lightspree

+1 That is a nice lookin herd. Building up beautiful, functional touring bikes and touring systems is an unrecognized art form.

lightspree

Some people set out to do something in life, do it and move on.

Others get side-tracked. Some get very side-tracked. They start out wanting to tour, and end up getting deep into mechanics, or they get into collecting (touring, and sometimes other) bikes. Or they get into flipping bikes. Or fixing them up. Or starting websites. Or hunting for good deals. Or gathering knowledge or skills. Or talking endlessly (there is an end though, which fact they may not be taking into account) about these things. Or otherwise making bikes a centerpiece of their life.

I knew a guy who wanted to go on a long tour. He got a good bike, set it up with the help of a shop, rode across the country, leaned his bike against a wall near the airport with a "free to good home" note on it, walked into the airport and flew home.

And he moved on with his life.

Some get overly side-tracked, others steer a straighter course.

For almost everyone, it's not too late to stop goofing off. Or to start goofing off more beautifully.

Happy Feet

And those people probably aren't hanging around bicycle touring discussion forums are they... so tryiing to aim a message at people who aren't there to listen seems somewhat pointless to me. People on a bicycle discussion forum probably like bicycles yeah?

Anyway, what is "more important" than what you enjoy doing? You make touring sound like some task you need to do and drop, like a bucket list item. I'm sure there are people who do that but I sure don't skew my thinking to meet their mentality.

And what the heck does "start goofing off more beautifully" mean? You don't spend a lot of time over at whiteblaze.net do you? Hum...

lightspree

Too many divergent points of view to respond to right now. I see many of these points very differently.

What's more important than bikes (and which aspects of bikes)? I'll just leave that question as a question for now.

Maybe there are other things? Do you think? Maybe?

It's easy to become lost in meaninglessness, more or less -- more or less lost as well as more or less meaningless.

Will Wheeler

I would get a used lower end MTB with forks that are still in good shape (or converted). Can't get more cheap and cheerful than that. Besides most already have options for mounting racks and bottle cages.

J.Higgins 

I'm being serious when I say that I love how the OP can post, and the thread spins off in many differing ways, with many differing ideas, and many different points of view. My bicycle career started when I was five years old and I took the front wheel off of my bike with Dad's pipe wrench. I'm approaching sixty, and the burning embers of my bike lust has been whipped into a flame again (do NOT call me a flamer...).

I guess I just want to say that everyone else's stories and opinion here in this forum makes the visit here every day worthwhile. Its like a salad bar - take what you need and leave the rest. Cheers!

mstateglfr 

Some(many?) days its like the old salad bars at Wendy's where you take the chocolate pudding and leave absolutely everything else as its wilted and browned.


This forum is pretty entertaining when you step back to see how threads take on a life of their own.

Paramount1973 

I would tour on this bike, an early '90s Schwinn High Plains mountain bike. Admittedly, I sourced some parts from bike swaps and the frame was free. I have about $200 in it.

P4170271 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr

Or this one, a late '80s Novara X-R hybrid. Again, I got the frame for free. I have about $250 in it.

Novara X-R, drop bar conversion with 8-speed Ultegra bar end shifters. by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr

tmac100

How many "free frames" do you think are out there to fit tall fellows - like me. I am 6'5" and weigh about 220 lbs... Then of course there is the issue of racks etc for self-supported touring.

Just wondering because I have never found any bicycle that really "fit me". Thus I had to get custom built frames that really "fit me". I await the firestorm, but trust me I have NOT found any bike that fit me as comfortably as my custom built frames. Just like Land's End shirts do not fit me like a custom made shirts. Always compromises with LE shirts - but not with their slacks...

bikemig 

I would tour on this bike in a heartbeat. It's a 1988 specialized stumjumper comp that I picked up from CL for $125 (tange double butted frame and a full XT 3 x 6 group). I converted the bikes to drops and 3 x 8 gearing. With new wheels, shimano bar end shifters, saddle, brake levers, and a nitto bar and stem, the build ran me somewhere in the neighborhood of $300. It runs like a champ and has become my daily commuter plus a fine bike to ride on wintery days.

https://

mstateglfr 

Being the same size, I completely agree that whats readily available for many just isnt around for us. I get great deals on bikes, but they never fit me. I refurbish them and move em on to those who will use em.
I can find deals left and right for someone 5'6-6'. I rarely see a deal for someone 6'4 and taller.

By deal, I mean $75 or less for a full bike in good cosmetic shape.

My last 2 bikes have been built up from frames because of this lack of good options for deals. And they wont be cheap builds. OK by me as I still satisfy the bargin desire by fixing up good solid bikes to sell.

Though I am 6'5, I have been able to find bikes and frames that fit well and are stock not custom. Its all about geometry though, so leg and arm length will change everything between 2 people.
My Fuji made touring bike from 1990 fits great, and is actually something I need to adjust this winter- add a 70 or 80mm stem instead of the 100mm stem thats on the bike now.
The Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross frame I have is 65cm and built into an incredibly comfortable ride that fits great.


Its funny- I hear a lot about how used tall bikes sell for less due to a small demand. Yet as a buyer, I dont see that play out and find that used tall bikes are quite expensive as there are few in numbers and I never see good options for a deal.