Touring frame rec's

If you want function over beauty, Nashbar sells an aluminum frameset
with steel fork for under $180 (on sale now). It's quite decent if you
don't mind some cruddly looking welds:

http://tinyurl.com/f3t6y

Largest size available is a 60cm

[email protected] said:

Howdy,
I'm looking for a beefy 62cm ish touring frame. Oversized aluminum
seems to fit the bill. Does Cannondale sell bare frames? Any
reasonably priced (~600) sources?

Thx,
Mark

Trek 520 comes in a 25" size I believe. Lots and lots on the road.
$1200 complete bike. Surly Long Haul Trucker frame/fork is about $400
frame/fork. 62cm is biggest size. I don't think Cannondale does sell
its touring frames as bare frames.

Since you are willing to build it yourself, you can use about any older
aluminum or steel mountain bike or hybrid frame. Your choice of 26" or
700C wheels depending on which frame you choose. Probably get these
used or NOS fairly cheap. Many come with rear rack mounts on the
seatstays and rack mounts on the dropouts. Probably have to get a new
rigid fork. Can be had fairly cheap from QBP or maybe the local shop
has old takeoffs laying about. Most likely with eyelets on the fork
ends. Can easily use a clamp on low-rider rack instead of the bolt
through model. Nashbar also has a rigid steel fork for 700C and 26"
wheel sizes.

62, Beefy, Touring == STEEL.

You'll appreciate the ride so much more.

Andrew F Martin said:

62, Beefy, Touring == STEEL.

You'll appreciate the ride so much more.

Actually, with a large frame and a load, a laterally stiff frame is
best. Large tubes are the way to go, and that means aluminum.

Amen to that. My first commuter was a Cannondale. Loved it. After it was
stolen, I got a Trek 520 frame. Shimmy heaven. The problem is that I carry
an Ortlieb Shuttle on top of a Blackburn expedition rack that loves to start
things vibrating in back. I mangled the derailer hanger in a crash and
replaced the frame with a Novara. Tange db tubing, Japanese made. Very
well constructed frame. Alas, the same problem. After15k miles, fatigue
set in:

http://members.cox.net/m.atanovich/Stay.jpg

Both stays failed in the middle of my ride. Can you say "rear suspension"?
The only thing that saved me was the brake cable hanger hitting the seatpost
clamp.

I want oversized aluminum. Or titanium. I hear "the ride" about any frame
material way too much (I think the ad writers for frames do speaker wire as
well). A few psi in the tires makes more difference than any frame material
could.

"Peter Cole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Andrew F Martin said:

62, Beefy, Touring == STEEL.

You'll appreciate the ride so much more.

Actually, with a large frame and a load, a laterally stiff frame is best.
Large tubes are the way to go, and that means aluminum.

Mark Atanovich said:

Amen to that. My first commuter was a Cannondale. Loved it. After it was
stolen, I got a Trek 520 frame. Shimmy heaven. The problem is that I carry
an Ortlieb Shuttle on top of a Blackburn expedition rack that loves to start
things vibrating in back. I mangled the derailer hanger in a crash and
replaced the frame with a Novara. Tange db tubing, Japanese made. Very
well constructed frame. Alas, the same problem. After15k miles, fatigue
set in:

I'd use a Bruce Gordon rack. Tubular steel. And while I was at it I'd
probably buy a Bruce Gordon touring bike.
Phil Brown

Wow, the frame looks even whimpier than my old Trek. No thanks.

[email protected] said:

Howdy,
I'm looking for a beefy 62cm ish touring frame. Oversized aluminum
seems to fit the bill. Does Cannondale sell bare frames? Any
reasonably priced (~600) sources?

Thx,
Mark

For a genuine toruing frame. Waterford 'Adventure' cycle-

http://www.waterfordbikes.com

nashbar ahs one - i almost bought one yesterday but the frames don't go
to 63-64cm

In article <qYDdg.4533$AB3.1241@fed1read02>,

Mark Atanovich said:

Amen to that. My first commuter was a Cannondale. Loved it. After it was
stolen, I got a Trek 520 frame. Shimmy heaven. The problem is that I carry
an Ortlieb Shuttle on top of a Blackburn expedition rack that loves to start
things vibrating in back. I mangled the derailer hanger in a crash and
replaced the frame with a Novara. Tange db tubing, Japanese made. Very
well constructed frame. Alas, the same problem. After15k miles, fatigue
set in:

http://members.cox.net/m.atanovich/Stay.jpg

Both stays failed in the middle of my ride. Can you say "rear suspension"?
The only thing that saved me was the brake cable hanger hitting the seatpost
clamp.

I want oversized aluminum. Or titanium. I hear "the ride" about any frame
material way too much (I think the ad writers for frames do speaker wire as
well). A few psi in the tires makes more difference than any frame material
could.

You know, I have postulated that the ideal touring bike would be made of
carbon fibre, because it's the only frame material where you could
easily carry a small repair kit on your bike.

I wasn't really joking when I said that, but I can't find any makers who
seem to be seriously selling carbon touring bicycles. I'm not in the
market, but if anyone knows of a carbon tourer, I'd like to hear about
it.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

On Sat, 27 May 2006 16:54:05 GMT, Ryan Cousineau <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I wasn't really joking when I said that, but I can't find any makers who
seem to be seriously selling carbon touring bicycles. I'm not in the
market, but if anyone knows of a carbon tourer, I'd like to hear about
it.

