Touring bike gearing?

My choice would be a stronglight triple 46/34/24, should work properly with a road triple mech and shifter, plus different sizes of ring are pretty cheap

A Jtek Shift Mate might do it – or does that only work on the rear?

105 STI with xt front mech works fine for me.

Apologies if already covered, but will an XT Tripple run ok with a 105 STI & front mech?

Similar to my setup and it works fine. 105(5703) shifters, 105(5703) front mech, XT triple (trekking version, 9 speed, m771 48/36/26), XT 9 speed rear mech and 11-36 cassette (10 speed).

midlifecrashes – Member

…..Similar to my setup and it works fine. 105(5703) shifters, 105(5703) front mech, XT triple (trekking version, 9 speed, m771 48/36/26), XT 9 speed rear mech and 11-36 cassette (10 speed).

like that forgotten that 9speed MTB rear mech will shift ok with 10speed STI…. as said earlier in thread running the Deore trekking triple with Ultrega shifters and nine speed rear – never thought I’d wear out a pair of STI shifters but had a couple of problems recently and 105 10speeds in clearance are a bargain option (even more of a bargain when factor in 2 wheelsets, one for gravel, one for pure road, going 9-10 a lot cheaper than 9-11 with new hubs)

question time – what chain are you running? mrs antigee has a 10speed 105 triple and would be nice to have 2 bikes with similar kit but struggling to get replacement chains – “standard” 105 10speed chains are directional and not recommended for triples (odd but personally if shimano say no that makes me scared) – believe the correct chain is part 5600?

Simonbarnes = what’s the tyre clearance like on the TdF?
Can’t quite remember off the top of my head and bike is at work and I’m on holiday. Have put 37c tyres on, pretty sure larger would also fit.

Clearance – my TDF has the standard fit Schwalbe Marathon tyres on at 35c size or 37-622 as labelled on the tyre, mounted on XM319 rims
The front end has around 7mm either side of the widest point of the tyre to the fork and around 1cm to the underside of the mudguard. The rear has about the same, maybe a slight touch less maybe 1mm less but I only had a floppy tape measure on me!

So a 37c touring tyre will be ok, maybe a 40c with my mudguards. It would depend on the profile of the tyre on the rim you use but if a 45c tyre is exactly 10mm wider than my 35c (should be but we know that doesn’t always work!) then it should fit a TDF. If that’s important to you I would make sure you test a bike in person first.

I had to do a fair bit of bumpy canal tow path riding (quite technical in places!) on my last ride and the Marathons coped very well with good grip on the wet and loose surfaces. The shock absorption was fantastic, I’m certainly not looking to get any bigger tyres than my 35c Marathons.

The frame and fork will also take a wider guard than the standard one fitted.

Personally I think if you are looking at 45c tyres and above a touring bike isn’t really what you need, you need a 29er MTB!

Updated my TDF thread if you’re interested.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/new-bike-beardy-touring-content-genesis-tour-de-fer/page/2#post-6840030

Antigee – chain is a KMC X10 – 93, only just had enough links from the 114, it’s a wide gear spread and long chainstays.

Another vote for a triple. I did a LEJOG on a 30/42/53 with a 12-27 cassette. Plenty low enough for credit card touring with two panniers, but if I was camping, I’d fit a mtb derailleur and cassette. All cross-compatible if you stick with 9 speed.

midlifecrashes – Member
Antigee – chain is a KMC X10 – 93, only just had enough links from the 114, it’s a wide gear spread and long chainstays.

thanks – thinking about I’d realised any non-directional 10speed should be OK need to think outside the groupset! normally i stick in a release link even on shimano chains so KMC X10 it is

The issue with equipment availability is not because cycle touring is nit popular – it is. It’s that outside the UK doing it on dropped bars is virtually unheard of outside the UK!

I know. To be honest it baffles me why people would make things hard for themselves with drop bars and bar end shifters. Personally, I can’t think of anything dafter, and yes, I’ve tried it. I recently did 300+ miles round Belgium on my CdF. After about 100 miles I’d have gladly exchanged any of my vital organs for a set of flat bars (or risers). It was ******* astonishingly uncomfortable. And I’ve got wide bars, 20mm extra on my steerer after a fork recall, Specialized Bar Phat padding and a flipped up stem.
I’ll never tour on drop bars again, I know that much.

….and in other news, I’ve toured extensively (multi k Miles per trip) on both and find drops give more options and errrm, better hand relief 😀

Mind I haven’t used bar ends on flats (turning them into cow horns) so maybe that combo is the holy grail.

Nothing wrong with drop bars if you’ve set them up properly. I’m currently using Woodchippers as I like the width and angled drops but I’ve used standard shaped drops too and found them to be just dandy.

Butterfly bars are really popular on the continent and I might give them a go one day. Fitted some quality ones to a friends bike and there are some really nice positions available on them.

Problem with drops is the levers and shifters you have to use are either very expensive (hydraulic road levers or STI) or just plain weird IMHO (bar end shifters – why put shifters as far away as possible?).

I never use the lower position on drop bars so bar end shifters are pointless, may as well have narrow flat bars.

Even my Deore trigger shifters that I fitted on my TDF are a little annoying – I miss my thumbies!

I think the trick with flat bars is to not put wide ones on. I had 600mm with bar ends and that was very much wide enough, a little narrower may be better though. I did once put some short bar ends inboard of the controls once in a bike and that worked really well.

i find that if i get down on the drops when there is a persistent headwind you can see the speed increase for no extra effort – a definite plus for me – mind you I’d only rate as a light weight credit card tourer

Nothing wrong with drop bars if you’ve set them up properly.

Go on then, enlighten me.
Mainly they are about 200+mm to narrow, that’s the biggest problem. Too cramped.
I have 680mm risers on my real touring bike.

I’m wider than 99% of the population and I run 790/800 on my mountainbikes, and had no problem with drops doing lejog, certainly less pain after a day on drops than half a day on a mtb.

If I hadn’t been able to get my head down into the Scottish wind I’d probably still be there.

Drops are great n my tourer and audax bike .They will probably end up on my mtb style tandem for the extra hand positions as well .I have considered drops on my xc bike

midlifecrashes – Member
Apologies if already covered, but will an XT Tripple run ok with a 105 STI & front mech?
Similar to my setup and it works fine. 105(5703) shifters, 105(5703) front mech, XT triple (trekking version, 9 speed, m771 48/36/26), XT 9 speed rear mech and 11-36 cassette (10 speed).

Does anyone know of this setup works with the 22/32/44 chain set? That would be perfect for touring as the 105 gs mech can handle 34 can’t it?

I’m doing the C2C in a couple of weeks over 2 days. After looking at the ratios mentioned in the this thread and Whinlatter pass being tougher than it should at the weekend I’m wondering if my 50/34 and 11/32 setup needs attention (already changed from 11/28). Any words of wisdom? Setup is Sora 9 speed.

I think the route up Whinlatter for the C2C is more than doable on 34×32 provided you aren’t carrying a tonne of weight. Did it with one full pannier no probs. Just pace yourself. Good luck, its a great route. And hey, it’s touring. Stop and enjoy the view if you want. There’s a couple of seats by the side of the road on the way up.

On the 2016 CDF you have space for 40c up in there, I am running 700x40c Clement tyres. Speaking of gearing the new Tiagra 4700 10 speed set up is a nice option, officially it will run a 11-34 out back with a 50-34 up front, we have run an 11-36 on the back without any issues at all.

Untitled by Simon Kirk[/url], on Flickr