[salvage_bikes]

Sure, try it out. I think you will probably like 27" or 700c wheels better, unless you are riding off road a lot, or really hauling a lot of cargo (self supported touring).
I like rigid 26" bikes a lot, but I don't expect to cover a lot of road with them. For me they are sort of utilitarian, a bike to just hop on and ride without worrying about shocks and stuff.

If you put skinny slicks on 26" wheels, weird things happen. Your bike might feel "twitchy", your pedal clearance is diminished, your gears are all noticeably lower (good though for loaded touring), and it rides rough compared to a larger wheel with similar tire. I used to have some for trainer tires (1" recumbent slicks and tubes) and put them on a mtb for a while. I kept "running out of gears" and it just felt wrong, like the head angle or fork was just wrong with the slicks. I put a pair of 700c wheels on the same bike just for grins, and it felt ok, but I had no brakes (O S). I just sneaker braked it after the test.

[LarryM]

Salvage, my experience with wheel size has been different than yours. At typical touring speeds, which is about all I can manage, I don't notice anything slower about 26" wheels than 700c wheels. On some really beat up road surfaces, the 700c seem to ride less bumpy than the 26" which might contribute to a small speed advantage, but it doesn't seem to make a difference I can detect on most paved or even gravel roads. The tire sizes on the two bikes are are 26x1.75 and 700cx40mm

I wonder if the problems you describe with skinny slicks were due to the tires being too skinny to fit the MTB rims. There are a lot of touring bikes with tires in 26x1.4 to 26x1.95 sizes from excellent makers like Maxxis, Contintal, Schwalbe, and WTB to mention a few. They come in styles ranging from slick bottoms, slick bottoms with side knobs, to the light tred you find on most hybrids.

[superj]

I like the hybrid tires

[salvage_bikes]

It was a pair of 26x1" (559) recumbent tires ($20 gumwall road slicks) on narrow Mavic rims. They fit the rims fine, but the bike was made for 2.1 tires (1990s hardtail Diamondback "WCF" frame and 80mm shock). I rode the same bike with 26x1.5 "city slicker" Tiogas, and it was better, but felt sluggish compared to my 700c road bikes. I saved all the tires for later, but the last time I rode that bike I had installed semi-slick mtb tires and a steel "touring" fork. The bike improved much in handling, and made a great city bike. It got wrecked though. Oh well.

Originally Posted by LarryM

Salvage, my experience with wheel size has been different than yours. At typical touring speeds, which is about all I can manage, I don't notice anything slower about 26" wheels than 700c wheels. On some really beat up road surfaces, the 700c seem to ride less bumpy than the 26" which might contribute to a small speed advantage, but it doesn't seem to make a difference I can detect on most paved or even gravel roads. The tire sizes on the two bikes are are 26x1.75 and 700cx40mm

I wonder if the problems you describe with skinny slicks were due to the tires being too skinny to fit the MTB rims. There are a lot of touring bikes with tires in 26x1.4 to 26x1.95 sizes from excellent makers like Maxxis, Contintal, Schwalbe, and WTB to mention a few. They come in styles ranging from slick bottoms, slick bottoms with side knobs, to the light tred you find on most hybrids.

[longjohn]

It's hard to believe a Trek dealer would tell anyone the 520 is discontinued or hard to get. My Trek dealer has a small shop and doesn't stock the 520 but when I told him what I wanted this spring he had it for me in three days. I bought mine for doing the Erie Canal Bike Tour this summer and it worked great for that. I also figured I would use it for long range touring. What I didn't expect was it has become my favorite bike. My road bike feels neglected and I gave my mountain bike to my son. I've used my 520 for group rides and charity rides and I use it to commute to work. They are not cheap when bought new but they are well built and will last for many years.

[LarryM]

Nice ride!

That rack looks much better that what Trek provided 4 or 5 years back.

[rola643]

Got an email from these folks, not sure why, and thought about this thread.

http://bicycletraveler.bicyclingaroundtheworld.nl/current-issue.html

[superj]

I just looked at that magazine somewhere, I think the supermarket while waiting for a prescription. I think that was the one

[newleaf150]

Very nice, lj! Hard to heat a steel-frame tourer, IMHO

[i12ride]

This is what became my "touring" bike. Used to be my mt bike back in 1993. It has all the mounts for stuff. It has forgiving chromo frame. It has wide smooth tires. It came with 48/36/28 rings up front and gave it a 12/25 cassette. Very comfortable and dependable.