The Golden Boy 

That's wonderful! I'm totally going to steal that idea!

Those shifters are really among the best ratcheting shifters ever- I've tried mounting those shifters to Shimano bar end pods and didn't get enough range out of them.

One of these days I'm going to have to set up my bikes for "upright" riding- (more upright than I already do ride)

rpa90

Wow I’ve hit the inspiration jackpot - so good to have found this thread.

Dfrost 

Full fenders with mud flaps,.

RiddleOfSteel

@roadsnakes what @Dfrost said plus, oh, you didn't think any of us were going to just snap a random photo of our touring bikes, did you? Can you say "photo shoot"? Winter riding is brutal on any bike, even with fenders and mud flaps. The NW is rain city fall/winter/spring. Dfrost's bikes magically stay cleaner than mine, so part of it is simply a magic I don't possess, and part of it is regular, short-interval cleaning. Mid-winter cleanings require wheel removal, if not crankset. Cassette off and go from there.

Some touring bikes (or bikes in general) never get ridden in the wet, so they never get too dirty. It's a nice life, not having to clean a million bikes, just one that meant to run through water without getting us wet along the way.

himespau 

I built up a 58cm 85 (I think, the color matches better and it's a late '84 serial number) ST400 for my wife in sort of townie mode with those Velo Orange Crazy bars. I put SKS fenders (either P45 or longboard, I can't remember) and 32 mm Panaracer Paselas in there. Also managed to squeeze in tiresavers. Not sure everyone would be happy with the very tight clearance between the fender and the tire under the brake caliper in the rear (and the line of fender matching the curve of the tire looks terrible because it's so tight up there relative to elsewhere), but 32's definitely fit. I probably could have gone up to 35's without the fenders. The 84/85 models were built for 27" tires and I have 700c on there, so that might make a difference. Sorry for the old, crappy photo.

Also, sorry for the bastardization of a nice classic tourer. It fits what she wanted though. The aero parts of the crazy bars are something I wanted to add so she could ride fast with me if she ever chose to (or so I could get more aero going downhill when I borrowed it). Not sure she'll ever use them.

Chrisp72

This is my Kuwahara Caravan. I'm in the process of getting it ready for my maiden bike touring voyage. There's plenty of time to think things over...

mechanicmatt

Wow I'm not sure what's going on with the brakes there. More pictures of the bars and cable routing is needed.

himespau 

Sorry, don't have more pictures (I was just trying to show the 32's I'd put on there and the terrible fender lines). It's functional, but sort of painful to look at. The Velo Orange Crazy Bar looks like this:

(Neither of these pictures are mine - both "borrowed" from Google Images - the ones on my wife's bike are tilted a bit, so the swept back part is a bit downward and the bullhorns are a bit more upward than the second picture)

The swept back portion has mtb diameter, so I have some old Deore LX integrated 8 speed shift/brake levers on it - I've since swapped out the shellacked cotton tape with cork ergo grips.

The forward-sticking part of the bars (shaped sort of like bullhorn bars) are road bike diameter, so I have them wrapped with generic cork tape under cotton tape that I have shellacked. The brake cable from the swept back part (and levers) runs under the tape to the end of the bullhorn-like bars, where I have cyclocross-style interrupter levers at the very ends. Because of the shape of the bars, having interrupter levers there feels like having a slightly fat non-aero cable routed drop bar lever. That way, you can ride very upright most of the time, but if you want to get more aero in the wind or while going downhill, you can grab the bullhorn area and sort of simulate the position of riding on the hoods (I stole the idea for that setup from SS/FG folks who use bullhorns with an interrupter lever for the front brake). The swept back part of the bars gets a bit in the way of your elbows if you try to bend them and get very low (and it's a little flexy if you try to do a lot of climbing out there - not terrible and definitely not as bad as the "in" area of Scott Drop In bars if you've ever used those - but I can feel a little bit of motion).

This is a bike that my wife uses like 95% of the time for cruises in the subdivision of 5 miles or less, so she's almost always on the swept back parts, but it was also convenient for me to hook up my son's bike to with the follow-me tandem adapter when the two of us would go alone before he was able to ride by himself and I liked to try pushing it a bit sometimes on the bullhorns.

52telecaster

mine all look basterdized by the time i set em up for me. Bikes are meant to be used!

cooperryder

It's my favorite shifting set up among my current 4 bikes.

I like that they were original to the Passage and of course just shift so smoothly.

As I approach or perhaps I'm already there at old dude status, I find the upright position to be more comfortable for me.

With both this Passage and a Miyata 610 I have I first rode 3 miles or so with the original bars and low stem and found it so uncomfortable I wanted to quit after a few miles. Now with similar cockpits on both bikes I'm ok for up to 40 miles.

That's a cheap fanny pack type bag I found at
Amazon I think. Not optimum and will probably go.

crisppen

Does the noli me tangere come with that model? LOL I love it!

The Golden Boy 

I really like your setup. I dig the silver brake levers and was actually looking for some of those ergo grips for my High Sierra with trekking bars.

About your shifter setup- have you tried different locations- I mean like on top, like old school thumb shifters or on the inside sorta like rapid fire shifters?

merziac

Welcome to the machine, we will suck you in before you even know what happened.

casanewt 

My daughter's handmade Mother's Day gift she is making for my wife inspired me to work on a bike I have had for a year and had been gathering pieces to build up for her. It's now a rideable mockup to see if she likes it. 1984 Trek 520.



BEFORE:







AFTER:

Hobbiano 

That looks nice. The stem looks a bit long for just about anyone who would fit that bike, though, to me.

casanewt 

Good eye. That SR from a 25" frame was all I had in the parts bin besides the extra tall Technomic it came with that I could not get any lower in the small frame headtube.

curbtender

Be careful with that fluted seat post that low. Traps moisture. I have the same bike in a 64cm frame. Its seat post sits about that high also.

LBCwanabe 

squarenoise 

I love that color scheme and you have such a clean ride, nice!

What front rack is that?

Piff 

Every time I see it I fall in love. Any over-nighters planned? Though I suppose it's a bit difficult to do a tour at the moment...

WOTWU

I'm working on converting my trek elance 400 to a touring bike. This version features Reynolds 531

DQRider 

Is it a 400, or a 400T? If it is a 'T', you have a triple crank, and are most of the way there! I know because right now I've got one of each, both in that stunning early Trek blue metallic. The double crankset 400 is made of Ishiwata 022 lightweight chrome-moly, and after a 700c conversion, takes 35mm tires.



The 400T already has 700c, and won't fit anything wider than a 28... maybe a 32, but I would have to watch the alignment all the time. The trick for that one, I think, is to go with 650b. But it is quite a way down the queue, so I've got time to ponder.

Anyway, good luck with your build. You are in the right place to get good answers to your questions. Welcome aboard!

.

Chr0m0ly 

‘83 Trek 720

casanewt 

The latest find, a Shogun Alpine GT. I need to check the S/N to see if it is a 1987 or 88. That's my guess at least,

casanewt 

Dayton, Ohio. Univega Gran Turismo https://dayton.craigslist.org/bik/d/...127611497.html