Looking for a touring bike and MORE

[jon_baler]

I’m in the market for a touring bike. This may not be the forum, but was sure this group could help. Things I want:
-Strong and durable (Steel)
-Exceptional Tire Clearance (40mm min, want to use for C&O type ride)
-Long chain stays to avoid heal-pannier interference (wear size 14 shoes)
-Decent price

So the Surly Long Haul Trucker seems to be the perfect fit. And the complete bike they are offering is a steal for the price.
But….would also like to use this bike for a commuter, so I would like it to be SS/fixie compatible. Not to mention C&O touring is great on a single speed (did the 350 mile Pittsburgh to DC route last week on a single speed).

Other options considered:
-Surly Cross Check or Karate Monkey – Probably ruled out due to short chain stays (see above)
-Vintage touring frame with horizontal dropouts. Could work, but doubtful I would find one in my size (I’m 6’4”) and get the tire clearance.
-Custom Frame (such as Mercian King of Mercia or IF independence). Probably out my price range?

So thinking the LHT and then buy a rear wheel with eccentric hub. Or maybe just a tensioner and forget riding fixed. Any other thoughts? (Other models, frame modifications, etc)

Also if anyone has something taking up space in their garage, I’d be interested.

thanks in advance.

[raymo853]

Look at the Bob Jackson frames, nicer & lugged but more money. I am not sure they will be that much nicer than the S-LHT.

What about the Trek 520? Not sure if you want a built up one.

Also Gunnar makes the Rock Tour 29er. I am not 100% sure it has long enough chainstays though.

[drevil]

The Kogswell Porteur/Randonneur (http://www.kogswell.com/products.html) looks interesting, esp. with the front rack. Chainstays are longer than the XCheck's, rackable, fenderable, big-tire-able, and singlespeedable. Cheers (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aalpern/sets/72157594223239775/)!

http://kogswell.com/images/now.jpg

[jon_baler]

The Kogswell Porteur/Randonneur looks interesting, esp. with the front rack. Chainstays are longer than the XCheck's, rackable, fenderable, big-tire-able, and singlespeedable.

That looks really sweet. At 6'4", not sure I buy the 650B tires. Top Tube length seems a little short. Definitely give it a look.

[macdaid]

dey drevil,

uh, mebbe cuz I don't drink coolaid I'll never understand but;

while I appreciate the aesthetics and mechanical simplicity of the SS concept, it looks impractical for a touring bike. multi-speed tranny for hauling a wide load on a grade seems more appropriate...

at least to me, a die hard granny spinner. :D

[markie]

Well if you want a dedicated SS tourer, there is the Rivendell quickbeam...

I can never be bothered messing about with bikes. I personally would choose one drivetrain option. YMMV.

[markie]

dey drevil,

uh, mebbe cuz I don't drink coolaid I'll never understand but;

while I appreciate the aesthetics and mechanical simplicity of the SS concept, it looks impractical for a touring bike. multi-speed tranny for hauling a wide load on a grade seems more appropriate...

at least to me, a die hard granny spinner. :D


Err, not answering for Drevil, but that Kogswell has a derailleur hanger and is (like the cross-check) ready for SS or geared duty.

[jon_baler]

The SS is more for commuting than long distance touring. Though SS works great on mini-tours like C&O, NCR, GAP, which are very flat. If I take it cross country, would go back to gears.

I emailed Kogswell and got a response within 1 hour (very cool). He asked me to send him measurements of my current bike, which I have done.

He also said they hope to have 64cm model with 700c wheels early next year. I'd prefer 700c, since I already own two bikes with that wheel sizes.

That may just be the perfect bike for me.

[redclayrambler]

Looks like you are already leaning towards the Kogswell, but just an FYI,
I have been riding a LHT for about a year now and I have to say it does everything you want very well..................excepct for the single speed thing.
I was also disapointed they went with the vertical dropouts instead of the horizontal (like the Cross check), but besides that, it's been great.
Very smooth, very stable, lot's of tire clearance. I have used it for commuting and did a short loaded tour (two days/one night) on the C&O. Oh yeah it's pretty heavy, but I don't think it's going to break any time soon. :D
Good luck

[eloach]

I’m in the market for a touring bike. This may not be the forum, but was sure this group could help. Things I want:
-Strong and durable (Steel)
-Exceptional Tire Clearance (40mm min, want to use for C&O type ride)
-Long chain stays to avoid heal-pannier interference (wear size 14 shoes)
-Decent price

So the Surly Long Haul Trucker seems to be the perfect fit. And the complete bike they are offering is a steal for the price.
But….would also like to use this bike for a commuter, so I would like it to be SS/fixie compatible. Not to mention C&O touring is great on a single speed (did the 350 mile Pittsburgh to DC route last week on a single speed).

