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> > 3. Has anyone on the list gone touring in the
> > 50s-70s, or more recently but on pre-1980 bikes?
Bike touring on 70's gear can work very well, either staying in hotels or camping. Obviously plans to camp outside, cook your own food and be independent of stores for days at a time is considerably different from carrying a change of clothes and a credit card while staying in hotels. And the heavier loads of camping trips put more stress on the frame, and require lower gearing. But I've had lots of fun doing 3 day self contained rides on my '81 Marinoni with the tent, air matress and sleeping bag on the Blackburn rear rack, Bike Warehouse panniers and an Eclipse handlebar bag.
The ideal touring bike is generally more stable and built from heavier tubing than a typical race bike. The extra stability helps keep the bike pointed in the right direction when there's extra weight on the frame. Chainstays need to be longer, not only for the effect they have on the handling, but to provide clearance for panniers and your heels. The bigger your feet, the longer the chainstays. Clearances have to be generous for fitting fat tires, again needed for the heavy loads. Eyelets are a must, of course. Two sets are great if your going to fit fenders.
I rode with many folks in the Detroit AYH in the mid 70's who had serious touring rigs as their main bikes. The chapter ran several camping trips a year, and you were expected to carry everything for up to 7 days. Many of the members rode custom frames, Assenmachers in particular. I'd say chainstays were about 17.5 inches on average, tubing was usually heavy gauge Reynolds 531, and there were braze ons for racks, extra bottles and two sets of eyelets. Those less well heeled adapted other bikes for these purposes. French racing bikes seemed popular for this, and several Peugeots and Gitanes were made into touring rigs. The wheelbases were comfrotably long, fat tires fit fine, and handling seemed ok. Not being racers, we didn't care if our bikes wieghed a few extra pounds. We were Tourists, by gad! I think a Gitane TDF would be a great starting point for a retro tourist rig if you're starting from scratch, based on the one I have that H. Sachs sold me.
The Blackburn rack in the mid 70's was a godsend, stiff enough to hold the panniers steady, and freeing us from the whippy Pletscher deal. Rear panniers and handlebar bags were the norm, with a small saddle bag for tools and tubes. The tent and sleeping bag were strapped on top of the rear rack. I think the lowrider front rack came along in the 80's, and came after my touring career ended, but by all accounts it's an excellent way to carry big loads. Obviously Rivendell's popularization of monster Carradice saddle bags gives you another option for luggage.
TA triple cranks and Suntour VXGT mechs shifted via barcons were the cat's pajamas when I got started riding in the 70's. Cyclone GTs were popular too, but considered too fragile by some. At some point the Japanese cranks with the 110x74 bolt circle took over from TA, but that may have been in the 80's. Triple cranks were the mark of the serious tourist, and a status symbol, as long as you avoided the racer boys in the Schwinn Wolverines with their references to "granny rings".
So tour away, there are many frames that will work, and several custom makers were heavy into this area. Aside from the above mentioned Assenmachers, I remember Jack Taylor and Bob Jackson touring bikes from the Detroit AYH, and I've got a nice Cirrus 7 badged Teesdale touring frame that dates from the 70's. There are purpose built frames out there, if you look.
Tom Adams, Shrewsbury NJ