unkabin

Hi, I'm wondering if there are some old, easily acquired steel frames that work well for touring. I do short tours--a week or so--wine-country types of tours, nothing too remote or challenging, some camping. I'm thinking of something like a Fuji Gran Tourer or Schwinn Sports Tourer, for example.

Are there greater challenges in building up an older frame (with a triple chainring, 35ish mm tires, fenders and racks, etc.)? Are there common, known difficulties?

This is my first post on a bicycle forum, so please forgive me if it's somehow annoying, and thanks for any advice.

Cheers.

ktmh

You might want to look at an old mountain bike that you can set up for touring. Seems like folks can usually find them for cheap. I recently picked up one, a schwinn cimarron from 1987 and although I have not turned it into a touring machine, it would be a good candidate for the conversion. Fiendishly long chainstays and nice low gearing and you can easily put on tires as fat as anything. This thread might be of interest if you wanted to look into this route: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=334033

unkabin

Thanks, ktmh. Chainstay length is one of my concerns, as they look pretty short on some of these older frames.

Any other opinions out there?

mangosalsa

You can easily convert those old frames to 700c wheels. Some of the older brakes on these bikes will actually reach, but you can get Tektro long reach brakes that do the job very well. I use the R556 brakes on an old Fuji. For me, this has several benefits: I can get 700c tires & tubes anywhere, and with the smaller diameter wheels, I can run fatter tires with fenders. It also helps that I now use a cassette instead of the old freewheel, and cassettes can be purchased at any shop. Add to the list that the bottom bracket threads are not unusual, allowing you to use a modern drivetrain without issue. Search the forums for 700c conversions.

Next in line for me is to build up the 87' Schwinn Traveler into an internally-geared city bike with 70x40 pothole-crushing tires.

Here's my 1986 Fuji Sagres out on a 3-day ride.
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post10691358

The final build: https://wslash.blogspot.com/2010/03/f...test-ride.html

sstorkel

A really old frame might have different spacing between the rear drop-outs, which might be an issue if you were planning to install a modern drive-train.

BTW, have you considered buying a modern frame? Nashbar's double-butted aluminum touring frame costs around $100-130... when it's available. Throw some 700x35 tires on and the ride is pretty similar to anything made from steel...

unkabin

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll have to give this some more thought. I really want a steel frame rather than aluminum. I rode a Surly LHT and Raleigh Sojourn recently at my LBS, and the ride was so smooth and nice compared to my bike (Felt w/ 28mm tires, aluminum frame, carbon fork). I know the tires account for some of that, but I don't think that was all. I don't mind the weight, either.

I can't complain about $430 for a Surly frame, but I can't afford it right now, either. Thus my hope that building up an older frame wouldn't be too difficult. I did all the maintenance on my old mountain bike, including repacking hubs, bb and headset, but I know nothing outside of that one bike and its early 90s tech. I thought getting back into some bicycle work again would be fun, but I'm not sure I'm up for dealing with these issues of incompatibility with an older frame.

kayakdiver

Maybe one of those nashbar touring frames? They seem to go on sale for less than $100 with fork from time to time. If you do a search here on BF you should find a few threads about the builds.

Just a thought....

sstorkel

Tires make a huge difference! Look at a 700x28 road tire side-by-side with a 700x35 touring tire and you'll see what I mean. I absolutely, positively hate aluminum frames... but I really, really like the bike built from a $130 Nashbar Double-Butted Aluminum Touring frame. The tires/wheels make all the difference...

sstorkel

A thought already mentioned Sadly, Nashbar appears to be out of stock on their touring frame at the moment. Road and mountain frames are on sale for $99 and the cyclocross frame is $130, though.

LeeG

If you're tight for money then just hunt around for complete bikes, building up from bare frame will cost a lot more unless you have a pile of parts already.

kayakdiver

Oops..

Oscuro

Also, where are you located? Checking out craigslist and other online classifieds in your area can lead to good deals. Sometimes, good deals pop-up away from you as well. Recently there were 2 Miyata 1000's near me, both complete, for less than $200 canadian.