Touring bike.

godinman

godinman

godinman

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So me and about 5 others (so far) are doing a fairly big road cycle later this year, probably September, maybe earlier. We're cycling from the welsh coast near Aberdovy to Great Yarmouth.

Currently I'm riding a mountain bike, which obviously wont be good enough for this 307 mile bike ride, so, good people of OCUKSA, spec me a bike!

I'll spend up to £700 for the basic bike, panniers, better lights and other equipment will be bought separately.

I guess it'll need to be a tourer of some kind, comfortable, durable with decent brakes, gears and frame. Steel framed? I'm really unsure, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any help.:)
 
Dawes Galaxy is usually the default answer to any touring bike question but they come in at about £800 to start with. You can get a Dawes Vantage for sub £600.

You certainly want steel though; alu will be too crashy for touring (and I dont know of any alu tourers any way).

Surly Long Haul Trucker is too expensive as well. Another option could be a Jamis tourer, but I don't know much about them.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;21139748 said:
Dawes Galaxy is usually the default answer to any touring bike question but they come in at about £800 to start with. You can get a Dawes Vantage for sub £600.

You certainly want steel though; alu will be too crashy for touring (and I dont know of any alu tourers any way).

Surly Long Haul Trucker is too expensive as well. Another option could be a Jamis tourer, but I don't know much about them.
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You've named an aluminium tourer in your second sentence ;) It does have steel forks, however, so it won't be too harsh.

For that sort of money, I'd either look to go second hand, or consider an earlier model - this 2011 Dawes Horizon, for example.
 
Thanks for the advice, I think I'd prefer a shiny new bike if possible! That Dawes Horizon looks really nice:) I'll have a search and see if anywhere has one in stock for me to have a play on.

On that note, whats the deal normally, do they let you ride it down the road or something? Or do they have one of those rack things you put the rear wheel on? I'll definitely need to have a good long play before I decide on one.
 
Most bike shops will let you have a proper test on a road/carpark or somewhere.
You wouldnt get a proper feel for the bike on a turbo trainer (the thing you put your wheel on).

You say that you want a touring bike with panniers, are you going to be carrying a lot of stuff? (how many days are you planning?) Panniers are great and much more comfortable than a big backpack, but if its possible to fit everything into a saddlebag, pockets on a cycling top and maybe a small, lightweight backpack, you'd save a lot of weight by doing that. On a long distance cycle, especially if you're not used to it, you should try to carry as little extra weight as possible.
 
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godinman said:
Currently I'm riding a mountain bike, which obviously wont be good enough for this 307 mile bike ride,
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Not necessarily true at all. What sort of mtb is it? Most mtbs can make very good tourers so unless it is a really specialised downhill bike or something it will probably be ok. Don't forget, people have ridden around the world on Penny Farthings and toured the Himilaya on unicycles so riding 300 miles is doable on just about anything.
 
Some road races can be 90 miles so doing ~100 a day on a road bike can't be that bad!

Obviously a more relaxed bike would be better than an out n out race machine.

I met a guy in Halfords today on a koga with 26 wheels with an aluminium frame. They are pretty expensive and are bombproof. He did have a brooks saddle on it though.
 
freebooter said:
Not necessarily true at all. What sort of mtb is it? Most mtbs can make very good tourers so unless it is a really specialised downhill bike or something it will probably be ok. Don't forget, people have ridden around the world on Penny Farthings and toured the Himilaya on unicycles so riding 300 miles is doable on just about anything.
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You're right, it would be possible on a mtb (or any other bike), it would just take a lot more effort.
For me, i would be doing almost double the speed on my road bike compared to my mtb for the same effort.
 
I think I'd definitely rather a new bike, the mtb is fairly knackered with a horrendous gripshift gear system that is a massive pain in the backside. I'm planning on doing a few 80 mile day rides and other road trips this year, so I think a new bike would be worth it..

Touch, we wont be carrying much, we're being met by a car at the end of days which will carry our stuff, so just the essentials for a day out will be carried with us.

t should be a lot of fun, I'm already in training on the exercise bike, will go out on the road properly in the next few weeks, am easing myself back into it after a rather lazy christmas period!
 
godinman said:
I think I'd definitely rather a new bike, the mtb is fairly knackered with a horrendous gripshift gear system that is a massive pain in the backside. I'm planning on doing a few 80 mile day rides and other road trips this year, so I think a new bike would be worth it..

