Touring Italy
mayesey
Posts: 2
Hi. I have a few questions. Me and a couple of friends are planning on spending a month in June travelling around Italy. The general plan is to bike through the country for a few days travelling from city to city. We're going to be camping and staying in B&B's when appropriate/we need a shower! Really excited about it!
Basically I'm just after some advice, and unfortunately have quite a few questions as we're all relatively new to this biking stuff. Firstly what sort of bike and equipment should we be looking at? Obviously it needs to carry a one man tent, small sleeping bag,camping equipment etc. The budget for a bike is around £250 at most, but ideally no more than £200. I figure eBay is my best bet, but im not sure what I should be looking for? What other bits will we need to take on a tour for around a month? Tyre pumps etc?
Secondly, getting the bike over to Italy. I've done a lot of reading on here and I think we're going to go with the CTC Clear plastic bag option, is there anything I should be aware of regarding this?
There's probably more I want to know, but this is the main stuff im worrying about for now.
Thanks
Mayes
Basically I'm just after some advice, and unfortunately have quite a few questions as we're all relatively new to this biking stuff. Firstly what sort of bike and equipment should we be looking at? Obviously it needs to carry a one man tent, small sleeping bag,camping equipment etc. The budget for a bike is around £250 at most, but ideally no more than £200. I figure eBay is my best bet, but im not sure what I should be looking for? What other bits will we need to take on a tour for around a month? Tyre pumps etc?
Secondly, getting the bike over to Italy. I've done a lot of reading on here and I think we're going to go with the CTC Clear plastic bag option, is there anything I should be aware of regarding this?
There's probably more I want to know, but this is the main stuff im worrying about for now.
Thanks
Mayes
0
Comments
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What to look for:
- tyre clearance for bigger tyres (not essential but helps)
- fixings for panniers (ditto)
- triple gears and MTB gearing (though there are people who have gone over the Alps on bikes with racing bike gearing)
- steel frame (though there are plenty of decent bikes with aluminium frames).
It might be worth investing in a copy of the Lonely Planet Cycling in Italy - it includes a section of useful general advice.
Opinions on the CTC clear bag option differ sharply. Some people swear by it. The theory is very plausible - but I'm not about to try it myself.0
