Author Topic: New and rather naive...  (Read 6516 times)

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Offline rubyann

New and rather naive...
« on: July 17, 2008, 07:00:44 pm »
So I am a 20 y.o. female from SK, Canada and I recently decided with a good mate to do Saskatoon-San Francisco next August/September.

I think I need as many tips and precautions to take as possible.

Thanks!

Offline Sz20DF

New and rather naive...
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2008, 11:46:27 am »
I'm looking to buy a MTB for touring.  I see in the Cyclist Mag. pictures of MTB used for this reason, but never mention the brands.  I'm not comfortable riding a road bike, so I'm hoping to find a MTB in the $1000 or less range that will work.  Any suggestions?
Thanks,
ed


Offline DaveB

New and rather naive...
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2008, 07:53:21 pm »
Assuming you trip is going to be on roads or or some on multi-use improved trails I would not get a real MTB.  They are purpose-built for real off-road use  and are both heavier and have a lot of rolling resistance from the heavy knobby tires.

If you don't want a true road or drop-bar touring bike, look at "comfort" or hybrid bikes.  They will be lighter and have better rolling tires but will have straight bars and a more upright riding position.  


Offline Sz20DF

New and rather naive...
« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2008, 09:22:17 pm »
Dave,

Thanks for getting back to me with some suggestions.  I know the MTB would be heavy, so today I looked at some Hybrds.  What's your feeling about an all carbon bike?  Marin has the Hwy One which is full carbon, Ultegra, 105, Avid Single Digit 7 brakes,etc., and can handle racks and 32+ size tires. Also, it comes in at 2006 new $1300 sale price.  According to Marin this bike MSRP $2400 and some change.  If you have a chance to reply, I sure would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks,
ed


Offline whittierider

New and rather naive...
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2008, 01:32:36 am »
Carbon is a wonderful frame material, and now that I'm hooked on it, I doubt I'll ever go back to the metals.  I did my research on it before buying my new bike 15,000 miles ago, and found that it does not fatigue like the metals, it's stronger in most ways, it does not degrade in UV and weather, and does not add its own resonances like the metals do (which is what makes it feel so smooth).  It's even fairly inexpensive to repair (although none of the materials are really repairable on the road).  See http://www.calfeedesign.com/howtosendrepair.htm .)

However, I've never seen a carbon-fiber bike with the eyelets to attach racks.  So far for me that's ok because I only want to do credit-card touring carrying only what will fit in the biggest seat bags.  I have a trip coming up in a couple of weeks with just the Jandd Mountain Wedge III bag with 450 cubic inches.  The biggest seat bags have over three times that much room, or nearly a cubic foot, kind of like having a small duffel bag back there.  You can also use a seatpost rack and a handlebar bag if your load is bigger but not full-sized for camping.  For bikes with no eyelets, some rack manufacturers like Tubus make a gizmo that gets clamped in the skewer, outside the dropouts, to effectively give you eyelets, like this:



The picture on the Marin website shows eyelets behind the fork's dropouts, but none at the rear dropouts.

I just realized we kind of hijacked the thread, but I hope this is helpful to the original poster anyway.  rubyann, hopefully you've spent some time on the Adventure Cycling website and others like crazyguyonabike.com .  You'll probably need to ask some specific questions, even if you think yours are kind of dumb.  The answers should be helpful.  How are your plans and preparations coming?

This message was edited by whittierider on 7-24-08 @ 9:35 PM

Offline DaveB

New and rather naive...
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2008, 10:31:05 pm »
The Marin Hwy 1 looks interesting and carbon is light, strong and fatigue resistant but doesn't take abuse well  Scratches that would be of no consequences to a steel or Ti frame can weaken carbon significantly so I'd be a bit cautious for use as a touring bike that's going to have to withstand some beating up.  

As whittierider noted, I don't see any rear rack mounting eyelets on the current (2008) version so be sure mounting a rack is possible.  


Offline Sz20DF

New and rather naive...
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2008, 02:03:19 pm »
First let me apologize for hijacking the tread.  My first attempt to list something.  To thoses who offered suggestions, thank you!  I took a second look at the Marin Hwy One Carbon and I don't think it's what I need.  It's a leftover 06 (I think it's nicer than the 08's) and it only has the front fork dropouts, nothing in the rear.  The bike guy at the Bike Box Store said he could make it work with clamp on's....I think I may go with plan B which is a HyBrid GT Legato 1.0, alum. with a carbon fork.  Ultegra rear, with front and rear rack mounts.  A 07 model with a drive out price of $750 plus TTL from a local Performance Bicycles shop.  The Marin was from Sun & Ski Sports, also local.

Again, thanks for all the good info.

ed

This message was edited by Sz20DF on 7-26-08 @ 10:07 AM