Other options considered:
-Surly Cross Check or Karate Monkey – Probably ruled out due to short chain stays (see above)
-Vintage touring frame with horizontal dropouts. Could work, but doubtful I would find one in my size (I’m 6’4”) and get the tire clearance.
-Custom Frame (such as Mercian King of Mercia or IF independence). Probably out my price range?

So thinking the LHT and then buy a rear wheel with eccentric hub. Or maybe just a tensioner and forget riding fixed. Any other thoughts? (Other models, frame modifications, etc)

Also if anyone has something taking up space in their garage, I’d be interested.

thanks in advance.

What gearing did you run from Pit? I was thinking about making that ride one weekend, only going from DC to Pit. All I have to do is figure out how to get home. I run White Industries 44:16 on my steel, SS commuter with 26" wheels and was thinking about using that.

The Surly LHT is nice, but I might buy the frame and make some adjustments to the setup from the ready to buy model as follows:

Go with a flat bar and skip the bar end shifters.
Put on a better wheel set.

There is nothing quite like being BENT for miles and miles, but that would also depend on how you have the bike setup. I find road bars are fine as long as I am not hauling a large amount of weight. Once I add weight to 40+ pound I hate them. I mean, think about it, with all that weight, do you really need bars designed mostly for road racing?

I have also found that for commuting I make better time on a bike with disc breaks, even though that bike is slower than, for example, my road bike. Sure, the rod bike can kick butt on anything where you can let it rip, but on my commute of 25 miles each way, there just are not that many sections with where you don't have to think "hands on the breaks".

And now, the stupid question - Why not just use the bike you did Pit to DC on?

[jon_baler]

[QUOTE=eloach]....QUOTE]

The first 2.5 days I ran 42:18 with 26er tires (2.0" rated for fast/dry conditions). After we hit the continental divide, I switched 42:16 for the "downhill" portion. I estimate I was carrying about 30-35 lbs of gear.

We rented a SUV one way starting in Ellicott City, MD. Using my corporate discount, it was $156 for the one day rental. Throw in another $25 in gas. We were planning to take amtrak, but the schedule sucked going east to west (arrival at 11:30PM).

I rode with On One Mary Bars. The frame is my old mountain bike: GT Aggressor with Surly 1x1 rigid fork. It's also the bike I have been commuting with. I use an eccentric rear hub for chain tension.

The bike does the job, but I think it would be nice to get something designed for the application. I've rigged it to work, but the short chain stays make less than ideal pannier setup.

Plus I can then convert the old bike back to it's original function as a mountain bike :)

[pirate]

Gotta love the search function! :) I missed this thread the first time.

I've been thinking about getting a bike like the Long Haul Trucker as well. I'm 6'0" tall. Anyone know what size would be good for me?

[escatmore]

I went cross country in the summer of 2000 with a friend. He rode a 520 and cursed the wheels the whole way, he went through 2. It's now a broken 520. Really he pinched the chainstays. It's a poorly put together bike for real touring, wrong gearing and substandard building techniques. My bike is a Bruce Gordon BLT (http://www.bgcycles.com/) it's been across twice by three different riders ( but that's another story ) and can now be seen pulling 70 lbs of fleshy goodness known as the girl (tm) and the boy (tm). You could use it but I'll bet you're too damn big!

eric

[The_Boy]

Earlier this year I was building up a commuter/touring bike with the towpath in mind. I bought a Nashbar touring frame (Gasp! Nashbar?!). Its a really nice frame especially considering the price. However, the bike just felt too long for me. I am 6'2" and got the 58cm frame. So after a couple of rides I knew it wasn't to be and ended up getting the 58cm Nashbar Cyclocross frame. This has more traditional geometry and feels great for me. I still have the touring frame and fork if you are interested. At 6'4" it probably fits you. Here is what it looks like. (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=6000130&subcategory=60001176&brand=&sku=11723&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20Fr ames%2FBikes) I can't find the link to the frame specs though.

[The_Boy]

Found the specs:

http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photos/500/NB-TRAF-NCL-SPECS.jpg