Looking for Touring Bike for Europe 3000+ miles tour

paneuropursuit

Hey All:

Trying to tour Europe next summer for a local charity. I'm in the process of finding a good touring bike to use, let me know please what bike you like, and what you suggest (as far as finding a bike that I'll be able to get replacement parts for in Europe).

Also, if you know any online sites besides Craigslist where I could find used touring bikes, let me know about those too!

Omar
Pan-Euro Pursuit
www.paneuropursuit.com

HebdenBiker

We'll need some more details before we can recommend. Budget? On/off road? Light tourer or fully loaded?

paneuropursuit

We'll mostly be on road, but I can imagine some of the paths would not be maintained well, so could get bumpy along the way. Definitely fully loaded, though we will be packing as light as possible (nontheless we're gonna have to carry some cooking gear, camping gear, etc). Anddddd budget. Cheap as possible. Not looking to spend more than 1000. If possible, want to buy a used one for 600-800.

dodgy

paneuropursuit wrote:

We'll mostly be on road, but I can imagine some of the paths would not be maintained well, so could get bumpy along the way. Definitely fully loaded, though we will be packing as light as possible (nontheless we're gonna have to carry some cooking gear, camping gear, etc). Anddddd budget. Cheap as possible. Not looking to spend more than 1000. If possible, want to buy a used one for 600-800.

You mention craigslist, so I guess you're US based? I think you may have some inaccurate perceptions over just how civillised Europe is (road conditions etc) You'll find replacement parts not a problem in much of Europe, can you be specific about which countries you're visiting? As Europe is not a country

Oh and 800 what? Dollars, pounds edit - or indeed euros!?

Sounds like a cool adventure for you.

Barbes

No need to be sarky Dodgy - the guys have posted a link so you can see their route.

I'd look at Dawes and Thorn brands - both build good traditional tourers. Buying new will probably cost upwards of £800-900 though. Second hand? Dunno - Gumtree maybe?

ctc.org.uk has some good general info. about touring.

You'll have no difficulties at all finding local bike shops and getting spares in the UK, France, Italy and Spain but possibly better to stick to Shimano or Campag.

Looks like a fantastic trip and let me know when you plan to start in Glasgow and I'll wave you off

dodgy

Not being sarky, I didn't see the route, I just thought that was an autosig.

paneuropursuit

Thanks all! It's always nice to hear people showing us support, and we'll definitely need all the luck we can get to go through this with as little problems as possible.

I'll be sure to check out gumtree, and ctc.org.uk, thanks Barbes. And hopefully sometime early next year we'll have our tickets booked, so by then we'll let you know exactly when we'll be leaving Glasgow for the journey.

Hmmm that's definitely disappointing to hear dodgy, maybe I had idealistic expectations that the entirety of Europe would be as nice to ride on as they say the Netherlands is...and you're right I should've specified the countries. For anyone who hasn't checked out the website yet (which you should do! its www.paneuropursuit.com) we plan on starting off in the UK, taking a ferry to Calais, biking up to the Netherlands, going down to France, Switzerland, southern Germany, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Southern France, Spain, and then flying to Sicily and ending the trip in Rome.

WISH US LUCK! can't overemphasize that we'll be needing it

paneuropursuit

Thanks all! It's always nice to hear people showing us support, and we'll definitely need all the luck we can get to go through this with as little problems as possible.

I'll be sure to check out gumtree, and ctc.org.uk, thanks Barbes. And hopefully sometime early next year we'll have our tickets booked, so by then we'll let you know exactly when we'll be leaving Glasgow for the journey.

Hmmm that's definitely disappointing to hear dodgy, maybe I had idealistic expectations that the entirety of Europe would be as nice to ride on as they say the Netherlands is...and you're right I should've specified the countries. For anyone who hasn't checked out the website yet (which you should do! its www.paneuropursuit.com) we plan on starting off in the UK, taking a ferry to Calais, biking up to the Netherlands, going down to France, Switzerland, southern Germany, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Southern France, Spain, and then flying to Sicily and ending the trip in Rome.

WISH US LUCK! can't overemphasize that we'll be needing it

andymiller

In theory buying secondhand is a good idea but have you got the time to faff zbout looki g for decent bikes? Really you need somoene over here who can do the buying for you. Alternatively, if it's feasible for you to fly over with bikes then you could consider thw Surly Long Haul Traveller. The last I heard they were selling for 999 dollars - and you won't find an equivalent at that price in the UK or continental Europe.

Alternatively it would be well worth considering buying a basic MTB from Decathlon:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider ... 138413764/

at £99 you'll still be able to get good qualuty racks, and upgrade the saddles and tyres.

As far as the route is concerned. I'm on an iPod so I can't handle Google maps. My general advice would be to avoid main roads (routes nationales, stradas statales, carretera nationales etc). Michelin maps (and the via Michelin website highlight scenic roads).

I know you guys probably think that europe is really small, and there's always the temptation to cram in as many countries as you can, but don't try to do to much and end up doing the cycling equivalent of seeing a country from a tourcoach window.

Also I don't understand the logic of flying from Spain to Sicily and then biking to Rome. There are ferry services from both Barcelona and Valencia to Livorno, Genoca and Civitavecchia. In any case wouldn't it make more sense to catch a ferry from Croatia to Italy and then a ferry from Italy to Spain?

paneuropursuit

As far as what I've read, most airlines will allow you to check in your bikes as a piece of luggage, so buying here and flying it over is the way we'll probably end up going. Especially because we would like to get used to the bike we'll be using for two months in, rather than having to adjust to a new bike altogether during our trip. And I'll be sure to check out Decathalon, thanks for the tip on that.

