Touring Questions?

[TechMech]

I'd like to tap into the collective knowledge of the Cycle Chat touring guru's out there and ask the following questions:

I have a Boardman Hybrid, do you think this would make a good touring bike? It currently has a compact double up front 36/50 and 9 speed 11/34 at the rear. It also seems to have all the correct mounting point for racks etc

Also I've been looking at a rack and panniers for the rear, and as the bike has disc brakes i was looking at the Topeak Tourist DX and the Topeak MTX trunk bag here, am I looking at the right thing here?

What I'm looking to do is to be able to carry enough stuff to camp overnight for touring round the UK, but i'm a total newbie at this and I've no idea what equipment I should be looking at.

Cheers in advance for any help

 

[willem]

It is a nice bike but not ideal for loaded touring. So I would go for the lightest possible gear, to minimize problems. I think you will need some rear carrier. With disk brakes your best bet is probably Old Man Mountain. I think Ortlieb panniers are the best, though others prefer Carradice or Vaude. Limit yourself to rear panniers. If they will fit, wider tyres are much nicer if you carry a load.
Willem

 

[Randochap]

While it's not perfect, I don't see why you couldn't make it do. You might find some useful info in the touring and randonneuring sections of VeloWeb.

 

[Cathryn]

Any bike is a touring bike if you go touring on it. Don't let 'the wrong bike' stop you!!! Yes, there will be better bikes but I toured on a hybrid for years and had a great time!!! Just pack as little as poss as the weight is what'll get you!!

Where are you going?

 

[TechMech]

Where are you going?

Well I was reading a few threads on here and on crazyguyonabike and there was quite a few folks that have done West of Scotland routes and had a great time.

So the (very) rough plan at the moment is as follows:

1. Drive to Oban from Perth and leave car.
2. Get the ferry from Oban to Craignure on Mull.
3. Cycle to Tobermory and get the ferry to Kilchoan.
4. Visit the Ardnamurchan point and then cycle up the cost to Mallaig.
5. Get the ferry across to Armadale on Skye.
6. Cycle up through Skye to Uig and get the ferry to Tarbert on Harris.
7. Cycle the length of Harris and get the ferry to North Uist.
8. Cycle down North Uist on to Benbecula and then to South Uist.
9. Get the ferry to Barra and then cycle to the other side.
10. Get the ferry back to Oban.
11. Drive back home to Perth.

I've not worked out how far this is or how long it would take, but it would be a great first adventure

 

[TechMech]

It is a nice bike but not ideal for loaded touring. So I would go for the lightest possible gear, to minimize problems. I think you will need some rear carrier. With disk brakes your best bet is probably Old Man Mountain. I think Ortlieb panniers are the best, though others prefer Carradice or Vaude. Limit yourself to rear panniers. If they will fit, wider tyres are much nicer if you carry a load.
Willem

I've got 28 Continental Gatorskins on the bike at the moment, but i've got a set of Marathon Plus in 35's, and was thinking I could put this on the back and leave the skinnier tyre on the front (as the 35 on the front rubs the underside of the forks).

I've also been investigating changing the Truvativ Touro 50/36 for a triple. Truvativ do one called Isoflow Touring that fits the powerspline BB and has 48/38/28 teeth, might be worth getting yes?

 

[RedBike]

The bike should be alright for light touring but that pannier bag even with the side pockets out is tiny!

I''m new to all this too but I can tell you it's amazing just how much stuff you end up taking. Tent, sleeping bag, mat, clothes, Stove, water, food....

 

[RedBike]

I've got 28 Continental Gatorskins on the bike at the moment, but i've got a set of Marathon Plus in 35's, and was thinking I could put this on the back and leave the skinnier tyre on the front (as the 35 on the front rubs the underside of the forks).

There's no doubt about the fact that larger tyres make for a more comfortable ride; and when you've got 10/20kg of camping gear on the back there's not really much point in trying to save a few grams using light weight racing tyres. However, unless the bike is really heavily laiden there's no real 'need' to fit anything wider than 28s. (If you've got the wider tyres use them. If you haven't don't worry about it)

I've also been investigating changing the Truvativ Touro 50/36 for a triple. Truvativ do one called Isoflow Touring that fits the powerspline BB and has 48/38/28 teeth, might be worth getting yes?

It all depends on how strong you are and what you're carrying. You've already got a very low gear of 36/34 so there probably isn't any point changing.
You could swap your inner chainring to a 34. This would give you a ratio of 1:1

 

[Kirstie]

Sounds like a lovely route! Just a couple of things - the road to Mallaig is a bit hairy, with all the ferry traffic. But if you wait for the bunches of traffic to go it should be OK. Failing that you can get the train. The same is true on Skye. The route to Uig isn't that great for cycling because there's a lot of tourist traffic. Similarly when you get to craignure wait for all the ferry traffic to disappear and then set off. It's much safer that way.

As someone else has said, you should be OK on those gears, but maybe drop your front chainring to a 34 just to be on the safe side.

 

[HJ]

I've got 28 Continental Gatorskins on the bike at the moment, but i've got a set of Marathon Plus in 35's, and was thinking I could put this on the back and leave the skinnier tyre on the front (as the 35 on the front rubs the underside of the forks).

I've also been investigating changing the Truvativ Touro 50/36 for a triple. Truvativ do one called Isoflow Touring that fits the powerspline BB and has 48/38/28 teeth, might be worth getting yes?

Having the 35 on the back and 28 on the front should work just fine for touring, just remember to keep them well pumped up as you will be carrying extra weight (even though you have shed a few hamsters).

For touring I would suggest that changing your current double setup for a would be a good idea.

On Skye after leaving Armadale you will find large parts of the A851 have been replaced by a new road, the old road is still there (motorised traffic is block off) will makes a pleasant alternative route for cycling, rather than being with cars traveling at 70mph. Also when you get to Loch Ainort turn right on to the wee road which goes round the headland. Although the road is a wee bit rough, you miss out the big hill and the views are much better (you don't go through any cuttings).