Speccing a touring bike

bike_the_planet

andymiller wrote:

wallabyhunter

In the great scheme of things I think the answer is 'probably not a lot'.

853 has the best strength-to-weight ratio, so you can get a lighter bike for the same strength or a stronger bike for the same weight.

The Reynolds website is full of information. though clearly they have an incentive to encourage people to order more expensive tubing.

SFAIK most frame builders offer it as an option for an extra £100, So if you're going to the expense of having a frame made, it's worth considering - but 725 if perfectly fine.

Probably worth starting a separate thread on framebuilders.

853's superior strength to weight ratio is only relevant if you are going to get thinner walled tubes for a lighter frame. All steels have the same density so if you are using 853 tubes rather the 531 in the same gauge the bike will weigh exactly the same.

This is why 853 was mainly seen on lighter road bikes. That is, until carbon fibre took over.

Touring bikes cannot get away with tube wall thicknesses of less than 0.6 mm dues to the risk of denting whilst handled by airport baggae handlers, and also reduced stiffness and risk of buckling, so I don't see what advantage you get in using 853 rather than 531 or standard 4130 cromoly - all will be plenty strong enough in the thicker gauges that a tourer needs.

Cheers

wallabyhunter

Hey b_t_p I see you have a Perth location. Do you do much touring here? I don't see a lot of (local) people touring. It always amazes me that au is a destination for so many cycle tourists, yet go into the average (or even above average) bike shop & no-one is interested in touring!

I bought a Cannondale T2000 from my lbs a couple of years ago & since then he has sold a few bikes off mine when it's been in his shop, but not many lbs stock any touring bikes.

thanks for the ionfo on tubing
gb