bruce19

Bang for the Buck:

1. Aluminum

datlas 

True. I have seen what they can do with some of the hydroformed aluminum frames and reports are very good.

DaveSSS 

I got a great bang for the buck with a Yoeleo R12 carbon frame, fork, seatpost and integrated bars for $1215, delivered with no tax or shipping. I even got a special order pearl white frame for that price.

https://www.yoeleobike.com/products/...bike-frame-r12

bruce19

I have 3 road bikes. A Guru Photon (CF), Guru Sidero (steel) and a CAAD12 (AL). I love them all but when new the CAAD 12 was a lot less money. Pre-COVID and with 105 I paid $1500 for it.

indyfabz

As someone who tours regularly, I can say that there is definitely some truth still left to that. Before I got into touring, I looked at the activity with scorn. Strapping a bunch of crap to your bike was an excuse to go slow, ride in sneakers, a flannel shirt and tube socks, use panniers held together with duct tape and wear that Bell V-1 Pro helmet that from before the last ice age. So, when I decided to ride across the country unsupported in '99, I was going to do it right. Things like real cycling jerseys and shorts, and Carnac MTB shoes. These days I tour in P.I. bibs, Rapha jerseys and a Giro Synthe helmet. Gots to look good, you know.

But with the increasing popularity of UL "bikepacking" and trying to survive with as little as possible, more "modern" folks are taking up "touring" on things like CF bikes.

big john

My last touring bike was aluminum with a steel fork.

seypat

I'm guessing UL bikepacking doesn't share much in principle with the "Overlanding" fad/trend you see out there. Those people have as much crap strapped to their sled as they can carry. Around here they use the vehicle as a daily driver because they think it looks cool.

indyfabz

What's "Overlanding"? Not familiar with that term.

seypat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overlanding

https://www.motortrend.com/news/what-is-overlanding/

datlas 

There is a companion thread in General someone bumped, that includes a poll!

Vote now!

tomato coupe

You had a couple of mistakes. Except for those, it looks good.
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georges1

Your forgot to mention the Reynolds 9 series of high end steel such as the reynolds 953 ,the Reynolds 931, the Reynolds 921 and the well known Reynolds 631 and Reynolds 853 being some of the highest grade steels on themarket,the 631 and 853 started to be very popular in mid 90's and had a much better durability,comfort and responsiveness than any carbon,aluminium or perhaps titanium frame .Merlin, Moots,Kona, Linskey and Litespeed used exclusively Reynolds Titanium Ti 3AL-2.5V tubing Reynolds Ti 3 Al 2.5V. Italians with Columbus have Columbus Omnicrom the base for HSS, Spirit, Life, Max, SL, SLX et CENTO rear triangle frameset tubes and they also have Columbus XCR a competitor of the Reynolds 931 but below in quality compared to the 953. Columbus was known to have introduced Nivacrom with the Genius series of tubes back in 1992 and Thermacrom with Foco and Ultrafoco in1996. Dedacciai is also an important player when it comes to steel tubing with the Dedacciai Dr Zero and Dr Zero 1. True temper a well known name in frame building exited the bike industry 6 years ago true temper's good bye to the bike industry . Slightly less known were french manufacturers of high grade steel tubes such as Excell (used exclusively by framebuilder Jean Marie Pilorget) and Vitus which proposed at the time high end steel for road and Mtb frames back then. Tange (japanese maker) is still present not as used as Reynolds, Columbus or Deda but still present with its series of tange series of tubes.Tange was popular in the 80's-90's in the MTB industry. Is h i t t a w a was also another japanese which produced high end steel tubes but which disappeared at the end of the 80's early 90's.

DangerousDanR

Some Lynskeys, like my R350, have "Race-tuned diamond-shaped 6AL/4V tubeset for ultimate stiffness, strength and maximum power output"

Camilo

I'm flattered you saw that! Or should I be worried about you?

georges1

It was also manufactured by Reynolds ,Reynolds Ti 6Al 4V. Now this material is in restricted production availability and extended lead-time for 6-4 ELI seamless billet, Reynolds only make this titanium grade to custom order.

diphthong

so bamboo is right out?

znomit

Nothing worse than coming out of the coffee shop and finding a fat panda where your bike used to be.

mstateglfr 

Traditional touring is 'overlanding'? I am not sure what the difference is between 'overlanding' and bikepacking. Both use a mechanized vehicle to get to where you are going, both have the journey as the principal goal, both use camping for primary lodging, and both last extended lengths of time.
I guess bikepacking doesnt typically last years at a time like the wiki entry says overlanding lasts, but traditional touring also doesnt typically last years at a time. Some ride for years at a time, but that is definitely the exception. Most traditional touring lasts probably 2 - 8 days.


Anyways, interesting term.

indyfabz

Originally, bikepacking referred to UL/minimalist travel, typically with fame bags instead of panniers. And it was done in more remote areas, usually on unpaved roads. Like backpacking, but using a bike. These days, a good number of people use it when they are taking about regular old road touring. That can cause confusion when, for instance, someone says they are looking for a bike for bikepacking. Often, bikes used in bikepacking don't have all at attachment points for racks, so if someone is really looking for a bike for traditional touring but uses the term bikepacking, their question can illicit unhelpful responses.

seypat

https://www.urbandictionary.com/defi...rm=overlanding

seypat

All I see out there are posers. I'm sure those rooftop/elevated tents are great............until it's below freezing and the wind is whistling under the bottom of it chilling you to the bone.

indyfabz

Heh. The first night I ever camped in my life was the first night of my first ever unsupported tour. (I had done two week-long, supported tours across PA that had indoor accommodations.) That day marked only the second time I had ridden a fully loaded bike. The tour was 93 days, from Seattle, WA, to Bar Harbor, ME. Then I rode home solo to Philly.

The first night we camped along Puget Sound. It got really cold at night. I got up to go to the bathroom and had to chase away a raccoon that was trying to get our food. (There were 13 of us, including the leader.) There was only a port-a-potty at the group camping area. I was afraid there would be a snake or something inside. I also discovered that tents provide zero sound insulation from snoring. Within the first couple of days we instituted a segregation system. The four bad snorers had to pitch as far away from the non-snorers as was practical. When we stayed in places like hostels, there was a snoring room, a non-snoring room and a girls' room.

mstateglfr 

Yeah, I was just meaning that bikepacking in the original sense- minimalist and slapping mounting a bunch of bags to the frame- seems quite similar to 'overlanding' in all the ways that wiki described overlanding. I guess bikepacking is for less time though. Seems like 85% the same though.
Bikepacking now being used to describe traditional touring just confuses the issue, agreed.

seypat

Same thing when I was in Scouts with my son. The sounds of nature will provide you with an alarm system as well as put you to sleep. Those snorers sawing away though, are a different story.

indyfabz

They were really bad. Later in the trip, in NE Indiana, the worst offender crashed and hurt his ribs. That prevented him from sleeping on his side. His snoring got even worse.

I am happy to be awoken by critters like owls and coyotes, but there is something about snoring that pisses me off. I feel like snorers just don't give a damn. I know that's not true, but for some strange reason I feel that way.