Suggestions for buying a touring bike in London?

deepakvrao

Never done touring before but am planning a tour in the UK and France next year. I now ride a CAAD9 road bike and my wife rides a Bianchi road bike.

Did a lot of research and narrowed down to:

Jamis Aurora-my first choice till now
Bianchi Volpe
Surly LHT
Cannondale Touring

Jamis looks the best for us, as the Volpe has short chain stays and the Surly has bar end shifters which [while I have never tried], looks not that easy to use. Also the Surly may be overkill for our planned light touring.

We will not be doing fully loaded touring but about 80-100km a day and staying in B&Bs.

We live in India so the only locally available [with difficulty - no test ride and we just have to pay and order] touring bike is the Cannondale Touring bikes which are aluminium, and designed I think for heavier riders and loaded tours.

We could buy the Jamis on a US trip, but our next trip is to the UK. So, any suggestions for UK touring bikes that would be around 1000 USD? Something that we could buy in London and start our tour directly?

Any other suggestions? We are totally unaware of whats available in the UK.

Regards,

Deepak

denmancentral

$1000 will buy something like the Ridgeback Voyage from Evans Cycles (a large chain with many shops in London). This bike is below the specification of those others you list but gets good reviews. Dawes would be the other obvious manufacturer to recommend if you hope to walk in a buy one from a shop in London (as opposed to mail order) for around $1000.

The Surly LHT would be around $1600 in the UK (not sure about the others you list but I think $1000 is too low). FOr this I can recommend Brixton Cycles http://www.brixtoncycles.co.uk/surly.html

For similar money, there is the Condor Heritage. The shop is in central London http://www.condorcycles.com/heritage.htm and worth a visit.

I would contact the last two to check availability of models/sizes.

alfablue

Condor would be my choice (and their Fratello is an option, more of a light tourer), however I suspect there might be several weeks for build time, so do check them out.

The equivalent of US$1000 doesn't get you very much of a tourer in the UK (£620 ?) The Condor's would be nearer £900.

Dawes are more likely to be readily available in the shops, for a light tourer then its the Dawes Audax or Sportif (about £800). The Galaxy is their classic tourer, upwards from £800 for the one with bar end shifters.

The closest to your price is probably the Ridgeback Voyage as denman says, you may get one for between £600-650, and they have STI shifters.

Personally, for a cheap light tourer I would consider a Trek 1.2 triple, although ostensibly a road bike it has a comfy position and has rack mounts on the rear, STI's, and works well as a tourer. You might fins one for around £625.

MichaelW

The Dawes Galaxy and Horizon
Claud Butler Dalesman and Regent
Ridgeback Panorama and Voyager

These are classic English tourers with tyre clearance about 32mm with fenders and come equipped with luggage rack(s) and mudguards/fenders.
The Audax style tourers use long drop calliper brakes and can take 28mm tyre+fenders, good for most roads and medium loads but not really suitable for heavier loads and rougher trails.

dilemna

With your budget a 2nd hand Dawes Galaxy might be the best option.

tbshooter

Having ridden a Ridgeback Voyager for many years now on some long journeys, I would thoroughly recommend it. It is comfortable, sturdy, reliable and also looks fantastic! The full package!

nicktheluddite

The most important thing about a tourer is that it fits.

Have you thought about sticking racks on your current bikes (which obviously fit), wider tyres for comfort and touring on them? Perhaps also change the rear cassette if you are going to a hilly part of France? All you need for B&Bing is one change of clothes for the evening. You can easily fit that into a bar bag and a drybag strapped onto the rear rack.

andymiller

NB this thread is almost three years old...