Adventure Touring Bike selection!?
mikesmyth11
Posts: 15
Hello! Looking to get into commuting to work and getting another bicycle, Iam looking at adventure touring bikes as I don't want a full blown weak road bike. Looking at steel frame ADV bikes with drop bars and 29" mountaibike capable rims/frame I really like the bombtrack and the REI coop adv bikes. Looking for extreme low gears for hills I live in the hills. And I'm looking for something around the 1000 dollar mark but I'm sure I'll have to spend a bit more. My favorite bike so far is the bombtrack beyond (a bit too pricey though at around 1750) basically I need a do everything strong adventure touring bike for commuting rough roads and going on mild mountain bike trails. Thanks for he help.
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Lots of choice out there, Salsa Vaya, Surly Straggler, Marin Four Corners.....
Kona Sutra might be a good option. Falls within budget but limited availability on the 2017 model.
It has 1 x 11 drive train with 36 chainring and 10-42 cassette. As stock it comes with 700 x 45c tyres and is also hydraulic disc brake.
Also the Pinacle Arcose is very highly regarded in the Adventure / Bikepacking world.
https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-ar ... e-EV294853
Not necessarily that version, there are cheaper options available, but I like the look of that one myself.
Then at the other end of the budget you have Genesis CDA (which I used to ride and loved it). My beef with Adventure bikes is that I don't have room for one! In my opinion they are hampered when doing any fast downhill single track, any long off road rides and you will be feeling pretty beaten up and wanting a 29er hardtail.
There is the Cannondale Slate that has the weird lefty suspension with 30mm of travel.
I ride a 27.5+ full rigid as my adventure bike, thats used for natural trails when I want more stability and cushioning from the 3" tyres than a drop bar bike with 45mm tyres. This is slow on the road, but when fully loaded I'm never really worrying about speed. My winter bike is a Trek Domane and also used for gentle off road rides, it has 33c knobbly tyres with hydraulic brakes - but I have to pick and choose where I take it.
If I was buying it would be the Arcose. But I'm probably biased based on reviews and what owners say about them.0 -
Just noticed your talking $. Have a look at The Radavist site, might give you some ideas.0
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thanks for the input! i think im just going to have to go test ride some bikes as i could use a 29er hardtail mountainbike for what i do as well, i do want to get somethin more road or touring though. something thats going to be comfortable if i have to ride it a long way, which my current hardtail 26" mountainbike doesnt really cut it. and my 26 full suspension cross country is getting old and its not a good road bike not being able to lock the rear suspension. i looked at the radavist site but im not sure what im looking for. they have a lot of good information but all that stuff looks exremely top of the line and expensive! ive really got to keep the next bike around 1000. i really like the REI coop ADV 3.1 but i really dont want bar end lever shifters... want something easier and faster than those. price is right though on the ADV 3.1 plus i would get 100 bucks back on my REI membership0
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This might be a good read....
http://www.cyclingabout.com/2017-salsa- ... ring-bike/
And also read the links to comparing to other similar bikes towards the end of the article.
Also have a look at Marin's 2018 range. The coop bike looks pretty good for that price, my only thoughts would be about the geometry, as long as you don't mind being sat very upright and how well it would then handle singletrack. Depends on how you ride and what you class as a mountain bike trail. Woodland trail and grass trails my Domane is fine, throw in any wet roots, descents or rocky sections and that's a different ball game. I'm not sure I'd want to be in a sit up and beg position though.0 -
Check out the Niner RLT Reynolds 8530
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UK price for Niner is out of budget for the OP. Top bike but not cheap.
1x11 with a wide cassette is my preferred choice for adventure touring as opposed to a triple. Nice geometry on the Niner. Just the price at over £2k...0 -
The Kona Sutra was an excellent suggestion but a bit higher in price than you wanted to go. Others that are worth looking at is the Ridgeback Expedition Voyage, or the Fuji Touring, either of those are below your $1000 max and both give you a lot of bike for the money.0
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The EU Niner outlet was selling the frames for about £700 last time I looked. Agree though it's over budget!w00dster wrote:UK price for Niner is out of budget for the OP. Top bike but not cheap.
1x11 with a wide cassette is my preferred choice for adventure touring as opposed to a triple. Nice geometry on the Niner. Just the price at over £2k...
What does the Kona Roadhouse go for in the sales as that's 853.0 -
The Roadhouse is an expensive bike, also not sure on whether you could fit wide knobbly tyres on the Roadhouse?
I personally think this is where Adventure Touring Bikes have a bit of an issue, especially in the UK. 30 to 35mm tyres don't cut it on an adventure in my opinion. Fine for a 30 or 40 mile blast off road in the dry, but when riding longer adventure rides for multiple days in my opinion you want fatter rubber.
Here in the UK we have lots of gravel type routes with semi technical sections, on a one day ride these are fine. Load your bike up with equipment and ride them for 2 or 3 consecutive days, I would feel beat up by the time I got to sort out my tent or bivvy. I would have a good think about what Adventure Touring you'll be doing. Here's another useful link looking at the bikes the guys doing the Tour Divide use.
http://bikepacker.com/2016-tour-divide-rigs/
I know that links to an epic adventure ride, but it gives an indication of what frames and tyres the experienced guys are using for off road multi day trips.
I did a decent trip this weekend, one of the rides was 106 miles off-road and 12000 feet of ascent, about 11 hours moving time (13 hours in total). I then had a steady ride the next day, short (35 miles) and a mix of gravel bridle way and roads. There's no way I would want to do the 106 mile ride on a skinny tyre and then ride again the next day. If you're just going to ride mainly on road with bridle ways being the most difficult off road then the coop would probably be fine.
The below is a good read and in my view shows the limitations I am referring to regarding Adventure Touring on skinny tyres (not adventure riding)
http://off-road.cc/content/feature/ride ... e-grit-7580 -
i am just a casual biker i wont be doing any thing like that divide ride 25 days hahaha but i noticed they were all using full blown mountain bikes, i could just ride my junk hardtail no problem but iam looking for something that will be comfortable on the road, can jump off curbs and can handle offroad trails, i dont do any type of rides or anything im mostly looking at an adventure touring bike for commuting to work (pavement, but rural, so rocks potholes gravel dirt ect). and i would also like to be able to take it on bikepacking trips offroad (nothing like a 25 day trip) i do want bigger tires though, If i could just think up the perfect bike i think it would be one of these adventure touring bikes with 29" full size mountain bike tires super strong steel frame drop bars and some sort of good shifters, i dont want to deal with lever shifters like the bar end ones want something more tactile and easy to use. this will be my first clip in shoe bike as well.0
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i finally got my hands on a 2017 salsa fargo in cream color the bike is amazing0
