
So I think 25mm cut off the end of the 'bars would be a maximum,with the lever inline with h/bar end there's another 40mm stuck out rearward in the firing line for a Patella :shock: .
I do understand that some folks like their B/end levers,I've tried them and didn't like their potential for disaster.
Hence the Kelly's,which are far more ergonomic as I can use them from tops,hoods or drops,and being inboard of the brake levers are out of harms way.
And I can fit my RVM in the bar end :)
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kylecycler
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by kylecycler »

mercalia wrote:
kylecycler wrote:
khain wrote:Thorn cycles also recommend 26" wheels for loaded touring. You need pretty heavy 700c wheels for off-road cycle camping, unless you're a very light rider.

....
This blog post by 'bretonbikes', a member of this forum, tends to confirm that
....
http://www.bretonbikes.com/homepage/cyc ... 700c-vs-26

That blog post really was an eye-opener. Downside is, a large frame with 26-inch wheels looks awful, although you can't see a bike from the saddle.....


depends on what you are used to - but these days most frames are compact ones ( even my 1999 Dawes 1-Down ).
Putting large tyres on ( 1.75 and above ) also helps. Skinny tyres another matter

I'll take back everything I meant about the aesthetics of 26-inch wheels - notwithstanding the practicalities, if someone doesn't like this, visually at least, there's something wrong with them, IMHO - I've never seen a bicycle that looks so 'right'...

ff-496-studio-1_24600611286_o (Large).jpg

http://theradavist.com/2016/01/firefly-for-jan-heine/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fireflybi ... 3986789435
Bicycler
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by Bicycler »

Oh well, you've just confirmed what I've always known; there's something wrong with me! :lol:

Each to his own.
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kylecycler
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by kylecycler »

Bicycler wrote:Oh well, you've just confirmed what I've always known; there's something wrong with me! :lol:

Each to his own.

Yeah, well, it's a personal thing - I suppose it depends how you define 'right' and 'wrong'! Each to his own, right enough. :)
nez
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by nez »

To my eye the chain stays look short. Do we think the rack is on the front because the riders heels would catch?
ifso its a bit eccentric as a touring bike.

Sorry I had to edit as I posted before I meant to
Last edited by nez on 29 Jan 2016, 12:43am, edited 1 time in total.
PH
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by PH »

kylecycler wrote:[
I'll take back everything I meant about the aesthetics of 26-inch wheels - notwithstanding the practicalities, if someone doesn't like this, visually at least, there's something wrong with them, IMHO - I've never seen a bicycle that looks so 'right'...

I think you're blinded by the bling. no rear rack, no mudguards, bars to low for touring, no triple and tyres that aren't going to last. Horses for courses, for my touring that'd be a nag :wink:
bretonbikes
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by bretonbikes »

I think it very much depends on personal taste of course, but taste is also something we develop (I didn't use to like olives or red wine;-) - something that looks odd at first soon becomes the norm is we see it enough. Our fleet is 26" throughout and they, and other 26" bikes look normal to me now, and in the case of some absolutely gorgeous. The Ridgeback Expedition is a handsome bike for example. But yes tyres of 1.5" look better than anything skinny (but again - that's what I'm used to;-) But there's something very purposeful about the look of a 26" tourer all ready to set off.
38 years of cycletouring, 33 years of running cycling holidays, 8 years of running a campsite for cyclists - there's a pattern here...
pwa
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by pwa »

kylecycler wrote:
Bicycler wrote:Oh well, you've just confirmed what I've always known; there's something wrong with me! :lol:

Each to his own.

Yeah, well, it's a personal thing - I suppose it depends how you define 'right' and 'wrong'! Each to his own, right enough. :)


Pale sidewalls on tyres are about as cool as beige socks. And after the first couple of rides they never look clean again.
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bigjim
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by bigjim »

Pale sidewalls on tyres are about as cool as beige socks.

Whats wrong with beige socks? :)
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Si
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by Si »

I think it looks OK, but the fork makes me thing "uncomfortable" although in reality I'm sure that it is fine.
pwa
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by pwa »

It makes me think of a Monty Python type character standing naked except for a pair of great big wellies. A skinny looking bike with huge tyres. It just looks odd to me. Purely an aesthetic objection, of course.
Bmblbzzz
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by Bmblbzzz »

It looks ok to me, partly because of the contrast between the skinny, shiny tubing and the fat, amberwall tyres. In terms of practicality it certainly needs mudguards for a Northern European climate but apart from that, hard to say from just a photo. Would you call it a touring bike? The rack indicates a touring intention but, just as the tyres contrast with the frame and bars, so there seems a larger split of purpose between laid-back touring (rack, fat tyres) and something faster, what we'd nowadays call a gravel bike (low bars, lack of mudguards and maybe the decision to put all the weight upfront). Considering it from that point of view, I don't think the chainstays are short at all; and it could be a fun and versatile machine. Or it could be a bit of a flop, jack of all trades, not truly bad at anything but not quite good enough to stop you feeling that something different might be more appropriate at that particular point.
pwa
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Re: touring on a trad touring bike?

Post by pwa »

I never buy a bike I can't fit a rear rack to, with four fixing points. So for me, that bike is not a tourer. I'm not sure what it is. If it were in my garage my main concern would be how to describe it on ebay.
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