Heavy Duty Tourer - Build Options?

[slowdown]

Hi everybody,

Have loved reading the posts on this forum, and hope you can help me decide my basic bike setup from the things I have in the garage for a strong touring bike!

Frame:
Merlin rock lobster team ti (titanium with disc mounts) 580mm eff. top tube
Genesis altitude titanium frame - 600mm eff. top tube
On one Scandal 29er

Forks:
Salsa cromoto 29er rigid steel fork with disc tabs 468mm c-a
Rockshox reba race 100mm travel

Bike
Tricross sport 2010 (aluminium) - toe overlap and harsh feeling, but good allrounder / commuter
Haro mary xc 29er (steel) - heavy but comfortable with longest chainstay.

A selection of wheels, hubs etc, but I am really trying to decide the best mixture of:
reliability
comfort
weight
Basically, I want my cake and eat it!

I love the ride, weight and low maintenance of Ti, and the Altitude will take 26 or 700c wheels, and is currently the favourite, but would love to hear any views/ advice on my final decision.

I would then sell a lot of unused stuff, leaving me with 3 bikes:
Strong touring bike
Good commuter/ winter bike
Hardtail mountain bike.

Or should I look at a touring specific frame like Thorns, Dawes or many of the other options out there?

Many thanks

 

[andym]

i ride an On-One 456. It works well as a tourer (Or at least, it works for me) although I wouldn't put drop-bars on it. A steel MTB frame seems to me a perfectly viable basis for a 'heavy-duty' tourer - especially if it's a tried-and-trusted brand.

I must admit I wasn't convinced that the features of the Thorn offered any significant advantages. Perhaps a Thorn owner can chance my mind.

I decided against titanium, for an expedition bike on the basis that I might be able to get a steel, or even aluminium frame welded, but I'd have no chance with a titanium frame. But in all honesty I don't know how valid a consideration this is - in the rare event that a frame broke it wiuld probably be easier simply to get a new frame and rebuild the bike.

 

[twowheelsgood]

I don't have experience of this frame myself but it has a very good reputation. I too would go steel.

http://www.surlybikes.com/frames/long_haul_trucker_frame/

 

[psmiffy]

I own a Thorn - but I started touring on a marin steel MTB frame which worked well until it broke (time expired and some corrosion) - needing a new bike to go to NZ I looked around and for me at that time the most obvious choice was the Thorn

It was not really until I started to use it that I discovered the benifits - which were mainly that it was very stiff - very comfortable and extremly reasuring when riding fully loaded - especially fast downhill into hairpins - there is no wobble under braking - similaly on the flat when trying to give it some welly or on rough surfaces it does not feel like the back end is trying to fall off - allied with very strong wheels and steel racks it has served me very well for the last ten years

The most important thing I feel for a heavy duty tourer is the wheelset - my early touring experiences with the Marin were littered with a series of broken rear wheels (serial broken spokes and rims cracking) and some broken front wheels as I strived to find the right wheelset - The Thorn I use has Sun Rhynos and I have never broken a spoke - nor have the wheels gone out of true

I know nothing about the frames that you have outlined apart from a quick google but it would seem to me while they all could be used for touring - the combination of the relatively flexible frame and the geometry would not lend themselves to "heavy duty" touring.

 

[jack the lad]

Assuming that you might go somewhere that it rains occasionally and that you will want to carry more than a credit card and toothbrush - Which can you fit mudguards and a rack to?

Does that narrow down your options?

 

[andym]

You can fit a mudguard, in some form, to just about any bike.

As far as wheels are concerned one issue is hubs and whether to go sealed cartridge bearing or loose bearing:

- decent sealed bearings could and should go on an on and on, with very little maintenance (in fact generally the only maintenance you can do is apply an extra bit of grease) but if they do fail you'd need to get a bike shop to replace them;

- loose bearings are higher maintenance in that you do need to clean and regrease them every so often. But the job is fairly straightforward, and if things went wrong are relatively easy to replace.

Don't ask me which is 'better' - I currently have a Hope XC on the front and Shimano XTR on the back.

I agree about the importance of good wheels - especially on the back. On my rear wheel I have Rigida Sputniks, which are very tough but also heavy. (On the front I have a bog-standard 32-spoke wheel with (IIRC) Mavic 713s (???).

Oh and as for forks, I went down the route of buying some old (2003-ish) Marzocchi Bombers and refurbishing them. The reason for this is that the old Marzocchi forks use oil and springs rather than air pressure to provide the suspension and therefore can run for a lot longer without servicing (my Fox forks are supposed to be serviced every 50 hours of riding!), and because they are not reliant on air-pressure there is less risk of complete failure. However, I must admit that I am not convinced that i wouldn't be better off simply going with a pair of steel rigid forks and relying on big fat tyres to absorb any (minor) bumps.

EDIT: it might be useful to explain what you want from 'a strong touring bike' I've interpreted that to mean touring off-road on rought roads, but others may interpret it differently.

 

[slowdown]

Many thanks for all your interesting replies.

Andym - that was also a consideration! Drops on the shorter Rock Lobster or flats on the others for a more upright position over a longer period.I too am not sure if the frame split, if it would not be easier just getting it replaced, rather than repaired whilst not knowing the quality of work.

2wheels - it's a nice bike but I am really first trying to establish if I have - with all my parts - an excellent tourer..I am slowly running out of space!

psmiffy - yes the Thorn Nomad mk2 looks great, also with disc mounts which I like the idea of and would probably be the safest and most logical choice - but it is Rohloff specific and am not sure if the cost of that build would get out of control - but no doubt a fantastic bike for it's intended use and not off of the list! Re. the wheels, I agree and would go heavy duty Rigida or similar - there the only dilemna is 26 or 'clown' wheels - both seem to have merits and drawbacks.

JTL -I realise that on a mtb frame, a full mudguard is a problem, but Andy at Thorn was also recognizing that for big trips and trekking tyres (2.25) he would remove the guards and use an Ortlieb dry bag fitted along the length of the carrier...I am not sure what the best solution for that would be but he obviously has huge experience and knowledge.

 

[slowdown]

Andym - I was thinking xt or lx hubs front and rear, apparantl very realiable, not too heavy or overpriced ( I think the term is good value, not cheap)! or hope pro 2 although the noise drives me mad. Of course with the Rohloff option, that wouldn't be relevant as it's the rear which is the culprit..

I think I prefer the idea of rigid steel and thicker tyres to soften the ride - it just seems simpler and by all accounts, with the 700 wheels better again.