etherhuffer 

1980 Fuji Gran Tourer SE redone in yellow powdercoat, new decals from Velocals and yes, wheel reflectors and a dork disc. Why? Because I could.

mobilemail

Nothing rare, but I have a special love for touring bikes. One day I might actually get to go somewhere....

Ronno6

This is Babe the Blue Ox, a 1989 27" Cannondale ST400 completely refurbed:



Next is another ST400, a 1990:



Then finally, this is my Grail bike: a 1993 Cannondale T1000

The Golden Boy 

I spent the entire day today going through this thread.

No kidding.

Such incredible bikes. I've gotten some really great ideas of "wishlist" stuff or ideas for my own "dream bike" just looking at some of these gorgeous machines. I see some people have said they feel guilty having these 'full blown tourers' and not touring. These bicycles are just such great, comfortable riders- I don't see why you would want to give that up for some sort of misplaced guilt.

Since I was stuck home- I figured I'd post some pics. Is it too dorky to post the builds?


This past week I was getting all obsessed about getting some matching silver Blackburn racks. I missed a perfect rack on the Ebay, but then I found a CL ad with a bike with racks- I called him to see if he'd sell the racks. I offered to buy the Cannondale bags if he'd sell the racks. It turned out he had a spare set of racks. So...

First up- the 1985 Trek 620. My secret plan was to get a matching set of silver Jim Blackburn racks. The front rack was wonderful, the rear rack had the stays a bit too short- so for now, I have the stock blue rack and the silver front rack. This is my favorite bike-

1985 Trek 620 frame- Reynolds 531CS- 531 in the main triangle and cromoly stays and fork.
Short reach SR "Custom" stem and the stock Bellieri bars.
Shimano Z306 slotted brake levers (Cane Creek hoods)
Mirrycle mirror
Shimano MC-70 canti brakes
6 Speed Suntour Command Shifters
Suntour XC Pro rear derailleur
Sachs/Huret front derailleur
Shimano 6 Speed freewheel (I think 14-28)
Atom high flange hubs and Mavic 27" rims- Panaracer Pasela Tourguard 27 x 1 1/4"
Shimano FC6206 cranks- 50-45-28
No-name ATB pedals
San Marco Touring Saddle







Next up, the 1987 Schwinn Voyageur- I got this as a frameset plus brakes, so I've been kind figuring what parts I want- but there's a lot of paint scratches- where the primer and the chrome underneath show through. This bike is outrageously comfortable as it is right now- I have some 30 year old Specialized Expedition tires on there- and I think they're at least partially responsible for making this bike ride like a La-Z-Boy on wheels. I put the silver rack on there, it kinda looked OK in person, but in the pics it's really leaning forward. So if anyone has a Jim Blackburn with longer stays that wants to trade for one with short stays...

Schwinn Voyageur frame with Columbus Tenax tubes
3TTT stem and bars
Suntour Superbe slotted brake levers
Mirrycle mirror
DiaCompe 981 cantis
Sachs/Huret ratcheting downtube shifters (from the 620)
Suntour XC Comp front and rear derailleurs
Suntour 14-34 freewheel
Avocet Hubs- Wolber Super Champion rims.
Takagi Tourney XT cranks 48-38-28
Union Beartrap pedals
San Marco Touring Saddle

The Golden Boy 

While these two aren't exactly "touring" bikes in the classic sense- plenty of these style bikes have been posted.

First- the 1987 Schwinn High Sierra MTB. This is a cool frame- the coveted black chrome finish, fillet brazed at the headtube: this bike must've been designed as a "go anywhere" bike. It has something like 18" long chainstays and dual brazeons on each dropout, midfork brazeons, a pump peg behind the seat tube and roller cam brakes. I added the drop bars. This is my first bike with barcons- one of the shifters slips- so I'll either need to figure out how to fix it or get another barcon before I can really evaluate how I like the shifters- but I doubt I'll like them more than I like the Command Shifters...

