HELP! purchasing first touring bike -too many to choose from

starkicker

Help Me please!

Up until this point I have been a dedicated mountain biker, but I have decided that I want to start touring (starting out for weekends and possibly going across canada at some point soon). I have been looking into the following bikes, but can't decide between them... any comments, suggestions, advice would be MUCH APPRECIATED!

i've somewhat narrowed it down to 4...

Treck 520
Cannondale touring 2
Rockey Mountain Sherpa 30
Specialized Tricross Sport

NFMC

There's a review of touring bikes in this month's Cycling Plus. The Specialised Tricross is reviewed (very positively) and I think one or two of the others. Not 100% sure!

tebbit

My first decent tourer was a Dawes Galaxy which I had for ten years, I now have a Hewitt, equally happy with it

sonicred007

I'm eyeing a Surly Long Haul trucker - read lots of good things from tourers about it

I'm just getting frame and forks for £350

andymiller

It's difficult to offer much in the way of advice without knowing what you're looking for in the bike (eg dedicated tourer or general-purpose bike you plan to use for touring as well), what sort of touring you plan to do and how you arrived at the shortlist you've got.

The shortlist is a bit of an odd mixture: the Cannondale/Trek and Rokcy Mountain are pretty similar (steel frame, similar component spec, similar geometry - longer wheelbase). The Surly Long Haul Trucker is out of the same mould.

The Specialized Tricross is different in that it's intended to be a bit 'sportier' and more of a general-purpose bike (although the differences aren't that great; it's wheelbase is only 3cms less than the Surly) and of course it has an aluminium frame.

The questions you need to think about/research are:

- steel or aluminium frame?
- what gearing?
- classic tourer or something that is a bit more of a mongrel (with either an audax or a cyclocross heritage)?

There are a number of British 'manufacturers' whose ranges are worth checking out eg Condor, Planet-X or Paul Hewitt.

Sorry. I know you want to be told 'buy x and not y' but it's not that simple.

BE1

I'd agree with Andy

the term tourer now covers such a broad range of bikes it is hard to advise without knowing more.

To hugely generalise there are three or four main types ((at least in my mind)

Traditional tourers: Dawes Galaxy is the benchmark here but is now pricy, dawes Ridgeback, Claud Butler, Raleigh EBC, thorn hewitt all produce bikes in the price range you are looking at. Plus points are proven dsign and advocates will say (almost) all the bike you ever need. minus point: :image seen as staid and slow (the latter not always the case). Shand may be a good idea h geometry so a bit more lively and nippy can take rear panniers and in cyclocross form good off the road as well all the bike you'll ever nee (unless you need to carry lots of heavy stuff). ere given recent price hikes for new bikes

Light tourers, Audex or cyclecross bikes, slightly tghter frameDisadvantages, the lack of capacity to carry a heavy load for long distance stuff, such as a big tour of Canada. dawes do one Ribble do one Kona do the Jake, Genesis have the Croix de fer (but not sure about racks on this one).

Heavy duty tourers; The long haul trucker is a case in point: heavyweight, avalaible to spec for expeditions, 26 inch wheels, or road 700c. Thorn do the Sherpa and among the others Kona have the Sutra. Plus points good for long heavy tours, good on rough road and off road which as an MTBr you never really get out of yours system (or maybe that's just me). Down side, slower on the road and heavy.

Others will no doubt draw finer distinctions but the best thing is to think about what you need,look and try as many as possible and then make your choice

Which did I recently buy....why the one with the pretty paint job of course

RonL

Depending on budget Thorn or Hewitt are both an excellent choice to consider and you can pick & mix components. I've had a Thorn XTC for six + years and it still rolls superbly, not too heavy but handles even better when loaded.

Mike Howarth

I would definitely second Andy Millar's comments its very difficult to offer any meaningful advice without a bit more information.

You can literally tie yourself in knots there are that many great bikes around.

If you're looking for a utilitarian bike then I would heartily recommend the Planet X Kaffenback. The guys over at Planet X really do offer a great service.

Wooliferkins

Light touring and day rides I use a Tifosi CK7 full on touring I treated myself to a Hewitt Cheviot. Paul and his team will spec your Cheviot for your needs. Personaly I can't praise them enough.

Stuck on a Giant

Hi

We've got a couple of Specialised Tri-cross sport bikes and have done several touring holidays - (camping) to France with them with rear panniers and bar bag only. Good lightweight value for money bikes and have been pleased with them. Only things we have changed are the brakes to cantilever brakes as original came with mini v's which never worked that great.
Mrs Stuck on a giant often uses hers for commuting as well. We also like dropped handbars for different riding positions. [/url]

culverwood

You come from a mountain bike beckground so why not a 26" wheel tourer? You may even be able to adapt an old hardtail (and preferably rigid fork) mountain bike.

You could buy a new one, plenty of brands make them, and all those low gears are wonderful for pulling heavy loads up thhe big hills.

ride_whenever

the galaxy is massively overpriced, go to your lbs, and get them to build you up something.

Koga-Myata are fantastic tourers as well. But if it were my money, i'd go the whole hog now and get a thorn or surly with a Rohloff, costs a shed load but amazingly fun to ride.

Special K

+1 for Thorn and Rohloff combination.

Very pleased with my Thorn Nomad. It weighs more than Belgium. But if you're a big ex mountain biker like me, then you'll be happy with the knowledge that beneath you is a sturdy reliable machine that will probably keep going longer than you will.

The service at Thorn is excellent, they really have invested massively in service and quality and I would heartily recommend putting some trust and faith in people you care about what they are doing.

Brains

I'm a Thorn fan as well, having said which, the 'benchmark' tourer is the "Dawes Galaxy"

Look closly at the spec, pick what you like, and then see if you can improve it from somewhere else.

Otherwise get a 2nd hand Dawes Galeaxy, ride it for at least one tour, and that will tellyou what you really want so you can then justify spending real money

Bananaboy

After a recommendation from a friend I bought a Surly long haul trucker frame last year and built it up myself by sourcing components off ebay and online bike shops. The finished product is just what I wanted with quality components that should last a long time.

One of the reasons for building my own bike is that on ready made ones the components that came with it werent always to my liking.

The Surly is strong, easy to ride and has all the braze on's anyone would need on a serious tour. The frame is well designed and built. The quaility of the welds on all of the lugless tubes are the best I've seen.

The frame, forks and seat post collar can be bought for £350 but if you shop around you may be able to get one for less.