A Learning Experience

Like all new endeavors, one must experience a certain amount of education before anything becomes second nature. The older one gets, the more this is necessary, but the longer the process becomes. And so, now, at the ripe age of 68, I find it necessary to have a little education in my life in the form of bike touring. Hopefully, a long term schooling.  The last bike touring I did, was back in the 60's, and we didn't call it that then. It was just pile a bunch of stuff on your bike and go somewhere. Which we did, on more than one occassion. Back then, we used a news carriers rack on the back of the bike, because they were heavy built steel, they were riveted and welded, they wouldn't break, and they'd hold a ton. The rest was simple..... we piled that ton of stuff on the back of the bike and went somewhere. Once, up and over Angeles Crest highway, through Palmdale, and Mojave and all the way up to Tioga Pass and into Yosemite from the back side. Certainly an interesting trip, lots of bike pushing going on. Was gone a month, camped, had lots of fun, got really dirty and really smelly.....even the bears wouldn't have anything to do with me. And returned home, in time to start the new semester at college.....after a few baths.
Now, however, it's a different ball game. Now, you need a specialized bike made just for touring as the majority of normal bikes on the market anymore simply aren't strong enough to take the abuse. A touring bike needs to be strong above all, strong frame, strong wheels, strong hubs, strong fork, strong racks and accessories, and most of all....strong legs! All this strength comes at a price however, and that price is weight. Touring bikes weigh a LOT!  Certainly compared to a racy road bike. And, they weigh a lot BEFORE you put anything else on them. Robust frame tubes, heavy wheels, lots of large diameter stainless steel spokes, in fact, everywhere you look, a touring bike seems to be overbuilt. Racy roadies would hate them. A touring mentality does take a bit of adjustment in the (slow) speed department. Slow down, enjoy life, think a lot, and enjoy seeing the world drifting by at a slow pace. Revel in the things you missed while you were watching the speedometer on your race bike, trying to get that extra 1/10 mph average from it.
There are many choices as to accessories to add to your touring pleasure. Many different rack choices, different materials, (notably aluminum or steel), many different choices in touring panniers and bags, in fact the choices are overwhelming. My Cannondale came to me with front and rear racks, a Cannondale rack in the rear..... a very sturdy affair.....and a Jandd rack on the front. I liked the Jandd for the top shelf that allowed me to strap down extra cargo on the top of the rack. Both these racks are aluminum..... and I can hear the purists moan now. Truth is, however, that even though they are aluminum, both have a reputation for strong, reliable service.

Cannondale also builds their frame out of aluminum, and the front fork from chrome-moly steel. The aluminum tubes they use are thick and very strong. Cannondale warrants their frames for life, so they had better be strong. Once again....I hear the purists groaning..... "steel is real"..... and this was probably true 20 years ago, but the truth is, today, neither material has had much of a problem with stress failure. Well...."steel can be welded anywhere in the world".... probably true.... you really want some Transylvania farmer welding your $5000 bike frame? And then, before you tell me, you'd patch it good enough to get it to a big city, might I remind you that big cities anywhere have just as many welders capable of welding aluminum as steel. I would consider ANY welded frame to be a temporary repair however, until I could get the frame replaced. "Steel is stronger", they say...yeah, sure, take a good look at how large cross country trucks are constructed .....all aluminum......80,000 pound loads, more when they can get away with it. An empty 45 foot long tank trailer weighs less than a 1959 Caddy, try that with steel. The trucking industy abandoned steel many decades ago, with good results.  So, anyway, I don't really think material is a REAL issue, just a preference. I chose the Cannondale because I have a really great dealer that I rely on for all my needs, and he takes good care of me. AND..... I'll probably NEVER have to worry about a broken frame, or anything else in Transylvania ever! I don't really plan on ever going to Transylvania, or Siberia, or, Mongolia, or even deepest darkest Africa!  Of course, there is always the ride issue...... "steel is smooth, aluminum is stiff".... Wait a minute now, that's true.... and every bike article you read tells you how the frames need to be stiff and not flexible. Talk about contradiction! Actually, again, it is a personal choice thing, and not a real issue. I have ridden both steel and aluminum frames, and equipped the same, they ride similar, maybe I'm just not picky enough. I suspect a lot of the good ride quality of a touring bike comes from the large tires, and the heavy weight anyway. The tires I chose to have on this bike are 700/42, too large by most peoples standards, but for me, the larger tires have certain advantages that overrule the disadvantages. This bike will be used on a variety of different road surfaces, not all pavement. I had one person tell me he switched from the standard 700/32's down to 700/25's on his touring bike to save weight and have a faster accelerating bike. Really!!! You save a hundred grams and pile on 70 pounds, and do you really think that the loaded touring bike is honestly going to accelerate faster? At least, do you honestly think you will really notice any difference? I doubt it very seriously. Too much media hype trying to sell you $10,000 bikes and components. Magazines do get lucrative advertizing contracts that way you know. Other racy riders may notice that I got the Cannondale Touring 2, not the upscale Touring 1. There was again a good reason. The Touring 1 has a road bike 105 triple crank with gearing that is way too tall for most heavily loaded tourists, and ten speed cassettes. Gears such as 52/38/30 have no place on a touring bike, unless you are able to leap tall buildings with a single bound, or stop charging locomotives with one hand. You are going to carry a bunch of weight with this bike, it needs gears like a truck, not a sports car. As far as a ten speed cassette...... do you really have to ask? Look at the difference in size of a ten speed chain vs a nine speed chain, and then again, think about what you are going to use the bike for, anyway, bigger is stronger, and better. Nine speed cassettes is all you'll ever need, anywhere.
Panniers.....   there was never any doubt. There is only one brand of bicycle pannier on the market that I would consider. The most copied brand design out there. Ortlieb. 'Nuff said! They have proven themselves World-Wide. And they look nice on the bike too.

The handlebar bag is a Topeak.... only because I liked the design. Not because I think it may be any better than any other, it just had features I thought would fit my needs as well as any. Fenders... a neccesity on a touring bike. You're not going out for a short dash away from the house, you are going to be out there for a while, in all kinds of weather. The fenders are SKS longboards.

So, I got the bike out for a short test ride with 38 pounds of weight in the panniers, and trucked on up a short ... (1/2 mile) 20% grade with it, and everything did just fine. The next test is a short camping excursion, but that is going to have to wait until the weather co-operates. Winter is coming on faster than I want to camp. There will be more installments on this post as time goes on.