Basic requirements of a tour bike?

Bike-Rich

Hi all,

Planning to do some touring next year, around main Europe first to see how I get on.

Only thing I've got on the shopping list so far is ortlieb panniers, i'm going for 2 back first so carry weigh should be around 15kg. What kind of gearing is recommended for touring bikes, I believe it is possible to fit a 'granny' gear for very steep hills?

I plan to keep parts simple in case of breakages, do you think it is best to by a basic strong framed bike and then add suited parts rather then a ready-to-go tourer?

Thank you and help appreciated,

cycladelic

It usually works out much cheaper to buy a complete bike rather than purchase components later. Many bike shops will change bits to your requirements before you wheel it on to teh street.

A couple of bikes that I'd recommended are Thorn and Surly. Both have steel frames. The Surly Long Haul Trucker is quite popular. Some of the Thorn models have 14-speed hub gears made by Rohloff, and I have one of these - the Thorn Nomad. It'll take you anywhere. You could also look at Dawes.

Yes, you'll need some low gears (granny gear) if you're touring with heavy panniers across hilly terrain.

Bike-Rich

Thank you,

I have herd good things on the Surly LHT also

I presume 3 is the standard for front gear cogs on a tourer? Is the granny gears an addition to the rear cassette which I attach on?

Thanks,

cycladelic

A 'granny gear' is just a nickname for a very low gear, one which should get you up most hills. In reality it means you pedal at around the same speed as your wheels rotates. This is done by having a large cog on the back wheel and a small chainring - so it's not something additional. Most mountain bikes have a small 'granny gear'.

Hoopdriver

Bike-Rich wrote:

Thank you,

I have herd good things on the Surly LHT also

I presume 3 is the standard for front gear cogs on a tourer? Is the granny gears an addition to the rear cassette which I attach on?

Thanks,

The granny ring is the small inner chainring on a triple. When coupled with the big cog in back you can have an extremely low gear which is useful for climbing steep hills with heavy panniers.

I would second the nomination for Thorn tourers. I have one of their old eXp tourers with about 80,000 miles on it. Still going strong, if showing its age.

davegtt

I plan on doing the same next year and undecided on how much to spend on a Touring bike. Can people give me their thoughts on this? Seems too cheap to be any good with the equipment that is supplied with it

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/mens-nework- ... 22609.html

Bodhbh

Bike-Rich wrote:

Only thing I've got on the shopping list so far is ortlieb panniers, i'm going for 2 back first so carry weigh should be around 15kg. What kind of gearing is recommended for touring bikes, I believe it is possible to fit a 'granny' gear for very steep hills?

I plan to keep parts simple in case of breakages, do you think it is best to by a basic strong framed bike and then add suited parts rather then a ready-to-go tourer?

Gearwise, I'd got for a low as you reasonably can (i.e. mountain bike gearing, 44/32/22 front, 11-34 back) to get you comfortably up...whatever. Even with MTB gearing you don't spin out till 35mph or so. Although some will prefer the gearing a bit higher and with closer ratios.

Unless you've got parts kicking about already, it's probably cheaper to buy a full bike and you have some fallback from the bike shop. However, building up a frame doesn't hurt as you'll know you're way around the bike if and when it comes to fixing it.

andymiller

davegtt wrote:

I plan on doing the same next year and undecided on how much to spend on a Touring bike. Can people give me their thoughts on this? Seems too cheap to be any good with the equipment that is supplied with it

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/mens-nework- ... 22609.html

It's fantastic value.

A lot depends on what you want to do, and your budget. It's maybe not the bike to get if you're planning a year-long world tour, but if you are on a limited budget and wanted something for a first tour then this would definitely be one to consider.

Normally I would say that about £500 is the benchmark for a first tourer, but Decathlon have huge buying power - and I can't see anything wrong with the spec. I wouldn't expect that the frame and some of the accessories will be pretty heavy, but not prohibitively so.

nathanmcbride

Bike-Rich do you know how much distance you are going to cover?

Bike-Rich

Many thanks for advice guys, much appreciated. I've added to my notes,

nathanmcbride wrote:

Bike-Rich do you know how much distance you are going to cover?

I'm not sure, hopefully quite a lot I really enjoy using my road bike as much as possible so not afraid to do some distance.
I'm going to get a ferry to France beginning of Spring and then see how it goes, i have no commitments to be back in the UK for any considerable time.

I'm used to cartridge brakes on my road bike, i'm guessing this should be fine on a tourer also but do you think v-brakes would be best for maintenance/parts?

Also, any recommendations on tyre thickness? 1.75 or 2?

Thank you,

nathanmcbride

Exactly my plan haha, I'm aiming to just do Europe but hoping to venture further and would really like to get over to Asia. Don't know how plausible that is though.

I have my eye on the Dawes Clubman and would love to hear if anyone has any reviews on it.

cycladelic

I'm used to cartridge brakes on my road bike, i'm guessing this should be fine on a tourer also but do you think v-brakes would be best for maintenance/parts?

Also, any recommendations on tyre thickness? 1.75 or 2?


I'd go for V brakes and 1.75 inch tyres.

MichaelW

Touring bikes are the hardest style to build up well. No-one makes a touring groupset so you have to bodge your own bits and getting them all to play well is far from easy.
Classic drop-bar touring bike are getting harder to equip with low MTB style gears. The shifters are less compatible with front derailleurs. The options are bar-end shifters to use any gearing system, integrated STi shifters to use Tiagra front mech which can work with an MTB chainset.
Many production touring bike use chainsets which are not low enough for hauling your biggest load up your steepest, roughest trail.
Integrated shifters also lack the brake cable pull to work well with V brakes.V brakes sometimes integrate badly with rear racks.
One solution is a trekking style bar so you can use MTB controls. Dawes and Edinburgh cycles offer good value tourers in Trekking style.

