Which bike to take?

supercarl

I'm planning a bike ride with a friend from Hook of holland to Koln, down to Luxembourg, and back via Belgium and France to Calais.

I'm sure I'll ask more q's down the line, but firstly I'd like to know which bike is best to take. We are "credit card" touring and do not need to take camping equip etc, and will travel as lightly as possible (ideally just a backpack and saddlebag/handlebar bag each - no panniers).

I need to choose between the folllowing:

1) Marin Hawk Hill hardtail with 1.5" slicks

2) Trek Madone 5.2 road bike?

Which would you recommend? I think the Marin is probably tougher (alum frame) and I can change the front suspension to rigid fork - would this be worthwhile?

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated - I am mainly concerned about ease of maintenance en route, likelihood of theft, and comfort!!

xilios

I chose the Marin only because its beter suited from the two. If you're worried about ease of maintenance and theft check out the Trek FX series, google for reviews, etc...

priory

on the madone you will be limited strictly to nice roads. every time you get off it you will have the threat of theft. Will it be securely locked out of sight at every overnight stop?

If none of these were a problem I would go on the madone, but touring is not so predictable.
Why backpacks ?

andymiller

priory wrote:

on the madone you will be limited strictly to nice roads. every time you get off it you will have the threat of theft.

In my experience cheap bikes are just as attractive to thieves, if not more attractive, because they are easier to fence - who's going to ask questions about someone selling on an old mountain bike or hybrid? Best solution is a decent lock.

And either bike will be fine - I'm assuming you're doing on-road touring. If you're planning to do significant stretches on aggregate bike paths then you might find very narrow tyres a bit of a pain.

GyatsoLa

I've toured on mountain bikes and on light road bikes. If you can keep your kit down to an absolute minimum, then touring on a road bike is heaven - hills are so much easier, the miles just seem to float by. You only lose out on the choice of being able to take rough tracks. Its your choice really as to whether you want to take that option or not.

priory

cheap bikes are just as attractive to thieves,

well,yes, but.............

Bill D

What's the friend riding? No point going on the Madone if he/she's on a slower bike or mtb. I'd have a chat before deciding.