Generic Touring Thread

650b wheels will fit in a slot dropout 26" inbred.

I see. Actually I am fairly happy with my own 29" Inbred. What I'm really after is something similar for my girlfriend - only smaller and cheap! I'll have a look at the local classifieds, but there aren't too many steel bikes around at all.

Cool, I'll keep that in mind then. It doesn't seem to have mounts for a rear rack though, which is fairly weird IMO.
What other component swaps would be most urgent in your opinion? I was mostly thinking tyres and handlebar gribs, but maybe the cassette aswell.

it's not designed for racks, but for bikepacking bags
i'd say:
carbon bars and seatpost (decathon do these cheap)
pedals
grips
and that wide range sunrace cassette which is mega good

French Velodysee plus more fun - route for @citygent

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/23925140

On the subject, Archie's camping came in useful on the GPS when I did that.

http://archiescampings.eu

Don’t know how tall your girlfriend is but just to mention for fitting purposes, specially if you’re gonna get it shipped to Denmark, that the standover height on an Small Marin Pine is about 5cm higher than on a Medium Kona Unit.
You might encounter the same difference between other brands.

@6pt @hamrack @citygent @platypus thanks all for your comments.
We've bitten the bullet and booked the trains and ferries now, and provisionally booked some of the early campsites.
I think we'll just see how we get on and maybe embrace the wildcamping a bit.
I need to research what we would need for that, that we don't normally carry... Toilet paper, poo shovel, moar water?!

Definitely moist wipes......I prefer tesco own brand, with coconut oil!

#becauseyourworthit

@ElGato @TvH @platypus @umop3pisdn @Landslide Thank you all very much for all the helpful comments!
My girlfriend seems to fancy the Sonder Frontier the most and the price isn't bad, so I might order that, when I've researched the geometry a bit further.

Depends how much water you can already carry and the weather... Maybe make sure you have the cages for lots.
Loo roll is useful even if you're going with campsites!

great stuff!

a little update on my planning, been to bike shop had a chat and a fit ish, cant afford the main fit but was talking to owner and got on the fit machine and he did a very nice freebie, I'm not racing so think it should be ok. thought I was a 58 frame but turns out I'm 56 with a smaller stem than I imagined.
upping my miles where I can.
gonna get a sportive / endurance as just don't think I'll use it for much more than road cycling.

taken up the tips on fueling and haven't suffered the deadly cramp (touch hamstrings ) so far.

What similar size disc touring frameset can I get for similar money to this? Any reason not go for this? Cheers!

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F352283736059

What material are you guys all riding with your touring rigs? A lot of touring frames I see are steel but I'm constantly wondering whether I could bikepack with an extra 10-13kg on a lighter frame, say.. aluminium? Are modern steel frame rigs a lot lighter than my rig with an old school steel frame (10kg in total) that I'm running?

Thanks in advance

Unless you're a real heavyweight, bikepacking on an aluminium frame with 10-13kg load should be fine (as long as you're not on silly-lightweight wheels). For a touring build frame weight isn't going to make that much difference - If you've a sub-10kg build on an existing steel frame I doubt a new one will make much difference. FWIW my bike is an old 531ST tourer with guards, a rack, and saddlebag/panniers as appropriate; I've honestly no idea what it weighs, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were 12-13kg before I start loading my crap up. But it rides really nicely, and for the hills, well, that's what my low gears are for, right?

Thanking @frankenbike @Tijs @Aroogah @platypus @laner @Heldring and @T4NY4 for the encouragement and tips, I leave for my trip tomorrow!

Decided on ferry to St Malo, skipping a bit of Brittany by train (saving it for shorter trips now that I have all the gear! Realised early on in planning that having this kit is going to open up a world of 3-4 day cycling breaks away from misery island) and plan to ride to San Sebastian (if I do well on time I might ride on to Bilbao).

Super excited!

great!!! enjoy!! send pix!

Have fun man!

Trains to/from/around France are all booked along with the campsites. A week on the Canal de Bourgogne in September cannot come soon enough.

https://www.francevelotourisme.com/base-1/itineraires/le-tour-de-bourgogne-a-velo/troncons/le-canal-de-bourgogne-a-velo

I am sooooo in love with France rn it’s fuckin bananas.

Velodyssey is lit af even without prior planning ❤️❤️❤️

There cyclotourists fully loaded up, riding down the M25 hard shoulder earlier towards Heathrow, not long after I went past them the hard shoulder was closed with roadworks so hope the came to no trouble

Good luck mate, remember not to go too fast and to stop plenty. Chill, enjoy the scenery and have fun! x

have a good un!