Quality MTB for touring..

EricE

My Orange P7 was stolen last month. The insurance has come through super quick (CIS) and I have £950 to spend on a new MTB. I used the P7 for touring in the Alps, Ukraine and Hungary and also trail riding at Glen Tress. It was a cracking if heavy bike and did all I wanted - I could fix a pannier rack onto frame mounts, I had an Orange rigid fork that I swapped and I put on the slicks. It was a decent touring bike. I put the suspension fork back on and swapped the tyres and I had a trail bike.

Should I just replace it with a '09 P7 or are there any other bikes that could match the P7's versatility 0 ie a XC bike with frame mounts for pannier attachment. I guess I could push the budget to £1100.

Cheers,

cookiemonster

dont know about matching the p7 but i use a spesh rockhopper (07 model). the frame is the old ali M-works, so a few years ago it was the absolute top dogs; it has bosses at the hub and on the seat stay, so fitting a rack (tubus logo in my case) is hassle free. usual mtb issues of short chain-stay and set of lumpy forks up front,

I guess if you want steel then the p7 is the way to go, but if you want too loose a little weight then there are lighter ali bikes to choose from

jon

redvee

On-One Inbred has pannier bosses and the disc mount is inboard, in the rear triangle opposed to the outside, so won't get in the way of the pannier leg. Want to get a ravk for it but I think I'll be taking the wee wee if I place another order with CRC as I made 3 this week and received all the goods.

GyatsoLa

I've used an On One Inbred for similar riding to you and it works well, although it has quite a stretched geometry which not everyone gets on with.

I don't know if they are available in the UK but the Gunnar Rock Tour is one of the few mtb's specifically designed for use as a tourer, its a very nice looking bike.

They are maybe out of your price range, but Thorns Rohloff equipped mtb's (the Sterling) have a good rep., although they are seriously heavy.

lloyd_bower

EricE wrote:

My Orange P7 was stolen last month. The insurance has come through super quick (CIS) and I have £950 to spend on a new MTB. I used the P7 for touring in the Alps, Ukraine and Hungary and also trail riding at Glen Tress. It was a cracking if heavy bike and did all I wanted - I could fix a pannier rack onto frame mounts, I had an Orange rigid fork that I swapped and I put on the slicks. It was a decent touring bike. I put the suspension fork back on and swapped the tyres and I had a trail bike.

Should I just replace it with a '09 P7 or are there any other bikes that could match the P7's versatility 0 ie a XC bike with frame mounts for pannier attachment. I guess I could push the budget to £1100.

Cheers,

I'm not sure what vintage your P7 was, but the geometry of the model of the last few years is somewhat different.

Certainly steel is better for fixing it up as an all round tourer, agree with GyatsoLa above, On One would be one to consider, likewise Thorn or maybe Merlin cycles.

andymiller

Another happy On One owner (touring on a 456).

ride_whenever

I'd say a 456 is too much for touring, an inbred is a much better bet, that'll leave you plenty for spare forks etc. As a starting point, 719 rims, xt hubs and drivetrain, formula brakes and a set of reba's up front.

If you want a bigger emphasis on the trail then get a 456 with pikes, they are fabulous, but will be noticeably twitchy with rigids.

andymiller

ride_whenever wrote:

I'd say a 456 is too much for touring, an inbred is a much better bet, that'll leave you plenty for spare forks

I went for the 456 on the basis that it was claimed to be stronger then the inbred - though in retrospect I'm sure an inbred would have been fine. I was also attracted to the fact that the geometry had been adapted to put more weight forward onto the front wheel - and I do find it easier to climb on dirt trails as a result.

IIRC the 456 is a 100 grams or so heavier and £15 more expensive. So either will leave you plenty of money for the rest of the build.

Apart from the geometry the other issue to consider is whether you prefer the traditional dropouts of the 456 against the slot dropout of the current Inbred.

EricE

thaks guys. I hadn't considered the on-one at all. Will go and find out.
Cheers,

Bodhbh

Out of interest...some talk about geometry - what geometry are you looking for in a bike for mixed touring/off-road use? (above and beyond having rack mounts etc).

I have old Rockhopper I use for touring and trails, it's been fine althought tbh it was the first 2nd hand bike MTB that I thought was a bargin had rack mounts and I didn't have much criteria beyond that.

ride_whenever

as a rule of thumb, look for a bike designed for 100mm of travel at the front, with a bias towards trail riding as opposed to xc racing.

john74

i use a trek 4900 its about 5 years old but it has mounts for a rack. i picked it up for £150 so have a look about you could have some spare cash for some goodies (sat nav) mmm

Special K

I bought a Thorn Nomad, and when I went to check out the showroom I almost went for the Sterling which would have given me the fork flexibility you are talking about.

Unlike On-One (I used to have a Pompino), the finish was a much higher standard on the Thorn, and I liked that so much thought had been put into everything. More expensive, especially if you Rohloff it, but you pays your money...

andymiller

Special K wrote:

I bought a Thorn Nomad, and when I went to check out the showroom I almost went for the Sterling which would have given me the fork flexibility you are talking about.

Unlike On-One (I used to have a Pompino), the finish was a much higher standard on the Thorn, and I liked that so much thought had been put into everything. More expensive, especially if you Rohloff it, but you pays your money...

The On-Ones are (give or take a few quid) £150ish. There's something to be said for having a finish where you don't have to worry if it picks up the odd scratch or bit of cable rub. With the help of some helicopter tape, mine has travelled thousands of miles by planes, train and boats with only minor scratches. As you say, you pays your money etc

GyatsoLa

Another bike you might want to look at is the Charge Duster

www.chargebikes.com

I've not seen one close up, but judging from the website description they'd be a good set up for touring.

bxp

Have a look at a Cannondale F3 or F4, too.
It's an aluminium alloy frame, but comes with a lifetime warranty, and Cannondale explicitly say you can carry up to 25kg of luggage on it.

The HeadShok fork is very rigid & has eyelets on the dropouts, so fitting a lo-rifer rack could probably be done with a kit from Tubus or something similar.
It's got a good lockout, too, so you can probably get away with just locking the fork on tour rather than swapping it out. Gives you the option of unlocking it when you hit a bit of bad road.

EricE

Thanks for the Cannondale recommendation - I had never even considered them. The headshok fork looks great. Its clean and doesn't look like something a plumber would knock up. I know cannondale frames are good. How would it handle as a mountain bike when not touring?

Thanks for all your help. Its great to be able to do this.

EricE

Thanks for the Cannondale recommendation - I had never even considered them. The headshok fork looks great. Its clean and doesn't look like something a plumber would knock up. I know cannondale frames are good. How would it handle as a mountain bike when not touring?

Thanks for all your help. Its great to be able to do this.

andymiller

and Cannondale explicitly say you can carry up to 25kg of luggage on it.

That actually isn't very much. Probably more than enough for most people, but even so, it doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence.

Magnus Thor

I don't actually have any personal experience with Cannondale myself, but the guy who has this homepage:

http://www.islandia.is/nature/england/eng.htm

has been using a Cannondale for his touring for years and likes it a lot. He's cycled Iceland backwards and forward for the last couple of decades, accross the highlands in every direction and whatnot - carrying full camping gear and couple weeks of food.


Magnus Thor
Iceland