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Mountain bikes have been pressed into service as touring machines for a long time. Old hardtail mountain bikes make great, bristly touring machines, and they're fun to ride. Tires The first thing you'll want to look at are the tires. Most mountain bikes come with knobby tires for riding on dirt and gravel. A set of slicks or semi-slick tires will decrease ...

Sounds like you want to use your current V-Brakes, but if getting new brakes, TRP makes mini V-Brakes that are STI lever compatible, sometimes called a brifter (brakes and shifting in one lever). Most V-Brakes have a different pull ratio which is not compatible with brifters. The TRP CX9 is for Shimano STI levers The TRP CX8.4 is for SRAM and Campagnolo ...

For cycling across China you want a reliable bike that is unlikely to give you trouble, and which can be repaired with "local" resources if it does. Forget about "lighter" wheels -- you want reliable wheels, and a pound less weight (if that) from a lighter wheel will not make any difference. And I'd stay away from a geared hub, unless you can find one that ...

There aren't many options out there for cranks shorter than 165mm. Your best bet is to buy a set of longer crankarms and get them shortened at a service like Bikesmith Design. Also, if you are legitimately having knee problems, I'd suggest that you find a professional fit service in your area and have a fitting done. The length of your cranks may not be the ...

The Surly Pacer is a good choice. My first real bike was a one, and I used it for commuting, training rides, and a two-week tour in Europe. Even though it wasn't "ideal" for training rides or touring, it worked great for me until I was able to afford more specialized bikes. The Pacer doesn't come with as many rack bosses as you'll want (one advantage of the ...

Sheldon Brown has a page about adding a second set of handlebars above your first set. It looks terrible: Why not give that a shot? Sounds like it will fulfil your desires.

Tektro makes relatively inexpensive brake levers for drop handlebars. They have a RL-340 model which works with caliper and cantilever brakes, and a RL-520 model that works with V-brakes. I found this the hard way: I bought a Genesis single-speed cyclocross bike online, and it came equipped with mini V-brakes and the wrong levers. The biggest surprise was ...

My main bike (a tandem) is a bit small, and I need to get a taller stem, but in the meantime, I'm using some bar ends similar to this: The ones I've got are bent a bit more, closer to 90 degrees. I've mounted them sticking straight up, which gives me a hand position pretty much parallel to my bars, but a few inches higher. The only picture I've got ...

Your question is very general but I can start the ball rolling by telling you about a short-distance tour I did over a couple of days last summer. Think is was about 350km in the end, on tarmac roads, over 2 1/2 days, staying in hotels overnight. Bike was a road bike, but was an audax bike rather than a racer. It had mudguards, a rack and I had SPD ...

I suggest checking out the Space Horse. I have one and am very pleased with it. Most recent version comes with a compact 10 cassette, is a very smooth ride, and quite comfortable. I've taken it off road onto the gravel rails to trails we have around here and the next day loaded it up for a 15 mile commute to work. Solid as a tank. Comfortable. ...

I'm not sure of the exact size of your rims, as it doesn't appear that a 28.5 inch tire is mentioned anywhere in Sheldon Brown's rim sizing chart. However, there is mention of a 28 inch wheel which is used on "Indian Rod-brake roadsters". The actual measurement for this rim is 635 mm. 700c wheels have a 622mm BSD. This means that 700c road bike tires are ...

They are all compatible. Generally speaking, 9-speed Shimano mountain bike parts are compatible with one another without. If there's an exception to that rule, I've never seen it. One thing you might want to check is that your frame will be compatible with your top swing front derailleur. It's fairly likely that your touring frame is set up for bottom pull. ...