Help please

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Mark

Weber) said:

I'm going to be a senior in college and am spending part of my last free summer touring around the
perimeter of Ireland with two of my friends. What I'm looking for are suggestions about what sort
of bike I should be buying. From what I understand a touring bike is ideal, but the ones I've found
are prohibitively expensive for my budget. I've heard that a road bike can be used effectively, but
some cannot handle the extra weight from the racks and gear. I'm looking for something in the
$500-$600 range that will last the trip. New or used, really doesn't matter to me as long as it
will last me through the trip, though I would like something that I would be able to use after the
trip considering that I probably won't be doing one of these trips again any time soon.

A mountain bike, if the correct size, will serve as a touring bike. My impression, from touring
Iceland, is that there are more people using mountain bikes than touring bikes, at least there. Many
of the roads in Iceland are less than ideal but I hear that some of the secondary roads in Ireland
are rough.

An older mountain bike, without shocks on either end, shouldn't be too expensive and just might have
the braze-ons that you need for mounting racks. I used a Cannondale but think steel would be safer
for your purpose. That especially applies to threaded bosses and eyelets for rack mounting (I had
some of them get fishy on me).

The key is to get a bike that fits the purpose. If the bike is the right size you could use "drop"
bars if you are comfortable with them.

If you do look at used bikes check for the threaded eyelets on the dropouts, fore and aft. These are
important for rack mounting, plastic or rubber lined sheet metal bands will do where there are no
bosses on the seat stays or front forks. Beware that Cannondale has been known to put the dropouts
on the wrong side of the front dropouts (I have one of these). They should be behind the axle.

Please post a ride report when you get back.

Tom Gibb <[email hidden]

Mark, I note you said Ireland, not Iceland as Tom mis-read.

I live in Ireland, but that's neither here nor there, except that a fattish tyre (28c or more) is
what I would recommend for here, as some of our roads are dodgy, surface wise. Get a cheap mountain
bike, unsuspended or with cheap front suspension and fit slick or semi-slick tyres and bar ends for
extra hand positions and you're off with a fine cheap tourer, suited to Ireland. The Eastern coast
is worth a miss.

Ireland is terrific from Cork City right round and up to the Antrim Coast.

(Mark Weber) said:

I'm new here and to cycling. I have some questions that I haven't been able to find answers to
elsewhere on the internet.

I'm going to be a senior in college and am spending part of my last free summer touring around the
perimeter of Ireland with two of my friends. What I'm looking for are suggestions about what sort
of bike I should be buying. From what I understand a touring bike is ideal, but the ones I've found
are prohibitively expensive for my budget. I've heard that a road bike can be used effectively, but
some cannot handle the extra weight from the racks and gear. I'm looking for something in the
$500-$600 range that will last the trip. New or used, really doesn't matter to me as long as it
will last me through the trip, though I would like something that I would be able to use after the
trip considering that I probably won't be doing one of these trips again any time soon.

Does anyone have any suggestions about what to buy?

I'd suggest keeping your eyes open for a good used touring bike. I recently picked up a practically
unused Fuji Touring Series for $300(US). My girlfriend bought her Trek 520 used for $325.

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net home.earthlink.net~jeverett3Open ↗

[email hidden] (Mark Weber) brightened my day with his incisive wit when in
"]news:[email hidden] he conjectured that:

Quoted message said:

I'm new here and to cycling. I have some questions that I haven't been able to find answers to
elsewhere on the internet.

I'm going to be a senior in college and am spending part of my last free summer touring around the
perimeter of Ireland with two of my friends.

Enjoy : it's a great tour. Hint : Start at Galway, Cork or Sligo (main stations reachable
from Dublin).

My favourite is to go to Galway and then head for Kinsale and along the coast to Kerry. You can then
head up to Galway and Mayo along the west coast. Simply stunning scenery.

--
Walter Mitty.

In message <[email hidden]>, Walter Mitty <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

My favourite is to go to Galway and then head for Kinsale and along the coast to Kerry. You can
then head up to Galway and Mayo along the west coast. Simply stunning scenery.

Don't you mean 'go to Cork and then head for Kinsale etc.'?
--
Michael MacClancy

(Mark Weber) said:

I'm looking for something in the $500-$600 range that will last the trip. New or used, really
doesn't matter to me as long as it will last me through the trip, though I would like something
that I would be able to use after the trip considering that I probably won't be doing one of these
trips again any time soon.