As far as the route's concerned, I think you're absolutely right andy; my expectations were that we'd be able to cover at most 3000 miles, and if we had extra days, to take it a bit easier and enjoy the less traveled, less touristy areas. We do know that we'd like to make it to Pamplona by the Festival de San Fermin (round July 14th). We figured that we'd also like to go through a majority of Italy as well by traveling either up or down the main peninsula. While making up this route we realized that we probably wouldn't be able to do Italy justice before reaching Pamplona, so that's why we're doing it in the order that we're doing it.

However again you've got a great point about the ferry. If it won't take more than a day, I think we'll have to look into that. The problem with spending more than a day though is that we're going to be starting fasting round August 1st or so (which means no food or water from sunrise to sunset), which would make biking long distance very unpleasant. Because of this we're trying to wrap up the main biking by that time.

paneuropursuit

P.S. I'll also be checking out the Michelin maps, thanks for that andy!

Barbes

Had time tonight to have a look at your route so here are some suggestions which you've probably thought about but, if not, may be worth considering:

The route between Glasgow and Edinburgh is pretty dull and it then takes you down the east of the UK so if your purpose is to see Edinburgh then leave the bikes and take the train from Glasgow. Then you could go down the west which would be more scenic (Dumfries & Galloway, Lake District, Welsh borders). It'd be hillier so depends what you want to see and how much time you have.

Some of your legs look quite long (e.g., Brussels to Paris over a couple of days). You could think about taking the train as, to be honest, you'd not be missing much in north eastern France and would save time.

Heat. The bulls are what? mid July? Central Spain and Southern Italy will be baking hot from late June through August (100F +). But, if you plan carefully and start early and have a long siesta it is do-able. Something to think about though.

A great site for all things travel and especially local maps, is Stanfords http://www.stanfords.co.uk/

Looks like a great route though it's maybe not a bad idea to have some flexibility as you'll pick up tips, advice etc en route. You'll love some places and want to stay longer, wonder what the fuss is about in others and move on hastily etc.

Keep us posted as the plans evolve.

paneuropursuit

Sorry for the delay...but nevertheless those are some great points Barbes. We figured it would be hot, but I guess we never expected it to be as unbearable as you're saying (but don't get me wrong, I believe you're spot on, just that we were downplaying that as a factor). Do you think it would be stupid/risky to start riding ~2 hours before sunrise, and ~2 hours after sunset, or do you think it'd be too dark at that point and we would be in for a world of hurt? Also its a great point you're bringing up to make our route more flexible. I have no doubt that there'll be some places where I wanna stay for at least two days (especially if we've been riding for awhile). No doubt we're gonna be adjusting our route if we realize that 80 miles or so/day isn't really feasible. Do you think that the leg from Brussels to Paris is realistic, or do you think that it's gonna have to be spread out longer? And about the east/west coast of UK....we have tentative plans to meet up with my buddy's family in Hull, so I believe that was the reason we chose to ride along the east coast...However should that change I'm all down for making my trip as scenic as possible.

Also thanks for the site with local maps! I'll be sure to check that.

Finally, thanks all! You've really been a bunch of help. I'll be sure to let you all know as soon as we start taking pics, videos, and ironing out our plans in greater detail.

acebobby

When you are doing your Croatia, Slovenia, Italy leg I would recomend stopping in Ljubliana for a couple of nights, check this place out,

http://www.hostels.com/hostels/ljubljan ... elica/6013

I did a Euro trip on a motorbike a few years ago and this place was one of the highlights of the trip, followed by some mega roads snaking north west to arrive in north east Italy!
Out of all the countries I visited Slovenia was by far my favourite!

Bobby

MichaelW

Your UK route through Southern England could benefit from an more Easterly leg through Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. The roads are quieter and there are fewer motorways to obstruct your route. One of the best entry points to London is the Lea Valley, this is a canal tow-path that leads right into the central part of London.
There is a 7hr ferry (day or night) from the port of Harwich (Suffolk) to Hook of Holland (The Hague).
I would agree with Acehobby, Slovenia is one of the top countries for cycle touring. Your route misses out most of the interesting parts of the country. There is a fabulous route NW of Ljubliana, up the Virsc Pass then down the Soca Valley to the Italian border. I stayed in Tourist Farms which are good value and have great food in farmworker portions.

I have just completed a 2 month Euro trip on a typical English touring bike with modern Shimano build. There are a lot of little things that are wrong with this style, modern components just don't integrate well with the race style dropped handlebars.

The European style of trekking bike such as Dawes KaraKum is probably more suitable. Trekking style bikes have plenty of tyre clearance, a handlebar style called butterfly which has plenty of handgrips, takes MTB controls and can fit a front bar bag.
You can get good value touring bikes in Scotland from Edinburgh Cycles.

Barbes

Hi,

I'd second Edinburgh cycle co-op - good call. Their own brand Revolution is very good value.

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 155c018343

A good bike shop in Glasgow is Dales for general last minute stuff and they often have competitive prices on bikes though don't do tourers just cross bikes (an option maybe?)

Re Brussels - Paris. It's about 300km so do-able in 2 days (also fairly flat) but you've got so many more interesting places to see.... so just a thought.

It won't be 100F every day but the central plain of Spain - so Madrid across towards Valencia - bakes in summer. The hottest time of day is probably about 1200-1700 so you'd have about 5-6 hours of morning daylight and in July sunset is probably about 2000-2100ish so a couple of hours in the early evening (you could also take lights?). It's do-able just needs a bit of planning.

Cheers