Originally Posted by
lisacohen
Hi there,
Sooooo, after all that rambling... I was wondering:
1) Could I use my current bike as a touring bike for day/weekend trips or would I be better off saving for a different bike (and if so, are there any recommendations? I'm 5'2" and on the light side and I don't know where to start. I went to the bike store and asked this question today and the bike store owner pointed me to a Trek 7.3 FX WSD bike and I wasn't quite sure about this since I thought that drop handle bars would be best for the different hand positions available... especially since my wrists like to switch it up for anything over 20 minutes!
If you mean loaded touring with gear on your bike, then no, the Trek 2.3 has no attachment point for racks, and carrying gear on a partly-carbon frame is not recommended. You could probably attach a trailer, but the 2.3 is designed for fast road riding, not riding with a load all day. It could be done, just not the ideal frame geometry and far from the ideal gears. The Trek 520 is designed for touring, other manufacturers make touring frames, or a steel frame cyclocross bike could be used (like the Surly Cross-Check), . I think you'd be wise to stick with drop bars if that's what you're used to.
Originally Posted by
lisacohen
2) Can I use my current bike with a trail-a-bike (I just bought a Novara Afterburner single speed) - or if I should instead use my 14+ year old mountain bike to hook that up to.
The trail-a-bike can be attached as long as your bike has a standard-diameter aluminum seatpost. However, using the trail-a-bike adds instability every time the child moves, so attaching one to a twitchy go-fast bike would not be the best. And expect to need low gears towing a child up hills (though if the child pedals too it helps).
Oil is good, grease is better.
2007 Peter Mooney w/S&S couplers/Terry Butterfly
1993 Bridgestone MB-3/Avocet O2 Air 40W
1980 Columbus Frame with 1970 Campy parts
1954 Raleigh 3-speed/Brooks B72