Back in November, I took this bike on a ~60 mile overnight tour along the Katy Trail in my home state of Missouri.
Shakedown ride day before the trip:
Fully loaded, at the half way point on the way back:
I outfitted it with my old Topeak rack, a small GoRuck duffel, and an Ortlieb pannier.
On the front, I fitted a newer Sunlite front rack, a Wald 137 basket, and and a Makeshifter Basket Case.
I also swapped on a pair of Tioga Psycho IIs, some XT M730 pedals, a Flite for more comfort, and a Velo Orange Mojave bottle cage for 1.5L of water reserves
.
Along the ride, my bottom bracket got a little loose and creaky, my headset lock ring failed to keep my headset tight, and my rear derailleur started getting noisy. Since I got back, I've replaced the loose Vetta jockey wheels with a pair of red Bullseyes, adjusted the bottom bracket, and replaced the Tioga lock ring with the original Gorilla Headlock that came on the bike. I also took the racks off, and put the Tioga pedal assemblies back on. A few weeks after this ride, on my weekly Friday night ride, one of the Psychos pushed it's wire bead into my tube, so I swapped back to Tioga City Slickers.
I love how easy it is to convert this bike into a touring machine! I am happy to have it turned back into a quick city ripper, and now I have the inspiration to build a dedicated touring bike!
