Specialised Secteur Sport (2011) - touring capable?

thomlocke

Hi all,

Would appreciate your advice here.

I am planning a 3-4 month cycle tour in Central or South America in about 12 months time, possibly Guatemala or Columbia, TBC. Hopefully mainly tarmac roads but will probably be faced with some poor quality roads/dirt tracks but I'm not planning on prolonged off road excursions if I can avoid it!

I have a 2011 Specialised Secteur Sport that is currently gathering dust after a recent upgrade. I have ridden this bike for many years so I know it is comfortable, that it has a relatively relaxed position and has rear eyelets for a rack/pannier.

What do you think about the suitability of this bike for a few months on/off the road with potentially 10-15kg equipment?

I have concerns about the sturdiness and reliability of the aluminium frame to be carrying heavy loads (including my 75kg) as well as the carbon forks.

Will some choice upgrades suffice or should I be looking at a dedicated touring steel frame?

Many thanks for your help

bobmcstuff

I would be a bit concerned about damaging the Secteur as it isn't really designed to carry that much weight for that long. For a tour of that duration I would probably be taking front panniers as well as rear (better balance if nothing else), which will require at least a new fork as you'd need fork eyelets.

For me, I would definitely be looking at a proper steel tourer. You're also more likely to find someone who can repair a steel frame should anything go wrong.

thomlocke

That was my concern too, after replacing the fork it would probably be cheaper just to get a new steel tourer. Any suggestions on reliable models, perhaps £500-600?

Thanks

Anonymous

Touring = Touring bike
Relaxed Road bike = relaxed road rides

mrb123

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19768368#p19768368]thomlocke[/url] wrote:

That was my concern too, after replacing the fork it would probably be cheaper just to get a new steel tourer. Any suggestions on reliable models, perhaps £500-600?

Thanks

Genesis Tour de Fer 10 is widely available under 900 quid. You'd probably be able to negotiate a bit of discount on that, plus it comes with racks, mudguards and a light included.

ddraver

FWIW, I used a Ribbles Winter bike as a tourer in France a few years back which had carbon forks. It was terrifying!

You'd turn the handlebars and literally nothing would happen, add a bit more turn in and still nothing, repeat until the forks suddenly went TWAAAANNNGGG and turned.

That said, it's amazing what you get used to, 2 days in I hardly noticed any more and by the end of the 2 week trip I couldn't ride the bike unladen without having the opposite problem.

I'm not sure I'd risk it in S America though. It would be terrible to end your trip of a lifetime because you snapped a fork and couldn't find another