Fast-ish Fun, Midnight Special for Touring

My first new bike ever. I’ve ridden a 2004 Fuji touring bike that I found at a thrift shop for $50 for the last 12 years. I ride about 2000 miles a year. I rode Seattle-San Diego in May 2022 in 23 days self supported. I brought my laptop and did all this while working remote ~8hr/day from park benches and coffee shops. It was a lot of early morning and late nights in the saddle. I really found my sweet spot in riding, longer days, higher mileage while bike packing/touring. It’s my preferred way to see travel and see the world.

I’ve dreamed of a bike that could do that but with marginal increases in performance. I still wanted a steel frame that ride soft and can get abused and some ability to mount lots of stuff. I love my old Fuji and all I really wanted was disc brakes and a larger steer tube for some more rigidity. I tossed around the idea of modding the old ride but just felt that it would still be lacking. I also wanted to shed some weight, although when carrying gear, weight doesn’t matter too much. I spent a while on the drawing board and this is what I came up with. Keep in mind I’m trying to increase from a 12-13mph avg to a 16-18mph avg while loaded and touring. I’m still working on aero bag setup for this build, trying to get away from a front rack and panniers. I’m also probably going to end up with some different gearing. But i’ve had it for a month now and put ~500mi on it and I just can’t get enough of this thing. It’s an absolute dream to ride. I’ve never ridden anything else newer than the last 2 decades though, so I probably just have no clue what I’m missing.

Anyways, cheers and happy riding. Hope you enjoy it 1/10 of what I do.

Photo from today on my 60mi commute to work. If you’re in the Seattle area let’s ride!