what to chose - steel touring bike

[mike]

PS Just bought a second hand Pompino for audaxing and touring!   

hang on - welcome to the club and all that, but werent you damn rude about pompinos only a few months ago?   

[mike]

I'd either go for a custom, lugged frame with S&S couplings from one of our fine British craftsmen framebuilders or I'd go for the Moulton.

You could always get a Rohloff Thorn 

I'm not even considering a Rohloff, the clicking would drive me nuts. 

[Chris N]

I'm not even considering a Rohloff, the clicking would drive me nuts. 

Yet you're quite happy to put a Campag freehub on there?

Of course you could simply take your Pompino for touring, like other normal people do... 

Frenchie, I'd pay good money to watch you haul camping gear round the Lake District on a 62" fix.

[clarion]

I'm not even considering a Rohloff, the clicking would drive me nuts. 

Yet you're quite happy to put a Campag freehub on there?

My thoughts exactly - they're awful noisy these days...

[mike]

I'm not even considering a Rohloff, the clicking would drive me nuts. 

Yet you're quite happy to put a Campag freehub on there?

My thoughts exactly - they're awful noisy these days...

if you can hear clicking with a campag freehub it's a reminder you should be bloody pedalling!! 

[Frenchie]

Frenchie, I'd pay good money to watch you haul camping gear round the Lake District on a 62" fix.

Is that an offer? I travel light; always.

Camping gear? What camping gear? Never had any in the French Army...

[Frenchie]

I'm not even considering a Rohloff, the clicking would drive me nuts. 

Yet you're quite happy to put a Campag freehub on there?

My thoughts exactly - they're awful noisy these days...

We used the noise to spot Paul on the 2006 Dun Run. As two fixed gear riders, Chris and I kept awake all night thanks to Paul ticking hub... 

[Greenbank]

We used the noise to spot Paul on the 2006 Dun Run. As two fixed gear riders, Chris and I kept awake all night thanks to Paul ticking hub... 

Poring for poor Paul's pawls?

[Fab Foodie]

Frenchie, I'd pay good money to watch you haul camping gear round the Lake District on a 62" fix.

Is that an offer? I travel light; always.

Camping gear? What camping gear? Never had any in the French Army...

[/b]

Never left the barracks eh? 

[mike]

Camping gear? What camping gear? Never had any in the French Army...

the french have an army??

[clarion]

Frenchie, I'd pay good money to watch you haul camping gear round the Lake District on a 62" fix.

Is that an offer? I travel light; always.

Camping gear? What camping gear? Never had any in the French Army...

[/b]

Never left the barracks eh? 

Only to practice white flag duty </Simpsons>

*runs*

[Jakob]

I just had my new fix/track bike built by Steve Goff and he's done a superb job at a very reasonable price. I got a Reynolds 631 main triangle, with 725 rear, semi-fancy lugs, 2 colour enamel, with some detailing, for £500, including shipping...and it took less than 4 weeks. (And no waiting list).
 Granted, I haven't yet ridden it, but the workmanship looks superb.
http://www.steve-goff-frames.co.uk/default.shtml

[Tom B]

Put 15kg on the back and the bike doesn't handle any differently!

Wow! Is this using regular panniers or the Moulton-specific rackpack?

[Frenchie]

Camping gear? What camping gear? Never had any in the French Army...

the french have an army??

... and white and black kepis, Monsieur!

[Frenchie]

Frenchie, I'd pay good money to watch you haul camping gear round the Lake District on a 62" fix.

Is that an offer? I travel light; always.

Camping gear? What camping gear? Never had any in the French Army...

[/b]

Never left the barracks eh? 

18 months in Morocco... Been up and mostly down the country. Loved it!

[Frenchie]

PS Just bought a second hand Pompino for audaxing and touring!   

hang on - welcome to the club and all that, but werent you damn rude about pompinos only a few months ago?   

No, never rude. I still think their rear end is "lazy" (see my reviews on ACF and here I think) and I'd rather ride a Langster on a sporty ride. The Pomp on the other hand seems suited to slower, laden/commuting/off-road rides, hence the acquisition! But it is not a very responsive or excting bike. I described it as a limousine.

[bikenerd]

Put 15kg on the back and the bike doesn't handle any differently!

Wow! Is this using regular panniers or the Moulton-specific rackpack?

Thats with an APB rack.  The TSR rack isn't as strong as the old APB one but the load limit for the rear rack+specific, Carradice made, rackpack is 16kg.
I don't think you can put rear panniers on a TSR.  You can get a front pannier rack that takes small / universal panniers (I have Carradice overlander for mine).  However, due to the long head tube, these front panniers do not sit on the wheel or move with the steering, so don't affect it nearly as much as low rider front panniers on a normal touring bike.

There's a picture somewhere of someone using an APB to move a chest of drawers, but I can't find it at the moment!
Instead, here's a picture of a fully loaded Moulton linky.  I certainly wouldn't take so much stuff, though!

[juliet]

I have a Hewitt Cheviot & it's lovely.  Haven't used it for proper touring yet, mind (off to Australia in the autumn!) but I've ridden lots of audaxes on it, and done a v little bit of credit card touring, and I love it

[Tom B]

Thanks, Bikenerd 

I don't think you can put rear panniers on a TSR

Is that because the tubing is too thick, or because the rack has no side struts to prevent it wobbling or catching in the wheel?

[bikenerd]

The TSR rack has no side struts.  It's also a lot narrower than the old style APB rack in the picture I linked to in the above post.  You might be able to fit or make something (DIY and Moultons go together well) but you'd have to watch for heel clip.
Really though, if you got a rear rack + Carradice bag and two front panniers, you shouldn't need anything else.

[border-rider]

Unless you're going for serious, bonkers, out-of-the-way in the back of beyond touring, in which case I'd get a very vanilla steel tourer with 26" wheels and friction shifters.

Like this ?

Members' bikes

[Sophie Days.]

What camping gear? Never had any in the French Army...

Is that because they're never in a war long enough to need to stay out overnight?

I would get a Cheviot from Hewitt and spend the rest of the money going off and using it.

Custom building regular sized frames seems a little excessive.

[Ivo]

Directly after PBP I built up the Bob Jackson touring frame I received just before PBP. I haven't touched my audax bike since
It handles really well both fully loaded with camping gear as with audax kit. Especially while descending, I have to check the speed every time I near a corner since it handles that well that I'm clocking 55 when I think that I'm riding only 40. Both with and without luggage.
I'v finished it with Campa Ergopower and a SON hub, so it's fully usable for audaxing. For longer rides I'll pack a pair of downtube shifters in case something goes seriously wrong with either the back wheel, the dropout or the Ergopower lever. Used that emergency system during PBP and it worked very well.
So Bob Jackson and Campagnolo get my vote.

[Frenchie]

What camping gear? Never had any in the French Army...

Is that because they're never in a war long enough to need to stay out overnight?

 

Blimming efficient, I know!

My "unit" was by definition nearly always based abroad. Some of the French guys are engaged in Afghanistan at present BTW, for example. Sorry to disappoint!

[gordon taylor]

I don't think we've mentioned Longstaffs since your first post. I love them, I've got three, and badly want a (touring) fourth. I wouldn't dream of getting a custom frame from anywhere else. They build gob-smackingly beautiful bikes - although their customer service reputation has taken some knocking of late. However, whenever I see  any of my Longstaffs parked up somewhere, it just makes me smile with the thought that my bike is so pretty!

I've also done some huge, fully loaded, touring distances on Longstaff bikes that were never, ever built as tourers. Their lighter bikes are tough.