Touring bicycle

[Vishwas Narendra]

Hi,

I had to pull out of the TFN this year because some work came up. I know I missed an awesome experience but right now I'm thinking of other rides that I can do in 2010. I'm thinking of doing a 2-3 week bike tour sometime in the early part of 2010. I don't know exactly where or when yet, but I don't think I will have the luxury of support cars. In fact, I want to experience not having a support car for the ride.

That said, I want the ride to be as comfortable as possible. I currently ride a Trek 4300. I'm open to buying a new bike or making modifications (adding panniers etc) to my Trek. I want to know what options exist for me to consider. I read the review of the Kona Sutra on the BOTS blog and I definitely want to try that out. I remember some people on this group talking about buying the Bianchi Volpe a few months ago. Did any of you buy the bike? What has your experience been so far? 

I heard from Gaurav that Dr. Deepak recently bought  a touring bike. What was the bike and how is it doing?

Thanks,

Vishwas

[SreeHarsha .H .Srinivas]

Vishwas,

Shreekumar has Kona-Sutra.

He is pretty happy with the bike.

He will surely oblige you for a test ride.

-Harsha

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[Rohan Kini]

yeah - the Kona Sutra is pretty awesome. But no more available till mid Feb.

Volpe - there were a ton of really interested ppl. But that deal fell thru - the Volpes did not materialize in India.

Deepak and Ullas - both of these were waiting for the Volpes, just went ahead and picked up touring bikes from Singapore. You have a 17% surcharge on the MRP of the bike. You could speak to them individually and get their opinions on the bike they picked up. Can connect you guys.

On Thu, Dec 31, 2009 at 2:53 PM, Vishwas Narendra <vishwas....@gmail.com> wrote:

--

[rushi]

I'd (if I had the money) do the following:

1. Ultegra 6600 triple set on sale at chain reaction (shipped free to
India) -- 37k with duty (@50% off right now)
2. Good strong wheels also shipped free if you buy with the from
chainreaction groupset -- 16k with duty
3. Rest of the stuff like seat post, handlebar, saddle, etc from Venky
-- around 20k more
4. A nice (touring, if that's important to you) frame from somewhere
(can't tell you where, but Bangalore is a good start!) -- undisclosed
price!
5. Satisfaction of building the nicest bike ever -- priceless

[Vishwas Narendra]

Rushi, wow! That's quite a dream bike. But I don't feel up to it mainly because I don't know enough about the technical aspects yet. I prefer to get a complete bike and change components when they wear out or when I really NEED an upgrade. 

Rohan, thanks for the info. BTW, How does one get bikes shipped here from Singapore?

SreeHarsha, thanks. I'll try contacting Shreekumar.

Vishwas

[rushi]

On touring bikes, one of the few remaining "old school" bike builders
died:

http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2009/12/ernest-csuka-of-alex-singer-cycles-dies.html