Touring bike upgrade
- Thread starter andyt414
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
You can do three things to improve performance:
1) better aerodynamics for a speed advantage at higher speed. Lower your handlebar a bit, and most of all avoid loose clothing. I am assuming you do not use front panniers.
2) better climbing from lower weight. Reducing bike weight is expensive and rarely brings much. Reducing your luggage (and body) weight is the most cost efficient route.
3) fit wider and more flexible tyres for reduced rolling resistance, particularly effective at speeds below say 20 km/h. Wider tyres have significantly lower rolling resistance on anything other than very smooth tarmac. I am not sure what would fit on your bike, but the 37 mm (real size) Panaracer Pasela may be a good choice, particularly if you avoid the puncture protection. If you want to splash out, the Panaracer made Compass 38 is perfect, but expensive.
Wider faster tyres will probably make the biggest difference, unless you are a very fast rider, in which case aerodynamics also kick in. For climbing, the advantage of lower luggage weight is obvious. Different wheels are unlikely to make much of a difference other than that handbuilt wheels will last longer. Replacing them for better performance is a waste of money. Use Schwalbe xxlight tubes if you want a 100 gr lighter wheel.
1) better aerodynamics for a speed advantage at higher speed. Lower your handlebar a bit, and most of all avoid loose clothing. I am assuming you do not use front panniers.
2) better climbing from lower weight. Reducing bike weight is expensive and rarely brings much. Reducing your luggage (and body) weight is the most cost efficient route.
3) fit wider and more flexible tyres for reduced rolling resistance, particularly effective at speeds below say 20 km/h. Wider tyres have significantly lower rolling resistance on anything other than very smooth tarmac. I am not sure what would fit on your bike, but the 37 mm (real size) Panaracer Pasela may be a good choice, particularly if you avoid the puncture protection. If you want to splash out, the Panaracer made Compass 38 is perfect, but expensive.
Wider faster tyres will probably make the biggest difference, unless you are a very fast rider, in which case aerodynamics also kick in. For climbing, the advantage of lower luggage weight is obvious. Different wheels are unlikely to make much of a difference other than that handbuilt wheels will last longer. Replacing them for better performance is a waste of money. Use Schwalbe xxlight tubes if you want a 100 gr lighter wheel.
Last edited:
Debade
Über Member
- Location
- Connecticut, USA
I do not know if the tires are a speed upgrade but in all of my touring, which includes my wife's bike (4 wheels) we have not had a flat with thousand of miles on Schwalbe Marathon Plus. They have been amazing tires.
Marathon Plus are indeed bomb proof, but slow and harsh. I would fit them on a commuter bike in New York City or Detroit, but not for a fast recreational ride. I do that on more fragile tyres, and that means a have a puncture every few thousand miles (not more). It is a price I happily pay. Changing a tube does not take long.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
If you ride in the UK and "avoid the puncture protection", then you'll be repairing every few hundred miles, not thousand. I don't know how France compares.
That said, Marathon plus are tough but stiff and heavy. But there are resistant tyres which don't go that far, which are probably a good idea IMO.
That said, Marathon plus are tough but stiff and heavy. But there are resistant tyres which don't go that far, which are probably a good idea IMO.
Spoked Wheels
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bournemouth
For a touring bike, if the wheels are to be trusted that you won't have spokes failure then you need to look at tyres with low rolling resistance, there is where you will gain the best performance per £.
You need to consider though, achieving the extra performance might bring more time fixing punctures. I know what I'd would choose
Maybe looking at your gears and your previous experience with the bike, that might reveal something that will make a positive difference.
Debade
Über Member
- Location
- Connecticut, USA
For a touring bike, if the wheels are to be trusted that you won't have spokes failure then you need to look at tyres with low rolling resistance, there is where you will gain the best performance per £.
You need to consider though, achieving the extra performance might bring more time fixing punctures. I know what I'd would choose
Maybe looking at your gears and your previous experience with the bike, that might reveal something that will make a positive difference.
I think andyt414 spoke comment is important. The only time I had a spoke failure was in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada on a Trek 2120 when it was fairly new and lightly loaded for our 1 week, non-camping tour. I would not be overly concerned but it should be considered.
the snail
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham
I've got a Voyage, and I'm struggling to think of any upgrades that will significantly improve your performance - at the end of the day it's a chunky 14kg tourer not a racer. You could reduce weight with lighter tyres/tubes, but then you would sacrifice puncture resistance and lighter tubes will need pumping up more often. The standard alex rims are fairly light for their size anyway. Anything you change will be a very marginal gain IMO, if you want to be noticably faster then get a road bike. If you want to shed weight, the easiest/cheapest options would probably be to remove the mudguards/rack.
The physics is quite clear: at touring speeds at least half your effort goes into overcoming rolling resistance. Reducing rolling resistance makes a huge difference and can easily mean that you arrive half an hour earlier at your destination. On the kinds of roads that we tour on that means that you do best to fit the widest tyres possible because on bad road surfaces wider tyres are faster. With wider tyres at correspondingly lower pressures you will also have fewer punctures. What remains is the question how flexible and therefore fragile you dare to go. In my experience the fear for punctures is overdone. I don't have them often, and when I do they are quickly fixed: just put in a fresh tube, and don't waste time on patching them, and certainly not on the roadside. I happily pay that price for the pleasure of a fast and comfortable ride.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Check the tyres though. I've a Specialized 37mm tyre that says 75-100psi on the side
I'd usually use 50f/65r in that width, so that tyre isn't comfortable.Depends on the bike. At best, finding a suitable place, removing the luggage, taking the wheel out and changing the tube while removing the cause is annoying.
26x1.75 Pasela TG rear, Compass without puncture protection at the front. Summer 2014 Italy to Holland: no puncture. Summer 2015 Czech Republic to Holland: 1 puncture. Last puncture before that: a few (5?) years ago, somewhere in Belgium a nail next to a construction site. My commuter bike has 32 mm Panaracer Pasela TG's. No punctures in four years, in a student city.
