Budget hybrid to tourer

[Chief Broom]

Hi folks, ive recently sold a gifted e-bike so have £900 to spend on making my good old Dawes 201 into a light tourer First up is of course a nice pair of Ortlieb panniers and a handlebar bag. The 201 has steel forks but no mounting points for front panniers and wondered if i could buy replacement touring forks? Do i need stronger wheels with more spokes? I think the ones i have are 32 spoke
I did wonder how much weight a bike like this could carry as i wouldnt want it folding up like a coat hanger! I dont intend crossing the Gobi...just tootling around the highland roads with a light tent etc

 

[All uphill]

Looks like a good project.

A few thing come to mind:

You might want to ensure the wheels are true and spoke tensions are even. This will give them the best chance of surviving touring.

You could replace the fork, but might a bar bag give you enough capacity to get started?

The biggest limitation I can see is the gearing. With relatively few gears you'll struggle to get the range you need for loaded touring.

Try a short tour - you'll soon find out what works for you. Happy Cycling.

 

[Chief Broom]

Looks like a good project.

A few thing come to mind:

You might want to ensure the wheels are true and spoke tensions are even. This will give them the best chance of surviving touring.

You could replace the fork, but might a bar bag give you enough capacity to get started?

The biggest limitation I can see is the gearing. With relatively few gears you'll struggle to get the range you need for loaded touring.

Try a short tour - you'll soon find out what works for you. Happy Cycling.

Thanks All uphill, you could be right about only needing a bar bag-will see how it goes. I did convert the bike from 8 speed to 10 and have been doing a lot of hill work recently

 

[raleighnut]

I did it years ago with my Ridgeback (Tange CrMo frame) but I did spec a 36 spoke '4 cross pattern' rear wheel and to give it reliability a 3x7 drivetrain, this gives it quite a spread of gearing with a 30-28 bottom gear and a 52-13 top.

 

[wafter]

Not that I want to piss in your cornflakes, but have you considered instead putting the money towards buying a used tourer? Prices are on the floor currently and you could potentially end up with something that's more fit for purpose for similar cost to that of replacing much of your existing bike..

 

[Chief Broom]

Not that I want to piss in your cornflakes, but have you considered instead putting the money towards buying a used tourer? Prices are on the floor currently and you could potentially end up with something that's more fit for purpose for similar cost to that of replacing much of your existing bike..

Thanks wafter i would look into that option but much prefer a 1 X drive train which severely limits my choices.... I only know of one 1 x tourer and its heavy old beast. One day i will buy a Thorn with rohloff but for now i'll stick to the Dawes.

 

[T4tomo]

Thanks wafter i would look into that option but much prefer a 1 X drive train which severely limits my choices.... I only know of one 1 x tourer and its heavy old beast. One day i will buy a Thorn with rohloff but for now i'll stick to the Dawes.

If your going to carry much weight I'd be looking at lower gears that a 42 11-32T set up. an altus RD has a theoretical max 34T rear sprocket, you might get a 36T on there with some B screw twiddling. I'd be switching that 42 chainring for something smaller

I'd probably look at frame bags & bar bags vs spending a lot on new forks

 

[roubaixtuesday]

For camping and Highland roads IMO you need *much* lower gears.

Like about 2x lower than what you have!

Would second the suggestion to buy second hand eg

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15682162...276&gbraid=0AAAAADA7Q_KKTS9aVrcjzwGIeiD8d1WoW