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

[KarlC]

So I love my Speedvagen but its does not get much use these days, as Im usually on my go fast Pina F8.

There are days I wish I had a bike that was ez to just hop on and run some errors on, and there is this week long bike trip, a few months from now, that my buddies keep saying we are going to do for the fist time,

So Im thinking of turning my rim brake Speedvagen into more of a Touring Bike, but I know nothing about doing this.

- Could I add some bags and or racks ? If so what ones ?
- Should I change over to 650b wheels ? If so what wheels and what brakes ? (I'm all tubular now)
- What bars ? If so what bars ?
- What pedals ? Im all Speedplay now
- I dont think I would really have a need for fenders, as it never rains in So Ca
- What else could I, should I do ?


My Speedvagen



https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=213855


Some inspiration.....

[Clean39T]

Sell it, buy a Kirk. Problem solved.

Getting the right geo, clearances, fit/function for the riding you want to do is worth it.

Doesn't have to be a custom of course, or a Kirk, but you might as well try something new and see how you like it.

You could get something cheap as a proof of concept, and tuck the SV away for a bit too.

East County is calling!

[Mike V]

Sell it and have Aaron from AR Cycles make you what you want.

[doomridesout]

That bike will never be a city bike or tourer, unless you want to ride a go-fast roadie for a city bike.

That said, switch to alloy clinchers and make sure it's got low gears. You can put some bags on it and go credit card touring. Boom.

[jtakeda]

well... half your inspiration bikes are disc bikes so it will be hard to get there.

Speedvagens still command a premium so I'd probably sell it and get something thats more suited to your needs but if theres some kind of issue like a big dent or something that would hurt its sale price I would

1. put alloy clinchers on it.
2. use bar end shifters
3. get a fork that would allow for a small rack and use a rando bag

and you have a super go fast rando bike. just add a dropper post type saddle bag and youre off!

But all that is predicated on not being able to sell the vagen for whats its worth

[KarlC]

Well crap thats a bad start to this thread, I had NOT planed to sell it, what wrong with it as a city / light touring bike ?

I like the geo, and clearances are really good

Sure why not use it as a go-fast roadie for a city / touring bike ? (What does this dumb roadie not know)

I have no desire for disc brakes

Why alloy clinchers ? It will not be a rain bike.


.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by KarlC

Well crap thats a bad start to this thread, I had NOT planed to sell it, what wrong with it as a city / light touring bike ?

You're free to use it to ride around the city as-is, but it doesn't have rack mounts, it doesn't have fender mounts, it doesn't have clearance for full fenders, and it's not designed to handle well with a load. It doesn't have clearance for larger 650b tires, so even with long reach brakes, that wouldn't work.

You can stick a handlebar bag on it, a frame bag, and a large saddle bag--that's about the most you'll get as far as carrying capacity. You can put on spd pedals so you can walk around more easily. You can swap your handlebars to whatever you want, but there's nothing wrong with the bars you've got on now.

When all is said and done, you still don't have what most people would consider a "city bike", just a racey Speedvagen you use to ride around the city.

[ravdg316]

Originally Posted by KarlC

Well crap thats a bad start to this thread, I had NOT planed to sell it, what wrong with it as a city / light touring bike ?

I like the geo, and clearances are really good

Sure why not use it as a go-fast roadie for a city / touring bike ? (What does this dumb roadie not know)

I have no desire for disc brakes

Why alloy clinchers ? It will not be a rain bike.


.

Nothing wrong with this idea. I clamped a Rack on a Moots RSL at one point. A good start would be a leather saddle/Brooks C17 and a saddle bag along with a small front bag, like a roadrunner burrito. Put some flat pedals on it with straps if you like. You can keep everything else specd as is for now and see how you like it before changing everything up.

You can attach a Tubus airy titanium rear rack at the break caliper and with an quick release adapter that has eyelets.

I’m in SoCal too — the only thing that made me concerned with the moots was it getting too much attention and I didn’t like locking it up. But Top end road bikes are good at a lot more things than people seem to give them credit for.

Also — I’m selling my saddle bag setup from Swift Industries if you’re interested. I prefer a rack setup!

[weisan]

Originally Posted by prototoast

You're free to use it to ride around the city as-is, but it doesn't have rack mounts, it doesn't have fender mounts, it doesn't have clearance for full fenders, and it's not designed to handle well with a load. It doesn't have clearance for larger 650b tires, so even with long reach brakes, that wouldn't work.

You can stick a handlebar bag on it, a frame bag, and a large saddle bag--that's about the most you'll get as far as carrying capacity. You can put on spd pedals so you can walk around more easily. You can swap your handlebars to whatever you want, but there's nothing wrong with the bars you've got on now.

When all is said and done, you still don't have what most people would consider a "city bike", just a racey Speedvagen you use to ride around the city.

Proto pal just about covered it.

Nothing we say will make more sense than you actually verifying it for yourself.

You will learn very quickly what you need to know and the next steps.

[vqdriver]

There are indeed limitations to how it was built, tire clearance and rack mounts being the biggest. But personally I wouldn't sell it before putting on flat bars and maxing out the tires to seeing if i do pull it for utility/errand/neighborhood duty.
I'm gonna guess it'll be a hoot to tool around on.
These types are usually more fun with a lower saddle height and I dont know how much leeway you have there.
Fenders? Screw that. You're in socal
As a bike I see no downside to this other than locking it up if in public spaces.

If you have to carry stuff for errands just grab a backpack.

[rwsaunders]

Buy something on CL that you’re not attached to, as your SV tubes will eventually get dinged with the regular use of a lock. Instant street cred with the Peugeot too...

[R3awak3n]

Put flat bars on it, thats all you can really do but if I was you I would just keep that as a spare roadie for when the pina has some sort of issue. Then get something else for around town. You could sell those fancy wheels and buy something that would be better as a townie than converting the speedvagen.

[RFC]

My suggestion is to try to find an older Cannondale tourer. They have a quick sport tourer geometry and lots of braze ons to add bags and bottles. Here is my 1990 ST600.

IMG_0052r by Robert Copple, on Flickr

[huck*this]

I understand the grab and go theory and when that phrase comes to mind only one thing can solve and do it easily. Try out a belt drive single speed? Dead quiet and easily a grab and go. Flat bar if that suits you. Some shiny bits. Bar, pedals. Styling and profiling in So Cal!

Cheers Karl!

[charliedid]

No