The ultimate touring bike?

[mjr]

The front mech is very definitely discontinued (9 speed)

Ok. I know what you mean (chain width) but is anyone else picturing a bike with 9 chainrings now?

 

[Ian H]

Drop-bars for me, but I'm very particular about the shape. Derailleurs allow me to choose the gears I want. I want braze-ons for mudguards, racks, 3 bottle-cages. And a well-designed, well-made frame.

 

[MichaelW2]

Shimano dynohubs are a bitch to service the bearings. Not tour rated for back of beyond travel.
The very high end groupsets have too much lightness added during manufacture. Upper-midrange has always been the optimum although Shimano lower range bits are totally good enough for anything.

 

[Blue Hills]

Shimano dynohubs are a bitch to service the bearings.

As I understand it there are NO dynohubs which allow you to service the bearings.
I agree it is a pig.
I tend to think you'd be OK with a Shimano as long as you weren't off on a mega mega trip.

 

[mjr]

As I understand it there are NO dynohubs which allow you to service the bearings.

SJS sell new bearings for the SA X-FDD but I understand fitting the right (HSS036 - the left is 035) is a pig involving re soldering the connector plug.

But they last years so fine for most touring.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Just on the dynohub thing...
I hummed and hawed over upgrading my Shimano dynohub to a SON. In the end I did it as part of a wheel upgrade and I'm very, very glad that I did.
Having relatively recently wrecked the SON by falling into a drain, I received a completely new hub, gratis, from SON.
I can't recommend them highly enough. Yes, more expensive, but worth it for the service if and when needed.

 

[Pale Rider]

Having relatively recently wrecked the SON by falling into a drain

Wasn't it SON that had lots of problems with water ingress?

Yes, they replaced it, but it would have been better if they made the sodding thing properly water resistant in the first place.

 

[Blue Hills]

Wasn't it SON that had lots of problems with water ingress?

Yes, they replaced it, but it would have been better if they made the sodding thing properly water resistant in the first place.

As someone who rather late in his cycling gear got down to servicing wheel bearings (not actually difficult) I am wary of paying a lot (ie for a SON) for a hub I can't service myself. And can't even get serviced in this country. I understand that to get it serviced at all you have to take the hub out of the wheel. THAT is serious faff - and expense. Postage, servicing charge, getting it built back into a wheel.
spose life/the decision would be simpler if I was german living in germany but I wasn't born so lucky.

 

[Vantage]

SP have the same servicing practice, the hub needs to be sent back to them. They use cartridge bearings and there are one or two reports of folk doing it themselves but it's not a job I personally feel up to chancing.
Shimano I think as Brucey discovered are pretty much a use till they die then replace entirely product.
Come to think of it, I don't know of a single dyno hub that can actually be user serviced. Ridiculous really.

 

[Blue Hills]

Come to think of it, I don't know of a single dyno hub that can actually be user serviced. Ridiculous really.

Yes it is - part of me is waiting for this to be sorted - one would think it would have been by now - if anyone would sort it one would expect it to be the germans with their widespread use of dynohubs and large internal market . I don't like cartridge bearings but if someone would come up with a user-servicable dynohub which did demand them I would still bite.

My musings are I admit from a position of technical ignorance about any complications to do with letting joe public anywhere near the electronic gubbins.
(doing some trip rides at the mo with Decathlon's £30 shimano dyno wheel - my needs are less demanding as the dynowheel is only used on trips - a standard Deore hub in a sputnik wheel goes in the rest of the time)

edit - re your reference to the esteemed brucey, I seem to recall/have the impression that he seems to kind of come out on the side of shimano, essentially because you can have a fair few for the price of a SON. Since he's an engineer, with a natural tendency to service stuff and keep it running, his coming out on that side of the debate carries a lot of weight with me.

 

[mjr]

Come to think of it, I don't know of a single dyno hub that can actually be user serviced. Ridiculous really.

I direct the honourable hentleman to the answer I gave some posts ago: Sturmey Archer's X(L)-FDD

 

[avecReynolds531]

Thanks for an interesting thread: the Tout Terrain has a lot of design & components that make you think about what a touring bike should be - I recall seeing their integrated racks many years ago.

I couldn't spend this amount of money - a lottery win might change ideas though.

Very happy on 3 x 8 Deore, 700c with 35mm Marathon Plus tyres, flat bar with ends, and v brakes. That set up is tough, versatile & reliable, 8 speed chains & cassettes are good value, plus the bike is both ugly & not worth much.

Spa offer a 725 framed 8 speed flat bar tourer for £850 - good to see availability of such bikes.

 

[MichaelW2]

As I understand it there are NO dynohubs which allow you to service the bearings.
I agree it is a pig.
I tend to think you'd be OK with a Shimano as long as you weren't off on a mega mega trip.

My Shimano dynohub has survived a decade of commuting without servicing. In normal use they are fine but touring bikes get exposed to abnormal abuse, eg fording muddy rivers, flooded streets, falling into big dirty puddles, open ferry sea crossings lashed by big waves. Some of the dynohubs have cartridge bearings which can be replaced and often serviced.

 

[Cycleops]

Seems like the kind of spec that German global tourists demand.

Perfect for a quick tour into Poland.

 

[Vantage]

I direct the honourable hentleman to the answer I gave some posts ago: Sturmey Archer's X(L)-FDD

Ooooooooooh that looks interesting.
I've just read a report by a chap who's bent the fork on his bike using the braking force of that hub
Maybe worth considering if I ever rebuild the front wheel.