Is a winter trainer/tourer bike possible?

NaishTT

I'm looking for a winter trainer to save my nice road bike and have been tempted by the challenge of a longish touring bike adventure. Thinking about the needs of both there would seem to be a lot of commonality between both types. Does anyone have any ideas on what bike might be able to fit mudguards and wider tyres whilst still being reasonably lively and be able to take front and rear panniers etc.? Oh yes, and without spending the earth please:-) Any close out deals out there?

simonhead

Ribble winter trainer?

navrig

simonhead wrote:

Ribble winter trainer?

+1

ben16v

kaffenback2? i need another bike just as you describe - tinking of building one until ilooked how much the ideal Ti frame costs

snipsnap

Genesis Croix de Fer.

Grill

Dolan Preffisio. Because it's much better looking than the Ribble.

You can also wait for WyndyMilla to release the Johnny Cake next month...

too slow to go

NaishTT wrote:

Oh yes, and without spending the earth please:-)

That would depend on what you consider expensive ;-) how about posting a figure?
If you like the classic look and don't mind a steel framed bike have a look at this http://www.ashcycles.com/site/raleigh-clubman-tourer-2012

rolf_f

NaishTT wrote:

Does anyone have any ideas on what bike might be able to fit mudguards and wider tyres whilst still being reasonably lively and be able to take front and rear panniers etc.??

Errr, that would be a touring bike then! Spa Cycles usually have good deals on touring and audax bikes.

keef66

Winter trainer / light touring I'd suggest a Kinesis Racelight Tk3. Will take a rear rack, 28mm tyres and proper mudguards, but still lively handling.

If you're wanting proper loaded touring ability then I'd go for a steel tourer, which would also give you a good workout as a winter trainer, just with slightly more pedestrian handling.

trek_dan

Grill wrote:

Dolan Preffisio. Because it's much better looking than the Ribble.

Was going to suggest this as I love mine, used for commuting, winter training and just general cycling duties. Put some panniers on it and would happily go touring on it too. Only downside is I don't think you could put anything larger than a 25c tyre on if you wanted full guards.

cycleclinic

tifosi CK7 or the new CK5. Both take mudguard and will take 28mm tyres under them. Both have rack mounts and the CK5 has a front rack mounts to0.

MichaelW

Traditional style English touring bikes are a bit lighter and livelier than the modern expedition style of tourer, good for everyday commuting, club runs, Euro-tours but not quite as good fully laden and off-road as an exped bike.
The difference between a tourer and winter trainer is mostly in the chainstay length. Longer ones handle rear panniers better, putting the the weight inside the wheelbase rather than hanging it off behind the rear axle. If you load up a short bike on the rear pannier it can get a bit "tippy" and light in the steering.
Tyre size for loaded touring is really >=28mm. You can tour on 25 but why plan that way. 32mm is the favourite for general road touring with some tracks and trails. Wider is better for tracks and trails.

Monty Dog

Plenty of CX bikes have provision for racks and guards as well as easily allowing 32mm tyres and guards - only fashion dictates the perceived 'need' for skinny tyres, I'm quite happy to lose about 1kph average on my winter bike knowing that Schwalbe Marathon Speed tyres running at 60-65psi are unlikely to puncture and give me a nice, forgiving ride.

NaishTT

Thanks all and some interesting thoughts. I can see the need for plusher tyres >28 mm and see the point of the longer rear chainstays. Have been looking at cyclocross bikes too as they would appear to tick the boxes for clearance for tyres and mudguards and be robust enough for gravel track riding. Any good with panniers though? Any with front mounts or don't I really need dedicated mounts?

too slow to go

NaishTT wrote:

Any with front mounts or don't I really need dedicated mounts?

You can fit a rack to almost any bike using p-clips, same with mud gaurds, although brake drop/tyre clearance comes into play.

ianshotton

I would happily recommend the Specialized Tricross although admit I don't know anything about the others mentioned in the thread.
I've used it for JOGLE and it handled loaded panniers great, comes with mudguards. I know people who use them for cyclocross so their handling is up to that and can't therefore be too heavy (although you will definitely notice the difference from a light road bike but that's going to be inevitable)

g00se

thecycleclinic wrote:

tifosi CK7 or the new CK5. Both take mudguard and will take 28mm tyres under them. Both have rack mounts and the CK5 has a front rack mounts to0.

Was about to suggest the same.

g00se

in fact, a number of the new Tifosi models may suit (the CK4 and CK6 too).

http://www.chickencycles.co.uk/xtras/Ch ... itBike.pdf

mercia_man

There's several winter trainers on the market with mudguard and rear rack mounting points such as Kinesis, Ribble, Dolan and Tifosi and all will be suitable for lightweight touring with rear panniers.

But the OP says he wants to use front and rear panniers which limits his choice. Most winter trainers have carbon forks. I'm not aware of any carbon forks with front low-rider pannier eyes and I doubt whether it would be safe to use the clamping type of carrier on carbon forks. You can get front racks which sit above the wheel and are attached by the front brake mounting point. But they are not so good.

Some cyclo cross style bikes can be fitted with front racks and will suffice for loaded touring. But they tend to have a fairly short wheelbase and instability can be an issue on fast descents - I met a couple of chaps touring on disc-braked Konas who were suffering from nasty wobbles going down French Alpine passes.

Then there's the question of wheels. The OP wants to do a longish tour with front and rear panniers. Factory-built wheels are not designed for this. Reliability and spoke breakages could be an issue and fixing a factory-built wheel can be difficult and expensive. So traditional 32-spoke wheels, or even 36-spoke wheels, ideally hand built with 28mm or wider tyres are best for laden tours.

There's several expedition style bikes on the market but as someone above has said they are too heavy for lively unladen riding.

So my feeling is to go for a traditional British clubman's style bike - something with fast touring geometry and steel frame and forks with all the necessary eyelets for guards and racks. This would be lively enough for training rides but would cope with laden touring on roads and the occasional trail. Or else, stick to rear panniers only and get a Kinesis or similar.

The Tifosi CK5 Classico in the latest Chicken catalogue looks a possibility at £799. Steel frame and forks, mudguards and front and rear eyelets. Spa Cycles have some excellent steel and titanium tourers and audax style bikes with handbuilt wheels from about £1,200.

napoleond

I have a ribble winter bike with Athena, mudguards and rear rack on 24mm conti gp4000S - its great. But now the De Rosa Milanino Training frame is out I'm having adulterous thoughts...

Coach H

NapoleonD wrote:

I have a ribble winter bike with Athena, mudguards and rear rack on 24mm conti gp4000S - its great. But now the De Rosa Milanino Training frame is out I'm having adulterous thoughts...

Just had a look. Oh my! Dont normally like white bikes but there is something about this frame

mididoctors

§any of the decent training frames mentioned + these as spare or not

86inch

But then you might as well go the whole hog and get a LHT! I love mine...