BikeWonder

Not sure how to create a poll on mobile, but here are my three choices for my tour this June:

A) 1982 Miyata 1000

B) 1991 Miyata 1000 LT

C) 1987 Bianchi Grizzly touring conversion

alan s 

The one with the horn and fenders. The leather saddle on the other one could get damaged with too much rain. The third one doesn’t have fenders, so I’d rule that one out.

fietsbob

Rain? no problem, is that leather one your favorite, most comfortable saddle ?,
just put and leave a plastic bag over it..


probably want mudguards on the bike .. we do have a dry season ,
which of late , is later Fire season .

then we look forward to it raining again to clear the air & quench the fires..

Happy Feet

Vancouver is just a city - about 80km's away from me. Where are you actually touring? That will make a difference.

Fwiw, both my touring bikes for western Canada have leather seats. I use a rain cover for the occasional downpour.

BikeWonder

I'll be travelling along highway one. Once I get to Vancouver, I'll be crashing with a friend for a few days to rest and then head on to vancouver island and travel north along BC coast. No specific route yet once I get there, but I want to take it one day at a time.

Happy Feet

In that case I would choose the bike with the lowest gearing that's also comfortable over long distance. The island, gulf islands and northern coast are all about the up and down hills and on a loaded tour bike you will not regret bringing granny (gears) along.

A great loop is up island from Victoria, through some gulf islands like Salt Spring and Gabriola, on through Nanaimo and up the old coast hwy to Comox, across by ferry to Powell River and down the Sunshine Coast through Pender Harbour to Gibsons/Horseshoe Bay. Ferries for bikes are cheap, there is camping and stores and the scenery is consistantly awesome. I would consider that a tour comparable to the rocky mountain Columbia Icefields tour.

djb

you have shown us the bianchi and the other one, but it does appear that the miyata has an alivio mtb crank on it, so probably 42/32/22, which is great for when carrying four panniers etc and in the specific hilly terrain like Happy has lots of experience with.

so to me, this is the big plus to that bike, but really, you need to figure out which one fits you best, and change seats or whatever and get riding, and you'll know which bike is more comfortable for you.

but yes, that mtb crank on the Miyata is nice to have for loaded riding with lots of ups and downs, and you'll see, with loaded riding, we really dont go along very fast, so running out of gears really isnt a problem.-especially when the very few times you are going down a big hill pale in comparison to the hundreds and hundreds of times and vast majority of times when going along at between 7 or 8kph and 25kph, and the mtb crank is great for that.

I can't remember, have you ridden any of these bikes yet with four panniers, your tent, water and food etc?

BikeWonder

For some stupid reason, i'm concerned about damaging the newer Miyata's frame. I know it would be such a great touring bike, but I need to get over seeing it as a collectable and more of a utility machine.

I recently did a mini trip around where I live. Just a simple 100km around with the rear panniers loaded. Non tent. The bike I used was the Bianchi.
It felt comfortable for the first 30min but the seat felt a bit rough from the pressure points building up and slouching over became irritating after a while, but that's because I went into drop mode while looking up, putting strain on my neck muscles.

I think I need to get a saddle with longer rails to push forward to be in a more upright position.

I took out the newer Miyata for a ride and it rides extremely well. It has every mount I would ever need and two strong racks. I haven't tried loading it up, but it should ride just as good loaded as unloaded. We'll see.

Although very vague, this is my route:

djb

I can't speak for the route, I've never biked there.
As for the rest, first you need to change the stem, not the seat, to change riding position.
Pushing a seat all the way forward is not good for knee angle at highest foot position, been there made that mistake before.

The more you ride regularly, the more you should know how a bike fit is working for you, but you have to put in the hours and kms, Sure, it can help getting someone knowledgeable to help with assessing bike fit, but it's always about cost and who can do it.
I did it once eons ago, but it was from lots of riding that I got better at knowing how a given bike fits me and what I need to change.

As for damaging the frame, all I can say is if you are reasonable careful how you ride the bike and park it, there is no reason to damage a frame. If the wheels and spokes can get checked out by a good mechanic for tension, and you know how to have it in great working order, unless you ride it into potholes, lean the frame on hard scratching surfaces, park it improperly so it falls over , or ignore keeping drivetrain clean or not check bolt tightnesses, you can ride it and keep it in perfect shape.

Or you don't, that's up to you if you want to keep it as a collectible.

Re biamchi, you know what is involved changing stem, it's a pita I know.. and who knows what stems you can find where you live....

