New project

[desminton]

Hi there

I have just got myself a Salsa Casseroll, which I intend to build up into a bit of a touring bike, but it also has to act as a commuter bike too! Its unlikely that I'll do any major touring (maybe a long weekend down the Great Ocean Road and back) on the bike in the next 12 months but will do a couple of 100kms/week going to work and back.

I'm wondering what kind of wheelsets people would recommend, I'm around 90 kg and would aim to carry no more than an extra 20kg in kit. Also what kind of gear ratio's do people recommend and are there any particular groupsets people recommend? For some reason I'm drawn to 700cc wheels, mainly for a fast commute, but I'm open to suggestion. From reading the forum it seems that the debate is more about the number of spokes than anything else so I'm thinking 36/36.

Cheers for any fedback

[RonK]

The Casseroll will no doubt be an very good commuter and credit card tourer, but for loaded touring of the type you suggest, there are a few serious compromises:

- no front rack mounts
- no mounting lugs for cantilever or v-brakes
- 130 mm rear dropout spacing so restricted to road gearing.

It's built for 700C wheels, so that decision has already been made. Velocity Dyad rims are probably an appropriate choice, but you could also consider various models by Mavic, or even the Alex Adventurer. There would be no point in selecting extra heavy duty touring rims such as the Sun Rhino Lite or Rigida Sputnik. 36 spokes in a 3 cross lacing should be quite adequate.

For levers, if you choose STI, then you will also have to use a road front derailleur. Bar-ends are compatible with either road or MTB derailleurs, as the front lever is not indexed. If you don't like them mounted in the ends, you can use Paul Thumbies and put them on top of the bars as a trigger lever.

To get your 90 + 20 kgs mass (+ bike) up hills you will probably need a 26T x 34T (or lower) gear. The best choices are to use MTB components, however these require a 135 mm dropout spacing.

A Surly Long Haul Trucker, whilst still an able if not quite so nimble commuter, would be a better choice if you want to do any serious touring.

[Riddley]

My bike is a Learsport Cruiser 800 - aluminium frame.

I found that the chainset was a little high for touring, but I can't remember what came with it. I have just changed to Alivio 22-32-42 front derailleur Cassette 11-32.

Haven't had a chance to tour with it yet, but I think it will be fine. My bike does not have front rack brazeons, but there are racks you can get which clip to the forks. Mine work fine.

I just put Schwalbe Marathons, 700 x 40. They are nice. Other preferences are listed elswere on this site. It has Alexrims - and they have been good.

FYI

[il padrone]

If you have steel or alloy forks it is a very easy proposition to get mid-fork rack mounts fitted. Those of the rivnut type will set you back $20-30 at a good LBS.

[desminton]

Thanks for the comments, I did think that longer term if I wanted to put a front rack on I'd be able to purchase a new set of forks but reading these comments perhaps I should focus more on a solid commuter bike and if I decide to get serious about touring purchase something more appropriate at the time.

[RonK]

Well, as they say, you can never have too many bikes...

[Black Beauty]

Hi, I am building up a bike similar to your Salsa Casserolle for the purpose of long distance riding, "credit card touring", not loaded touring.

From advice on this forum and elsewhere I recently decided on Mavix Open Pros for my wheelset. FW is a 32 hole on a Schidt 20 dynamo hub and the RW is 36 spoked on a Ultegra hub. I nearlly went for a different wheelset so I could use wider tires than 28s (Open Pros can only take 28mm tires max) but decided I wouldn't really want to go 32s or higher. I am about 70kg and use the bike mainly for road riding with the odd gravel, rail trail.

THe Mavix Open Pros seemed to be what I was after, double walled, reaosonably priced, can take up to 28mm, strong.

Still working out what transmission to run, so no ideas there

Good luck
M

[munga]

sorry to hijack des, but why is is preferable to have cantis/v-brakes?
i assume clearance for wider tyres, but is that the only reason?

[Baalzamon]

sorry to hijack des, but why is is preferable to have cantis/v-brakes?
i assume clearance for wider tyres, but is that the only reason?

you can't exactly get v-brakes to fit a 700 x 38 or larger tyre which are crucial for some tours.

[Aushiker]

sorry to hijack des, but why is is preferable to have cantis/v-brakes?
i assume clearance for wider tyres, but is that the only reason?

you can't exactly get v-brakes to fit a 700 x 38 or larger tyre which are crucial for some tours.

Hi

Is this correct? Mountain bikes often come with v-brakes so I would have thought that they are okay on wide tyres?

Andrew

[il padrone]

I run V-brakes most happily with my 45mm tyres (with mudguards) on the Sedona.... and the 55mm tyres on the MTB dually

Generally the main problems with V-brakes on tourers (not insurmountable) is the fact that most drop-bar brakes have insufficient lever-travel for V-brakes. However Dia Compe make some brake levers for V-brakes. You can't use Sti though - have to be happy with bar-end shifters.