Touring on an Audax bike

lightbulb

I have a hewitt Chiltern Audax and fancy touring on it. It's pretty tough steel with Aksium wheels and 28 tyres. It already has a back rack for panniers and a back bag.

How much do you think I could get away with? I have an Avior 3 tent (2.75kg) a standard sleeping bag and a small roll matt. If i kept all the rest minimal would a) I be able to spread it across paniers at the back and maybe two small bags n a low rider on the front? Can anyone forsee any problems re: frame wheels etc? Would a trailer be a better option?

andymiller

Unless you yourself are really heavy I can't see that you'll have any problems. If you were planning on taking a load of stuff on rough roads you might want to think about getting a wheelbuilder to build you a stronger wheel for the back, but for normal roads I can't see any reason to worry.

alfablue

I have done fully loaded (camping) tours on my Reynolds 531 Steel Dawes Audax 1997 vintage, it can cope with the load strength-wise, but with over about 10kg load on the rack the rear triangle sways fairly badly, such that it is visibly flexing from my partners view behind me. This takes some handling (though I do get used to it). Reason for this is the tubes are 531c (c for competition) rather than 531st (super touring/tourist) the latter was used on the Galaxies, and they have thicker seat and chainstay tubes. After persevering for few years I have now bought a proper tourer (a Condor Heritage), and it is nice to be on a steady bike!

Your bike may or may not be prone to this, I think the only way to find out is to load it fully and try it. The handling on mine was probably bordering on dangerous, especially in difficult manoeuvres in town traffic.

The Aksium wheels may be ok, but handbuilts with 36 readily available spokes (or preferably you take spares) are the preferred option (I hear that Mavic spokes can be hard to source, so not likely to be readily available at the average bike shop on tour), I got Open Pros for a decent price from Parker, Spa Cycles do good builds, and do the Exal 17 rim which is worth a look (can take a wider tyre than Open Pro's).

lightbulb

Thanks andy miller and alfa blue. My Hewitt has 631 tubing and I think the audax refers to the geometry as much as anything. I don't really have the budget to change wheels and my clearance would only get me up to 28c tyres (which I have on) anyway. I will take your advice and keep it it v.light and probably put on a front rack to spread the load more evenly. I see there is a thread about touring on a full on roadie with a pic of a Spec Allez fully loaded which gives me some hope. Also a good incentive to lose a few kilos before the off!

alfablue

My g/f tours on a Trek 1.2 (like the spesh allez) - it works very well, but these are aluminium frames and they are stiffer than my 531 steel. Your 631 frame will probably be fine though - suck it and see

One tip, a rack with a low mounting point for the panniers may improve stability - I use a tubus cosmo, and the mountimng bar is below the level of the wheel

For a cheaper rack, the Tortec Expedition has the same feature:

The Mechanic

I have toured on my Aravis 631 audax bike. I had rear panniers with about 10kg total load and the bike performed faultlessly. I even hit 83 kph going down the Lecht with not a hint of wobble.

I was with my son and Daughter-in-law. She has Aksium wheels and carried a similar load with no problems. We were B&Bing so no tent etc.

lightbulb

Thanks guys all very encouraging. My back rack is a Blackburn Expedition 2 and have just ordered a low rider front rack to spread the weight. As I'm likely to be going with one or both of my boys we can probably spread the gear sensibly across all three bikes.