Good luck whatever you do

Happy Feet

Not vague at all. I know exactly the route as I did it in 2016 and have done portions almost every year. Not the same kind of up and down hills of the coast, more long drawn out but less grade. Easily done with all those bikes so it is really down to which is most comfortable to ride all day, every day. Let me know if you want any info on it. Kamloops for example, is a pita to negotiate on a bike. It's a scenic route with traffic but good shoulders.

Google maps is funny with it's time estimates. That 2days, 22 hours is a fast total run time which is really a week of so. My usual way points are:
Calgary - Banff - Golden - Revelstoke - Salmon Arm - Kamloops - Merritt - Hope - Lower Mainland.

Mountain Mitch

Both the Miyatas seem to have very steep drops due to their short stems. The Bianchi looks like it is slightly more upright. So if you found it difficult riding in the drops on the Bianchi after 30 minutes I would take the others out for a trial ride to see how they ride. They look too low and racy for me but depends on how they fit you. It’s all about the stems!

Three days for that trip is very optimistic! I live more or less on the southern route and frequently see people spending the better part of a day pushing their loaded bikes up our mountains.

mstateglfr 

- Allow me to help you get over the idea that the 1000lt is a collectible- it isnt. It was a really solid touring bike almost 30 years ago and is still a really solid option to tour on, but it is not in any way a collectible. It wont suddenly increase in value beyond inflation as the years go by, all that will happen is you will miss potential time to use it.
I am a miyata fanboy- love the company's history from drawing its own tubing, to contract manufacturing Univegas, to its partnership with Koga, etc. Even I wouldnt consider a '90 1000LT to be a collectible.
If you ride a bike how its intended to be ridden, you wont damage the bike. So just ride it how it should be ridden.

- pushing the saddle forward moves your pelvis and knees forward in relation to the bottom bracket. This completely changes the bike fit and can negatively(or positively) change comfort. Just be aware.

- the 1000LT rides extremely well, has all the mounting points you want, and has a wide range drivetrain. Sounds perfect.

seeker333

I'd go with the second pictured bike with the MTB crankset. You can not underestimate the utility of low gearing for loaded touring.

Wilfred Laurier

Newer Miyata.

Am I right to assume the older Miyata has 27" wheels? That could limit your ability to find replacements in the event of tire damage.

The MTB is nice, too, but if you expect paved roads the whole way there is no advantage over the narrower tires on the Miyata.

Do you own all these bikes or are these ones you are considering buying? If you own them, put the low rider rack from the Grizzly onto the Miyata.

Also, for getting am ore upright position, consider swapping the handlebar stem to a shorter and/or more upright one rather than pushing the seat forward.. Quill stems are pretty much obsolete so you can get an adapter to enable the use of modern threadless stems, which are dead easy to swap out and available everywhere. A friend bought a new stem at MEC last year in Quebec City and the second half of her tour was much more comfortable because of it.

To remove the stem you will have to remove the handlebar tape... er... padding, which is good - throw that stupid black foam in the garbage and get some actual bar tape. Double wrap with handlebar tape if you want more padding.

Wilfred Laurier

https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...9&category=173

Here's a quill-to-threadless stem adapter.

BikeWonder

The green Miyata it is then!

I've had some time to mull over the idea of taking each bike. It just makes more sense to take the newer Miyata. Both Miyatas have 700c wheels. But the newer one is better built.
I'll be investing in a wheel build with some Mavic A319 rims 36h (front/rear) and installing the front lowrider rack into the Miyata as suggested. I was hoping to taking the Bianchi, but I found the Miyata to be much more comfortable.

I'll also look into getting the quill stem adapt thing and going threadless for the stem for a more upright position.

Will update in a couple of weeks.

djb

re the adapter thing, you are going to have to take off the bar tape and brake levers to take the bars off that quill stem, so if you know how much you need to raise the bars, there are tons of used quill stems with diff lengths and angles in used bike stores that would be cheap (new ones too)

if you go the adapter thing route, you have that to buy, then a stem/stems to figure out your position--also, the stems will be NON oversize diameter, as your bars are non oversize, and these stems generally have less options in stores, but findable.

ideally, at a store where you could buy the adapter, they may still have non oversize diameter stems, for you to try out diff ones, but I do know that some stores have gotten rid of them as there are very few customers who need them.

anyway, options for you, at this point you should think "are these bars right for me" width, shape, as now would be the time to change them. Lots of good , inexpensive drop bars outt there new, that would be oversize diameter, the standard now, which would then be easier to find the stem you need.

lots of options eh?