1987 Schwinn High Sierra triple butted cromoly frame
SR stem and bars
Schwinn Approved drilled DiaCompe levers with "safety" extensions (I kinda like them)
Suntour XC Sport roller cam brakes.
Suntour Barcon shifters
Shimano Deore (MT-60) front and rear derailleurs
6 Speed Shimano freewheel
High flange Joytech front hub- Araya 26" wheel
??? Hub to Alex rim on the back
The crank and rings were replaced when I got hit by a car in 1991
I think they're Sugino 48-38-28 with the inner 2 being Biopace
I'll be putting on some of the no-name ATB pedals with clips & straps
Selle Italia anatomic saddle.





Then there's the 1986 Trek 400 Elance. I lusted after this bike for so long. I've always loved the color and the overall look of this bike. While it is more of a "sport-touring" thing- it does have two bottle mounts, a fairly laid back geometry and long enough chainstays to have panniers and not have heel strike. The frame has a 531 main triangle and Tange cromoly stays and fork. If you'll notice in the Trek catalogs- this is the same basic formula for a 600 series Trek- so in 1986, the 600 series was discontinued and these "lower" offerings had 531 for the masses. Because I lusted after this bike for so long- I wanted it to be a nice bike- so I "upgraded" the brakes to TriColor 600- (single pivot in the back, dual pivot in the front) but I didn't know the short reach wouldn't work- so, rather than use different brakes (I REALLY like the look of the TriColor stuff) I actually switched this bike from 700c x 32 to 27 x 1 1/8. The 1 1/4 tires were too tall for the fork and brake bridge clearance. My plan was also to use the slotted Suntour Superbe levers- but I didn't realize that the SLR braking meant return springs in the levers- so older, non-sprung levers would have to be "helped" to return. In any case- since changing the bike over to 27- I really enjoy riding this a lot more than when it was 700c. Go figure.

1986 Trek 400 Elance frame 531 main frame- Tange CR-MO stays and fork
SR stem and bars
Shimano 600 TriColor aero brake levers
Shimano 600 TriColor brakes- single pivot in the back, dual pivot up front
6 speed Suntour Command Shifters
Suntour XC Pro front and rear derailleurs
6 Speed Shimano freewheel 14-30
Sanshin hubs/ 27" Araya wheels, Panaracer Pasela 27 x 1 1/8" Tourguard tires
Sugino cranks 52-40
No Name ATB pedals w/ clips and straps
Avocet Touring II saddle




Let me know if anyone would like any extra info or pics about the bikes!

bikemig 

I just finished building up my Melton touring bike:

gomango

Very nice.

How does the bicycle ride without a load?

bikemig 

Thanks. The bike rides really great under a load. It is a little larger than I normally ride (it's a 57 c-t-c and I normally ride a 56) with a correspondingly longer top tube which I think contributes to its stability. It's a long wheelbase bike at 42 inches but rides great without a load as well. It rides pretty much like a high end sports touring bike. I actually have it built up now more as a sports touring bike than as a tourer.

gomango

It also appears to have ample room for wide tires for off road use, which would prove to make it even more useful.

The frameset looks so minty. Is it a refinish?

bikemig 

It takes long reach sidepull brakes and can handle a 700 x 32c with fenders. It has three water bottle braze ons so it was made to be a long-distance bike. The bike does like minty, . It is all original. I recently cleaned up all the parts (the derailleurs are NOS, the other parts have a fair amount of use). I have another vintage touring bike which I've used for most of my tours (a Trek 720 which looks pretty beat up) so this bike didn't see a lot of touring use.

gomango

Then it's even more of a find in that super condition.

Congrats on your good fortune.

I've love to ride a Melton someday.

The Golden Boy 

How do you like the feel of the Power Shifters pulling the XC Pro?

