So you want to get into bicycle touring but don’t have a “touring bicycle?” Fret not. Yeah, sure, it’s the most important gear you have on bike tour. But you don’t need something branded as a touring bike to go on a tour. Trust me. When I first started out, the only bike I had was a Marin mountain bike… with front suspension. I added a few things to it and it worked fine. In my series on my three favorite touring bikes we looked at my current personal ride, the Novara Safari, in part one. In part two, we ogled the arguably most popular touring bike on the road, the Surly Long Haul Trucker.[footnote]And the reviews keep coming… check out Part 4 on the Dahon Vitesse D7HG[/footnote] Now, let’s talk about my third favorite touring bicycle – the do-it-yourselfer touring bicycle hack you put together with a bike you already own.

You’ve got a bike: transform it with touring bicycle hack magic

How often do people delay things until they have the perfect set of gear? I can think of a lot of things I’ve held off on in life thinking I wasn’t prepared or didn’t have the right gear or experience only to realize taking the leap early is often far preferable than waiting for the alleged perfect moment. This is why I think people new to bike touring should just use the bike they already own to take the leap and get out there.touring bicycle hack

Can I hack it?

When you’re going out on a traditional bike tour, the name of the game is hauling gear. I’ve seen some people strap a backpack on with their gear, hop on a bike and roll. That might be your best option, but as anyone who’s done that can probably attest, it’s sub-optimal. Let’s try to have the bike haul the gear for you instead.

Add a rear rack

My old Marin mountain bike had the brazons that let me attach a simple, inexpensive rear rack. You don’t need anything fancy, but make sure the rack is attached well and has a reasonable weight rating. If you’re considering one of those clip-on rear racks (the kind that attach to your seat post alone) I’d recommend against that. They don’t hold enough weight unless you’re going ultralight. A decent $20 rack should do the trick, and hey… you might even have one in the garage lying about anyways!

Don’t have brazons to attach the rack directly to the frame? You can use P-clamps (check out this bikecommuters.com post on them) or (sometimes) hose clamps. Both of these are the secret tool for many a touring bicycle hack. The latter can scratch the hell out of your paint job, so be mindful of that.

Waterproof bags

You don’t necessarily need fancy Ortlieb panniers (although they are nice). If you have a waterproof duffel, throw that on the rack and bungee it down. If you don’t have a waterproof bag, use whatever pack you have and throw it in a heavy duty garbage bag before you cinch it on the rack. Sure it won’t win any appearance awards, but we’re just going for function. Form can come later.

Bar ends

If you have a flat barred bike (again, like my old Marin) a pair of bar ends are super helpful and a cheap mod to give you at least one alternative hand position. They come in all sorts of sizes and shaped (here’s just one example) and they’re often less than 20 bucks for a set. Play around with the alignment as you ride around. If you’re new to bike touring, trust me… this will be a great investment to avoid numb hands in the last hour of your first 50 miler!

Downside?

Some bikes just don’t tour well. If your bike is a big box store mountain bike or hybrid with plastic components, it might not stand up well to the rigors of a tour. That said, I’ve run into people on those bikes who’ve ridden hundreds of miles without a problem. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

Heal strike can be a problem once you upgrade to rear panniers on your rack. You can shift them back as far as the rack allows, but you’ll find when riding a bike designed for touring that the extra length prevents that. For me, that was the big motivator to get the Novara Safari.

There may be other downsides specific to the bike you’re planning to transform with touring bicycle hack magic . My Marin had front suspension, which is really great for mountain biking, but a lousy feature when touring. The play in the front makes getting out of the saddle on a climb a little shaky. Stability on touring bikes (especially when loaded) is pretty important.

Bottom line

Don’t let having the “wrong” bike stop you. You don’t need to invest in a touring bike right away – you can spend a few bucks and modify what you already have and get that brand new touring bicycle hack out on the roads and trails. Refine your bike and your gear as you learn what feels right for you!

Want more?

There’s a whole series on my favorite touring bikes that I already mentioned, but you might also be interested in listening to The Pedalshift Project bike touring podcast. If you’re really into bike touring (new or not!) consider signing up for the free Pedalshift monthly newsletter for even more bike touring goodness.

Behold your touring bicycle. Probably the most important thing you have on bike tour. Hell, it’s in the very name. Tents, cooking gear, toolkits, panniers and other things certainly make life easier on the road, but it’s the bike that gets the glory. When I was looking to upgrade from my heavily modified (non-touring) bike[footnote]for the record, a Marin mountain bike… with front suspension. Not recommended once you decide to make the leap, by the way.[/footnote] to something more built for the road, I spent weeks analyzing, hand-wringing and studying feature lists. In my series on my three favorite touring bikes we tackled my personal ride, the Novara Safari, in part one. This time, it’s arguably the most popular touring bike on the road… the Surly Long Haul Trucker.[footnote]I’ll lump in the Surly Disc Trucker in on this discussion as well… the main difference being rim vs. disc brakes. Demi-celebrity versions include Aaron of The Sprocket Podcast‘s Red Hare Among Horses.[/footnote]

Great specs + customizable

The Surly LHT is probably the standard when it comes to touring bicycle specs. Probably best of all, you can purchase the frame solo and build the bike from that beautiful steel up. For those that want a truly custom build without tossing “stock” parts aside, the LHT is a great way to go.

Favorite features

The first thing you notice with the Surly LHT is how damn solid it is. Most touring bikes of note are steel framed, but the build on virtually every Trucker you run into (and you run into a LOT of them on the road) is sublime.

But don’t take the ubiquity of Long Haul Truckers or their disc-bearing cousins as if you’ll run into a lot of similar looking ones. The fact they are so customizable and tend to be built to meet individual riding needs and preferences means you rarely run into a twin.

