I’m looking to do some touring this year. i got a singular swift 29er already, and seeing as the frame isn’t built for touring i was looking at a surly LHT.

my question is, if i simply swap all parts from one frame to the other, would it work?

i’m running 1×10 gearing at the minute. i know most tourers use 3×9. has anyone got exp of touring with only a single front chainring?

why do tourers seem to only run 9 speed?

i got a really nice set of wheels that are tubeless – which is great for MTB, but i wouldn’t want to tour on them. i think they would be harder to fix if i get a puncture (???), so can i easily convert them back to normal wheels with inner tubes? i’m guessing i would need a new set of tyres?

sooo many questions.

cheers

most parts will swap. what bars you put on will dictate the shifters you can use.

1x might be ok. might be short on top end.

9 speed means you can mix road and mtb parts. 10 speed makes this slightly more difficult. some tourers seem to be still using 3 speeds/ 2×5 if you read the CTC magazine!!

tubeless doesn’t sound ideal. unless you are running 1.8″ tyres they won’t fit any way. you probably want something with some puncture protection. depends on how much stuff your carrying but probably between 28-40 mm. panaracer paselas are about the lightest suitable tyres, scwalbe marathon plus is the most punture proof.

For my mini tour in the south of France last year I only had one ring on the front. It quite adequately turned the one cog at the back.

50:18 on 26inch wheels for the record.

Depends where/what you want to tour.

Mine’s a drop bar’d tourer from the 50’s, probably good on anything that could be called a road. Read a book called “Journey to the center of the earth” (no, not the Phileas Fog adventure) by Richard and Nicholas Crane. A good example of lightweight touring on road bikes, they rode from Bangladesh to central Mongolia, even their multi tool/spanner thing was driled out to save weight. They went for racers and fitted bigger tyres when the road got really bad as their aim was to cover the route quickly on what passed for ‘roads’.

As for tubeless, 10 speed, etc. I’d not get too hung up on it, if it works for you and it’s relaible then stick with it. The only problem with tubeless is when it does puncture after a few months there might be several thorns to pull out before you can put a tube in (but equaly you’ve had 3 months of not having to do that).

i’ll be touring in northern spain, so quite hilly!

Ollie
I think it would depend on how much stuff you are going to load on.
I wouldn’t fancy a single chain ring with a lot of luggage ,if it’s going to be hilly.
It’s nice to have the option of tweedling up hills rather than destroying your knees. I would go for a set of high pressure tyres and something to give you more hand positions on the bars.
What kind of mileage are you planning ?

not sure about mileage…..i would cycle till i got tired (50-100km a day)

think i’ll change the tyres. i just was wondering if i can convert tubeless to tubes?

luggage….i want to be totally self sufficient, but lightweight. probably try to get away with just two panniers

Tubeless Tyre is smoother than the tube tyres and give better performance in some cases.

I stuck some schwalbe marathon supremes on a mountain bike and ran them tubeless for touring, you can get 70035c or 40c which would fit on 29er rims.

I’d get the rack and a pair of small panniers (which you’re gonna have to get anyway), fit them to the bike you have now, put a couple of bricks in each side and see what it’s like. Bikes like the Swift are pretty capable and versatile. If you’re struggling on the climbs then maybe stick a smaller ring up front (what do you have on now?) or a larger cassette.

I’ve got some 1.5″ tyres from my Kona Ute. (Replaced with a Schwalbe Big-Apple tyres at 1.75″)
Your welcome to try the 1.5″ tyres if your local to Staffs…

My Ute has 29er wheels. I carry two kids to & from school, plus my 17″ laptop & all the boys school bags etc. It rolls along nicely on the Big-Apples. I’m shifting a fair bit of weight & use every one of my 2 x 9 gears. If its really steep we’re off & walking as the gears dont go low enough. And when your fully loaded getting up out the saddle induces a lot of flex.

Perhaps also, get a higher rise stem so your a bit more upright.

ollie151 – Member

I’m looking to do some touring this year. i got a singular swift 29er already, and seeing as the frame isn’t built for touring i was looking at a surly LHT.

I bet the Swift would work fine, though is it flat bar only?

Gearing – you might be OK, depends on how much weight you carry, how fit you are, and how steep/long the climbs are.

It’s not hard to find alpine climbs that take a couple of hours in 24-28 with 4 panniers *waves willy*, you’d be walking if you were over-geared.

Also the bliss of pedalling up to 50-60mph on the other side is not be missed out on at the other end.

Toured from A Coruña to Santander, we stayed inland then crossed over the Picos via Riano a few years back on was on my old Karate Monkey with just rear panniers. Used Schwalbe Marathons as mentioned above on just a set of cheapo 29er wheels I had. I pretty much exclusively use a SS offroad but was glad of having the small gears when climbing back over the mountains and some of the longer climbs, plus remember your touring so no panic to get anywhere (unless your on an tight schedule between campsites we were just wild camping or stopping at sites where we fancied) so the small gear is a bonus if you want to take it easy and just twiddle along and take in whats around you.

Best thing I found when touring in spain is to eat in a restaurant at lunchtime, pretty much the rule of thumb was 8 euros for 3 courses and either wine or water then just buy stuff for the evening during the day. We’d then just buy bread etc for the evening during the day and eat what was left for breakfast and find somewhere for coffee within the first hour after starting, so no need for a stove.

With luck I’ll get to go again this year, want to do either Barca back to Santander or some more touring in the Picos or Pyranees. Whats your plan, where are you heading?

It’s not hard to find alpine climbs that take a couple of hours in 24-28 with 4 panniers *waves willy*, you’d be walking if you were over-geared.

24:28 is pretty much the same as 32:36. its the other end.