Crickey; I don't know s**t about touring bikes...

[Jugular]

No bike is all singing and all dancing. Be clear about what type of riding you want to do on it and buy a bike to match. Don't worry about border cases, you can consider those when you get there.

It sounds like you want a bike to ride the hills unladen. An audax bike or cyclocross will do that very nicely, there's the added bonus that it might be useable for a some lightweight touring, but that's of secondary concern. Get a nice gearing for the hills and you should be more than happy.

A 1 mile commute to work could be on a scooter or a unicycle for all it matters, I use my Brompton.

 

[Davidc]

I personally can't understand why anyone would buy a touring bike that isn't a Dawes Galaxy........

Could it be 'cos the Galaxy is overpriced and there are much better tourers on the market for the same or less money now?

If you like them then buy them - no ones going to stop you!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

No bike is all singing and all dancing. Be clear about what type of riding you want to do on it and buy a bike to match.

This is vay true indeed. But sometimes, when money is an object and a different bike for every ride isn't an option a good all rounder can cover off most cycling apart from the extremes to be found in competitive mtb'ing and competitive road riding.

in other words buy one of these and some spare tyres/wheels/a rack/some mudguards. I reckon it is as near to the perfect all round bike as exists off the shelf.

If I could only have one bike and had a budget of £1k the Genesis Croix de Fer would be the one for me.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

Good post, MacB...

I'm guessing that I probably would want the option of >28mm tyres - I'm not sure I've ever ridden anything thinner than the 32s that I've got at the moment. Maybe what I need to do is try a few of the bikes the local Evans have in stock already (they mainly seem to be a bit sportier than I was looking for) to see what I think before getting them to get in some tourers for me to play with.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

Greg: Hmm - and the Croix de Fer is available at Evans as well...

 

[PpPete]

May be a very adaptable bike.... but IMO the gearing on the Croix de Fer isn't really appropriate for any kind of "touring". If you are really strong and can't stand the thought of a triple, by all means go with a compact.....but surely most people would then need an 11-32 cassette to cope with any kind of load?
Or stick with the 12-25 cassette, and get a triple?

 

[John the Monkey]

Or stick with the 12-25 cassette, and get a triple?

That's what I have on the LHT, pretty much - worked in Belgium (although we weren't going up the Mur or anything) and works for commuting. Current setup is 50/39/30, which I'd probably lower if we went anywhere REALLY hilly.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

May be a very adaptable bike.... but IMO the gearing on the Croix de Fer isn't really appropriate for any kind of "touring". If you are really strong and can't stand the thought of a triple, by all means go with a compact.....but surely most people would then need an 11-32 cassette to cope with any kind of load?
Or stick with the 12-25 cassette, and get a triple?

i think you are right. So change the cassette when you tour. Which is sort of what I meant by spare wheels. Years ago, when I only had one bike, an ATB based around a spesh rockhopper, and when I didn't realise how simple changing a cassette is when you have the right tools, I had three rear wheels, more or less identical in all but cassette and tyres, one set for 'proper' XC mountain biking, one set for general day to day road riding/commuting and one for lugging loads on tour. tbh there wasn't much to choose between the first and last sets apart from the tyre choice.

The one thing I find with any sort of day-after-day touring though, it does seem to give you a lot of leg strength and stamina.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

My local Evans is quite literally less than ten yards from my place of work, so I popped in at lunchtime to have a look around. I ended up taking a Trek Pilot 2.0 out for a ride. I was interested in it because the bars are a little higher than most road bikes, which suits me coming from a flat-barred bike. Despite that I found the bars to be a little far forward for my tastes - I tried out the 58cm frame, I think perhaps I should have tried the 55cm one instead.

Other than that, the experience was very enjoyable - the bike is only about 60% of the weight of my current one - so easy to pick up! It was odd being on drop handlebars again - the last time I was about half my current age but I found myself getting used to it after the first mile. Despite the carbon forks, it seemed to me you could feel the road quite a lot, but then I am used to riding on 32s and this had 23s or 25 on it. Nevertheless, I'd like to try out a steel-framed bike.

One thing I found interesting - I'm still not sure about using the brakes on the hoods - although it was easy to slow down, I wasn't confident that I'd be able to perform any emergency braking maneuvers - it seems odd to brake so close to the fulcrum of the brake lever. Does anyone else find that?

Anyway, one of the guys at the shop suggested I try out a cyclocross bike as apparently they have a shorter distance between saddle and handlebars, which I might prefer.

I also might look at the Charge Juicer Mid, which they have in stock at the store - if the riding position looks suitable, I'll try it out as it's got a steel frame.

I also quite like the look of the Kona Honky Inc, except for the fact that it's only got a double rather than triple chainset. As it would be a do-everything bike, I would like something that can get me up a hill while also towing something in a trailer and I can't see a double giving me the range to do that.

 

[John the Monkey]

The Charge Juicer is a really nice bike - Surly's Pacer is in a similar vein, but you might struggle to get one from Evans, I suspect.

On braking from the hoods - generally you need to have your fingers a bit further down the lever - ime, it works pretty well.

Evans' own "Pinnacle" range are worth a look too, from memory, they all take 'guards and are reasonably specced. Think the range includes a crosser.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

Oh Darn - just noticed the Juicer has no braze-ons for a rack - well that's out then.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The Pilot is their sportive, all day riding model, iirc. It got quite a good review from the CTC iirc.

It took me a couple of months for drops and breaking thereon to become second nature when I rediscovered tarmac after years of only riding mtb's.

Racks, I've taken mine off (I only generally credit card tour i.e. b&b's for me no camping) and use a trad. carradice saddle bag (I've a barley for day rides, and a nelson for longer trips) with an SQR and a barbag. The rack will prob. go back on for proper tours but I find I end up carrying way too much stuff day-to-day and the saddlebag stops me doing that.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

btw as a rule of thumb the staff in Evans don't know s**t about touring bikes. If you want to buy a tourer your best finding a shop run buy tourists if poss.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

Yeah, they don't have any tourers in stock at the moment and were saying they rarely get sent them. However, I'm stuck with Evans because they're who my company does the cycle to work scheme with.

To be honest though, I think perhaps going for a tourer was possibly more than I need - I just want something comfortable with drops, and the ability to fit a rack. Being quick would be nice too. I really enjoyed the pace of the one I rode today.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

Racks is for shoppin' and strappin' big things to.