Is there a true 21st Century Touring bike..?

jimmcdonnell

I'd like a proper touring bike, but all the ones I've seen online look like

a) they're from the 1950s
b) they should be ridden by Claire Balding (no offense CB)
c) the rider should be in tweed plus-fours and chuffing a pipe as he/she goes along

So - is there a touring bike out there that looks like it was designed and built this century? I'm thinking possibly disk brakes (cable), 30-speed (ignoring durability issues with the narrower chain), alloy frame (ignoring the 'what if you need it welded in the middle of nowhere?' argument).

Any thoughts?

andymiller

Aren't alloy frames a bit 1950s?

HebdenBiker

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/jamis/bosanova-2011-touring-bike-ec025746

Still a steel frame though.

Why would you specify an alloy frame? What do you perceive are the advantages of alloy over steel for a touring bike?

And what's wrong with Clare Balding?

If "looking cool" is so important to you then maybe bicycle touring isn't for you

2oldnslow

Singular Peregrine OK so it's looks are a bit "retro" but totally modern design then again I'm biassed I just got one and I'm loving it.

EnglishChris

My On-One Inbred built up as a tourer looks pretty 21st century. Its steel though...

Hoopdriver

Touring bikes are a matter of form and function - there is a reason they look the way they do; they are designed to carry a rider and his/her gear for great distances comfortably and reliably, and are meant to be highly durable. All of these qualities are valued ahead of speed and, within reason, weight.

A touring bike does what it does very well.

If you really find the design and looks of a classic touring bike to be so off-putting, I would suggest you buy a regular road bike and make do with that - as best you can.

Shaggy_Dog

You could buy yourself a hybrid and fit drops. Providing the bike uses road gearing and brakes (road pull disc brakes are available) it will work together smoothly. A good example would be a Trek 7.7FX which uses a road triple front mech and cranks and mini-V's, all you need are drops and STI's, the main problem is the fork, which won't take a low-rider rack, but the geometry is spot on for touring.

AidanR

dilemna

Ok Mr Poseur what's the make of the above bike since it is de-badged and minus handlebar tape?

It would be a true touring bike if it had a Rohloff hub .

dilemna

jimmcdonnell wrote:

I'd like a proper touring bike, but all the ones I've seen online look like

a) they're from the 1950s
b) they should be ridden by Claire Balding (no offense CB)
c) the rider should be in tweed plus-fours and chuffing a pipe as he/she goes along

So - is there a touring bike out there that looks like it was designed and built this century? I'm thinking possibly disk brakes (cable), 30-speed (ignoring durability issues with the narrower chain), alloy frame (ignoring the 'what if you need it welded in the middle of nowhere?' argument).

Any thoughts?

You wouldn't be ever so slightly trolling would you ?

AidanR

Ha! It's not mine. It's a Tout Terrain Grande Route.

MichaelW

Santos, Koga Miyata and Tout Terrain all make state of the art touring bikes using all the latest mod-cons such as Rohloff/gates carbon drive/hydraulic disc/dynohub. A lot of Dutch and German riders use them.

Most top-notch racing equipment is simply unsuitable for touring, it wear out too quickly, to finnicky in adjustment, lack of suitable controls for touring bars, incompatibility between road and MTB.
In the world of suspension forks, good forks are for racing, reliable, low maintenance forks are for farting around. Does anyone make a high-grade, low maintenance fork with fittings for luggage rack?

mz__jo

I am not sure that the 21st century tourer necessarily needs drop-bars; I think butterfly bars are far more modern. But bars are a personal thing like saddles, luggage and gear controls.
Of course with the trend for the big three to generalise on 10 or 11 speed cassettes any modern tourer is going to have to be hub geared, either Rohloff or Alfine 11. A friend who is president of a neighbouring club has used his chain tool 4 times so far this year to repair broken (10 speed) chains (not his) on rides. He has never known that before in over 40 years hard touring!
St John St make a suitable steel fork with all the bits and bobs (but not disc mounts). Surly do as well. Any reasonable frame builder should be able to do one as well!
My ideal 21st century tourer would probably be an Airinimal or a Bike Friday (prefer the Airinimal because of the 24" wheels) definitely not a trendy drop bar racer.

If the OP really wants something to fit his ideas of modern, perhaps he should work out his specifications and ask a builder to build it, rather looking to buy mass market stuff on the Net!

Cheers Jo

mz__jo

Sorry I hadn't thought of sus forks. If they are solid enough to be reliable they are heavy enough not to want to weight up the front end of the bike with luggage; if not, you don't want to put luggage on them (ideally). Or am I thinking like someone from the 50's?

RecycledTeenager

http://www.bombikes.com/2011-genesis-bi ... ne-orange/

random man

Revolution Country Explorer

http://www.thebikelist.co.uk/revolution ... lorer-2011

MichaelW

If you are carrying a lot of luggage up front, suspension forks should make the bike easier to handle, as long as the luggage is suspended. Most systems fix the luggage to the non-suspended lower stanchions. As usual Moulton showed the way decades ago.

With MTB forks, the cons outway the pros for touring.

mz__jo

MichaelW wrote:

If you are carrying a lot of luggage up front, suspension forks should make the bike easier to handle, as long as the luggage is suspended. Most systems fix the luggage to the non-suspended lower stanchions. As usual Moulton showed the way decades ago.

With MTB forks, the cons outway the pros for touring.

