First touring bike

[yashicamat]

Good afternoon all,

After much uhhming and ahhing I've decided to start scraping pennies for a touring bike. The bike will be used for a mixture of commuting and touring - the latter is something I've done on a handful of occasions in the past on a mildy tweaked mountain bike (just lightweight 3 day tours though and youth hostelling). I'd like to get into touring a bit more though, especially camping as well.

The old mountain bike I used to use as a tourer has now bitten the dust so rather than buy a cheap mountain bike and repeat the process (I've since aquired a Rockhopper Comp so I have no intention of cobbling that one into a tourer) I think a proper touring bike would be the way forwards.

From what people have told me, a steel frame is best (for comfort apparently?) and it's best to avoid STI levers (something to do with complexity and reliability on a tour? I'm not entirely up to speed with road bike gear shifters, STI, bar ends etc. - although I've used non-indexed drop bar shifters before now). A bike I keep on hear being mentioned is a Dawes Galaxy - the only thing I'm very slightly hesitant about is the cost at £1150 being the cheapest I can see. The next one down, the Horizon, seems to be slated a bit compared to the Galaxy, which makes me wonder if it's a case of just waiting a bit longer and taking the plung when I've scraped the extra cash together.

So basically I am looking for a reccomendation on a touring bike, ideally no more than £800 but if there is sufficient justification to edge towards Galaxy terrain then I may be persuaded.

Thanks all and I apologise that this is a bit of a lengthly post for my first!

Cheers

Rob

 

[Gerry Attrick]

No personal experience, but at your budget, I believe the Revolution Country Tourer from Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operatives ticks all the boxes. As far as STI versus bar-end etc. is concerned, I think personal preference comes in. One thing is that bar-end levers leave more room for a bar bag if you want one.

Check this out: http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/comms/srv.a4d?f_pg=site_sizing/revolution-country.htm&f_cardinal=3

 

[yashicamat]

Thanks Gerry. I'll check that one out.

I've also noticed that the Hewitt Cheviot SE gets a lot of thumbs up on here. Leyland is also only an hour away from here . . .

 

[style over speed]

Wiggle have the Surly LHT for just over your budget (£879 plus £50 of wiggle goods) I built one from a frame earlier this year and have been very pleased with it. The fully built bike is good value compared to buying all the components. Its steel, rock solid to ride and can carry a good weight... I've been tempted to buy another one to use as a commuter... if you look in the touring section of http://www.bikeforums.net/ there's lots of info on them.

 

[HelenD123]

Wiggle have the Surly LHT for just over your budget (£879 plus £50 of wiggle goods) I built one from a frame earlier this year and have been very pleased with it. The fully built bike is good value compared to buying all the components. Its steel, rock solid to ride and can carry a good weight... I've been tempted to buy another one to use as a commuter... if you look in the touring section of http://www.bikeforums.net/ there's lots of info on them.

That's a good call. I've seen quite a few people on Crazyguyonabike with them doing seriously long distance tours.

Don't worry about compatibility of STIs with a bar bag. I fitted one no problem on my Ultra Galaxy.

 

[yashicamat]

Just had a look at the Surly LHT. Looks quite good although unless I'm missing something, the price I found on Wiggle was £999 + £50 free goodies.

The other thing I noticed is that it doesn't appear to come with either rack (s) or mudguards. That's another £60 ish at least I should think, although I am pretty sure I have an old alloy rear rack knocking about somewhere.

 

[HelenD123]

You could join the CTC for £36 then take advantage of the 10% off through the CTC shop which is run by Wiggle and get it for £899.99 plus £50 of free stuff which would go a long way towards your rack and mudguards.

 

[style over speed]

Just had a look at the Surly LHT. Looks quite good although unless I'm missing something, the price I found on Wiggle was £999 + £50 free goodies.

The other thing I noticed is that it doesn't appear to come with either rack (s) or mudguards. That's another £60 ish at least I should think, although I am pretty sure I have an old alloy rear rack knocking about somewhere.

sorry, i think they apply a discount the more you spend in the year before, hence it showing at a different price when I looked. This is what it shows me:

Get £50 of free goods with this bike
List price£999.99
SAVE 12% = £120.00
Your Platinum Price: £879.99

 

[PackDonkey]

Tongue in cheek - you COULD get by like this.............

 

[Amanda P]

On the matter of STI levers - many tourists do avoid them, for several reasons:

• If you're using narrowish drop bars or a bulky handlebar bag, the gear cables growing out of the sides of the levers can be a problem.
  
• If they break in the middle of the Gobi desert, you're stuffed. (And they do occasionally break, and are a bit vulnerable to clumsy airline baggage handlers in a way that down-tube levers aren't).
  
• Tourists are a conservative lot, and if it doesn't break, they won't fix it. Down-tube levers or bar-end levers don't, by and large, break, so some folk are using the same kit they've had since 1978.

If you're not conservative, not planning to fly anywhere and don't plan to use a handlebar bag, you'll be very happy with them.

I and Paul Hewitt like the Shimergo solution: Shimano gears with Campag levers. There are various combinations that work perfectly well together, and the Campag levers have all the cables tucked away under the bar tape. I also think Campag's levers are more comfy and better-looking than Shimanos, but that's just me. I've used this arrangement for years on two bikes (although I have fallen victim to the clumsy baggage handler thing).

You won't go wrong with a Hewitt.

 

[yashicamat]

Had a look at some bikes today in Bicycle Doctor in Manchester. They're going to build up a Surly LHT so I can have a play at the weekend. Their price is the same as Wiggle before the discount, i.e., £999.99. Question is do I splash out the extra dosh and buy one from a shop (where I'll get 3 free services & the support) or do I save the money and buy one online . . hmmm.

 

[HelenD123]

Had a look at some bikes today in Bicycle Doctor in Manchester. They're going to build up a Surly LHT so I can have a play at the weekend. Their price is the same as Wiggle before the discount, i.e., £999.99. Question is do I splash out the extra dosh and buy one from a shop (where I'll get 3 free services & the support) or do I save the money and buy one online . . hmmm.

If you can afford it, buy from the local shop. It'll be much easier if you have any problems. If you talk to them nicely they might throw in some extras like the mudguards and/or rack.