Touch, we wont be carrying much, we're being met by a car at the end of days which will carry our stuff, so just the essentials for a day out will be carried with us.

t should be a lot of fun, I'm already in training on the exercise bike, will go out on the road properly in the next few weeks, am easing myself back into it after a rather lazy christmas period!
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If you don't need a full on tourer, then something like the Specialized Tricross may be more suitable. It's sort of midway between a dedicated touring bike and a road bike - it can take mudguards and a rack, and has clearance for at least 32mm tyres (which it comes with). It also has a triple groupset, so you'll have plenty of choice when it comes to gears. It seems as though you can get a 2011 model for under £600.
 
Interesting and a nice looking bike, although I wont be going off-road, ever.. What would be the benefit of that bike over the horizon plus?
 
The main advantage of the ribble is the weight which comes at the expense of being less comfortable.
The ribble is around 8kg, the dawes is 13.3kg, a lot of that is probably down to the extra weight of the pannier rack, but if you dont need it, why carry it around with you?

The ribble also has narrower tyres (23mm vs 32mm), this will make it faster/easier to pedal but less comfortable on rougher roads.

As i said, the ribble would be my personal choice. You might prefer something like the Specialized Tricross linked above, not as fast as the ribble, not as comfortable as the dawes, but somewhere in the middle on both counts.

Also, remeber to budget at least £50 for a decent pair of cycling shorts. Riding (4days?) consecutively is going to give you a sore ass, especially if your not used to the bike.
 
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I've got some fairly good padded shorts, not lycra! 4 days is the plan, unless we all become super fit and manage 103 miles a day, which is highly doubtful.

I'll never really be camping on a bike ride, but might have to carry enough stuff for staying the night in a hostel etc, would the ribble be able to take a pannier somewhere on it if I needed it to? I think I'd prefer speed and ease over comfort, I can always spec a comfy saddle for it!

For this ride I'll just need space to keep a top, snacks/energy bars, shades, phone etc etc. Probably something mounted on the handlebars which I can access on the move. Reckon the riddle could take something like that?

Also, thanks for your help so far.:)
 
Personally, I think comfort should take priority, especially if you're going to be on it several days in a row, or you won't enjoy the ride at all. Steel is a good start and I definitely would not consider an aluminium bike. Good padded shorts. 23mm tyres will make pedalling easier but are going to be harder work on your undercarriage and wrists. I'd be looking at 25mm minimum with 28 or 32 as my preference. They will simply soak the bumps up better. You don't need an 8kg road bike for this - it's not a race and as a percentage of the weight of you, your kit and the bike, a few extra kg won't make that much difference.
 
I dont think the ribble will take a normal pannier rack (their website is down just now, so i cant be sure). It would take one of the pannier racks that attach to the seatpost only, but they are not as secure.

Do you have a cycling top? Most have 3 large pockets on the rear with enough room for food, phone, glasses, tubes, small pump, etc. If not, another option is a top tube bag like this.
 
That tube bag would be ideal, my outer cycling top has pockets, but if I get too hot that'll be coming off and I'll be down to a t-shirt/thin top.

As for the bike, I am completely unsure now! My brother has an ali bike, I reckon I'll give that a ride and see how it feels. If it's too painful then I guess I'll go for a steel framed tourer/crossover bike.
 
touch said:
I dont think the ribble will take a normal pannier rack (their website is down just now, so i cant be sure). It would take one of the pannier racks that attach to the seatpost only, but they are not as secure.
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It doesn't take a pannier although to can use p-clips to attach one. It's won't be as secure as a proper rack mount though.

The Ribble may be lighter, but that's not going to count for much when you've got panniers and such on it. Also, the gearing on tourers generally takes into account the total extra weight; I've not looked at the specs, but a lot of tourers are triples rather than doubles or compacts.

That tube bag will hold a few gels or bars. They are used for triathletes who generally call them bento boxes if you are searching for them. I think you can get some with a transparent waterproof lid for viewing a phone gps.
 
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