Brian25

From my perspective (as someone who does framebuilding/ painting plus bike mechanic), I saw a number of things that I felt deserved upgrading. First the frame: My tourist did not have a under the downtube w.b. cage bosses. So I added some. I do not know about anyone else, but I hate not having any threaded barrel adjuster for the rear brake, so I brazed one on on the top tube. The seat tube wb cage mounts were so high that you could only (barely) a small water bottle in it. I filled in the original seat tube bosses and placed the new ones at least three inches lower, but not where they would conflict with the front derailleur. The rear rack mounts were flush with the seat stays, so I heated them up and replaced them to where the rack mounts would hit properly. Parts: The only thing to do to the wheels was to drill them out for schrader valve, and put little tubes in them, just in case I get into a situation where I have to use schrader valve tubes. I replaced the handlebars and before wrapping the bars, I taped pieces of rubber flip flops on the top and backside of the handlebars to add some serious cushioning. I am a big believer in mounting the rack bolts ('cept for the right rear one) from the inside of the drop outs and have a nut on the outside, to avoid a situation where a bolt shears off and you have poor recourse if you try to replace the sheared off bolt with no head.

raria

Nice response. But why not just go with bottle cages on the seat post. I find two or even three bottles are rarely enough when summer touring so have two on the frame and two on my seat post.

I agree the handlebars are bad, it's weird they wouldn't have picked up that the distance between the bottom of the bar and the top is too small. I've put off replacing them because I'm rarely in the drops when touring but curse them when there is a wind and my arms rub against the top bar when in the drops.

Tourist in MSN

Decades ago bikes lacked water bottle cage brazed on fittings. All cages came with straps to hold the cages onto the bike. You can still buy those straps, but they only work with some cages.
https://velo-orange.com/products/bottle-cage-clamp

If esthetics are not important to you, hose clamps also work.

In the photo, I like to carry my spare tube and a few tools in a container in a under downtube cage. The frame did not have the fittings so I used the Velo Orange straps.

But on a hot day I might have a large water bottle down there instead.

cyccommute 

I already answered that.

Brian25

Weight. Mountain bike rims back then were fairly heavy. By using a cut down Mavic road rim, you could have a sub 400 gram mountain bike rim.

mstateglfr 

Interesting. That’s a ton of work to drop some grams. I took what you posted earlier to mean they did the cutting for the bikes they made- I am guessing you just meant they would do this sometimes for their own bikes?
I have some random Araya 26” rims that weigh 520g. I think they are 1.5” wide. Seems like a pretty common 32h 80s rim from the mountain bikes I own and have refurbished.

They would need to cut the rim, measure it, cut it down in size, rebend it to the correct curve, then weld it closed and smooth. That’s a ton of work to save 240 or so g. But they had the talent and apparently time to get that 7oz shaved off and if I had the ability to seamlessly bend and re-weld a rim like that, perhaps I would too, just because I can.

Brian25

Have you ever noticed that when it's warm while touring that by the time you go to drink your second waterbottle that is has become unpaletably warm. For that reason, If I have enough room left in a pannier, I prefer to store extra water there. As far as seat post mounted cages: It is nice to hear that you have enough seatpost sticking out of your frame that it is doable for you. I have observed that most tourists tour on frames that are way too big. Seat post mounted cages would not work for me because my tent/ pad/ and tent are typically right up against the back of my seat. I am really short, I typically am on a 44cm frame.

fietsbob

My belt & braces touring wheels, 48 spoke rear, 40 spoke front..

steve-in-kville 

Thanks for the many replies. Perhaps I will give a 35mm tire a try before ordering new wheels.

Duo

thanks. didn't know the fuji and windsor tourist were the same bike. i bought a use fuji touring years ago, seems to be a great bike and good for long traveling from reviews i have read. there seems to be a rather large price difference between the fuji and windsor though. any reason?

raria

I think the Fuji is only available through LBS but the Windsor is only available via mail order. So no LBS support for the Windsor. Whether the price difference is worth it or not depends on how good your LBS is.

Duo

you are prolly right. my fuji is used so not an issue, what is interesting is that some bikes of various brands are basically equivalent to each other.

would be nice to have a chart that lists various bikes that are an equal to each other from the various brands.

steve-in-kville 

Sorry to bring this half-dead thread back, but I have a random question about the modern dyno's: If I am not using any lights, will a dyno produce enough juice to charge a battery pack in a reasonable amount of time? I have an Anker 10050mAh pack that I would be charging. Thanks!

cdmurphy

Yes, you can charge a battery pack, but maybe not in a practical time frame. Assuming all of your Dyno hub's 3 watt output at 6v goes into a flat 10,000 mAh battery pack, it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 hours of full speed output. (Maybe even more if your charger / battery isn't very efficient.

This assumes your Dyno only puts out 3W, which might not be accurate. At high speeds, many dynos can put out quite a bit more, assuming your converter/charger can draw more.

If you are riding all day, and can keep your power draw low, it might work great. I think many tourists just carry a large battery pack, and plan to recharge overnight every couple of days. (I know a 10,000mAh pack would power my phone for ~5 days without GPS)

steve-in-kville 

Thanks for the reply. I have a cheapie $5 "lipstick" charger I use (at work) to top off my phone when it's at 50%. I might get two charges out of it, maybe three. This weekend, I plan to keep my phone charged just with the Anker, simply to see how many charges I can make.

fietsbob

Hub dynamo meets a base line 6v 3w, you then additionally need a rectifier~voltage regulator that puts out standard USB DC..

https://www.sinewavecycles.com/colle...ave-revolution

max 1 amp.. do the math... it will not always be at max, of course.. bring your mains charger, stop for lunch, plug it in.






....

boomhauer

Or you can just skip the battery pack and use this device to keep your phone charged all day (and use it at the same time if you're not too far from the cell tower)

robow

a different approach and possibly cheaper, consider replacing the fenders, not all fenders allow for the same clearance, and then you can toss on the wider tires for which your present wheels probably will accept.