Should I give up, buy some sandals and grow a beard?

I'm enjoying riding my tourer.

I've no idea how much it weighs but its not light

Its ~50 years old

It has 3×6 gears, cranks that are too short and biopace chainrings from the 80's

Downtube shifters

Toe straps

It's lilac (yes that is a shade of pink)

It's got a middlemoore saddle (like brookes but older)

Despite spending >£500 on the classifides upgrading the roadbike to 10speed and plenty of carbon bling it's sat unused and unloved in the garrage!

I even stuck the garmin on the toruer and went out for a training ride yesterday, why did I do that? The roadie would have been a much faster/better choice!

sell road bike, buy roof for your car, wear sandals and have dry feet

The roadie would have been a much faster/better choice

Faster is not always better.

I thought Lilac was a shade of purple?

Just got in to the whole touring thing. Built up a Fargo with flared drops and doctored dual shift hydraulic breaks. Haven't touched any of my other bikes for nearly a month now.

The roadie would have been a much faster/better choice!

But think how much quicker you will be when you do go on the 'carbonbling' bike !

Seriously though, I fully understand why you went for the 'old friend'. I do it all the time on my mtb's to the point where I have converted 2 old mtb frames to road/hack status and I still ride them more than the new (to me) mtb's. Probably some deep seated psychology going on there as I very rarely buy anything new either. Don't see the point as there is so much barely used stuff for sale and you don't feel quite so bad if you scratch it.

Have a holiday to the alps with the road bike.
You know you can get spd sandals – wearing mine now..

It's not even like its a sentimental thing, I've had the road bike for 5 years and the tourer for under a year.

Think its a just a change of outlook. A different side to biking and all that. After spending the season training and racing i'm loving getting out on the tourer. Just enjoying the riding at a pace that lets me take in the views i'm normally whizzing past makes all the difference

is it because you're not very fast on the road bike, or a bit lazy, and the heavy old tourer gives you an excuse to be slow?

Possibly, although the fact it weighs a metric ton when laden up with panniers means given even a slight downward slope it can fly past just about anything and big (well 32c) tyres means it grips much better than the road bike when climbing out the saddle on crap roads where the roadie can feel like its skipping and hopping over things.

sounds like your road bike needs new tires or your technique needs refining stompy

😀

Yes

i'm sat waiting for a new touring bike to be delivered today.
I've already got a beard and my sandals are by the door (wearing flip flops at the moment)

I'm getting a bit worried too. Rather than getting excited about tear arseing around the countryside at break kneck speed on a really nice mountain bike, I find myself getting quite excited about the fact that tomorrow I'll be able to take a leisurely ride to the farm shop and fill my new panniers with lots of meat and fresh veg and take a steady ride home, possibly via the pub for a nice ale.

Old age or just another string to your bow ????

What's this "giving up" malarkey ?
😉

This'll be the 2nd time I've posted this picture on here this very afternoon, so I'm sorry if it's all getting a bit dull …

My next bike is a steel road frame for comfortable day rides – I'm still not 100% sure what, but it'll be something very much like the the Condor Fratello, or the Thorn Audax … (I probably won't ride all day in sandals tho', especially once it starts getting properly wet/cold).

sounds like your road bike needs new tires or your technique needs refining stompy

Yesterday's rides involved stripping off below the waist, putting all the kit into drybag panniers and carrying the bike over my head through a river. You'r deffinition of crap road surfaces may vary :p

I also once snapped my steerer tube after riding my road bike down hagg farm and the beast. Well I managed to cycle home with a 'loose headset' and found the forks no longer attached the next morning!

yeah my definition of bad road surface means there is still some actual road involved 😉 it stops being a road when there is no tarmac – i do how ever guarantee that the first/last mile and a half is one of the worst dirt tracks that is traveled daily ever ….. you cant take a car up it at more than 5 mph if you value your suspension and my parents mercedes c220 cant get up it at all (ground height is too low for the center grass between the wheel tracks !

Yesterday's rides involved stripping off below the waist, putting all the kit into drybag panniers and carrying the bike over my head through a river. You'r deffinition of crap road surfaces may vary :p

Dude, you're not riding a tourer, you're free-roading! That's rad to the power of niche, bro'!

Gravitysucks – any pics of your Fargo? I have one on order and it's due in the next 2 weeks or so and i'm looking for inspiration…..

Mr T i'll get some pic tonight for you. I've built it up as a touring MTB but basically wanted to be able to ride anything that isn't big drop off's

Woodchipper bars on 130mm stem with the hydraulic shifters. Dremel'd out the inside on the clamp area to fit the wider bars and then adjusted the levers all the way in and its a amazingly natural hand / braking position. Gives me full drop riding with 1 finger hydraulic braking and flick shifting.

Also the high head tube makes it amazingly easy to loft & jump so it handles techy / rocky climbing really well.

Got a pair of 2.25 nevegals on it and I could easily ride it as my main bike if I had to.

ps if you fancy having a go with the dual shifters theres some in the classified at the mo for £28 someones selling.

Cheers Gravity. I've got some Salsa Bell Laps ordered to go on it and most of the rest will initially come from the spares bin. My main problem area is the shifters and brakes so it'd be interesting to see what you've done with yours.

I think you should do whatever you want, and not bother with stw! ride bike, have as much fun as you can!

I too get this feeling sometimes.

I haven't ridden my road bike since i got back from France in July, had plenty of opportunity to as well but can't be arsed. For some reason I end up either going round the local woods or not riding, most bizzare.

I think the answer is that we buy the bikes the current zen says are great.

Caqrbon road bikes with 23c are the thing

But in reality they are designed for competition. Your steel tourer is designed for comfort and enjoyment and in reality isn't that much slower