daughter is off from greece through the balkans aiming to get to poland or further in 8 to 12 weeks, not camping but hostels and so on, looking at some mountain biking in certain areas
she is riding a
wyhte 19 race with carbon fibre stays 26er (been looking at panniers for the rear see link earlier today)
She has been in a cycle shop today who have told get a 29er for touring.
So what would you say for a 5ft 7 woman for touring a
26er or 29er?

Any recommedations on gear and kit. Looking at switching to avid BB7 mech brakes for ease, any views on reliable low maintence gear? 😀

V,

A friend with over 20 bikes+tandems and nearly 40 years of cycle touring, MTB and Triathlons has just bought one of these for his wife (also traithlete and tourer) to go cycle camping.

He reckoned the spec was excellent and the price amazing.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=71834

Edit: Just seen you want panniers and to do some MTB….in my opinion these are somewhat disparate and require different solutions….I can see no real compromise that works half-well for either activity.

PaulD

26er. Lotsa spares overseas.

But I wouldn’t use something as blingy as the Whyte. Theivable and not repairable. Get something steel if you’ve got the funds for another bike

Hmm…bike shop suggesting you need to buy a new bike? There’s a surprise.
There is no reason to pick a particular wheel size for that sort of route. Spares for both sizes will be available, and you can easily carry a spare folding tyre. If your daughter is comfortable with that bike, go with it. The only disadvantage is that it will be a bit of a bodge fitting a rack.

Sounds like a nice trip she is about to embark on. Yes the 29er would be easier and I don’t see why she would not get a good fit on one.

As far as gear goes:

I’ve had a set of Ortlieb “Back Roller” panniers for a year now and they show no signs of wear despite a horrid winter season.

If you decide to stick with the 19 Race take a look and see if it’s running a BB30. If so i would look at getting one of the BB shell converters installed so that a normal BB can be run, again just for spare parts access. I’ve just replaced my BB and the bearings were pretty knackered after a year of use and it did require a special tool to get them out. From my days working at a bike shop I recall that good old fashioned internal BB’s outlasted these new fangled external BB’s by a good 4 times. Not sure about crank compatibility these days.

Don’t know if I would bother switching brakes provided that the current ones are well maintained and in good shape. I personally find BB7’s problematic as only one piston moves and need the owner to adjust them every once in a while. I would personally prefer the stopping power of a good hydraulic brake especially on a fully loaded bike. My Avid Elixir 5’s have worked very well throughout this past year with zero maintenance. Just bled them and they feel good as new.

If budget allows I have been very impressed with my 10 speed shimano XT drivetrain especially the 11-36 rear cassette. They have worked flawlessly since day one and eaten up all sorts of mud and glop over the year. The extra gearing might come in very handy when the bike is all loaded up.

I’m a big fan of Gore Bikewear clothing, very durable and does the job in an unobtrusive way.

the whyte is well used and chipped paint so with some old innner tube over the carbon will look less thievable….. whyte is very nice and quick bike, with a deore chain set with 48 outer, intresting on the mech she is running some hayes el camino with gooodridge hoses little use so should be reliable.BB is hollowtech new with chainset so should be no problems
nice spec on that corretec.
shop i think s a bit of a blag but 29er roll easier cover the distance and so on…..
other frame to be honest would be a Dialled PA

Someone with working elixers – holy ****

Bb7s much easier to maintain on tour

Id change the brakes to bb7 fit semislick or at least fast rolling tires – small block 8s, ikons or fast traks etc .

Bike will be fine bar that i think – take a mech hanger and a few spokes – she might not know how to fit the, but chances are a shop will but may not have the length needed.

As for 29 vs 26 – will make sod all difference will be no faster or no easier than each other.

How ever fit somethinjg up front to give her a different hand position – bar ends and some time trial bars ideally give her somewhere to hide from headwinds !

If you must change bikes id get a disk equiped crossbike something like a dayone alfine or a pomphetamine.

I have toured loads on 26 inch wheel bikes – maybe you do less miles per day – who cares? its about what you see not how far / fast you go.

So if I have some nice offroad in mind I am quite happy to tour on a MTB – an accept the lower daily mileage

Edit – make sure the luggage is well sorted and strong mountings

I got a set of these and cut them in half. They were great for holding a drybag underneath ,and for some different hand positions.