Long distance tour

[Friend]

If ya'll were to pack up your bike, travel with it to Italy, and do a bike tour trip there, would you take a double-top-tube Appaloosa or a Homer Hilsen.  It would mostly be paved roads, some gravel, and packed for full camping (stove, tent, sleeping bag, etc...)  Why??

[Collin A]

That sounds like quite a treat...

It'd depend on how the bikes are setup, weight distributed, etc. but probably the homer for the following reasons:

• Mostly road and I am a light person, so I'd fall under the recommended weight limits
• The mental aspect that I am taking a slightly lighter bike
• Whichever bike has drops and wide slick tires (I realize this can be both)
• It feels like a more Italian countryside appropriate bike than the Joe (less tubes, traditional angles, etc.)

But again, whichever is better setup for the type of riding you described would be the one to go with. As everyone here knows, you can make each one the bikes feel very different or very similar based on wheels, tires, cockpit, etc.

Collin, smoky with jealousy, in Sacramento

[dougP]

For the trip you describe (camping) I'd take the Appa.  More ability to carry weight. 

Homer would probably be preferable for a credit card tour where all you need to carry was clothes. 

dougP

[Bill Lindsay]

Either would be excellent for its own reason(s).  I'd pick and have fun.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 7:36:46 PM UTC-7 Friend wrote: