Best hybrid for touring

[J-Lo]

Hi,

I did have the Dawes Vantage in mind but ive started looking at hybrid bikes for touring (abit cheaper).

I did like the look of the Trek T30 (http://www.evanscycl...d-bike-ec001494) but not sure if its good enough for touring at a weeks time etc.

Does anyone else use a hybrid for touring, if so, what bike?

Oh and ive looked at the decathlon riverside 7 which looks nifty, but not so sure about having those hydralic brakes and suspension.. and its abit pricey.. (http://www.decathlon...ide-7-49820125/)

This specialized sirrus looks ideal.. http://www.evanscycl...d-bike-ec023871 it seems to have good components, cheapish probs round £500 when I get it kitted up as you can put on mudguards and rack etc, and has 11 good reviews. any thoughts?

Or should I just stick with the dawes with the nice drop bars?

Thanks

 

[bigjim]

I've recently done a european tour of just over 700miles. One of the guys I was with used a steel hybrid bike that he paid $30 for in a yard sale. He has used this bike on several tours, so he,s done 1000s of miles on it. He has it serviced before each tour and the only replacements he has had are chains and brake blocks. To be honest it is a heavy thing, [especially with all the stuff he insists on taking with him], compared to todays road bikes and he runs 32" tyres on it.
But it suits him and the pace he wants to travel at.

 

[andym]

You could do a lot worse than the basic Decathlon Rockrider 5.0 with non-suspension forks. At £100 you'd have the money to spare for quality slick tyres, rack and saddle (both of which you could transfer to other bikes in future) - you could even replace the twist grips if you wanted.

EDIT: if anyone is thinking '£100 - it can't be up to much', bear in mind that Decathlon are a monster European sports retailer - the IKEA of sports goods - so they have huge buying power (I bought a 220€ folder from them which is in fact identical to the one Dahon sell for twice the price).

Also it complies with the EN 14766 standard for mountain bikes which is pretty demanding - some much more prestigious names have had their bikes fail these tests under this standard. so it probably won't be the lightest bike around , but plenty tough enough.