Fully Loaded Touring Question

[oldforester]

I currently use my Atlanta for brevets and am thinking of touring using a fully loaded touring rig. I am looking at an older Trek 540 which is Al frame with a cromolly fork. My only concern is being Al would I feel fatigued after riding it all day. From the reviews I've read it is not an issue. Has anyone here had experience with this one they can share. Thanks in advance.

[achurch]

I've been fully loaded (80-90pounds bike&gear) on a 520 and was moderately comfortable AND very glad the bike was steel. I cannot imagine carrying that much weight on aluminum with no give or flex--especially day after day...

[xjoex]

I don't want to kick off a holy war, but low end steel and low end aluminum have similar rides. I think you get more flex from wheels and tires in a fully loaded situation than in the frame.

Just my opinion.

Where are you riding? Tell us about your trip!

-Joe

[Ray]

Cannondale had done a good job with touring bikes,all alu frames. On a loaded tour, you're probably not running skinny tires, so the frame material is far less important in terms of comfort (to the extent it matters anyway). I find the torsional rigidity to be far more important when you're trying to control a bike with a lot of weight on board. I wouldn't have any hesitation about using an aluminum touring frame, assuming its a good frame and has the right geo for loaded touring.

-Ray

[palincss]

I currently use my Atlanta for brevets and am thinking of touring using a fully loaded touring rig. I am looking at an older Trek 540 which is Al frame with a cromolly fork.

I'm unfamiliar with the Trek 540. What year is that, and what sort of design is it?

Trek is famous for two touring bikes, the 520 and the 720. The 520 is still in the line-up, and is one of a handful of obvious choices for a production loaded touring bike.

As Ray has pointed out, Cannondale has been making very highly regarded loaded touring bikes out of aluminum for decades. The design in this case is going to be far more important than the material of which it's made.

[sg8357]

IIRC the Trek 540 was a Klein Navigator, a most excellent touring bike.
The racks were pretty cheesy, I replaced mine with a Tubus Cargo.

Get some good tires and adjust air pressure to suit the load you
are carrying. Fatigue based on frame materials only happens if you
read Bicycling magazine too much. :)

[palincss]

IIRC the Trek 540 was a Klein Navigator, a most excellent touring bike.
The racks were pretty cheesy, I replaced mine with a Tubus Cargo.

Get some good tires and adjust air pressure to suit the load you
are carrying. Fatigue based on frame materials only happens if you
read Bicycling magazine too much. :)


If "fully" loaded includes bags front and rear, let me recommend you get a Tubus Tara lowrider to go along with that Cargo rear rack. The Tara is a great rack. The only one I've ever seen to rival it is the Bruce Gordon rack.

[Lifelover]

I have a couple of friends that tour the entire Blue Ridge Parkway every year. Self supported on Cdale touring bikes. They could not be more happy.

As Ray pointed out, the comfort is going to be in the tires.

Trek knows what they are doing. There is no reason to think it would not be a great bike.

[achurch]

Okay from the responses looks like I was too quick to assume that the aluminum would be a harsher ride. Maybe it is the tires and geo.

The trek runs a long wheelbases (440 chainstays) and I run 32s with moderate treads so I guess maybe the flex is from the set-up.

I run five panniers (3 back, 2 front and total weight including bike is 90 pounds). With a triple and a big rear (32/29) have been up 12% grades (albeit very slowly) and as fast as 70 km/hr down hills... The only scary moments have come with crosswind gusts at speed. Otherwise have always loved how the bike handles. Takes a while to get going but once it does just keeps rolling forever...

In response to where and when?
In the last three years I've done 2 ten day trips and 1 five day
Quebec City to PEI
Victoria BC to northern California
Vancouver to Queenstown north up the island and back down the sunshine coast (this trip was only 5 days).
Average 20 km/hr / 110 km days with the longest day in the saddle 185 and the hardest day the north shore of the St. Lawrence East of Quebec City (only 85 km but over 8500 vertical feet in 95 degree weather)

Washington Oregon coast most beautiful Quebec City to PEI most fun!

