PrettyboyTim
New Member
- Location
- Brighton
Okay, so all of a sudden I'm eligible for the cycle-to-work scheme at work, which would get me up to £1000 to spend at Evans Cycles. They've also separately negotiated a 10% deal with our local Evans, so I guess the actual budget is something like £1111. Apparently you can get away with topping up the cost as well, so the budget isn't absolutely set in stone, but having said that, I don't really want to spend more than necessary just because I can get away with it .
Aaaanyway... I'm thinking of getting a touring bike - although my commute is minuscule since I moved house (about a mile each way ) I've now got the potential for lots of lovely rides close by in the south downs and along the coast. I like having a practical, versatile bike - I like to be able to carry a lot of stuff on it, tow a trailer, ride it in all weathers etc. You never know, I might eventually tour on it .
My problem is, I don't really know much about what differentiates one tourer from another; all the different types of reynolds steel, fork chromoly, chainsets, derailleurs, shifters etc are something of a mystery to me. What's the actual practical difference?
Also, what are people's opinion on bar-end shifters? I understand bar-end shifters are meant to be easier to keep working well on a long tour, but it seems to me a pain in the butt in this modern world to have to change your hand position to change gear. I mean, I used to have downtube shifters as a teenager, but things have moved on, no?
My local Evans doesn't tend to have tourers in stock, but they said they can get two or three of my choice in so that I can try them out, but I'd like to make a good choice of those three in the first place.
Any advice?
Cheers,
Tim
Aaaanyway... I'm thinking of getting a touring bike - although my commute is minuscule since I moved house (about a mile each way ) I've now got the potential for lots of lovely rides close by in the south downs and along the coast. I like having a practical, versatile bike - I like to be able to carry a lot of stuff on it, tow a trailer, ride it in all weathers etc. You never know, I might eventually tour on it .
My problem is, I don't really know much about what differentiates one tourer from another; all the different types of reynolds steel, fork chromoly, chainsets, derailleurs, shifters etc are something of a mystery to me. What's the actual practical difference?
Also, what are people's opinion on bar-end shifters? I understand bar-end shifters are meant to be easier to keep working well on a long tour, but it seems to me a pain in the butt in this modern world to have to change your hand position to change gear. I mean, I used to have downtube shifters as a teenager, but things have moved on, no?
My local Evans doesn't tend to have tourers in stock, but they said they can get two or three of my choice in so that I can try them out, but I'd like to make a good choice of those three in the first place.
Any advice?
Cheers,
Tim