MTB & Tourer comparison

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DaveyDave

Active Member
Hi All,
How much easier is it to ride a tourer than a mountain bike with road tyres?. I've done some touring with my Kona Lava Dome mountain bike, with road tyres and Halfords panniers & racks. However, I'm wondering how much easier the same load would travel on say a Dawes Galaxy or similar. I would have thought that thinner tyres and larger wheel would give less rolling resistance. Also, my old moutain bike is damn heavy!.

Does anybody have experience of both?.

Thanks,
Dave
 
very generally speaking, tourers have longer wheelbases and lower bottom bracket heights, which means that they are more suitable for carrying loads as they are more stable.

other than that there's probably not a lot of difference, but definitely put rigid forks on the mtb as that will save weight. tourers aren't light at all (at least mine isn't!)
 

rich p

ridiculous old lush
Location
Brighton
I have toured in my early days on an mtb with front suspension and TBH it was fine. It is better and more enjoyable with a Dawes Ultra Galaxy in terms of comfort and pannier carrying but it is possible to happily do it. As Kirstie says it would be sensible to put rigid forks on and slimm smooth tyres.
 

simoncc

New Member
Off road riding is possible on a Dawes Galaxy but you'd be best off using a good MTB. Touring is possible with an MTB but you are best off using a tourer like the Galaxy.
 
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