Cheap tourer that's still good?

[SkipdiverJohn]

Lot of sense in your post skipdiver but I'd just add that better wheels might be an idea if planning to use for loaded touring.
Do you think those sorts of steel bikes will return to those sorts of prices post COVID?

I've ridden a lot of miles on relatively cheap wheels and never had any issues, but they have always been 36 spoke designs not ones designed for lightness. Not being a cycle tourist, I don't tend to carry much load around with me, but on the other hand i am not a skinny lightweight rider either. I'm 14 stone in my socks, so there's probably not much difference in overall weight between me riding a bike with maybe a padlock and chain plus a few pounds of local shopping and a light rider with a touring load.
I think the reason I don't have any reliability problems with cheapo and well used secondhand components is largely down to the fact I ride sympathetically and don't sit on a bike like a sack of spuds riding over kerbs and potholes.
If I was buying new wheels to add to a bare frame I would seek out heavy duty touring/commuting type items though, but I've got enough spare donor wheelsets not to need to buy new ones.
I believe some sanity will be restored to the secondhand market in time. Even now, the odd bargain still turns up - although they are much fewer than before. Unlike some, I do not believe the virus will result in a wholesale permanent shift towards cycling for transport. At the margins a few more people do ride now compared to before, but most people still like their comfort and staying warm and dry in a motor vehicle beats getting cold and wet riding a bike. Nothing much overall is going to change which means once the supply situation improves there are going to be plenty of secondhand bikes around and not many more buyers than before the pandemic.

 

[tyred]

The 36 spoke wheels found on older, budget MTBs are definitely perfectly capable of carrying a touring load. I've done it myself on several occasions.

The downside will be cheaper hubs are usually not that well sealed so will need stripped and greased more often but it's hardly the end of the world.

 

[All uphill]

The 36 spoke wheels found on older, budget MTBs are definitely perfectly capable of carrying a touring load. I've done it myself on several occasions.

The downside will be cheaper hubs are usually not that well sealed so will need stripped and greased more often but it's hardly the end of the world.

The spokes of my 1996 bike started breaking after a while, and the rims were worn, so I built new wheels with the help of the Internet to find Ryde rims and Deore hubs.

Took me days to get them true, but they cost about £120 for the pair and they remain true to this day.

The alternative would be to buy a donor bike with decent wheels and use them, but I enjoy acquiring new skills.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The downside will be cheaper hubs are usually not that well sealed so will need stripped and greased more often but it's hardly the end of the world.

What I tend to do is initially strip and regrease wheel bearings before using a salvaged wheelset, or after buying a bike secondhand. Once the wheels are in service on a bike my ongoing maintenance routine is to regularly squirt a little bit of industrial chain spray lube into the gap between the axle cones and the hub housings - on unsealed hubs. I just use the thin extension nozzle that comes with aerosol lube cans. It only takes a minute and you can inject the lube right inside without needing to either remove the wheels (mostly nutted axles with me not QR's) or strip the hubs.

 

[Blue Hills]

The spokes of my 1996 bike started breaking after a while, and the rims were worn, so I built new wheels with the help of the Internet to find Ryde rims and Deore hubs.

Took me days to get them true, but they cost about £120 for the pair and they remain true to this day.

The alternative would be to buy a donor bike with decent wheels and use them, but I enjoy acquiring new skills.

yep I would always go with something like Sputniks for anything I toured on - there are a few pics on here of my, er, generously loaded trips. I won't re-shock folks with a pic.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The thing to appreciate is that the cheaper types of 36 spoke wheels are not going to collapse or turn pringle-shaped the minute you put a bit of weight on them. They just require a more considered and sympathetic riding style than you would be able to get away with using super heavy duty rims.
Quality hubs will have their bearing surfaces ground to a better finish and material quality is likely to be superior, so ultimately they will last longer and run smoother than cheap hubs. The latter will still last a surprisingly long time all the same so long as lubrication is not neglected.

 

[Elybazza61]

I think you should also apologise for that saddle angle.

It's been stored for a while after the saddle was swapped around so not set-up correctly.