Most sus forks will have a suspension system and damping calculated for a rider weight of 80kgs max (generally the higher quality, more sport oriented, ones will have a design weight lower than the recreational or utility ones because competitive riders tend to be lighter). Allowing for a 50% split of the load on the bike f-r and a bike weight of 12kgs that gives a design load around 46kgs (manufacturers can say what they want, the reality of the situation is something like that). Normally the split wouldn't be 50-50 so reduce the load to 40kgs on the fork (and I am generous, including the weight of the front wheel and brakes in the figure). Add 10kgs of luggage and you are on 25% overload which is not a good thing for a short journey and probably the kiss of death for a tour of 1000 miles in conditions where you might appreciate the full benefit of suspension. Leaving aside the Moulton system (didn't Cannondale have a similar idea on their race bikes for Paris-Roubaix a few years ago, didn't catch on as I recall) there isn't really a superior alternative to a properly designed rigid steel fork at present (do Thorn still have their suspension system on sale or has that been abandonned).

All criticisms of my calculations accepted and appreciated but I think I am not too far from the mark.

Cheers Jo

deal

Dont forget that many suspension forks/shocks would need to be sent away to an authorized service center every 100 hours to avoid voiding warranty and some need fluid changed in intervals as little as 30 hours...

saying that I know a guy who has a set of air forks that have never been serviced in 5 years of fairly regular use (has never even changed the fluid :shock: ) and they seem to be in full working order.

Bodhbh

http://salsacycles.com/bikes/vaya/

Saw one loaded up outside a cafe on the way to work this morning. I can think of better places to be cycle touring than Watford city centre on a Tuesday morning, but whatever.

Ginjafro

Maybe connecting a luggage trailer to a suitable "tourer" would negate some of the non 21st century aspects that seem to appear on some traditional touring bikes?

andrewjoseph

my Ti tourer, built by Burls.



http://ba-joseph.co.uk/Burls/

flester

Some people care about looks, and some just like cycling. No point in changing looks for the sake of it.

Why no mudguards on the Ti tourer pictured above? Not cool?

flester

One advantage is that the typical gobshite who steals bikes wouldn't bother with something that looks so 'old-fashioned'

andrewjoseph

flester wrote:

Some people care about looks, and some just like cycling. No point in changing looks for the sake of it.

Why no mudguards on the Ti tourer pictured above? Not cool?

It wasn't raining and I'd only just finished building it up. if it not raining, i don't use mudguards.

if you look at the other images given in the link, you will see that nothing about us looks cool, but we do have mudguards. i kept them on as it was a 10 day tour and it would probably rain at some point.

Looking 'Cool' is the least of my worries.

GyatsoLa

One way to get a contemporary look is to go custom. Robin Mather did a pretty nice job with mine:

http://downthegreatdivide.wordpress.com ... /the-bike/

http://downthegreatdivide.wordpress.com ... interlude/

Its unfortunate that I got one of the very last Magura forks specifically designed for touring (very strong and simple) - they stopped making them in 2009. I think a combination of hydraulic disk brake at the front and rim brake at the rear works well on rough roads.

I think the Surly Troll is a good example of a contemporary do-it-all touring bike, it looks great and seems very practical

http://whileoutriding.com/my-bike/

flester

andrewjoseph wrote:

flester wrote:

Some people care about looks, and some just like cycling. No point in changing looks for the sake of it.

Why no mudguards on the Ti tourer pictured above? Not cool?

It wasn't raining and I'd only just finished building it up. if it not raining, i don't use mudguards.

if you look at the other images given in the link, you will see that nothing about us looks cool, but we do have mudguards. i kept them on as it was a 10 day tour and it would probably rain at some point.

Looking 'Cool' is the least of my worries.

Fair enough - the Ti tourer does look cool anyway. Just wouldn't bother ever taking off mudguards myself once they're on but I know there are situations where one might. I'd day a Ti frame rides pretty nicely?? Just got a Ridgeback Voyage which looks very much like the traditional touring bike I must say.

tiny_pens

How far are you going touring? Friend of mine has just finished LEJOG solo on a lightweight roadbike. He could get enough luggage into a large saddle bag and bar bag (including tent and sleeping bag) so he didn't need pannier racks. I think fully loaded his bike was something like 11.5 kg (including water bottle). If you don't like the looks then maybe a new road bike would work for you?

andymiller

I ride with suspension forks but only because i like to combine touring (usually by road) with MTBing on rougher paths. For road riding and dirt road riding there's no real benefit in suspension forks (although yes you might be thankful for them if you hit a big pothole at speed). And as someone said, the recommended service intervals for modern air forks are incredibly low - I use a pair of refurbished Mazocchs that work with oil and beefy springs.

Anyway the stuff about rider weight isn't correct. With air forks you would compensate for extra weight by increasing the air pressure. Here's a link to recommended weights and pressures for Rockshox forks:

http://www.scribd.com/mobile/documents/2305708

There's no maximum rider weight specified and the table goes up to <90kgs.

EnglishChris

andymiller wrote:

I use a pair of refurbished Mazocchs that work with oil and beefy springs.

Which forks do you have?

mz__jo

andymiller wrote:

I ride with suspension forks but only because i like to combine touring (usually by road) with MTBing on rougher paths. For road riding and dirt road riding there's no real benefit in suspension forks (although yes you might be thankful for them if you hit a big pothole at speed). And as someone said, the recommended service intervals for modern air forks are incredibly low - I use a pair of refurbished Mazocchs that work with oil and beefy springs.

Anyway the stuff about rider weight isn't correct. With air forks you would compensate for extra weight by increasing the air pressure. Here's a link to recommended weights and pressures for Rockshox forks:

http://www.scribd.com/mobile/documents/2305708

There's no maximum rider weight specified and the table goes up to <90kgs.

Thanks Andy. I stand corrected.
I am sure that my Suntour forks are also supposedly adjustable to over 90kgs but when my weight gets to 90kgs and I put just 10kgs on the front end I am willing to bet that the seals will blow and the cartridges explode long before I can draw any meaningful conclusions. (not that I am willing to go that far; I prefer my rigid fork for touring in the first place)