Need touring bike guidance

liong71er

Well-Known Member
i got not much to Add,,peeps already give excellent input.

however,if you rode solely on Roads then either flat or drop bar is fine,,but if you like hitting lots of Singletrack or Off-road your best bet is Flatbar ..easy for climbing and Fun going downhill

As for my bikes,i preferred Monster Truck DropBar on Surly KTMonkey with 2.5inch Tires
this beast goes anywhere and any terrain,BomProof Mean Machine🤣

Goodluck with your Trip,

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Dean S

Active Member
I wouldn't discount those 20-30 year old bikes :D

That is the route I would go but it would be a bit of a project. I can find $300-$400 candidates all over. Something steel with fine tubing and some eyelets. If its a freewheel, spread the rear end for a new used cassette wheel. 8 or 9 speed shifting if your really thrifty. Convert to drops or your preferred bars. Big bucks would be reserved for nice tires and steel racks front and rear from Tubus, Nitto, Velo Orange. I like panniers but I prefer a wald basket lashed to a front rack and a big stuff sack on the rear. A fun mission! good luck!
 

The Kalmyk

Well-Known Member
Convert to drops or your preferred bars.

Love that look on older mtbs. I did a few of those awhile back and ended up selling on Craigslist. Through trial and error i learned going down a frame size was my sweet spot.

As it goes for me, straight or drop bars, no difference so long as the bikes stability is not over compromised when loaded.


@Bisquick if you can find a bike with a low trail geometry, that would be ideal for front loading.
 
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Bisquick

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't discount those 20-30 year old bikes :D

That is the route I would go but it would be a bit of a project. I can find $300-$400 candidates all over. Something steel with fine tubing and some eyelets. If its a freewheel, spread the rear end for a new used cassette wheel. 8 or 9 speed shifting if your really thrifty. Convert to drops or your preferred bars. Big bucks would be reserved for nice tires and steel racks front and rear from Tubus, Nitto, Velo Orange. I like panniers but I prefer a wald basket lashed to a front rack and a big stuff sack on the rear. A fun mission! good luck!
Love that look on older mtbs. I did a few of those awhile back and ended up selling on Craigslist. Through trial and error i learned going down a frame size was my sweet spot.

As it goes for me, straight or drop bars, no difference so long as the bikes stability is not over compromised when loaded.


@Bisquick if you can find a bike with a low trail geometry, that would be ideal for front loading.


Assuming I can get this for a decent price ($50-80), and it fits...
It is a mid 90's Diamondback Ascent EX with a steel frame, owner says it still shifts.

Can possibly put a wider rear hub on and update the drivetrain, or maybe just new cables.

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soundz

The Hat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Assuming I can get this for a decent price ($50-80), and it fits...
It is a mid 90's Diamondback Ascent EX with a steel frame, owner says it still shifts.

Can possibly put a wider rear hub on and update the drivetrain, or maybe just new cables.

View attachment 177835
Sure, why not. Agree with @The Kalmyk on the drive train. Also if you are going in this direction, you might want to look for something that has eyelets. I think older steel bikes tended to come with them?

I see a few things that would be priority: saddle and cockpit. You'll probably want a quill stem adapter so you can get a more modern handle bar on it that you can hang bags off and have more options on stem length.

Spend your money on bags and/or racks.
 

Dean S

Active Member
Love that look on older mtbs. I did a few of those awhile back and ended up selling on Craigslist. Through trial and error i learned going down a frame size was my sweet spot.

As it goes for me, straight or drop bars, no difference so long as the bikes stability is not over compromised when loaded.


@Bisquick if you can find a bike with a low trail geometry, that would be ideal for front loading.
Old Raleigh Grand Prix's, Fuji S-10, S-12 can be low trail. Everywhere on craigslist. They ride great. Can fit fat 700c with their stock centerpull brakes. Eyelets at both dropouts. Easy to do this carefully under $1k but will take some significant time to sort out.
 

Dean S

Active Member
Assuming I can get this for a decent price ($50-80), and it fits...
It is a mid 90's Diamondback Ascent EX with a steel frame, owner says it still shifts.

Can possibly put a wider rear hub on and update the drivetrain, or maybe just new cables.

View attachment 177835
Measure first,but I think those lower fork and mid fork eyelets would be perfect for low rider racks like a Tubus Tara.
Not sure what is happening on the rear.
Ideally racks should be steel and mounted without adapters, spacers or p-clamps. Wobbly racks suck!
 

Bisquick

Well-Known Member
Leave drive train unless thrashed. how tall r u?
5' 8"
Sure, why not. Agree with @The Kalmyk on the drive train. Also if you are going in this direction, you might want to look for something that has eyelets. I think older steel bikes tended to come with them?
Measure first,but I think those lower fork and mid fork eyelets would be perfect for low rider racks like a Tubus Tara.
Not sure what is happening on the rear.
Ideally racks should be steel and mounted without adapters, spacers or p-clamps. Wobbly racks suck!
I think I can see one on top of the dropouts and one on the seat stay. I know the image isnt great. I'm going to look at it in a few hours.
 

The Kalmyk

Well-Known Member
I have some stuff but mostly large. I have an old specialized that may be a medium. I will check when i get home.

Another option is to attend a swap...


 

Bisquick

Well-Known Member
Well am now a semi proud owner of a old Diamondback. Rides very nice, shifts well, and appears to have been very well maintained. It has braze-ons for racks. It also has a 17" seat tube, with 30" of standover. I don't feel like the bars are too close, my feet don't rub the tire, and I don't worry about my knees hitting the bars. This all being said, it still feels kind of small, especially compared to my Reign.

This normal? Will I adjust with some seat time?
 

Ian F

Well-Known Member
My hunch is it will always feel a bit small after getting off a modern bike, but it'll feel more "normal" once you have it set up for the intended purpose. Resist the urge to put a really short stem on it - since it wasn't really designed for one and it'll just make the bike feel shorter. After awhile you'll automatically adjust.
 

soundz

The Hat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Well am now a semi proud owner of a old Diamondback. Rides very nice, shifts well, and appears to have been very well maintained. It has braze-ons for racks. It also has a 17" seat tube, with 30" of standover. I don't feel like the bars are too close, my feet don't rub the tire, and I don't worry about my knees hitting the bars. This all being said, it still feels kind of small, especially compared to my Reign.

This normal? Will I adjust with some seat time?
Yeah that's pretty normal. I feel the same when I get on my 29er rigid from my 130-140mm trail bike. But then I could also make the argument the trail bike feels big, vs the rigid feeling small. The rigid is a custom made with all of my limb lengths in mind. In general, I feel like I have more control and oneness with the bike feeling like this.

I suspect a L from that era will not give you enough standover. I have a L mongoose iboc that I can't stand over and feels too big to ride. I'm 5'8".

If it feels cramped, try playing around with different stems and hanldebars.

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knobbyhead

Next off the Island.
I put a set of wider bars on my vintage rockhopper and it really made a big difference. The wider bars opened up my chest.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Agree hardtail is the way to go, I couldn't imagine trying to ride a bike with a blown seal in either the front or back, while in the middle of nowhere. I'm about your height and a 17" frame works great with flared drop bars, moustache, butterfly, etc. Play around with the stem and seatpost setbacks to get the right position. Is the DB frame disc or canti/v brakes? I believe Liong still has a monster cross bike from an old Titus Ti frame setup that way.
 
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