Would love to to do the whole trip West to East in one shot but can't ever get two months off...

[Marcusaurelius]

I don't want to kick off a holy war, but low end steel and low end aluminum have similar rides. I think you get more flex from wheels and tires in a fully loaded situation than in the frame.

Just my opinion.

Where are you riding? Tell us about your trip!

-Joe


Well trek 520 isn't made out of low end steel, it's made from True Temper OX Platinum which is smiliar to reynolds 853.

I ride a trek 520 and it's a great riding frame even fully loaded. I'm not sure about the 540 but i'm sure it rides simliar to other trek aluminum road bikes I've ridden. It's an okay ride not overly stiff and reasonably light but I doubt I would ever buy one.

Good Steel frame has that great spring when you ride it.

[csm]

my dad has ridden a 520 back and forth acrossed the us and canada multiple times. one trip the frame cracked on day one riding east from Oregon. Trek send him a replacement to the nearest trek shop. he's taken it to Alaska and France. I've tried and tried to talk him into something "better" but he doesn't see the difference.
another consideration is that steel is much easier to repair in the field than any other material.

[Ti Designs]

I would love Serotta Andrew's opinion(s) here, as he's probably done more loaded touring than most. Personally, I like to stay sober...

I would have to go with the Trek 520 as well. It's not about what tubing they use, it's about a design where everything works and a parts spec that's not going to leave you stranded anywhere. The 520 is pretty much bomb-proof, but let's say you did somehow sheer off half your handlebar - you could still mount the bar-con on the down tube like a regular shifter and go on your merry way. The idea of using any sort of non-standard parts on a touring bike baffles me - ever FedEx bike parts to Asia? I have, it ain't cheap! If you need something that look nicer than the Trek, try the IF Independence...

[Ray]

I would have to go with the Trek 520 as well. It's not about what tubing they use, it's about a design where everything works and a parts spec that's not going to leave you stranded anywhere. The 520 is pretty much bomb-proof, but let's say you did somehow sheer off half your handlebar - you could still mount the bar-con on the down tube like a regular shifter and go on your merry way. The idea of using any sort of non-standard parts on a touring bike baffles me - ever FedEx bike parts to Asia? I have, it ain't cheap! If you need something that look nicer than the Trek, try the IF Independence...
The 520 even comes with a pretty decent parts spec for touring, right out of the box. For several years, they were sticking pretty standard road triple setups on it, which didn't have nearly low enough gears. Everyone who was using it for loaded touring would swap stuff out, but you shouldn't have to. Now they use what I assume must be a 110-74 crank with reasonably small chainrings, and an mtb rear derailure and cassette (edit - nope its a four bolt mtb crank, but the rings are about the right size). It used to be all but impossible to find a touring bike set up like that. They do use v-brakes and the Dia Compe 287v levers, a combination that I never thought was much good and required a very precise setup to work worth a damn. I'd rather have cantis with standard levers, which I'm sure you could swap out. The fenders are lame, but its pretty shocking that it even comes with them.

There are plenty of good touring frames out there, but for a complete, ready to go touring bike at just over $1300, the 520 is tough to beat. Then again, when I was doing loaded touring I was using a Jamis Aurora that I think I paid $600 for, maybe $700 by the time I got it touring ready. And I rode all over the place with all sorts of weight on it for a few years.

-Ray

[Frankwurst]

my dad has ridden a 520 back and forth acrossed the us and canada multiple times. one trip the frame cracked on day one riding east from Oregon. Trek send him a replacement to the nearest trek shop. he's taken it to Alaska and France. I've tried and tried to talk him into something "better" but he doesn't see the difference.
another consideration is that steel is much easier to repair in the field than any other material.

Your Dad is a wise man and knows of what he rides. :beer:

[tuvw175]

Four Parachutes
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Gentlemen, he began, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that were about to crash in New Jersey. The good news is that there are four parachutes, and I have one of them! With that, the pilot threw open the door and jumped from the plane.

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