Recommendations for a Rain/Commuting/Camping Bike

"Wayne Clark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My current rain bike is nearing the end of its useful life and I am
looking to this group for recommendations on a replacement. I admit to
being somewhat of a retro roadie so I'd prefer a traditional cro-moly
diamond frame with turned-down handlebars (e.g. not a hybrid with flat
handlebars).

Some the basic needs are:

* eyelets on seat stay and on the fork for both front and rear
fenders and racks,

* 700 x 25c tires,

* triple chainring with 9-spd cassette,

* traditional brake levers on the drops plus the mini-levers on the
top of the handlebars also (I've seen these on a Lemond at Palo Alto
Bicycles and on a Trek at Spin Cycle [Cary, NC] -- very cool).

I'll probably alternate between clipless pedals (for commuting and road
riding) and clipped pedals (for cycle camping).
Any recommendations?

You don't say how much you want to spend, but a couple of bikes to check
out:

Rivendell Rambo:
http://www.rivbike.com/html/bikes_rambouilletframes.html

ANT club racer bike:
http://www.antbikemike.com/clubracing.html

Kogwell:
http://kogswell.com/

Sorry ... I left out the important detail of price. I expect to go up
to around $2000.

Thanks,
Wayne

"Wayne Clark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sorry ... I left out the important detail of price. I expect to go up
to around $2000.

Thanks,
Wayne

Wayne: you should be able to put together such a bike for less than $500.
Easily. My perfect commuter was less than $200. I think Ryan Cousineau's
all-in was less than $30.

Basically, top-end second-hand steel frames go for next to nothing. Start
with a decent 70's to 80's asian road bike. Best deal going. Unlike a
current road frame, it will have good tire clearance and mounts for
fenders/racks. It will also not have trendy nonsense such as compact
geometry, integrated 1/ 1/8" headsets, etc.

Put some flat bars on it for more heads-up riding and better braking from
MTB brake levers. Add thumbshifters. Dual-pivot long-reach brakes.
Fenders. Done.

On Thu, 09 Dec 2004 06:27:29 GMT, "Dave Mayer" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Wayne Clark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sorry ... I left out the important detail of price. I expect to go up
to around $2000.

Thanks,
Wayne

Wayne: you should be able to put together such a bike for less than $500.
Easily. My perfect commuter was less than $200. I think Ryan Cousineau's
all-in was less than $30.

Basically, top-end second-hand steel frames go for next to nothing. Start
with a decent 70's to 80's asian road bike. Best deal going. Unlike a
current road frame, it will have good tire clearance and mounts for
fenders/racks. It will also not have trendy nonsense such as compact
geometry, integrated 1/ 1/8" headsets, etc.

Put some flat bars on it for more heads-up riding and better braking from
MTB brake levers. Add thumbshifters. Dual-pivot long-reach brakes.
Fenders. Done.

It won't be the bike he wants, but it would be "done".

Life is Good!
Jeff

"Wayne Clark" <[email hidden]> writes:

<looking for a "rain" bike>

You want to spend $2000 on a rain bike???

Check out the Rivendell Atlantis and the Gunnar Crosshairs. You'd
need to build them up with your own choice of parts, which IMHO is the
best way.

Wayne Clark said:

My current rain bike is nearing the end of its useful life and I am
looking to this group for recommendations on a replacement.

<snip>

Wayne Clark
Cary, NC

Wayne,

If it were me, I'd start by trying to finagle this
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/rambouillet/index.htm
into my budget. It sounds perfect for what you want.

Alternatively, for a little less bread, I'd start with this frame:
http://www.somafab.com/extrasmoothie.html
and build from there.

Good luck!

Sounds like you want a loaded touring bike. You can swap tire size
depending on whether you are riding around town or around the country.
The usual turn key loaded touring bikes are Trek 520, Cannondale T800
and T2000, Bruce Gordon BLT, and a half dozen or so others I cannot
recall. Go over to the Adventure Cycling website and look at their
annual Touring Bike article. They list all of the current touring
bikes on the market. It will show the ones I missed.

Quoted message said:

Sounds like you want a loaded touring bike. You can swap tire size
depending on whether you are riding around town or around the country.
The usual turn key loaded touring bikes are Trek 520, Cannondale T800
and T2000, Bruce Gordon BLT, and a half dozen or so others I cannot
recall. Go over to the Adventure Cycling website and look at their
annual Touring Bike article. They list all of the current touring
bikes on the market. It will show the ones I missed.

