Trek Portland

[NEIL FROM BROOKLINE]

Hi everybody,
I took a 2010 Trek Portland out for a ride tonight. It seems like it has potential for light touring. It has disc brakes & a relatively upright posture for a road bike. I would be concerned about the front fork which is made out of carbon, the relatively short frame (relative to a touring bike) that might lead to heel strikes. I could swap out the fenders at low cost, which seem insufficient. The wheels look flimsy relative to the needs of touring - I would want to swap those out, but I imagine that would be challenging due to the disc brakes. Here is a link to Trek's specifications for the Portland: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/urban/portland/portland/. Does anyone have experience touring with the 2010 Portland? Would you recommend touring with the Portland? Please let me know.
Thanks!
Neil

[whittierider]

I would be concerned about the...fork which is made out of carbon

If the problem is that it doesn't have eyelets for racks and fenders, that's one thing; but you don't need to worry about the strength or durability of carbon.  A carbon fork is stronger than a metal one.  See this topic.  See also this YouTube video comparing deliberate hard impacts with a 16-ounce hammer on a carbon fork versus a steel one.

[rvklassen]

Hi everybody,
I would be concerned about..., the relatively short frame (relative to a touring bike) that might lead to heel strikes. The wheels look flimsy relative to the needs of touring - I would want to swap those out, but I imagine that would be challenging due to the disc brakes. Does anyone have experience touring with the 2010 Portland? Would you recommend touring with the Portland? Please let me know.
Thanks!
Neil

If you are the sort that would be happy with a trailer, the wheelbase will not be an issue, and the wheels might even be fine too.  If you want racks and panniers, look hard at whether the panniers you own (or plan to own) will fit without heel strike.  Even with a touring frame I can get heel strike if my panniers aren't mounted just so (long feet).  It's no fun, and I wouldn't want to have to deal with it on the long haul.

Regarding replacing the wheels, it will not be cheap (better wheels aren't cheap), but hubs designed for disks are not rare, and any wheel builder can use pretty much any hub.

[waynemyer]

That fork is plenty strong; it was originally designed for cyclocross.

The 2011 Trek Portland addresses some of your concerns.  The fork eyelets are moved to the outside now (they were previously on the inside of the fork leg), with both a mid-fork eyelet and lower braze-on.  It also includes a rear rack.  The silly paired-spoke wheels, which were a problematic, botched implementation of Rolf's technology, have now been replaced with a more conventional lacing, albeit still a reduced spoke count.   If I recall correctly, the rear spacing on the Trek Portland is 130mm, which can be tricky to source disc hubs, but far from impossible.

If you wanted a light tourer, why not stay in the light range?  A transverse saddlebag, such as a Carradice, and front bag (with decaleur and small front rack) would get you plenty of capacity, while staying light and eliminating the possibility of heel strike.

[NEIL FROM BROOKLINE]

Hi waynemyer,
Thanks for your good advice,
Best,
Neil