I used my Sachs/Huret shifters and they felt nice with whatever derailleur- but with the XC Pro- I don't know if it's the pull against the stronger return spring- it's a very smooth shift.

bikemig 

I thought about using indexing sun tour bar ends but decided to go with the downtube shifters. I think it looks really clean on an old bike and more old school looking. The combo is very fine. I think that the xc pro was probably suntour's best RD and the power shifters are very, very smooth. I am running a suntour alpha 7 speed freewheel so I can go with indexing if I want. I tried to build the bike mainly with suntour components (crank, derailleurs, brakes, and freewheel). I used the crank on a cross country tour so it has seen some miles but I was able to piece together a suntour cup and cone BB since the original one was a bit shot. The hubs are 36 hole campy tipos and the rims are MA-2s.

The Golden Boy 

I have a Superbe Pro (from the generation concurrent with the XC-Pro) that I really wanted to use on the 400- but it sat too high to accept a 30 tooth cog.



If you're talking about indexing... try out the Command Shifters.

bikemig 

You know, I had forgotten about command shifters. I've heard great things about them; I may try them out. I'm a big fan of superb pro stuff as well; the RD looks really smart on your Trek 400.

The Golden Boy 

Thanks! If I only had gotten the Superbe Pro to work... I've heard them described as "like jewels." It'll probably go on my Trek 730 when I get around to that.

FWIW- I got a set of used 7sp Command Shifters off the eBay either last year or earlier this year for under $50. I guess it helped that the guy said they were unused and NOS, even though the pics CLEARLY showed signs of use. If you've used Accushift, you understand the hard click and once you're used to that... it's sweet. Only "bad" thing is that it encourages riding on the hoods and ramps. But I ride there anyway...

pedalnmetal

Looks like we have similar tastes. I recently picked up a '87 400 Elance with everything pretty much original, and am trying to figure out what I'd like to do with it. Although 'true' touring bikes are my soft spot, I've also become more interested in doing some drop bar / 'light touring' / 'all-arounder' conversions on some classic MTBs. In the past 6 months I've picked up a lugged 1993 Trek 970, a 1991 Bridgestone MB-2, a near mint 1992 Miyata Elevation 1000, and a 1986 Ross Mt Hood (also with roller cam brakes) - all in good shape. I like what you did with your High Sierra. Now I need to stop buying and start working on them ... I'm sure I'll be seeking advice here on BF.

The Golden Boy 

Start a thread with pics and where everyone can throw ideas at you- you've got a pretty cool stable of bikes and at least a couple will get you into a good "all-arounder/touring" type neighborhood.

rawly old

Here's my poor man's version 'World Traveller' A.) $15 mtn bike of uncertain pedigree
B.) Inframe pannier ala Goodwill $5 Samsonite carry-on. C.) Stem bag $2 also
Goodwill, an insulated lunch bag/w shoulder strap. D.) $2 thrift store basket containing
a $20 surplus Marine bivy with $15 Walmart fleece bag. E.) bottles & cages 1$ ea.
In as much as I am old, fat, and have had major traumatic injuries to both
legs, the object in the round olive cover is a 2.2 hp. weedwhacker engine for
hills or just when I feel lazy.
(I don't know what I did to change the font nor how to change it back)

M A V

Here's a recent build. Early 1970s Benotto with Shimano 600 Arabesque.

non-fixie 

^ Pretty!

non-fixie 

The true art of recycling. I like it.

rawly old

Not so much a case of recycling as one of limited finances. However, it is more satisfying to
manufacture discards into something just as durable & functional any purchased , factory-made
product. When one thinks of the labor that went into earning the money to buy new, it is
far simpler and cheaper to make things yourself. I look at these things & see what they might
become. So much remains out there that can still be useful; why not make use of it.

(140 mpg)

non-fixie 

Whatever the reason, I just think it is good practice to use up old stuff before committing valuable resources to making and buying new stuff. And with a little fantasy, like in your case, the old stuff can go a long way.

mattabi528

This is my '75 Peugeot and '72 Motobecane Grand Touring I can never decide which to ride.