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I posted something similar to this in the general bike thread, so sorry for the double post for those of you who are subscribed to both, but I have some touring specific questions I'd like to ask here as well: I cracked the frame of my favorite bike on Ragbrai this year. A Giant OCR A1 endurance road bike. It wasn't my best bike, but I've had it for 17 years since new and I really loved it. I'm pretty bummed about breaking it. But as a result of that, I'm in the market for a new bike. I've done some road touring with panniers in the past, and really enjoyed it. I'm looking to take this bike on some much longer, mixed surface trips. My current plan is to use a soft bikepacking bag setup if possible. I'd like to do a shake out run on the Empire State Trail, and continue with the weekend-week long routes around Wisconsin where I live that I have been doing, but the end goal would be a cross country trip within the next year or two. I'm currently thinking along the Great American Rail Trail when possible, filling in the gaps with road/gravel road riding. I could also see doing the GDMBR, and some Eurovelo routes, but getting time off for the cross country trip is difficult enough, so that's in the more distant future. I think given the mixed surfaces of the routes I'm thinking of, combined with my desire to ride somewhat quickly and strong preference for drop bar bikes, means a gravel bike is in order. I'm looking for something with enough heft, and enough braze-ons to handle a load, while still being fairly quick unloaded. So all of that long story is to say: If you had, I dunno, $3-5000 for a gravel/touring bike, what would you look at? I wasn't expecting to be in the market so soon, so I haven't done a ton of research yet. I rented a Trek Checkpoint for a week that I really liked riding. I've never ridden one, but if I wanted something a bit more touring focused, I've heard good things about Salsa Cutthroats. I don't anticipate entering into a bikepacking race or anything, and given the distances I'm thinking comfort is pretty important, but I don't enjoy leisurely touring, so I do try to ride fairly quickly. As long as I'm being clueless: What's the consensus opinion on 1x vs 2x for touring? I lean towards 2x, but it's really just familiarity I think. Also, I really only know anything about road focused groupsets, especially Shimano, and know very little about SRAM or GRX. Any pointers on what to look for there?
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Aug 10, 2023 22:06
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dema posted:Friend of mine just did this over the holidays. Wet and windy most days, but still looked amazing. Was super cheap too. I didn't bike in Taiwan besides on city bikes around Taipei, but I just want to reiterate that, apart from the flight to get there, Taiwan is surprisingly cheap. I only spent 2 days outside of Taipei, but it was also extremely pretty. There's a ton of biking in the cities, but you'd be somewhat of a novelty on the roads outside of the city (not unheard of, but I didn't see a ton of cycling for pleasure when I was there, although the government is trying to promote it). Drivers seem extremely careful (again, outside of the city) though. Absolutely would be a great trip.
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Jan 10, 2024 21:56
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SadBag posted:If I have historically done 60 miles a day on dirt and gravel on the GAP and C&O canal, would 80 miles a day on road be reasonable? I'm no expert, but 80 miles a day on road sounds reasonable if you're doing 60 on dirt, depending on your load/tires/bike. I think Warmshowers is still a fine option. As far as I know the alternatives have not advanced to the level of usefulness needed, but maybe someone actively touring will have more information there. What the OP is saying is there was a series of articles analyzing the little bit of financial transparency coming out of WS and found that the money coming in from signups may not be being spent particularly wisely. The community itself is still strong, so if you're looking for a room to crash in, it's still a good option. For what it's worth, since those articles, the level of communication coming from WS has improved. My guess is that the governance of WS is still a mess, but maybe they got a bit of a shake up and are doing better for now. Whether that continues once the extra scrutiny has moved on is another question.
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Mar 19, 2024 14:04
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