Downside?

It’s hard to find much about the Surly LHT to criticize. Ultimately, it’s pretty pricey. Is it the most expensive touring bike out there? No way, not by a longshot. But a typical build will be at least $1200 and often more if you go with the Disc Trucker variety. The more expensive your taste in tires and saddles, the higher the price climbs. Worth it? Yeah. Necessary? It depends.

Bottom line

I dig the Long Haul Trucker. It’s in many ways the ultimate touring bike, and I know a TON of people who ride and swear by them. My good buddy MJ really swears by his and has ridden many, many glorious miles on that bike.

Next time… part 3: Whatever the hell bike you have access to. Seriously. That’s part 3.

Want more?

There’s a whole series on my favorite touring bikes that I already mentioned, but you might also be interested in listening to The Pedalshift Project bike touring podcast. If you’re really into bike touring (new or not!) consider signing up for the free Pedalshift monthly newsletter for even more bike touring goodness.

It’s hard to argue that the most important piece of gear you bring with you on tour is your bicycle. Sure we talk a lot about tents, cooking gear, toolkits, panniers and other things that make life easier on the road, but it’s the bike that gets us there. When I was looking to upgrade from my heavily modified (non-touring) bike[footnote]for the record, a Marin mountain bike… with front suspension. Not recommended once you decide to make the leap, by the way.[/footnote] to something more built for the road, I spent weeks analyzing, hand-wringing and studying feature lists. The next few posts will feature my three favorite touring bikes.[footnote]Be sure also to check out reviews of the Surly Long Haul Trucker, hacking your own ride, and the Dahon Vitesse[/footnote] This time, it’s my pride and joy Sequoia sempervirens… the Novara Safari.

Quick sidebar/updates

The news from 2016 Interbike was a gut punch for fans of the Safari… with the end of the Novara line of bicycles, the Safari did not survive the purge as-is. REI’s new line of bikes, called Co-Op (see what they did there?) did include touring bikes, and the great news is the new ADV 2.1 is pretty much an evolution of my beloved Safari. I’ll be doing a complete revamp of the reviews here since the ADV 2.1 is by all accounts the natural successor. Here’s a video from REI with the details:

Prior to the rebrand, the Safari was last redesigned in 2016. The stock model now comes standard with disc brakes and thumb shifters as opposed to the rim brakes and grip shifters of the one I ride. The tires are also now Vittoria rather than Continental. It seems like the new Safari is being targeted to touring that includes trails and gravel in addition to road work, which I think is a great space for it to reside amongst the REI bikes since the Novara Randonee occupies the classic drop-bar road touring slot. I’ll update the review when I get an opportunity to ride the new version. Onto the review of the 2014 model, which you may be finding more of on the secondary markets…

Great specs + bang for the buck

The Safari has a great set of specs, comes in a little cheaper than some of the other top bikes out there, and has the added bonus of being from REI if you are a member (that dividend covers some pretty sweet gear when it rolls in). 

Favorite features

The first thing you notice with the Safari is the stock moustache handlebars. They’re distinctive, and maybe a little controversial. I strongly prefer them over traditional drop bars because of the variety of hand positions you can achieve with subtle shifts while riding. When I’m riding other bikes for more than a few miles, I tend to miss my moustache bars. They’re great for touring.

Another nice feature for the Safari is the very nice rear rack that comes standard. Is it a little heavier than other options out there? Sure. But it’s very sturdy and can handle a rough tour with few complaints.

Like many good touring bikes, the Safari has a steel frame, which makes it ideal for the rigors of travel. The components are solid, and with a few exceptions I’ll get to in a moment, I’ve ridden most of my tours on the stock parts.

While tour-ready once you roll it out of the store, he Safari is also highly customizable. There are brazons all over the frame for fenders, water bottles, pumps, and more. I even attached a rear rack modified as a front rack using some old water bottle cages and two hose clamps. It’s probably my favorite part of the bike.

A few downsides

While the components are excellent[footnote]three seasons of reasonably decent touring, approximately 3000 miles, and I am just now replacing the original shift cables[/footnote] I strongly recommend you break out the loktite before any tour and secure the threads on everything. It seems to be a problem for the Safari, and I definitely lost a few bolts in my first season.

The stock tires are Continentals. Decent tires. However… well, we all know what happened to mine. I moved up to a burlier tire.[footnote]The Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 28.0 x 2.0 tires fits the 700c wheels of the Safari. Highly recommended.[/footnote]

I promise I will not bore you to death by nerding out on gear ratios. There are way better sites for that. That said, the crankset that comes standard on the Safari is adequate, but not ideal for climbing hills. I found my ride down the Pacific Coast in 2014 to be substantially better when I swapped out the standard 48/36/26 triple for a 44/32/22 crankset. I love having that extra climbing ring, and the magic of physics kicks in with the smaller set. Bottom line: better climbing.

A minor quibble, and it’s more about personal preference: I don’t like to clip or strap in while touring. The Safari stock pedals have straps and I swapped those out after the first year. Like any strapped pedal, they flip over if you eschew their use and that can cause the foot holster to drag on the ground occasionally. I changed to an inexpensive platform pedal.

Bottom line

Ok, ok I’m biased. I love this bike. I ride this bike. Every once in a while I’ll see someone else riding one “in the wild” and I feel like a Mac user from the early 1990s who wants to connect with the other fan of a great, but lesser-used product.

Next time… the Surly Long Haul Trucker.

Want more?

There’s a whole series on my favorite touring bikes that I already mentioned, but you might also be interested in listening to The Pedalshift Project bike touring podcast. If you’re really into bike touring (new or not!) consider signing up for the free Pedalshift monthly newsletter for even more bike touring goodness.