Long distance European Cycling...which bike?

[BlackSwan83]

Hi everyone,
Im new to this forum so "Hello" i have some advice to ask for a future European long distance cycle and the type of bike i can get away with.
I dont have a huge deal of money and currently own a hard tail bike, i will be camping along the way so panniers will be needed but i assume a touring bike is going to be needed for this type of trip?
If so then could you recommend a faily well prices one that should be reliable enough for this type of trip.

I look forward to hearing your opinions on hardtail vs touring bike.

Kind regards

Samuel

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

How about turning your hardtail into an expedition bike? Thorn do some fantastic double crown suspension corrected forks.

 

[BlackSwan83]

Hmm, is this a simple thing to do? My hardtail bike might not have a huge distance left in it for a European trip ?

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

My brother took a sabbatical this year and cycled the length of India, north to south, on one of these...

Tyres will be heavy rolling for extended road touring, though.

 

[BlackSwan83]

Hmmm, so maybe my hardtail bike could be up for the task, i was just under the impression from reading online that a touring bike would be a must for long distance trips but at the same time i dont want to be limited to on road only if i go off the beaten track (or road)
What are your thoughts on a hardtail bike with heavy rolling types then?

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Hmmm, so maybe my hardtail bike could be up for the task, i was just under the impression from reading online that a touring bike would be a must for long distance trips but at the same time i dont want to be limited to on road only if i go off the beaten track (or road)
What are your thoughts on a hardtail bike with heavy rolling types then?

Probably overkill for European roads with a few tracks thrown in. But the bike (with a few broken spokes and pannier repairs) got my brother across India.

 

[BlackSwan83]

How far did your brother go in India?

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

How far did your brother go in India?

From Darjeeling in the NE down the length of the country to South India. I'm not sure of his overall distance - it'll be somewhere on here but I've no idea*where - http://dmorg.org/

*just found a near the end figure of 3000 km

 

[snorri]

Welcome to the forum
Touring is possible on just about any bike, but I would suggest if you want to go touring for any longer than a few weeks, then a touring bike would be more suitable than any other. You would need a bike capable of good load carrying, ie four panniers, and with mountings for bottle racks. Suspension is an added complication which you would be better without. It depends on which areas of Europe you intend to visit, but I would suspect a general purpose tyre would be more suitable as most of your trip is likely to be on paved surfaces.

 

[BlackSwan83]

Thanks for the blog link...will have a read of this tomorrow in depth looks like a worth while adventure. I guess a touring bike might be a good option as i doubt i will be offroad a lot with the panniers and kit i plan on taking. So i will go for a touring bike but dont have a big budget, second hand seems like best value for money but do you guys/girls know of any good places to look for a touring bike online? or any well known ones at good prices? Im after one that can carry a good weight and reliable over a long time. Thanks

 

[yello]

I started touring on my old 80s Deore XT cro-mo hard tail. Just locked the suspension out, put slicks and a rear rack on and away I went. Job done. Since then, I've changed the forks to rigid ones and added a front rack (plus other little changes)- but it's still a hardtail mtb.

The gearing on an mtb is ideally suited for loaded touring. The frames are bomb proof. Shimano 8spd is simple and reliable (XT particularly).... and pretty much everywhere if you need spares. For the kind of touring I do (which is holidaying by bike really, 'touring' makes it sound intrepid!), it's a perfectly functional set up.

Just go for it with what you have! What camping equipment do you have? Maybe any money would be better spent there.

 

[BlackSwan83]

Thanks for the advice My current bike is this http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-carrera-kraken-07-20130 with new suspension added in. I can pick up a bike like this http://www.bath-bike-workshop.org.uk/wordpress/?p=472 for cheap and avioud the work ? I plan on going as far as i can in a year from Roscoff heading south along the coast of Europe !

 

[oldfatfool]

What is your budget?

£500 http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/pro...raveller-13?bct=browse/bicycles/touring-bikes
£750 http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/pro...try-premier?bct=browse/bicycles/touring-bikes
£1000 http://www.ukbikesdepot.com/m115b109s860p7055/RIDGEBACK_2012_Panorama_(2012)

I have a Panorama and would highly recommend it, having said that the country premier looks a very nice bike, quite fancy disc brakes for Alpine descents.

Over £1k and your options really increase but for the price point the 3 above are excellent value imo

 

[BlackSwan83]

Hey thanks for all those links, very helpful. My budget is £500 and under really but might be able to stretch to £750 if the benefits of the premier are worth it. Now its time to start saving and getting some lightweight equipment (tents etc) also could be worth learning to to fix bikes while i wait. Any other tips for long distance cycling please just let me know

 

[oldfatfool]

Loads of tips here http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/top-touring-tips.187/

Best advice if you are planning on a long tour,

1) Get to know your bike and how to fix it, especially common/ routine maintenance items.

2) Buy cheap/ buy twice...very true, always buy the best you can when it comes to items of comfort,shorts/waterproofs/ tent/ mat/ sleeping/ bag/ shoes and especially panniers that need to take lots of abuse and remain waterproof!!

imo the premier is worth the extra.