Touring - which bike? Old Dawes vs modern B'twin.

[Boopop]

So the last two tours I've been on I've ridden my first road bike love, my B'twin Triban 3. We've been to Wales and Scotland together, here's a photo of it in the Cairngorms:

Ah, happy memories In the past 6 months or so there's a new steed in town, my 1984 Dawes Galaxy.

Of course, this is specifically designed to be a touring bike.

So here's the question, what bike would you, if you were me, use on your next tour? Here's the pros and cons as I see it:

Triban 3:
Pros-

• Relatively light.
• Two fully functional bottle cages.
• Indexed shifters (possibly a con if I was going abroad far away, but I'm not).
• Very familiar with the bike.
• QR skewers front and rear.
• Standard 700C wheels.
• I've got a 30t cassette which together with the triple chainrings means it's great for going uphill

Cons-

• Can't mount a front rack due to carbon forks.
• Not designed as a touring bike in the slightest.
• Indexed shifting is nice until it stops working.

Dawes Galaxy
Pros-

• Nice wide tyres
  
• Steel is real!
• Can mount front rack without drilling
• Mudguards.

Cons-

• Heavy.
• Only one bottle cage, would either have to use strap.
  
• Friction shifters. Does mean they can't go wrong though.
  
• Rear wheel needs a spanner to remove.
  
• 27 1/4" wheels, should probably switch to 700c.
• Headset needs looking at, need new tyres.
• Might be wise to replace rear rack.
• Currently has 14-28 5 speed freewheel and 40/52 chainrings. I have a 36/48 chainset I can fit (from a Super Galaxy) but I'd need a new rear mech to fit a freewheel any bigger than 30 teeth.

Anyway, any thoughts or opinions are welcome.

 

[mjr]

Which is more comfortable for day after day riding? That's most important IMO. Stuff like needing a spanner to take the wheel out is trivial, as it can be under 50g, you're not in a race and the flipside benefit is the wheel is harder to steal while parked.

I don't understand why only one bottle cage is a problem for touring. You only drink one at a time and can keep spares in the bags until needed.

Much as I dislike them, indexed shifters don't go wrong that often. The main things against the triban seem to be lack of front rack option and maybe the wheels have fewer spokes and the rear is more dished?

But let comfort decide. I tour on steel, usually with hub dynamo, gears and brakes. Comfort and practicality beats the slight weight penalty compared to my road bike.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I'd use the Galaxy, because it's designed for the job, but with a smaller front chainring fitted, possibly a triple. Headset and tyres are routine maintenance items! The 27" wheel size will only really be a problem if decent tyres become unavailable. ATM, it appears you can still get Schwalbe Marathons and the cheaper HS159 pattern in 27" sizes, so 27" is not a disadvantage . Sourcing a spare 700c wheel set would be sensible nonetheless, as would fitting that with a 14-28 six-speed freewheel, not a 5 speed. The other day I bought a CB ladies commuter donor cheaply purely because I spotted a nice set of Rigida 700's on it and the whole bike cost less than one new Marathon tyre! I find a six-speed freewheel a big improvement over a five because the ratio spacings are more useful, but I don't consider having more than six cogs to be necessary or even desirable.

 

[raleighnut]

Can you not fit a triple on the Dawes?

 

[freiston]

If using front panniers is a must, then you'd have to go with the Dawes on account of the carbon forks of the Triban. The Dawes does look high on the gears and a little googling suggests it has a 40/52 chainset with 14-28T 5 speed freewheel. That would give a bottom gear of about 40" which is probably higher than the bottom gear of the Triban (higher than most road bikes with "compact" doubles). 5 speed freewheels require a spacing of 120mm but 6/7 speed require 126mm - so you would likely have to stretch out the frame if you were to upgrade from 5 speed. As others have said, you could lower the gearing by fitting a smaller inner chain ring or a triple chainset - imho that would be the easiest solution other than getting off the bike and pushing it. You would want to check that the rear derailleur can cope with the change in tooth count. A quick google and I found nothing lower than14-28T freewheels for sale. As far as I can tell, there are no eyes on the Dawes forks for a low rider so you'd still need to use some sort of clamping mount to use a low rider rack (either that or get eyes brazed/new forks which might be too costly). All this is presuming that a bottom gear of 40" would not be low enough. If you want to compare gears on both bikes, use http://www.gear-calculator.com/ (remember to input wheel size as well as teeth counts).

