Thinking of turning my Speedvagen Road into more of a City / Touring Bike.....

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by ryker

It looks like your chainstays are too short to comfortably accommodate a rear rack and panniers. For that matter the frame probably won’t ride like you want if you’re overloaded with luggage.

Check out the Porcelain Rocket bikepacking bags — Mr Fusion seatbag, 52Hz framebag and handlebar bag. If you think a set like that can fit your touring kit, the bike will probably work. In terms of components you already know what you like but give extra consideration to field repair.

I don’t think there’s anything incompatible with using a road setup for certain kinds of touring (you decide). If harsher wear and tear won’t break your heart, you could have a ton of fun.

Axiom racks are designed to move the rack back and away from heals for bikes with short stays.

[roguedog]

I'm in the OP and Wiesan crowd.

Get a tailfin for those days you want a rack if you're a rack type of person. Try seatbags or an Arkel tail bag. Try a carradice Nelson +bagman or an SQR set up (I got one if you want to buy it.). OR try a back pack. See what works for you.

You'll either find what works for you or you'll discover what it is you really want/need. You'll also discover if locking up the SV 'round town gives you palpitations. IF it does then perhaps get a less flashy bike or somehow "dumb" down the SV.

Have fun.

[Octave]

Originally Posted by roguedog

I'm in the OP and Wiesan crowd.

Get a tailfin for those days you want a rack if you're a rack type of person. Try seatbags or an Arkel tail bag. Try a carradice Nelson +bagman or an SQR set up (I got one if you want to buy it.). OR try a back pack. See what works for you.

You'll either find what works for you or you'll discover what it is you really want/need. You'll also discover if locking up the SV 'round town gives you palpitations. IF it does then perhaps get a less flashy bike or somehow "dumb" down the SV.

Have fun.

If setting it up as a townie bike doesn't dumb it down enough, hit it with a marker. My Icarus had a matte-black paint job so I got a white paint pen and my wife and I went to town decorating it with fun drawings. If you're locking it up outside and riding it around town, it's going to get dinged anyways and if you ever decide to resell it'll need a new coat of paint regardless, so have some fun with it. That'll deter any thieves who think they're snagging a fancy bike, because what kind of an idiot would paint his fancy bike with drawings of ice-cream cones, daggers and lightning bolts!?

[dubrat]

Octave

We have to see pics of your Icuras

[pdmtong]

if your light tour needs will be frequent, you should consider something purpose built. If you are considering the concept, then sure, just use the SV with some relevate or apdura bags and see what happens. get the biggest rubber you can fit in there and go for a tour

IMHO "city" is different. I dont think the SV will as easily substitute. do you mean a grocery getter? Get from A to B? How far? What are the road conditions? Of course you can use the SV but it's less than ideal.

If you really aren't riding it, then just sell it.

[KarlC]

Its really great to have so much input, thx to all of you !

A few thoughts I have so far......

- Speedvagen, basically a race bike. - Well I have never thought of my Speedvagen as a race bike, but sure it could be. Its more of an Sunday cruiser or enjoy a longer day bike for me. The F8 is my go fast bike.

- If you are into the idea of the journey of making the SV work, awesome, go have fun. - This sounds about right, just something fun to try, my end goal is NOT to make it an every day or even every week City / Touring Bike

- I like the grab and go approach, so at this point only my Firefly pure road bike has clipless pedals, all the others have flat pedals (fave is Race Face Atlas) - Grap and go with flat pedals sounds fun

-

Originally Posted by zlin

You're on the right path - don't overthink it. It's just a bike unless you really want a new one. I would swap out the wheels though for clinchers.

Use a rear bag without too much stuff. Get a 1/2 frame pack and some other small bags. I think you'll be just fine and even go on that trip!

I think your sv would be a great city commuter as well.

Don't let folks talk you out of gear that you already own that is made to be used.

(of course this is my opinion and others may have their own as well )

Originally Posted by rain dogs

You CAN do this. Maybe not absolutely ideal, but at the very least you can easily try it out, and if it doesn't work, then try something else. In order.

1. No racks. Bags. You don't have rack mounts and racks are extra weight anyway. Think minimalism. A. Absolutely a seatbag. B. Small handlebar bag C. Framebag if necessary.... although I am as anti/backpack as they come a nice high capacity rolltop bag does wonder in the city for very short distances.

2.A No. 650b - that's likely either not possible (dunno?) or will be a total bodge (clearance, reach etc.) Maybe you can fit 700x30 if you're lucky?