Good call. Here's a link to their 2004 touring bike list:
http://snipurl.com/b8sb

Matthew C Roberts said:

Wayne Clark said:

My current rain bike is nearing the end of its useful life and I am
looking to this group for recommendations on a replacement.

<snip>

Wayne Clark
Cary, NC

Wayne,

If it were me, I'd start by trying to finagle this
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/rambouillet/index.htm
into my budget. It sounds perfect for what you want.

A guy in our club has a bike like that, with real chrome fenders on it. It's an
impressive machine. He still whips most of us.

Quoted message said:

Alternatively, for a little less bread, I'd start with this frame:
http://www.somafab.com/extrasmoothie.html
and build from there.

Good call.

Momovelo sells roll-your-own Soma bikes, plus some other unusual ones. In an
attempt to be arty, their website is a pain to use, but well worth a look.

www.momovelo.com

Matt O.

"Matt O'Toole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
..

Quoted message said:

Momovelo sells roll-your-own Soma bikes, plus some other unusual ones. In
an
attempt to be arty, their website is a pain to use, but well worth a look.

www.momovelo.com

Do a search, there are alot of problems with momovelo's business practice.
Its recommended that you not do business with them. Your credit card will be
charged, but you may not get your product. Caveat Emptor!

Wayne Clark said:

Any recommendations?

I have the Rambouillet that a couple others have suggested and it is an
awesome bike, not just for "rain" but for all my other on-road riding
too. It's definitely a luxury in that you could put together a bike
just as nice in every way except esthetics for half the price or less.
It also doesn't meet a couple of your requirements. It's not really
intended for carrying a heavy load so might be a bit flexible for cycle
camping, and it also has only one eyelet in the rear making mounting
both fenders and a rack slightly inconvenient.

I think the recommendations for a touring bike are on target. One not
yet mentioned is the Surly Long Haul Trucker, nice touring frame for
about $400. You could make a really nice bike meeting all your
requirements for $1000. If you like the look of the Rambouillet, check
out the Atlantis, same retro styled beauty, very practical and sturdy,
but about 3X the cost of the Surly.

I also saw a couple of this guy's bikes:

http://www.antbikemike.com/index.html

at a local shop. Very nice. He seems to specialize in the kind of
thing you're looking for.

-Jeff

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jeff Loomis said:

Wayne Clark said:

Any recommendations?

I think the recommendations for a touring bike are on target. One not
yet mentioned is the Surly Long Haul Trucker, nice touring frame for
about $400. You could make a really nice bike meeting all your
requirements for $1000. If you like the look of the Rambouillet, check
out the Atlantis, same retro styled beauty, very practical and sturdy,
but about 3X the cost of the Surly.

_ One thing to note is that both Surly LHT and Alantis are a 700c
bike only in 56cm and up frame sizes. However, for $2000 you can
get pretty much any of the top of the line TIG welded touring
bikes. Waterford or Bruce Gordon are examples.

_ Booker C. Bense

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"Tim McNamara" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Wayne Clark" <[email hidden]> writes:

<looking for a "rain" bike>

You want to spend $2000 on a rain bike???

Check out the Rivendell Atlantis and the Gunnar Crosshairs.

You'd

Quoted message said:

need to build them up with your own choice of parts, which IMHO

is the

Quoted message said:

best way.

Hey, all of my bikes are rain bikes here in PDX! Anyway,
spending this kind of money on a rain beater is not necessary. I
would go to eBay and buy myself an old Bridgestone, Miyata or one
of a hundred used European steel "racing" frames from the '70s
and '80s that can take fenders. My current rain bike is an older
racer built for me in 1980 (the other frames from the mid to late
'70s broke or got stolen -- I am down to my last steel frame).
It is perfect for its purpose, especially with its new, 5mm thick
powder paint job. Gobs o' fun! It gets treated with no respect.
If I cleaned my bike thoroughly every time I rode in the rain, I
would never get to see my family. I could not imagine spending
$2K on something that is going to get abused like that. Also
think about a single speed rain beater. -- Jay Beattie.

In article <[email hidden]>, "Wayne

Clark said:

My current rain bike is nearing the end of its useful life and I am
looking to this group for recommendations on a replacement. I admit to
being somewhat of a retro roadie so I'd prefer a traditional cro-moly
diamond frame with turned-down handlebars (e.g. not a hybrid with flat
handlebars).

