Touring bike - what should it look like?! *urgent*

[pedaling]

Rust off the bike, or off the chain? If the chain is really rusty, splash out on a new one (you'll need to note how many sprockets you have, to get one the right width)

No sure what to advise about cleaning, I think everyone has their best methods. You're probably not going to hurt it much with washing up liquid, or cream cleaner, esp if, as you say, you rinse it well. Just beware of using anything too abrasive, so that you scratch the piant and potentially let more rust get hold. I use Muck-off spray on my bikes (mainly to shift the really greasy crud that builds up around the sprockets), but I know some people hate it. Mind you, I only really clean my bikes once a year.

For lube, I use Finish Line (or the Halfords own brand equivalent), comes in bottles like this. Finer than oil, less sticky - comes in 'wet' (green top) and 'dry' (red top) types, I find the dry is adequate for my day to day riding. Again, others will have a favourite to recommend.

Rust on the bike and the chain! I think it might be okay if I give it a clean. Will pop down to Halfords and get some of that Finish Line stuff. Do I need anything else for the other parts, like oil or grease? It's 3 for 2 and I'd rather get them all at once.

I know what you mean about reaching out and explaining. I do appreciate all your help though! It just is incredibly useful to see it properly, and being able to see it on my bikes helps too.

 

[Arch]

I'm not the best to ask really, I'm a bit lax about lubing and stuff - I reckon Finishline will do for most things - or rather, I'd probably use it anyway... You probably CAN get a different lube for every job, if you try, but whether you need to... Back in the old days, they just used 3-in-1 oil for the lot! I suppose Finishline is a liquid, and might be tricky to apply in some places - having can of stuff with a straw (like WD40 comes in, but not WD40, that' not really a lube) makes it easier to get to some bits, and to squirt it down cable outers and so on.

My other favourite is copper grease - that's really for when you assemble stuff, to stop bolts sticking irrevocably, it's just such pretty stuff.

 

[pedaling]

I tried it on the peugoet and my mountain bike. My mountain bike loves it. (I was lazy and haven't washed my mountain bike so it's all a bit cruddy - have been to the park etc with it recently.) The gears are a bit dodgy on my MTB (through wear and lack of service, I guess) but suddenly they moved more easily! Thought I'd solved the peugoet derailler - I tried moving it and it all seemed to go into place, then the chain hopped off - alas, no.

The raleigh bike seems okay to ride. I just tried it, going through the gears. Gears seem much smoother than the giant MTB, although the raleigh bike's brakes are majorly knackered. I'm going to give it a clean soon and then I'll put the liquid on it. Oh, and another thing about the raleigh is that I feel like my legs are squished up. It's so small compared to the giant MTB!

Gosh, it would be lovely to have ONE bike which works. Preferably a town bike.

 

[ed_o_brain]

Thanks for the very thoughtful reply - lots of info there. It might be good to talk to your partner, yes, if she's willing to chat to me!

I've had a look at the group you mentioned. Doesn't seem to be any C rides at the moment but perhaps there will be in the future!

Drop us a pm with your email address and I'll give you a couple of contact numbers.

I see there are no 'C' rides listed, sorry about that. South Manchester CTC are running a family ride about once a month which you might find a useful start. I can also pass you details of someone to call about those.

 

[pedaling]

Looks like the raleigh is too small for me. My legs are too big for it. Feel squished up on it so looks like it's going to be the giant mtb (see page 3 for pics.) Issue is of front suspension then - do I change the forks or what? Also issue of rack and getting it to fit enough luggage on it as I -might- be camping.

This is what Crackle said about the Giant...

'See in an ideal world I wouldn't take the Giant but look for something 2nd hand, like this. Read Randochaps link and you'll see that this is much closer to the mark than the Giant.

You could take the Giant though. If you plan to ride 30-60 miles a day it will be OK but a lot harder work than a tourer. You'll need slick tyres, maybe a new seat and a rack. The rack worries me as I think the only type that will fit the bill is this, which limits you to 25lb/11.3Kg of luggage, which if you plan to camp is probably not enough unless you have some very lightweight gear. '

Of course I could try to find a tourer instead, which might be easier? I don't know. Can't decide what to do.

Incidentally, this bike on ebay looks like the freecycle one I got!

 

[Arch]

Rear rack first: If you haven't got the necessary bosses for a standard rack, you may still be able to bodge (or get someone to bodge for you) a rack held on with P-clips. I woudn't want to swear to it, but I think it would take more than a seatpost mounted rack.

Forks. There are two issue with suspension forks: weight, and the power they soak up when you pedal, esp when you pedal hard - the forks tend to 'bob', and each bob is power that isn't going through to the rear wheel. You may (I don't really know much about sus forks, others may be able to help) be able to 'lock' the forks, to lose the suspension, and therefore the bob. This of course, leaves you with heavier-than-you-need forks, for no reason. If you do swap the forks, you might be able to fit some with bosses for a front rack, which would take some of the pressure off what you need to fit on the rear.

I suppose it comes down to:

Do you want to use the Giant seriously off road? If you don't want to ride on anything bumpier than a hardpacked gravel cyclepath, then you probably don't need to keep the front sus.