Bike-Rich

Thanks for reply,

Actually the handle-bar and gear setup is something I am struggling to decide on,

I obviously have drops on my racer which although has never caused a problem I think using straight (with ends) would be a better option for comfort. I've never used anything other then dual brake/gear levers though so need to look at options before ordering to see what is best suited.

But, by going the straight bar with ends route would give me the benefit of using barcon shifters (and separate brakes obviously) which i understand is much more easier to maintain/repair then the duals? (this is based on research I have found thus far)

Any advice on this is much appreciated,

Thanks,

cycladelic

A lot of bike shops in Europe would be able to fix the dual-type shifters, but if you venture to Asia etc, it would become more of an issue. Having said that, some bike shops in Asia etc only have very basic bicycle components.

Adjusting to thumb shifters and straight bars won't be a problem for you.

Bike-Rich

cycladelic wrote:

A lot of bike shops in Europe would be able to fix the dual-type shifters, but if you venture to Asia etc, it would become more of an issue. Having said that, some bike shops in Asia etc only have very basic bicycle components.

Adjusting to thumb shifters and straight bars won't be a problem for you.

Thanks, so you agree bar-con shifters for gears and separate brakes (v-brakes) with straight bar (with ends) is the best in terms of maintenance and trouble-free riding?

cycladelic

It's what I have now. But everyone has their opinion.

Bike-Rich

Thanks,
I agree, I think it is a very good mix of maintenance/comfort and i'm pretty much decided on it.

What kind of bike do you have cycladelic?

cycladelic

I have a couple of bikes. The one I use for serious touring is a Thorn Nomad. This has Rohloff gears with a special twist-grip changer. It's not a cheap item.

Which bike are you looking at getting?

Bike-Rich

Thanks, i've herd good things about the Thorns. I actually have a spare geared hub wheel i've not used yet (shimano), although it looks like a great piece of kit and i'm sure very reliable, I'd worry about the replacement of it if I was touring.

My list of 'almost certain' at the moment looks like this:

Bike frame will be a Surely Long Haul Trucker
Straight bars with ends.
Bar-con shifters.
V-brakes
36 hole rims with front dynamo. 1.75 minimum tyre thickness.
Ortlieb front + rear panniers

cycladelic

I've heard those Shimano hub gears are not very good for touring - there isn't enough range in them.

The Surly will get you where you want to go and you seem to have it sussed.

36 spokes on the front wheel can seem a bit OTT, but it depends how heavy you are.

Also, I've never bothered with a dynamo for my touring bike as I hate riding once it's got dark.

If you haven't already considered it, I suggest you get a handlebar bag, as these are handy for carrying things like a small camera and sun cream etc. Ortlieb do one, but it's expensive - albeit waterproof.

Bike-Rich

Many thanks,

Yes that shimano hub was purchased for my road bike ages ago but I never got round to fitting it. The ideal looks great though but would not want to risk using it (or a similar system) on a tourer.

I don't plan to do much night riding, but the dynamo would be great for emergencies especially charging of mobile etc.

Yes the handlebar bag is something I think would be great, I understand it is common to then use a map on top so it would be facing you when riding?

Thanks.

cycladelic

I've tried that map-on-top method, but in practice it hasn't worked out... It largely depends on the map's scale.

What I sometimes do is photocopy/scan parts of maps I want to use. You may find most of a map is surplus to what you actually need. I've then folded these A4 copies in half and had them laminated. This gives me a tough, waterproof, double-sided map that fits inside my barbag. Sometimes I use a highlighter pen before lamination to better show the proposed route (I don't use GPS).

You can go to Google maps and look for smaller roads, and mark these on, too.

Going back to wheels.... It's always best to have them hand-built by a good mechanic. Also, wheel rims should be wide - not narrow racing ones.

andymiller

These things come down to personal preference, but increasing numbers of tourers are carrying gps units like the eTrex20. these mean you can carry lots of maps in a very small package - and if you need more detail zoom in. I still carry proper maps as they are much easier to use if you want an overview of a larger area so you can plan your route. (I also have mine marked up with campsites). The free OpenStreetMap mapping has improved dramatically and for many countries it is perfectly viable to use them as your main map. You don't have to use the gps to tell you where to go - personally I only use mine for auto-routing when I need to negotiate a town or city one-way systems.

I'm probably in a minority on this but I prefer a backpack as this means I always have my valuables with me when I'm away from the bike - OK I know you can take the bar-bag off but a backpack scores on the convenience front.

As I say a matter of personal preference - there aren't any right or wrong ways of doing things - what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another.

cycladelic

When touring, I carry my valuables - such as passport, credit cards and cash - in a small bumbag.

gogledd

Bike-Rich: Have you considered a Spa Cycles Steel Tourer?

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... b0s21p2983

gsej

The Surly Long Haul Trucker is indestructible, but it isn't light by any means. I use one for commuting, having bought it so I can use panniers, mudguards and huge spiked tires in winter. However I often wonder whether a more expensive but lighter touring frame would have been better.

cycladelic

Weight become less critical when riding fully loaded on a long tour, as the overall weight of camping gear, clothing etc being carried is just so much... a few grams here and there on a frame seems nothing.