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Overland Bicycle Travel Overlanding questions for two wheels, no motor!
Photo by Carl Parker, Always curious Tibetans, Tibet, China

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Photo by Carl Parker,
Always curious Tibetans,
Tibet, China



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  #1  
Old 3 Jan 2008
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bicycle equivalent of an XT (in your garage?)
Seems the same sorts of problems (should that be progress..?) are happening in the cycling world, as in motorbikes. Steel bikes are becoming a thing of the past, as aluminium is everywhere. Not good for travelling far away from a modern bike shop.

I am looking for old steel mountain bikes, around 19" frame or for a 6ft'er. If you've got one you no longer want (in the UK/or Spain), let me know. Make, model, age, condition.

Give your old bike a new (recycled!) lease of life as a Southern & Central America tourer.

gracias...

Doug
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Old 4 Jan 2008
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Wink What's wrong with aluminum?
I'm travelling for 20 years and thousands of kms on alu bikes, much of the time on gravel roads. Iceland, Patagonia, Canada, Alpine tracks etc. Didn't come across any probs up to now.

Admittedly the first frame broke after jumping from a loading ramp, but that was more than 15 years ago. Materials have improved considerably since then. The frame I bought after that (Kettler) seems to be indestructable ;-)

Hans
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Old 5 Jan 2008
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yep, true, alu has come along way. but I'd prefer steel because

a) I'm not a light-weight, so a frame that has some give in it is a good thing for me.
b) I prefer the more compliant, and less stiff, ride of steel.
c) I do tend to do things like jump off loading ramps, so repairability is in my mind.
d) if I do c) the frame may bend (and can be un-bent) rather than break.
e) if the frame breaks there's a chance of welding it.

Having said that, modern steel bikes over the past few years have been getting lighter. So, with those very thin gauge steel tubes, I'm looking for an older steel bike.

I also don't want to spend much money, and I think cheap steel is better than cheap alu.

Which frame are you using?

cheers
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Old 13 Jan 2008
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Bike Frame
I've got a German frame (KETTLER Bike - unfortunately no translation).

They used to have real good mountain bike frames somewhere inbetween trekking and race bikes. Perfect for travelling on bad roads. But I agree - it doesn't flex, but it is stiff enough to carry my weight plus heavy luggage summing up to about 110 kgs.
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Old 24 Jan 2008
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good steel frames can be sourced from ebay if you are uk based have a look at Genesis bikes they do some lovely steel frames and they also do a nice 8 speed hub geared mtb for around £800. Maybe a bit pricey but should go on forverer.
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Old 27 Jan 2008
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It may require shipping but surlybikes.com make some very simple steel bikes that are used frequently for expedition riding.
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Old 8 Jul 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DougieB View Post
I also don't want to spend much money
So I guess you had a change of mind then! (or won the lottery)

Nice bike though.
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Old 8 Jul 2009
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not exactly, I still don't want to spend much money...

all the bikes were second hand. the LHT frame was new, £300. but the second hand bikes I went through left me with a haul of spare parts, which went to make up the complete Surly.

well worth spending the money, to get the experience though. I'd be gutted to have missed out on that, and taken random advice and bought a new Dawes Galaxy with full front and rear panniers; 'cause that is what you absolutely must have to travel'.

all in I've spent less than a pair of Touratech's metal panniers. it's taken a while (a year and a half?), and I've done many 1000's of kms to work out what fits me.

one thing I've noticed, switching from motorbikes to pushies, is the stench of road-kill.

cheers,
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Old 12 Jul 2009
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Hi D where did you get the frame from?

atb
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