What's your budget like? Up to a point, changing bits and pieces is cheaper - especially if you can find a friendly person with a bit of mechanical wit to help you out. Even a second hand tourer is likely to cost a bit. I think my gut feeling is to see what you can do with the Giant, and see how you like touring - start with an overnight trip, build up to a long weekend and so on. It would be a shame to splash out and then find you actually don't want to do that sort of riding all that often - it might be that you ike the riding fine, but get fed up with setting up camp and packing up everyday, or you just get bored on long distances (This probably isn't the case, but it's wise to find out, I think).

 

[pedaling]

I suppose it comes down to:

Do you want to use the Giant seriously off road? If you don't want to ride on anything bumpier than a hardpacked gravel cyclepath, then you probably don't need to keep the front sus.

I use it on relatively 'stony' park paths & in national trust places over hills etc (where I think I'm not supposed to actually) but that is the extent of my off-roadness.

So I don't really need the front suspension, do I?

What's your budget like? Up to a point, changing bits and pieces is cheaper - especially if you can find a friendly person with a bit of mechanical wit to help you out. Even a second hand tourer is likely to cost a bit. I think my gut feeling is to see what you can do with the Giant, and see how you like touring - start with an overnight trip, build up to a long weekend and so on. It would be a shame to splash out and then find you actually don't want to do that sort of riding all that often - it might be that you ike the riding fine, but get fed up with setting up camp and packing up everyday, or you just get bored on long distances (This probably isn't the case, but it's wise to find out, I think).

My mildly bike-knowledgeable friend turns out to be more bike-knowledgeable than I thought! He said he has taken his bikes apart and put them back together again before, so he must have relatively decent knowledge. He wasn't sure on what's wrong with the peugeot derailleur but he seemed to know about most of the other stuff, like how to redo the brakes etc.

He has offered to try and help me convert it if that's what I end up doing...

 

[Crackle]

Just on the rear rack. I don't think the p-clips which Arch mentions would work on this because of the shape of the rear triangle from the seat i.e. one tube into two. But! There are some vaguely screw like holes just above where the tube spilts to two. What are they Pedaling, can you take a closer picture?

You know after seeing the pictures of the Peugeot, I think you could use it you know.

 

[pedaling]

I think Peugeot is going to be uni bike, if I actually make it to uni. Sufficiently old/ crappy that hopefully it won't get taken but also a relatively fun looking bike to ride. I plan to get a basket for it! Once it's got new tyres, maybe new brakes, seat a little higher, it should be almost there. I think it's too small for me to go far on tho (although I am small my legs seem to be reasonably long for my height.)

Here are some pics of that bit and other rack-possible areas...

 

[Crackle]

Pedaling, those are braze-ons, or at least threaded bolts, that means it should take a rack, which in turn means, you could use the Giant after all. You should have some corresponding holes near your rear dropout i.e. by rear wheel quick release/bolt.

Everything else still applies though about it not being perfect but it is usable it seems and for your first adventure, usable is all you need.

 

[pedaling]

Pedaling, those are braze-ons, or at least threaded bolts, that means it should take a rack, which in turn means, you could use the Giant after all. You should have some corresponding holes near your rear dropout i.e. by rear wheel quick release/bolt.

Everything else still applies though about it not being perfect but it is usable it seems and for your first adventure, usable is all you need.

Marvellous! What do you think about the forks by the way? What shall I do with them? Friend is reccommending I change them...

 

[Crackle]

Ahh! Can't help with the forks. don't know enough about thread sizes and stuff. If you can get some rigid forks to fit then that may be fine for your tour. You have to be careful though, because changing the forks can alter the ride of the bike by lowering/highering the front of the bike and/or shortening/lengthening the wheelbase. It's the kind of thing you need good advice on and may be worth a seperate specific thread in Know How with a link to this one for people to fill in the background from.

 

[cheadle hulme]

Looks like the raleigh is too small for me. My legs are too big for it.

How small? My wife is 5'1'' and I've been dying to get a little project bike fixed up for her.

If you don't want it do you want to swap? I've got various bits and pieces you might need.

No tyres though .

 

[pedaling]

How small? My wife is 5'1'' and I've been dying to get a little project bike fixed up for her.

If you don't want it do you want to swap? I've got various bits and pieces you might need.

No tyres though .

Probably would be ideal but it's actually my mum's bike, so I can't give it away unfortunately. Even though she doesn't use it. But, you know, 'one of these days' she might...

Edit: I keep seeing the most gorgeous bikes around here, especially in Bramhall! Now I'm thinking about bikes it's almost like people are flaunting them!

 

[Arch]

My mildly bike-knowledgeable friend turns out to be more bike-knowledgeable than I thought! He said he has taken his bikes apart and put them back together again before, so he must have relatively decent knowledge. He wasn't sure on what's wrong with the peugeot derailleur but he seemed to know about most of the other stuff, like how to redo the brakes etc.

He has offered to try and help me convert it if that's what I end up doing...

Now, just to be on the safe side, do make sure that they were still bikes AFTER he put them back together... (Most of the people I know, they might have ended up as bedsteads. Or indeed, memorably, a bedstead ended up as a bike, but enough of my looney mates...)

Hoorah for braze ons for your rack! Well spotted Crackle. We need a picture of the hub end of that rear triangle to be sure, but even if they weren't there, my p-clip idea might save the day down there anyway... (Honestly, I don't work for the National P-Clip Promotion Council, I just like the idea of making a thing work against the odds.)

I'd say, if you can find rigid forks of the right size (bearing in mind what Crackle said) go for it. If not, see if it's possible to 'lock' the suspension, or at least stiffen it up, for when you are riding mainly on the road.