Category: Touring Bicycles

Articles about touring bicycles and their components.

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Touring Bicycles

Steel Bikes And Comfort

Even though I’m a fan of steel bikes, it’s mostly because of the durability of the material. I certainly like the ride quality too, but I think the idea that steel is a more plush or forgiving ride because it flexes or dampens is hogwash. The idea has almost become gospel now just because it’s been repeated so many times.  Don’t get me wrong, I know my steel bike frames flex…. I can hear my fender and/or brake and/or front derailleur rub from time to time if they are a little out of whack and I am pressing hard on the pedals. But that is torsional flex.

It’s the idea of vertical flex of a bicycle frame I have a hard time envisioning.

Scientific diagram

Imagine the arrows to be balancing the downward force of the rider and the bike.

Continue reading “Steel Bikes And Comfort”
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Touring Bicycles

The Touring Bicycle – Update

I’ve decided to insert a post to update my previous posts about touring bicycles. From the previous posts in might appear that the choices for bikes with which one can travel is limited to pretty traditional designs. This is far from the case as evidenced by this journal at crazyguyonabike. A mountain bike with an Xtracycle attachment obviously is a viable way to carry gear for self supported touring.

So, even though I have my opinions and preferences, it is not to say that there are no other good options for touring bikes.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program!

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Touring Bicycles

The Touring Bicycle – Part 2

In part 1 of this series I hinted at some of the differences between a touring bicycle and a bicycle for racing or performance. Now I will get more specific about what to look for in a touring bicycle.
Let’s use our bicycle frame picture for a reference again.

A touring bicycle will have relatively long chain stays…… for a couple of reasons. First, if the bicycle will be loaded with panniers or saddlebags on either side of a rear rack ,longer chain stays will allow the bags to be placed farther aft, reducing the chance that the riders feet will hit the bags when pedaling.

Longer chain stays will move the rear wheel farther back too. This will allow for more clearance between the tire and the frame. (Good for fat tires and fenders!)

Don’t worry too much about a number for the chainstay length. Just look at the bike with wheels and tires mounted and visually determine if there is room between the tires and the frame for fenders. If you just have a frame with no wheels/tires then measure the chainstay length from the center of the bottom bracket to center of the rear dropout. 17 3/4 to 18 inches ( 45 to 46 centimeters) is what you are looking for.No BuenoMui bien

Look at the fork too. Make sure there is enough clearance for fenders.

A touring bicycle will be ridden steadily for hours at a time. There will be no sprinting or  hard echelons. On a comfortable touring bike the top of the handlebars will be within a couple of centimeters, or level with, the top of the saddle. Forget all the mumbo jumbo the bike fitters, who will charge upwards of $200.00 to adjust your saddle and handlebars, spout about performance  and “your game”. Your game is all day comfort.  To achieve this, many of the best touring bike makers will slope the top tube up a few degrees from the junction with the seat tube. Then they will extend the top of the head tube a few centimeters. Voila, the handlebars are up where they belong for comfort, without resorting to some crazy looking extensions.

Of course, in order to carry things on the bike, you will need some sort of rack system. A good touring bike will have tabs brazed onto the frame near the rear dropouts and on the fork dropouts. These tabs have threaded holes for rack and fender attachment. Look for two “braze ons” on the rear dropout (for fenders as well as racks) and one or two on the fork. Look for bolt holes in the mid section of the front fork as well. These are useful for attaching front or “low rider” racks.

Most bike frames have bolts in the down and seat tubes for water bottle cages. Some will have a place for another cage on the bottom of the down tube near the bottom bracket. On a self supported tour, the more ways to carry water the better.

These are just some of the things to consider in a touring bicycle. In future articles we will get into the details about goodies like racks, fenders, tires, etc.

Categories
Touring Bicycles

The Touring Bicycle

This is a topic that will always create controversy. There are as many ideas about what a touring bicycle should be as there are touring bicyclists. Especially when it comes to frame materials. There are many , many articles and opinions about frame materials, and that’s a tar baby with which I’m not willing to wrestle.

Some features, however, undeniably contribute to a bicycle which is suitable for carrying a load and for spending long days in the saddle. For clarity and as a reference, here is a drawing of a bicycle frame with the various parts named.


You will have to imagine the fork, which inserts into the head tube to hold the front wheel.

Where to begin?  Hmmmmm. How about size? OK.
Walk into any bike shop to get sized for a bike and you will hear about stand over height. Stand over height is simply a measurement from the floor to the top of the top tube at a point roughly midway between the seat tube and the head tube of a bicycle with wheels and tires mounted. Obviously, being able to “stand over” the bike is a benefit. That is where the usefulness of this rule of thumb ends. The bike shop sales person will undoubtedly tell you that on a “road bike” you want 2 inches (or something) between your crotch and the top tube.  What if the top tube slopes a little, or a lot? How long is the top tube in relation to the seat tube and resultant stand over height?  It’s more complicated than stand over height.

Most frames will have a designated size. This is usually a measurement from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the top tube measured parallel to the seat tube. Again, this is sort of a meaningless measurement unless the other  tube dimensions are known.

What’s a person to do? Find a bike shop or bike company which specializes in touring bikes. Talk to them and get a feeling for how much traveling they have done by bicycle. See what kind of bikes they stock or sell. Most bike shops do not stock or know touring bicycles and this can be a frustrating search, but don’t give up. Be wary of buying a bike that is too small. In general, a race bike will be smaller than a touring bike for a given person. Be careful not to get  trapped into the truisms about smaller frames being lighter or more responsive or stiffer. What you are worried about is being comfortable! A too small frame can make it difficult to carry panniers without  interfering with the rider’s feet, and may make the loaded bike less stable.

What about weight?
If you watch people in bike shops, you will see most of them pick up the bicycles to see how much they weigh. It’s actually quite entertaining. As a touring cyclist you should be more worried about durability… of the frame, of the components, and of the wheels especially. Not to say  heavier is automatically more durable, but light weight bikes and wheels have no place on a  self supported tour.

In Touring Bicycle (Part 2) I will go into more detail about specific features which should be considered when shopping for a good bicycle for self supported touring .