Spot the retrogrouch bike
10-16-19, 08:39 PM
#26
Senior Member
- To the comment that a modern gravel bike is a touring bike- funny enough, I coverted my old gravel frame into a commute/touring bike. But that is only because the geometry and design happened to work well for what I want. There are many gravel bikes where the geometry is nothing like a touring bike.
I wouldn't say that my Campeur pedals lively, either. It's steering is a bit like a calmed road bike thanks to a road-like trail, but deep down it's still a dump truck.
- What constitutes gravel is different from region to region, but I have never wanted to go for a gravel ride on 28mm tires and appreciate the 40-43mm tires I use. One of my road bikes has 28s that measure 31mm and they are OK to use for a couple miles of gravel from time to time, but not what I want for a metric century. More surface area and lower pressures make for a much better ride for me.
10-16-19, 09:10 PM
#27
Sunshine
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I wonder what sort of touring bike we're talking about. Heavy-load road tourers like an LHT or 520 or Campeur are distinguished by their accommodations for heavy rear loads, and although these bikes are certainly capable of being taken on gravel, those accommodations are antithetical to gravel riding. Super-long chainstays in particular make it harder to keep the rear wheel planted on loose climbs, make it harder to unweight the front end on demand, and cause the rear wheel to not track the path of the front wheel as closely. (Modern MTBs tend to have chainstays that are extremely short in light of how huge the inflated wheels are!)
I wouldn't say that my Campeur pedals lively, either. It's steering is a bit like a calmed road bike thanks to a road-like trail, but deep down it's still a dump truck.
I wouldn't say that my Campeur pedals lively, either. It's steering is a bit like a calmed road bike thanks to a road-like trail, but deep down it's still a dump truck.
Related note, my brother in law uses a 92 trek 850 that has the same mountings and I'm pretty sure is also the same geometry as the 520 from that year and it works well for him, but he doesnt ride fast/hard/far.
Along the lines of the differences in frame style/geometry, my old gravel frame turned commuter/touring bike(black mountain MC) works great for what i need but is not as heavy duty as a dedicated touring bike. It has front and rear rack mounts, fender and bottle mounts, but it also has a bit shorter chainstays than a traditional touring bike and the tubing is thinner too. I haven't loaded it up with front and rear panniers plus gear, so maybe with that weight and dispersion on the frame it would shimmy or flex a lot since it isnt really designed to handle such a load.
It's a bit of a compromise either direction you go.
10-16-19, 11:21 PM
#28
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Gravel bike? Hardly.
From the late 50s-through the mid-60s in the rural gravel/dirt roads of the Willamette Valley, this was a gravel bike, with lugged balloon tires.
Just remove the headlight, rear generator and lock and that's my gravel bike.
Yes the modern ones go faster, weigh a ton less, better brakes and gear choices, but this, this was freedom.
Racing a bike is, a race, but riding a bike that's a different sort of thing, on that old Schwinn I could explore a childhood.
From the late 50s-through the mid-60s in the rural gravel/dirt roads of the Willamette Valley, this was a gravel bike, with lugged balloon tires.
Just remove the headlight, rear generator and lock and that's my gravel bike.
Yes the modern ones go faster, weigh a ton less, better brakes and gear choices, but this, this was freedom.
Racing a bike is, a race, but riding a bike that's a different sort of thing, on that old Schwinn I could explore a childhood.
10-17-19, 06:28 AM
#29
Sunshine
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Gravel bike? Hardly.
From the late 50s-through the mid-60s in the rural gravel/dirt roads of the Willamette Valley, this was a gravel bike, with lugged balloon tires.
Just remove the headlight, rear generator and lock and that's my gravel bike.
Yes the modern ones go faster, weigh a ton less, better brakes and gear choices, but this, this was freedom.
Racing a bike is, a race, but riding a bike that's a different sort of thing, on that old Schwinn I could explore a childhood.
From the late 50s-through the mid-60s in the rural gravel/dirt roads of the Willamette Valley, this was a gravel bike, with lugged balloon tires.
Just remove the headlight, rear generator and lock and that's my gravel bike.
Yes the modern ones go faster, weigh a ton less, better brakes and gear choices, but this, this was freedom.
Racing a bike is, a race, but riding a bike that's a different sort of thing, on that old Schwinn I could explore a childhood.
...but just like the singlespeed gearing of that BMX, the singlespeed of your Schwinn would have kept me from doing much exploring on the gravel I ride since I need gears to get up the hills here.
Also, I dig the friction tire light generator.
10-17-19, 06:41 AM
#30
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Thanks mstateglfr, but there was an ace in the hole on this bike, it did have a three speed rear hub (see the shifter on the right handlebar and cable passing through the pulley on the seat tube on its way to the rear hub), which to me was a wonder after my single speed Coast to Coast bike. Having two extra gears made a world of difference when it came to climbing or fording deep mud pot holes which often completely were across a dirt road, you would just shift down and pedal like crazy in hopes you didn't stall out in the middle of the puddle. 
But even with the gears and a full speed run up some hills ended with a dismount and push to the top, my Red Wing half boot riding shoes came in handy then.
But even with the gears and a full speed run up some hills ended with a dismount and push to the top, my Red Wing half boot riding shoes came in handy then.
10-17-19, 07:27 AM
#31
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I wonder what sort of touring bike we're talking about. Heavy-load road tourers like an LHT or 520 or Campeur are distinguished by their accommodations for heavy rear loads, and although these bikes are certainly capable of being taken on gravel, those accommodations are antithetical to gravel riding. Super-long chainstays in particular make it harder to keep the rear wheel planted on loose climbs, make it harder to unweight the front end on demand, and cause the rear wheel to not track the path of the front wheel as closely. (Modern MTBs tend to have chainstays that are extremely short in light of how huge the inflated wheels are!)
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