Check Bilenky cycle works. I think he has one in your price range.

Why is your current bike coming to the end of it's life? Components can be
upgraded.

Tom Gibb <[email hidden]>

Wayne Clark said:

My current rain bike is nearing the end of its useful life and I am
looking to this group for recommendations on a replacement. I admit

to

Quoted message said:

being somewhat of a retro roadie so I'd prefer a traditional cro-moly
diamond frame with turned-down handlebars (e.g. not a hybrid with

flat

Quoted message said:

handlebars).

You want my new baby. Lugged steel frame (Columbus Zona), with nice
stainless rack eyelets, stainless dropouts, stainless pump-peg and pads
so my Zefal doesn't scratch the paint, and clearance for mudguards
(assuming it ever actually rains here in Sydney). Put together with
Campy 9 speed Chorus parts, with downtube shifters, Record brake
levers, and a sexy custom stem.

Reasonably light (under 9kg including pedals but with no rack), so it
still goes fast, super-comfy for long rides, and super-reliable for
commuting.

http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/Suzy.Jackson/frame/audax_built_front.jpg
Regards,

Suzy

My current rain bike is a 31+ year old CrMo Schwinn Voyageur and the
frame rust is eating it away, especially around the head tube lugs. I
was able to fight off the rust for 25 years but the past 5 years has
been a real battle, especially since I ride it under the worst of
conditions.

I bought it brand new in September 1973. It was the first year that
Schwinns were 100% Japanese-built (Ishiwata tubing throughout).

Coincidentally, I also had to replace my 28 year old Colnago this year
too and I used ride it only under ideal conditions. FYI, I bought a
new Colnago MasterX Light ... a CrMo frame with a carbon fork. Real
sweet bike.

Wayne

In article <lfStd.464397$nl.453528@pd7tw3no>,

Dave Mayer said:

"Wayne Clark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sorry ... I left out the important detail of price. I expect to go up
to around $2000.

Thanks,
Wayne

Wayne: you should be able to put together such a bike for less than $500.
Easily. My perfect commuter was less than $200. I think Ryan Cousineau's
all-in was less than $30.

My bikes are so cheap it gets hard to separate maintenance costs from
capital costs. I routinely spend more on brake upgrades than I do on
acquiring whole bikes.

Here's a quick costing of my Bianchi Sport, as best as I can figure it:

Bike: $10
New bike seat (old one worked, but I like this one better): $3.50
seatpost (new, narrow seat meant I caught my shorts on the mount
"ears"😉: $15
fenders (scavenged from another found bike): free
RSX front brake: $20
tail rack (found in the pile of parts): free

Practically speaking, a typical road bike of this vintage will require
fenders and a tail rack to become a basic commuter bike. I would
consider a brake upgrade on single-pivot equipped bikes (cantilever
brakes are fine as-is).

A used bike will typically need tires, chain, and freewheel, either
sooner or later. The ideal upgrade for such a bike is a Shimano Mega-7
freewheel, which is a nice design and gives you an extra gear.
Hyperglide shaped teeth make a major difference in shifting performance,
indexed or not.

Quoted message said:

Basically, top-end second-hand steel frames go for next to nothing. Start
with a decent 70's to 80's asian road bike. Best deal going. Unlike a
current road frame, it will have good tire clearance and mounts for
fenders/racks. It will also not have trendy nonsense such as compact
geometry, integrated 1/ 1/8" headsets, etc.

Put some flat bars on it for more heads-up riding and better braking from
MTB brake levers. Add thumbshifters. Dual-pivot long-reach brakes.
Fenders. Done.

This works fine, but there's also no serious disadvantage to an old
rigid mountain bike fitted with slick tires, racks, and fenders. As a
touring machine, it works nicely, and the canti brakes should work fine.
Old rigid MTBs, even rather good ones, exist in nearly the same
valueless netherworld as pre-indexed road bikes.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.

Quoted message said:

"Matt O'Toole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Momovelo sells roll-your-own Soma bikes, plus some other

unusual ones. In

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

an
attempt to be arty, their website is a pain to use, but well worth a look.
www.momovelo.com

bfd said:

Do a search, there are alot of problems with momovelo's business practice.
Its recommended that you not do business with them. Your credit card will be
charged, but you may not get your product. Caveat Emptor!

And there are lots of Soma dealers:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/soma.html

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Agree. In fact, if you don't have a good LBS near you, Andy Muzi's
Yellow Jersey would be a very good substitute!