Does anyone have any suggestions about what to buy?

buy a medium priced hardtail (no suspension) mountain bike. i've been using my diamondback sorrento
for years as a touring bike and it works great. trek & gary fisher also make lower end bikes that
would work well for touring --- price ranges should be in the $350-$400 range.

add fenders, head and tail lights, a cycle computer, front and rear racks, and panniers. get a rack
duffle and a handlebar bag. replace the knobby tires with inverse tread "city tires", so you have
less rolling resistance.

you should be able to get a decent mountain bike from your local bike shop (don't buy a
walmart/costco/kmart bike no matter what the brand, they're assembled by mouth breathers who don't
have a clue and often screw up assembly!) and get it fitted to you. make sure you have at least
*two* water bottle cages.

you should take some long weekend training rides to get in shape before you go. i also have found
that clipless pedals are an essential addition, along with a pair of good MTB shoes. pedalling is so
much more efficient when you can clip into the pedals and use both the up and down strokes.

Thanks everyone for the replies. They've all been very helpful. I think I'm going to go with a used
touring bike. What are some decent used models?

Thanks, Mark

In article <[email hidden]>, "Gearóid Ó Laoi, Garry Lee"

Quoted message said:

I note you said Ireland, not Iceland as Tom mis-read.

I didn't mis-read. I wanted to qualify my comment about the use of mtb's for touring since Iceland
has some bad roads which would make a fat tired bike more attractive than a skinny tired bike.

quoting myself, "A mountain bike, if the correct size, will serve as a touring bike. My impression,
from touring Iceland, is that there are more people using mountain bikes than touring bikes, at
least there. Many of the roads in Iceland are less than ideal but I hear that some of the secondary
roads in Ireland are rough."

Tom Gibb <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

less than ideal but I hear that some of the secondary roads in Ireland are rough."

They sure are! But they're great for cycling if you don't mind that as they have very
little traffic.

i also have found that clipless pedals are an

Quoted message said:

essential addition, along with a pair of good MTB shoes. pedalling is so much more efficient when
you can clip into the pedals and use both the up and down strokes.

This is myth. They feel better but that's all. It's been tested and all the effective power is down.
I was touring in Germany last week and I started getting disengaging problem with my SPD (one plain
side) pedals. It was dangerous so I screwed off the SPD cleats from the pedals to stop myself
subconsciouly engaging and carried on without a problem. Though I use SPD, I don't during the winter
and have often toured without them. You don't NEED them at all.

If you can get one a used Dawes Galaxy, or Raleigh Randonneur would be the strongest. Make sure that
your gears aren't badly worn as replacing chainset, cogs and chain can be expensiveish

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I'm new here and to cycling. I have some questions that I haven't been able to find answers to
elsewhere on the internet.

I'm going to be a senior in college and am spending part of my last free summer touring around the
perimeter of Ireland with two of my friends. What I'm looking for are suggestions about what sort
of bike I should be buying. From what I understand a touring bike is ideal, but the ones I've found
are prohibitively expensive for my budget. I've heard that a road bike can be used effectively, but
some cannot handle the extra weight from the racks and gear. I'm looking for something in the
$500-$600 range that will last the trip. New or used, really doesn't matter to me as long as it
will last me through the trip, though I would like something that I would be able to use after the
trip considering that I probably won't be doing one of these trips again any time soon.

Does anyone have any suggestions about what to buy?

You should be able to find a decent used touring bike in your price range. You need to shop around
some more.
-----------------
Alex __O _-\<,_ (_)/ (_)

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I'm going to be a senior in college and am spending part of my last free summer touring around
the perimeter of Ireland with two of my friends. What I'm looking for are suggestions about what
sort of bike I should be buying. From what I understand a touring bike is

Ooohhh, here's me being jealous.

I wish I had taken time for such a trip at your age. The world of job/wife/kids certainly puts a
damper on such possibilities - and I think the carefree college-age ambience won't be there when I
finally do get to do "my trip".

Have a great time!

J.W.

Michael MacClancy <[email hidden]> brightened my day with his incisive wit when in
"]news:[email hidden] he conjectured that:

Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>, Walter Mitty <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

My favourite is to go to Galway and then head for Kinsale and along the coast to Kerry. You can
then head up to Galway and Mayo along the west coast. Simply stunning scenery.

Don't you mean 'go to Cork and then head for Kinsale etc.'?

Woops. Sorry : correction noted.

head for Cork and then Kinsale ...

Sorry 🙂

--
Walter Mitty.