Newer than all the other Newbies in need of help

[mrfowler]

I've been on a couple 3-4 day backpacking trips and want to do something a bit longer. Looking to take a year off and do some wwoofing along the way. Been kicking around bikepacking in my head for a long time. Ideally i'd want to go from santa cruz to arizona. Seems like that might be a little overzealous. Especially since I don't have much of anything gear or money wise.

Looking at a 19" Bianchi Grizzly 1988 Celeste green uber bike for $350. Here's the description : This is a lugged & double butted cro-moly Bianchi from the golden age of MTBs. It is in great shape with the team Bianchi celeste color. The graphics are looking as original. Includes the Celeste green cable housings, handle bar, water bottle mounts, and even celeste colored toe straps. It has Shimano XT bear trap pedals and XT cantilever brakes with new XT brake pads. It has under mounted chain stay brakes. The fork & frame are lugged. I put on new 1.25" slick road tires for efficient road riding & doing the commute. It also has a titanium Bontrager saddle (100). The bike has a long wheel base and some folks use this as a platform for bike touring.

Heard Bianchis are crazy good road bikes but not sure how it'd fair on a long ride that probably won't have too much pavement. I'd probably have to cheap out gear so would probably have a bit of a load on it. I've read that road bikes don't do well with a lot of weight.

Also was wondering what gear you could cheap out on and what is essential. I've seen some pretty rad Diy rack bags so hopefully could mimic some of those. I figure I have around 600 to spend on the trip. Not even sure if this would be possible but planning for sometime next year. 

[frejwilk]

I'll respond regarding the bike.

At any price, I don't think that Bianchi is a good choice for what you're describing. It is almost 25 years old. Brakes and gearing won't be as good for (dirt) touring as what you might find on newer bikes. Even if it's in mint condition, things like quill stems (1"?), 7speed, 110/74 chainrings, etc. are going to give you headaches down the road.

Unfortunately, I don't have a good recommendation within your budget. If you can save a little more, try to look for at least disc brakes and lower gearing (22x32 or lower). In your budget a suspension fork is not really an advantage. Fit is more important than anything else.

I know this is a bikepacking site, and I don't want to sound dismissive or harsh. But with a $600 budget, I'd keep most of my budget for food, and hit the PCT on foot.

Good luck,

FW

[mattyp]

for the bike:  it might be fine as far as the frame goes; but you could end up dropping all your budget into making it run well.  also consider that replacement parts could be tough since the rear spacing is likely 130mm, so if you for some reason needed a new rear wheel you could cram it in;  but just more of a headache and probably a lot of shops would not be comfortable stretching that hub in there.

then to the bags;  the bikepacking bags are great for road or off road but are pricey, and depending on what you already have that can add up.  with this type of set up, i discovered that i needed smaller packing items to get everything to fit.  smaller gear is usually lightweight and then also expensive.

a trip from santa cruz to arizona is ambitious, but with enough maps i'm sure there's some route.  the parks in california are tough to negotiate.  last year i went from pomona to santa barbara and had a route that was mostly dirt but ran into a lot of closures for fire and otherwise not open routes i had intended on using.  one put me off my schedule by more than half a day.  it was fine and i ended up riding pch for more than i had intended, but then you run into the camping which all costs money along the pch or hotels; which probably in your budget.  but a pch tour is not a bad option either, a lot of people dream of doing that tour and from north to south you can make really good time (prevailing winds).

i've heard of people doing trips on low budgets and bikes cheaper than your bianchi, so anything is possible.  hopefully we aren't dissuading you from your dream but want to be honest too.  let me know if you'd like to see my budget, i can email what i spent; just don't want to put that out on a forum.

[tonymason]

Put some knobbies on your bianchi then do a few short trips first. If your that's fun then go for it. Yeah, a new bike would be nice-faster-lighter-easier to repair but it is not essential. Lots of DIY and inexpensive gear out there for camping and carrying. Since most of us don't have a year off we pour money into bikes/gear to get the most out of our days on the trail. You won't have that problem.
Tony

[cocokeelers]

I recently rode from London to China. In Tehran I met one guy who had some a similar distance on a $200 bike and a girl who had traveled from Paris on something she found in a skip. As long as you know how to maintain a bike and have spare spokes and other bits and pieces, you'll be fine.

My big tip for cycle touring is to take lots of heavy duty cable ties, as they'll hold together almost anything that breaks!

Don't worry about the distance. Your first few days will be the toughest, but from day one you'll just get stronger and stronger until, a few weeks down the line, you'll realise you're racing up a hill which, back at the start of your trip, would have had you huffing and puffing.

Enjoy, go at your own pace and camp!