Can I modify a road bike to be a touring bike?

Rupert_Royal

Hello All,

I have just bought a Peugeot Etoile on eBay. I was wondering if it were possible to modify a road bike to be more like a touring bike? And if I can, what would I need to do? I am a complete novice when it comes to bikes. Please help!

Thanks in advance!

whyamihere

As is so often the case, the answer is a firm 'maybe'.

I'm not familiar with the Peugeot Etoile, and couldn't find anything useful on Google. As a result, I don't know how racy it was designed to be.

Preferably for a tourer, you will want big tyres (32c is nice) for comfort, along with mudguards and racks. The tyres and mudguards will both need the clearances on the frame to be quite large, so if it's a tight racing frame, there's no chance.

The mudguards and rack will also need the correct mounting holes. You can cope without rack eyelets on the seatstays by using P-clips, but if there's no mounting holes on the dropouts, then there's nothing much that can be done.

careful

If you intend to actually do any touring you may find that the gearing is a bit high for carrying loads up hills (I think manufacturers select gearing more on fashion rather than on what is suitable for the average rider). See the sticky on this sight on gearing.

blorg

It depends on you and the bike. Many road bikes might not handle great with a rack bolted on to them. A rack is really the only "must" in my book, you can get away with using race blades for mudguards and I generally tour on 700x25s myself, even though the bike would take far bigger. I have used a rack attached with P-Clips to a racing bike type frame (technically a fixie) but to be honest I didn't find it terribly satisfactory.

You say "modify a road bike to be more like a touring bike" but what exactly is it you want to do with the bike? Multi-day trips carrying stuff?