up vote 4 down vote favorite
1

I assume questions about bicycle touring are on topic, as long as we keep to cycling and not camping or journaling. (geoffc put up a separate question up about routing.) Thoughts?

share
Those of you who camp, there's now a proposal at Area 51 covering camping: The Great Outdoors. It's description reads: "Proposed Q&A site for people who love camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, canoeing, kayaking, climbing, and other excursions of outdoorsmanship." – Neil Fein May 8 '11 at 21:41
Also: Some camping questions are on-topic at Travel.SE. – Neil Fein Feb 3 at 22:16

4 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

I'd think it would depend on the question. It would be easy to do one that is too broad.

However, I think if you're doing a cross country tour or something you could probably come up with dozens of perfectly legit small scope questions:

  • What should the front/rear weight ratio should I aim for when I load my panniers?
  • What kind of tent would fit into my XYZ brand of panniers?
  • How often should I eat if I'm riding 8 hours per day, every day for 3 months?

Etc.

share
1  
Agreed - I think that questions that relate to the mechanics of cycle touring (which will probably blur a bit into generic camping) should be fine. Specifics of routes and places are, currently, off topic. – Murph Aug 26 '10 at 9:05
up vote 2 down vote

I don't think that touring is off topic.

I think that if you want to avoid touring questions you can do so with tags.

Similarly, I have no interest in BMX or doing bike tricks but I don't think that we should block those topics from the site.

Many touring questions will have relevance to commuters who carry loads/gear to work.

share
I don't think anyone wants to block questions about touring. I'm an experienced touring cyclist, and have a great interest in topics like camping and tour route planning, but I don't think such things belong here. – Neil Fein Aug 26 '10 at 19:47
How to carry a touring load, best rigs for touring, how to set up a bike for touring... these all sound on-topic to me. – Neil Fein Aug 26 '10 at 19:48
up vote 0 down vote

Seems like a vote to close basis considering so much planning goes into it. If it sticks to a minimum of talking about equipment and payload seems fair enough.

share
up vote 0 down vote

It seems to me that we should cover touring questions relating to riding, even if they only relate to riding only a little. I posted a test question about touring load weight distribution. (Of course, I know the answer and my answer is right, but opinions are always welcome.) :)

Since this concerns bike handing and comfort, it seems to me that this should be on-topic, but the community will decide.

A good answer to a question like this would venture an opinion, help clarify the question, and also explain why the poster thinks the answer is correct.

share
And I took the bait! I agree, and this envelops not only bike handling, comfort, and safety, but load-carrying in general. – Dustin Aug 27 '10 at 3:10
1  
Heh heh heh... caught! Seriously, I'm not trying to trap anyone, and I'm not trying to push an agenda. Whatever the community decides is fine. But we need lots of questions to shake this out. Questions that push at the edges are a good thing. Questions that are off-topic, but just barely, are a good thing because they show us where the borders are. – Neil Fein Aug 27 '10 at 4:05

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged