BootsnAll Travel Community

hey guys.
a new member to bootsn all website.hopefully ye can help me out with a few things///
i'm on a world trip at the moment with me gf.we've been through central and south america,new zealand and planning to settle in Oz for a bit.
i bought a bike in new z(scott speedster s60 fb).i am planning to cycle across asia early next year.was told by the bike company that it is ideal for travelling long distances.i am a bit worried about the bike myself.i've had 3 punctures already and they tell me i can't get a bigger tyre to fit the wheel!!!
if any of ye know anything about bikes please help me out??
mike

The problem is that it's not a touring bike. There don't seem to be any rack mounts. Yes, there are racks that attach in other ways, but they're not known to be durable on the long term. Your biggest problem is going to be how to attach panniers to that bike.

You've also got caliper brakes instead of cantilever or disc brakes. Those are going to limit your tire width. It's difficult to take a bike that's built for speed on the road and to make it beefier for touring. They just don't build entry level road bikes like that any more.

The last big issue is the road geometry of the bike. This isn't a biggy until you start to get a week or two into your trip. The more aggressive shape of the bike is going to force you into a more areodynamic position, that will ultimately be less comfortable on a long ride. Your bike shop may have thought you meant long rides as in 200km days, not as in many weeks or months of cycling.

Check out this gallery for an idea of what the most popular touring options are:
http://www.pbase.com/canyonlands/fullyloaded

As for your current tire problem, you might be able to find a pair of these to fit: http://schwalbetires.com/node/1320
They're supposed to be the best touring tires out there, but the smalles size is the 700c X 35c which is a bit larger than the stock 700c x 23c Hutchinsons that come with the Speedster S60. Nashbar used to sell those Hutchinson Flash tires for $5. They're basically junk tires and you're going to keep getting flats until you upgrade.

For cheap and decent, you might want to see if you can find some Contental Ultrasports. They're on the more reliable side of the low end and I've been pretty happy with the ones that came stock on my road bike.

Good answers, markus.

I find the geometry to be an issue of preference. I'm an XC mountain biker and ride extremely stretched on my bike (particularly set up this way). While touring, I might not go to the most extreme set up, but I'm still riding an fairly aggressive set up - and it suits me just fine.
Mick C: If you don't have much riding/touring experience, then you will probably want to test a few set ups before deciding on what you want to ride.

As for the roadie - you don't necessarily need to get rid of it. If you leave out the roughest parts in Asia (Cambodia, parts of Laos and Northern Vietnam, plus Tibet), you can easily ride the roadie.
However, as markus points out - usually racers are not set up for carrying racks. If you can go ultra light, you can go for a rack like this (The guys on the right side.). If you want to carry much more than this (tent, stove, etc.), then you'll need a tourer or a mountain bike. My girlfriend and I have ridden our mountain bikes on tours and will keep it this way for the upcoming tour in Asia. But again, it's a preference thing.

So far, our longest tour was a month - so we never worried about the tires. During our last tour in Tasmania I had one flat tire. The same goes for our off-road tour last year. However, for what we are planning now (and you are too), a robust tire that lasts is a good thing (in order to not carry spares). The Schwalbe marathon seems indeed like the preferred tire for tourers - so we will check it out.