robertj298 

I haven't had my Univega Gran Turismo bike long and maybe it's me but it seems to take more effort
to pedal than any of my vintage road bikes. I much prefer riding my road bikes and think I'm
going to sell the Univega

Steve B.

I don't know the Univega, the thread title seems to imply a touring bike, which are typically and by design, heavier then a lighter road "racing" style bike. That would account for the need for more effort. Are you using the Univega for touring ?. If not, and have no intent to tour, they make good grocery getters or gravel bikes as you can usually put pretty big tires on them. If not, sell it. As note, my Miyata City Liner steel touring bike, with racks and fenders, weighs 31.1 lbs, vs. my carbon road bike, which weighs 17.5 lbs, so huge noticeable difference.

robertj298 

Made a mistake the bike is a Univega Gran Turismo

Steve B.

Weight, maybe longer wheel base on Univega makes it feel sluggish, bigger tires, etc....

davester

To get the semantics straight, a touring bike IS a road bike, as opposed to MTBs and so-called gravel bikes which are designed for off road use. That said, the Univega Gran Turismo is a dedicated touring bike variant of a road bike and as such will likely have a heavier frame and heavier and wider wheels/tires (to deal with the need to carry luggage over long distances) than bikes designed for racing or sporty recreational riding. The wheels are probably the primary reason that the Univega gives the impression of being harder to pedal, because they are apt to be less responsive when accelerating. The overall increased weight of the bike might make a tiny difference in effort on long climbs but so does carrying an extra water bottle. As long as everything is properly adjusted and lubricated there should be little other difference in performance.

Steve B.

Good complete reply. I was also thinking basic frame weight as touring bikes are often built with heavier steel tubing to give stiffness to the frame when carrying a load. All those little things can make a bike feel sluggish. My Miyata certainly takes longer to get up to speed. Frame, wheels, fenders, racks, etc..,, all add up.

bikingshearer 

To add to what davester and Steve B. said, many (but not all) bikes designed from the ground up for loaded touring will feel better with a full load on board than they do with just you on board. A true loaded touring bike will be designed and built to want to go in a straight line and feel kind of non-responsive (no twitchy, criterium-bike instant handling here) and, unloaded, may feel kind of "dead" and not springy, at least compared to a racing or sports touring frame; it will handle like a dog compared to road racing bike, like a dead dog compared to a criterium bike, and like a stinky decomposing dead dog compared to a track bike. It will likely have thicker tubing walls as well, adding to the "dead" feel. There is a good chance that the bottom bracket will be a bit lower than you are used to, making it easier to dig in a pedal on a turn and adding to the sense of unresponsiveness.

Put on a full load of panniers and camping gear, however, and these seeming vices turn into desirable features. You want a fully loaded tourer to be straight-line stable, especially on a low-speed climb on a narrow road. The lower center of gravity you get from the lower BB makes it easier to balance. The thicker-walled tubing will mean less twisting under the stress of the added weight of you gear. It may not seem like a big deal, but you will be fresher at the end of the day with the bike that little bit easier to keep upright and going in a straight line. And with a good dedicated tourer, what felt dead unloaded will feel better. It's kind of like a pick-up truck that's built to actually haul stuff - the ride is kind of harsh unloaded but actually feels better with additional weight on it because the frame and suspension were designed to handle that weight. Similarly, the touring frame is designed to handle extra weight. A bike truly designed for loaded touring comes into its own with a load on.

clubman 

Well put. It perfectly describes my old C-dale T-1000, well, to a T.
My longest ride on any bike was about 190 km'. fully loaded on tour. An all-day (and evening) bike.

dddd

The tires alone could be the biggest determinant of the bike's sprightliness, might there also be thorn-resisting tubes or tire liners in the tires?

Generally speaking, touring bikes just don't get up and go quite like racing bikes, though the length of the chainstays can vary quite a bit among touring bikes and some (like my Centurion Pro Tour) behave just like a regular road bike.

sd5782 

Funny you mentioned tire liners. When I purchased my 89 miyata 1000LT, it rode awful. Off came the 23mm tires that were on it, and some thick liners too. Go figure I guess. 35mm Paselas now for a comfortable all day ride, but it also feels a bit slow compared to my 32, 28, and 25 equipped bikes. My bet is tires will make a big difference on OPs bike.

The Golden Boy 

who puts 23s on a M1000LT???

Kabuki12

I recently built a Motobecane Grand Sprint that was intended to be a “training bike” when it came out in 1980. It isn’t a heavy bike but has much longer chain stays than my racing bikes, thus a more relaxed riding bike. This allows for fenders which I will eventually put on the bike for those damp road morning rides in winter and spring. I don’t do long hauls or overnight treks so the Vitus tubing should be fine. I will put lower gearing on it just to make it climb better. It doesn’t feel sluggish , really , but not as responsive as the tighter geometry of my racers. It came with 27” wheels originally so I put a nice set of Rigida 27’s with Campy Record HF hubs which are fairly light. Running 27 x 1” tires, again no need to go wider for my type of riding , so the bike still has a light weight feel. I just rode it last weekend after riding my Colnago for the first 20 miles (I swapped bikes at my shop) then 20 more miles home on the Moto. Both bikes ride well but there is definitely a difference.

plonz 

Soooo I might have been guilty of this in my younger years (IIRC they were probably 25s). As @davester said, a touring bike is a road bike!

sd5782 

I know? And at time of purchase, the son of the elderly owner who was selling this bike also had them pumped up to at least 100psi. With the liners, the ride felt very “interesting “, but I bought it still.