Dear Ryan,

"Nobody's making carbon fiber touring bikes as far as I know, yet."

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-materials.html

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

UMVELT! UMVELT! the adventure looks like my raleigh rampart '87 at
$50. off course, i hear the complete story resides in the headtube and
what's to see in a photo?

the question i carry unansewred - does a genuine enlightened design
touring frame carry loaded front and rear bags with greater aplomb than
a non enlightened design touring frame?

one would expect that yes this is true but as we all know...

if searched, for 'touring bikes' maybe 'touring bikes san fransisco' ,
a shop there has a list of available top line touring equipment - also
see custom touring frame builders -there's several - 'western flyer'
for example that give a wider view of touring than say the adventure -
visit 'bruce gordon' and the united bicycle institute manufacturers list

Quoted message said:

Which frame do you mean Mr Otter, that are $300 and actually can be
built to do loaded touring, not the wannabe 'touring' stuff, loaded
with a credit card and a windbreaker for a 1 day trip.

*Shakes head in amazement*

I think that the giant explorer frames cost as much as 300$ considering
their complete price. Now I know people who crossed the Himalaya with
them.

I bet all of the shelve 1000$ randonneur type bikes have a frame wich
cosys ~300$, And to suggest that they are all wannabe bikes is complete
and utter nonsense.

Also, a waterford might be a fine bike indeed, but 1500$ for a lugged
steel frame is kinda "steep". If you want a custom built top of the
line touring frame you can get a santos travelmaster for *gasp* 600$.
And yeah, that "cheapo"frame (you can get steel or Alu) also is used by
world travelers. I'm sure you have similar "cheap"deals in the USA.
Anything over 1000$ for a frame is indeed snobbism over function.

And although you scream and shout that it aint true, but a steel frame
is not always the best pick for loads. An oversized Alu frame can be a
lot more stable.

Peter Cole said:

Actually, with a large frame and a load, a laterally stiff frame is
best. Large tubes are the way to go, and that means aluminum.

Huh? I think your prejudice against steel has put you out of touch with
what's really going on out there. Most custom or high-end steel frames
today are built with oversized tubing. Not ridiculously oversized like
titanium or aluminum or CF-reinforced aluminum have to be, but the
right size for the job. Look at Waterfords: they all have oversized
tubes. It's getting harder to find any built with standard 1" top
tubes, 28.6 seat tubes and downtubes..

Excuse me, I have to go, I think my floppy steel frame is rusting.
Amazing it can be ridden at all.

Mark Atanovich said:

replaced the frame with a Novara. Tange db tubing, Japanese made. Very
well constructed frame. Alas, the same problem. After15k miles, fatigue
set in:

http://members.cox.net/m.atanovich/Stay.jpg

Both stays failed in the middle of my ride.

The tubing type and brand are irrelevant, because there is no tubing at
the failure site depicted in your photo. What failed was the
attachment, and so the end cap. The failure is very unusual and could
not occur without defective workmanship or materials. And why is the
stay displaced backward like that? Unless you moved it, this indicates
that there was unwanted stress at rest in the original configuration,
another sign of defective construction.
i

41 said:

CF-reinforced aluminum

Read "CF-reinforced resin".i

41 said:

Mark Atanovich said:

replaced the frame with a Novara. Tange db tubing, Japanese made. Very
well constructed frame. Alas, the same problem. After15k miles, fatigue
set in:

http://members.cox.net/m.atanovich/Stay.jpg

Both stays failed in the middle of my ride.

The tubing type and brand are irrelevant, because there is no tubing at
the failure site depicted in your photo. What failed was the
attachment, and so the end cap. The failure is very unusual and could
not occur without defective workmanship or materials. And why is the
stay displaced backward like that? Unless you moved it, this indicates
that there was unwanted stress at rest in the original configuration,
another sign of defective construction.

Dear 41,

The broken seat-stay could have simply bent in that direction when it
broke under the rider.

Which way a seat-stay will bend in such an unusual failure is
complicated by whether it was the first to break, the second to break,
or broke simultaneously with the other ("Both stays failed in the
middle of my ride"😉.

And God knows what happened after they both broke.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

41 said:

Peter Cole said:

Actually, with a large frame and a load, a laterally stiff frame is
best. Large tubes are the way to go, and that means aluminum.

Huh? I think your prejudice against steel has put you out of touch with
what's really going on out there. Most custom or high-end steel frames
today are built with oversized tubing. Not ridiculously oversized like
titanium or aluminum or CF-reinforced aluminum have to be, but the
right size for the job. Look at Waterfords: they all have oversized
tubes. It's getting harder to find any built with standard 1" top
tubes, 28.6 seat tubes and downtubes..

Excuse me, I have to go, I think my floppy steel frame is rusting.
Amazing it can be ridden at all.

You've got me wrong, I don't give a damn about frame materials (or
frames, particularly). I have never owned a CF or Ti frame, and probably
never will, not unless there's a large drop in prices. In steel and
aluminum, I have ridden "nice" and "not-so-nice" frames and can't really
tell the difference except that the steel ones don't feel as stable at
high speeds, and seem to break more easily.

I'm sure Waterford has improved the design of steel frames, but steel
has only limited suitability in lightweight applications like bicycles.
As I've said, I couldn't care less, I'll happily ride inexpensive steel
frames, but an expensive, "high performance" steel frame is an oxymoron
-- strictly for retro-grouches.