If using front panniers is negotiable and you have already toured on the Triban and found it comfortable and up to the job, then no reason not to stick with it

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Another advantage of the Btwin is the fact that there are Decathlon stores all over Europe in the event of serious issues.

If you're not used to touring with front panniers (and have managed thus far without them) are they really necessary? Personally, I prefer to distribute the weight front & back.

The Dawes might allow for a bit more flexibility in the surfaces you can enjoy which can open up more touring opportunities.

Other than that I'm with @mjr on comfort being the most important.
I'll leave gearing discussions to the experts, but I'd include gearing in the comfort equation.

If you're happy with your current bike and satisfied that it can cope with what you want to do, then there's no need to change.
If you feel your current bike is limiting your options and the Dawes gives the freedom to explore those.... then off you go.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Larger rear cassette and triple for the Dawes, as well as some sort of front rack, would be a good choice, but I would renegotiate that frame to take 700C tires, unless you plan to carry a couple of 27"tires with you. You could replace that front fork on either with a fork that has a braze-on for the front rack. Weight is not the important factor here, so much as how each bike handles with a full touring load, front and rear.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Oh, and yes, you do want low riders. Makes the whole job simpler. In the end, load your bicycle, full touring load, front and rear. Then lift it. How far can you carry it? Because you may have to.

 

[overmind]

I would use the Dawes (with a Brooks saddle) and fit a triple chainset.

 

[freiston]

Just in case it proves useful, I think the rear changer on the Dawes is a Suntour VXS (in 1984 I was using a Suntour VGT Luxe) which has the following specs (extracted from http://www.disraeligears.co.uk/Site/SunTour_Vx_S_derailleur_2500.html):

• Model no.: 2500
• Weight: 211g
• Maximum cog: 30 teeth (Source: SunTour assuming 29mm dropout)
• Total capacity: 28 or 30 teeth (Source: SunTour)
• Pulley centre to centre: 59mm
• Index compatibility: friction
• Chain width: 3/32”

Edit: With your current freewheel, this dérailleur would allow a difference in tooth count between smallest and biggest chainring of 14 or 16 teeth. As this is a relatively small range, the benefits of a triple over a double would be affected. With only five sprockets on the back (and if you go the replacement chainset route), you might want to consider the "jumps" between each gear and decide if the extra intermediate ratios of the triple would be worth it over a double. You could change the rear dérailleur too but you would also need to consider chain sizes and the mounting costs.

2nd edit:
Here's a link to the gearing of what I believe is the Dawes current set-up at the top and the gearing if you changed the chainset for a 34/48 double:

http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=...R2=DERS&KB2=34,48&RZ2=14,17,20,24,28&UF2=2221

 

[cyberknight]

change the fork on the btwin to one that has pannier mounts ?

 

[iandg]

With modifications (as mentioned up thread) - the Dawes

 

[Boopop]

Lots of interesting thoughts and opinions, thanks

The main thing that puts me off the Dawes is getting it up to spec. I know fixing the headset and wheels (they need fixing too, front one has a bad hub currently) are routine maintenance but I don't ride it much currently so I haven't felt compelled to do much more with it.

As for the Triban, the triple chainset plus the 30 tooth cassette does make it really nice for going uphill. I've looked in to getting it a different fork but I can't really find any appealing options. A lot of the forks I've come across have cantilever bosses on them, which I wouldn't be using but look a bit unsightly - plus there's the hassle of swapping the brakes over.

As it stands, given that there hasn't been an overwhelming majority saying to use the Dawes, I'll stick with the T3. Thanks

 

[uphillstruggler]

have you asked decathlon whether the new triban fork would fit? that has mounts for front racks - their guys are usually pretty good at such stuff

 

[Boopop]

have you asked decathlon whether the new triban fork would fit? that has mounts for front racks - their guys are usually pretty good at such stuff

That's an interesting idea, I'll look in to it, thanks. What fork were you thinking?

EDIT: Found it, the Triban 500. Phoned up Decathlon MK, they can get get it for me for £95. Headset upgrade at the LBS (given it'll need a new crownrace anyway), job's a good'n. I think I love you @uphillstruggler, strongly considering this as an option! =D