Gearing.

webboo

My mate keeps asking to come touring with him. He's planning to ride from the Alps to Adriatic and will be going over every col in sight. It will a trip staying in hotels but carrying what gear you will need with you in panniers. I don't currently own a touring bike or one that could be used for touring.
My winter bike is too old but does have 50/ 34 chainrings my other two bikes have 52/36 chainrings. How low do you need to go gearing wise would you get away with 34 x32 for example.

ror3h

Depends on your fitness, riding style, route, luggage etc!

I did a tour including lots of cols starting in Switzerland and heading across France a couple of years ago. I was staying in hotels so tried to pack as light as possible (maybe 5~7kg luggage), and did it on my road bike with 50/34 chainset and 11/32 cassette. It was certainly doable, and I felt the gearing was just about fine, but I did have to get out of the saddle often when the gradient went above 10%. I'd recommend fitting the easiest gearing possible, as it's always nice to have a bailout gear on those long days.