B. Yeah. I concur.... aluminium rims, j bend spokes, why not. Road serviceable. More comfortable. Clinchers

3. Get a pair of deeper drop bars so that your position is the same in the drops and raise the stem a spacer or two.

4. Something you can wear non road shoes in. SPD's maybe.

5. Ass saver. Basically can roll up in a tool tube.

6. Maybe change your saddle for longer miles if needed. Cover the paint with helicopter tape to prevent marks from the bags. Take a look at a little lighter gearing depending on the route.

Lastly.... go on the weeklong trip and have fun!

Originally Posted by lavi

As has been mentioned:

- put the widest tires you can fit. Maybe not tubulars. Lame part here is that would mean different wheels (unless you already have some).
- bike bags, not racks. For city use, all the cool kids seem to be using a handlebar bag. I prefer a frame bag for tooling around. No added weight on the front, keeps any weight lower on the bike. I like the Revelate bags.

There's no reason you can do light touring with bags. That is if you want to.

Great points guys, sounds simpler and fun

Originally Posted by Hindmost

Like turning a thoroughbred into a donkey. I mean no disrespect to donkeys, they do many things very well.

-

Why not have a thoroughbred donkey if you could ??

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i did my first credit card style tour on the only bike i had at the time, an old Merlin Ti roadie on 23c tires and a janky aluminum seatpost rack with basically a backpack mounted back there.

i wish i had some photos of that old set up. had a ton of fun on that trip and no real problems that i couldnt fix on the road.

there is no reason not to light tour on a comfortable steel road bike with the current crop of bikepacking bags.

a set-up as below could easily be attached to any road bike with no mount points and do fine on a multi day ride on decent roads in good climate. no need for super plush tires, disc brakes or rack mounts. some of those things may be "ideal", but the adventurous spirit has been thriving on imperfect equipment since it was a thing.

tubulars on a multi day tour could be a hassle if you flat more than once. yes, i'd get some decent alloy clinchers as the only physical change to that set-up other than the strap on bags.

- Great input thanks much !!!


Also just to be clear .....

- City bike - I dont ever leave my bikes alone, they are always with me, so I dont see myself locking any bike up much. Id rather look like a fool and bring them inside the stores with me.

- Touring bike - I have never done more that 1 day rides, so I dont really need a full touring bike, if I did that what I would get.

So far it looks like I might want .....

- Tires - To confirm the largest tires I can fit, I know 28mm tubulars ezaly fit, so maybe 30 - 32mm tubulars ? If I go clincher ( dont know much about them) what size does that convert to ? If I want to try 650b what size does that convert to ?

- Pedals - Flat pedals sound fun and ez

- Bars / Stem - I'll keep my current bars for now / I have a 12 degree stem on it now, maybe I will try and 8 or 10 degree

- Bags / Racks - Looks like I have much to learn

.

[polar8]

I say go for it. I don't think the race geometry will be an issue.

[miguel]

Do it

[pdonk]

On tire width. My sv easily fits a clinchers that are 28. I think the rear could fit s 30. The enve fork is the limiter on the front.

[robertbb]

One topic that hasn't been discussed much yet is the merits of flat bar vs drop bar for OP's purpose.

I've been going back and forth on this for a while on my v-brake city / commute / rail-trail bike... and I think I've concluded that the answer is flat bar.

A more upright position, gears, brakes and bell always in reach...

To me, drops are there purely for race rigs... to enable the rider to get low (aerodynamics, breakaway off the front or in a sprint, handling on a technical descent) or to get extra leverage while climbing out of the saddle (on the hoods).

I don't know why any of those are necessary on this kind of bike.

[R3awak3n]

to be clean, 650b is NOT going to work on that bike. Even if 38mm 650bs fit (which they won't), and even if long reach brakes would work, that would put the BB too low as well. Also, not a lot of 650b tubulars out there, if any.


as far as racks, you could rig some rack situation but you better off just going with some frame bags.

[tsarpepe]

for more inspiration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqgzoySu82s

[bob heinatz]

Karl your last post indicated you got alot of ideas now its time to execute some of them. A light city bike sounds like alot of fun to me. Don't over think this! Get a new set of bars, a few bags and have fun.

[gibbo]

Glue up some 28s, flip your stem, get a couple of bags and have some fun!! Don’t overthink it, if you have phone service and a credit card you are sweet. Pack light and ride fast :-)

[basilic]

In my mind a city bike and a light touring bike are not the same.
The SV is perfect as is for light touring. One needs only 3-5 kg of gear, in revelate-style bags, which does not change the character of the bike. A road bike position is comfortable for long days in the saddle. 28mm tires do the job.
A city bike that you use everyday (instead of driving) needs a rack with a bungee cord, dynamo lights, sturdy tires, fenders (where I live), flat pedals. A kickstand and frame-mounted lock are useful. Upright position. That's not the SV.