TomvanHalen's tourer - Raleigh 853 (sick flames ITT)

Mavic XM 317 (440g) or the XM 719 (470g).

Ta muchly!

For now, managed to get a good price on some pretty mint XTR hubs laced to old school WTB PowerBeam rims (~410g). Been having a look around and maybe at some point I'll rebuild them. Perhaps with CSS Rigida Grizzlies. The idea of indestructible black brake surfaces is very appealing.

On the other hand, I still may get the frame modified with a disc tab and mudguard mounting points and not worry about wheel size any more.

Housing and that arrived yesterday and I got everything cabled up. Couldn't resist stealing my girlfriend's wheels and taking it on an inaugural ride to work and around the university woods. I love it already. Need to dial in the saddle position a bit.

Remind me of Benedict's bike, abet in a very English chavvy way.

Tbf that bike was a big part of my inspiration. Unfortunately I'm not made of money and rad, well-used parts.

If mine looks half as good when it's finished and loaded up I'll be happy.

Then put this in the bottle cage before photographing it.

Perfection

Mmm that came out very nice. Anyway, did we already have a canti vs v-brake debate in this thread?

@Heldring I think I avoided that one so far.

Plenty of progress to make still. On that note, more fun things arrived. Need some wheels of my own now

Talk to me about touring luggage. I currently have a pair of panniers that will take 30-36l, plus whatever I can strap to the Nitto M12 I've ordered (or put in a basket on top of it). For ~week long tours, how much extra space should I be looking to get?

Currently thinking the Blackburn seatpack and frame bag, but if I could get away with just a seatpack I might splurge on the Restrap one (max 13l drybag compared to the 11l that comes with the Blackburn). Has anyone handled either?

Camping or hostels?
How fond are you of the kitchen sink?

Camping, but want to keep things to a minimum

Do you need all that capacity?

Might be worth pulling out all the shit you want to take. Put half of it back, stuff the rest into panniers and then see what's left... Basket can hold quite a bit + easy reach for jackets/snacks. Frame bag is handy for keeping weighty stuff (tools etc.) centred or grabbing food on the go - might interfere with bottles though.

The Restrap holster is a nice bit of kit, not seen the Blackburn to compare. The big difference from my last saddle bag to the Restrap was in the quality of build and the quality of the fixings. My first saddle bag , te compression buckle snapped 2 days into tour. The Restrap fidlok fastenings are tough.

I reckon (depending on how much stuff you're carrying of course) 36l worth of panniers, basket on front and a frame bag will be more than enough space for comfy touring, especially if you strap your tent to the top of your rack/if you're using bivvy definitely fine.
You can always carry a mussette or one of these gym sack things in your bag in case you want some short term extra storage.

Glad this seems to be the general consensus. Don't necessarily fancy spending too much more money. Hopefully doing an overnighter before Wales to test the setup.

I've never actually ridden with a musette, do they swing around like shoulder bags?

I ride 25 miles a day with a musette, no swing whatsoever .. tie the knot at the right place and they wont move and are still accessible. I just use the free Rapha ones to carry a set of clothes to and from work.

Free Rapha? Hook me up

They come with rapha orders no? At least they used to ..

One of these:

Maybe I'll buy a sock

Haven't done for ages as far as i know, which is a shame

matching road bike ?

Would buy

Do it, tis well cheap