Touring With FS - Luggage options / questions

kinioo

Morning All,

As I am now looking for my second MTB (keeping my old Specialized as holiday bike) was thinking about HT as I dont do any serious MTB etc.

Was thinking in the lines of VooDoo (29er maybe ?!), Boardman Tem etc., however as I am reading more and more about FS as good it is etc and looking at 2nd hand bikes you can get Boardman FS for about 600-700 I started to think hmmmm maybe I will give it a go ??

But, as we have been touring (80% tsrmac / 20% off) from time to time, and I have taken my old Hardrock to France / Spain / Portugal / Poland doing 500miles trips etc and It has never let me down;

We were using rear racks c/w rear pannier set and it worked well.

What is the luggage option for FS (if any) ??

I have heard: 'Touring ?? - forget about FS' is it correct ??

And, no, I wont be buying 2/3 bikes for: touring, local trials and pop outs to the pub - I have to stick to one bike.

Is a good HT still the best option for me ??

Cheers

Chris

cooldad

Yes, you'll struggle to fit a rack to any FS, and most will be pretty rubbish for 80% road riding.

kinioo

cooldad wrote:

Yes, you'll struggle to fit a rack to any FS, and most will be pretty rubbish for 80% road riding.

Yeah, thats what I thought.

The Rookie

Seatpost mounted rack, not the best but useable.

cooldad

Fine for light loads but not really long distances with a serious load.

kinioo

Re: Seatpost mounted rack - was thinking about this as an option, but as Cooldad said it seems to be OK for light luggage (weekend pop out) not very suitable for mounting panniers ?!

Chunkers1980

No they are fine. You're just increasing the load through the seat tube/stay. Light panniers will be fine as they can also have pannier bars down the side.

But heavy puts pressure on everything else too like the suspension, sag, the wheels and the like. I really wouldn't put loads over 20KG through it and I'm sure the rack will state a max likely to be lower than 20kgs.

The Rookie

I passed a bike doing the Kitchenor trail at Sherwood pines with a seatpost mounted rack with a toddler seat on it....was bouncing up and down quite a lot though! With Chunkers, stick to a lightish load and you'll be OK, add a bar and triangle bag for extra volume (and to spread the weight).

Monty Dog

Look on a bike-packing site, plenty of frame bags, seatpacks and handlebar rolls that dispense for the need for racks and panniers. Alpkit and Wildcat are two UK bag makers.

cooldad

A full sus is still the worst tool for 80% road touring, however it's packed.

The Rookie

Quite true, decent used bike suited to the task for £100 on less would make most sense.

cobba

kinioo wrote:

What is the luggage option for FS (if any) ??

Old Man Mountain makes racks that fit on FS bikes.

http://www.oldmanmountain.com/index.html

Here's some photos.

Rear racks.
http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RackGalleries/Images/csr_6_cold-springs-rear-disk-with-clamps.jpg
http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RackGalleries/Images/Sherpa-Rear-Disk-With-Clamps.jpeg

Front racks.
http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/ultimate-lowrider-w-clamps-LG.jpg
http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/PioneerFrontWithClampsLg.jpg
http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RackGalleries/Images/sherpa-front-26-w-clamps.jpeg

kinioo

cobba wrote:

kinioo wrote:

What is the luggage option for FS (if any) ??

Old Man Mountain makes racks that fit on FS bikes.

http://www.oldmanmountain.com/index.html

Here's some photos.

Rear racks.
http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RackGalleries/Images/csr_6_cold-springs-rear-disk-with-clamps.jpg
http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RackGalleries/Images/Sherpa-Rear-Disk-With-Clamps.jpeg

Front racks.
http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/ultimate-lowrider-w-clamps-LG.jpg
http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/PioneerFrontWithClampsLg.jpg
http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RackGalleries/Images/sherpa-front-26-w-clamps.jpeg

Thanks for the links.

TBH I cannot see my luggage on this: http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/Rac ... lamps.jpeg
seems too weak.

Anyway, I dumped an ideal of touring on FS !!

Looking for two bikes at the mo: MTB + Road/Tourer/Commuter - this will do me I think

Nero and Me

I tour on a Voodoo Agwa and I carry my dog on the back! Just completed the whole UK and start Europe in January!

I wouldn't use a bike with FS although there are more and more mounts that will accommodate this.

If you want to see my setup check out my blog www.neroandme.co.uk

JayKay3000

Even if you chose a full suspension it's simply a load more things to go wrong and when touring you want simplicity.

Either a dedicated touring bike or one of these hybrid bikes that ride like mountain bikes, but come with rigid frames and slightly more substantial tires for light off roading and usually front and rear pannier racks. You could also think about a trailer arrangement or even a reclined bicycle.

The FS rear shock might not lockout fully meaning you will loose power in bob rather than putting all that leg energy into the rear wheel. The FS would be a fantastic second bike to go with a tourer, the fun machine for the weekends.

I spend 40% of my time fixing my FS. They're also heavier which means you may tire easier over longer distances and they can be harder to clean due to fiddly suspension designs. They are wonderful machines when rattling down trail centres and pot holes in roads become almost non existent. They generally have easier gearing overall.

Hard tails and hybrids can be more road by geometry. FS tends to be slacker and less efficient overall.

Good luck though. I wish I had my hybrid tourer. 50 miles is longest I did on my FS on the road and it was a grind towards the end even with good suspension and no bob. I ran the rear locked the whole time except when I got to fast downhills and found things to jump over.