Re: your worst touring bike

Speaking of which...this thread, and this message in particular, prompts me to ask the question:

I would like a touring bike. At the moment, I have a nice KTM road bike, and a nice Lapierre mountainbike (front suspension only). I do not ride off-road, and so I am thinking whether adding some bits to the mountainbike will make it suitable for touring. Its gearing is certainly suitable; what it lacks is any provision for baggage (other than the small handlebar bag I use for daily odds and ends). But someone told me that there are actually rear rack systems that can be mounted on bicycles even if there are no pre-drilled holes. That, and changing from the current knobby tires to something better suited for the road. Any thoughts? I could of course just buy a proper touring bike, and may well do so one day, but for now I am looking for a short term solution. I do not need to carry sleepin
 g bag or cooking utensils or tents, just clothes, toiletries, camera and my wallet stuffed with suitable plastic :-)

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan Wajsman
[email protected]

Alicante, Spain
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YNWA

On Feb 19, 2011, at 10:17 PM, Denis Kertz wrote:

>> From: Scott Loveless [mailto:[email protected]]
>> Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2011 9:48 AM
>> 
>> Just for the sake of conversation, what's the most ill-suited bike
>> you've ever taken on a tour?
> 
> Well, it wasn't my bike but when I rode the Southern Tier route in 2004
> starting from San Diego, I met a guy coming in the other direction from
> Florida near the Arizona border.  He had an ordinary hard-tail mountain bike
> that was almost certainly what he just happened to have and so it was his
> touring bike.  What was unusual wasn't his bike but his pannier "system."
> He had a rolled up bedroll strapped to his straight handlebars and two day
> packs swinging freely from each end of his handlebars.  I've always
> regretted that I didn't get a photo.  The interesting thing was he seemed to
> be perfectly content with his arrangement, contrasted by my "correct"
> front/rear pannier arrangement.  I use my memory of this encounter to remind
> myself that the trip is still more important than the best/correct equipment
> and that folks are surprisingly adaptable to whatever they have available.
> 
> Denis
> 
> 
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