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scozim

It's not like I have enough other things going on around here with kids, fair, rodeo, cycling, working ....

Now, I've started thinking I might want to try and do some touring. Actually, it all started with pondering how to raise some money to send to our adoption agency so it could be forwarded to our adopted children's home countries. Then it struck me - touring might be a nice way to raise funds and I'd get to enjoy cycling at the same time.

So, with that I'm in a research stage. I want to do something in the next 1-2 years on vintage steel and, logically, of Gitane orientiation. I have two bikes that could handle some light touring - a 1982 Nishiki and my 1987 Trek Antelope beast of a mountain bike. Both have braze ons for racks. The Trek is probably better suited with cantilever brakes.

I've become attached to the '84 Gitane bikes in particular - maybe it's the decals, I don't know. The Grantour looks like a great bike so that's going to be where I'll take my search when I'm ready to purchase a "true" touring rig.

I see several of you have the '84 Grantour. Can you provide some likes and dislikes of the bike? Have you done much touring on it? How well does it handle the heavier weight set up of front and rear racks? Finally, could a decent set up be built with center pull brakes vs. cantilevers? Would that provide enough stopping power/leverage over side pulls?

If I can get a decent set up I'll take my kids on overnight camping trips by bike, etc. to make it even more fun.

Sorry, this is so long, but I've got a lot of questions.

lofter

well i give a little feedback with my little tour i did overnight and back last year. keep in mind,i wanted to try out a fully loaded self supported touring rig.i decided to go with the ortlieb classic rollers panniers i bought two of the large bags for the back and a large handlebar bag for the front . i had it weighted down pretty good, camera, phone ,wallet, mp3 player all my "REAL goodies"that r important .

i also had to be able to have a tent and a mattress to sleep in and on . i didnt want front panniers, tried to keep it light as i could.i bought the large rack pack to put the tent(one man), mattress ,my cooking gear,and my rain gear and pump and spare tubes.

let me tell you , these panniers definately keep the rain out , it poured on me . and everthing stayed dry Smile

get good durable rims 36 spoke with big tires i had 700x28's . i could have gone bigger ,plenty of room but i decided to roll with it .i would have felt better with the bigger tire .the bike weighed alot (remember fully loaded)

as far as the ride i thought it handled great . i laid the rack pack across sideways instead of the length of the rack.i put it right behind my seat close as i could get it. that kept the weight up centered closer to me. i with a stronglight 99 triple crank 28-38-48, 28 tooth for the biggest on the back.simplex bar ends and a huret doupar(SP?)for the rear derailleur. i only had two killer climbs. actually four (two coming back). i hit the granny twice but made it up and over with no prob.

i put on some old tt bars to help change up positions every now and then. i did 65 miles in about five + hours,130 total for the trip (remember its touring )i had to keep reminding myself of that lol. as far as brakes ,i had the stock mafac cantilever center pulls and didnt care for the stopping power . probably try some v brakes like on a mtn bike or side pulls. no wobbles and pretty stable . i would highly recomend the grantour and i would feel perfectly safe doing even long distances .crazyguyonabike.com has some great tour journals to read thru .you got to weed thru em ,but there r great stories from the road. wow that was long im exhausted . Shocked

verktyg

My only comment...

Make sure that you get panniers that are positioned so that you don't kick them with your heels all day long.

On my first extended fully loaded trip back in 1975 I was riding my Bertin C34 mid level racing bike with short chainstays and a 39" wheelbase. I set out to do all of the mountain passes across Northern New Mexico.

I put on a 14-34T freewheel and a long arm Shimano Crane RD. Pulling several 9,000 foot passes a day with 50 lbs of gear, I ran out of food then money! I figure I was burning 6,000+ calories a day but that's another story...

Anyway, I was kicking the bags the whole trip!