MTB touring UK

[LiamJC]

Im planning to do some touring on my mountain bike and am looking for some insight from anyone who has any experience with this sort of touring.

Now, I'm aware that MTB's are not good for touring (especially soft tails) having more parts to break, suspension reducing efficiency, the general size and weight of the parts etc but I'm looking to do some XCountry riding through any national parks I come across and not only that I feel at home on my bike.

I've had a rear rack custom fit to my Giant, with support now attached to the Chain stays as opposed to the seat tube itself, the rear suspension would have caused major problems.

My first trek will probably be West coast of England around Cornwall then Wales and the midlands, but not being overly familiar with English geography, I'm still sussing that out,

Any advice welcome

Liam

 

[suffolkcindy]

Check out www.crazyguyonabike.com and search mountain bike. Loads of touring blogs from people using mtb. Also i researched an off road trip of the great divide in the usa and found loads of journals about people riding thousands of miles on mtbs across country. Maybe google the great divide mtb route for inspiration?

 

[JC4LAB]

Swap your nobbly tyres for smoother Slick road tyres if you intend mostly road.use..and you this will improve your daily mileage considerably,Change em back on your return...A mountain bike without Suspension may be better for road use but if you have it than so be it..My Mountain Bike Road tyres are Swalbe Big Apple
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mtb-slick-tyres/

 

[takeonafrica]

For route through Wales, there is the Sarn Helen Trail that is 270miles all off-road north-south (Conwy to Swansea), if you like off-road MTB... I've not done it yet (although done plenty of MTB in Wales) but I have the route sorted to do later in the year. Check out http://www.mbruk.co.uk/.
An MTB will be fine. You'll just be a bit slower on the roads. I biked 3weeks in Ireland and 3weeks in Cuba on my MTB with no modifications and had a great time, especially as you can go anywhere with an MTB... but if you are planning on being on-road for the majority, I would swap your tyres for slicks.

 

[LiamJC]

Check out www.crazyguyonabike.com and search mountain bike. Loads of touring blogs from people using mtb. Also i researched an off road trip of the great divide in the usa and found loads of journals about people riding thousands of miles on mtbs across country. Maybe google the great divide mtb route for inspiration?

Thanks for the link, heaps of good reads! Should be some useful stuff on there.

For route through Wales, there is the Sarn Helen Trail that is 270miles all off-road north-south (Conwy to Swansea), if you like off-road MTB... I've not done it yet (although done plenty of MTB in Wales) but I have the route sorted to do later in the year. Check out http://www.mbruk.co.uk/.
An MTB will be fine. You'll just be a bit slower on the roads. I biked 3weeks in Ireland and 3weeks in Cuba on my MTB with no modifications and had a great time, especially as you can go anywhere with an MTB... but if you are planning on being on-road for the majority, I would swap your tyres for slicks.

Thanks for the heads up on that trail, I was looking for an interesting one through Wales and that looks like it! I was hoping to spend as much time off road as I can so I'll read up on it. Ireland would be great I'll add it to the bikeit list

Was reading the news yesterday and noticed the flooding and intense rain around wales, hopefully this is normal and not just terrible timing

 

[LiamJC]

It seems rather difficult to choose from the vast array of trails, its cool to see how much they work towards maintaining and mapping out the routes.

I figure I'll train it to Newport, then start my ride from there. I want to check out the Cwmcarn bike park. Then head West towards Swansea, Pembroke then North to Fishguard. Thanks for the help, crazyguyonabike.com was very helpful!

 

[Ticktockmy]

I use a MTB for touring, and have done for the last 15 years, and have toured through South East Asia, Africa, Europe and the UK,
Currently I use a set-up which I made up to my requirements. Many people will tell you that MTB's are not suitable for touring for one reason or the other, but you have to remember we are all different in shape and size and physical ability, thus the reason I build up my set-up.

Firstly, my thoughts are that you need a hardtail for touring, mainly because a fully susser will suck up some of your pedalling energy, some will tell you not to use front suspension as it increases the weight of the bike, which is a fair comment if you are worried about the weight but I personally like to use suspension on the front because i like to tour using off road tracks as well as Tarmac roads and it easy to lock the suspension when on road The other problem can be getting a rear rack which allows you to hang your panniers far enough back so your heels do not run on the Panniers, on my set-up I just changed the Klik fittings so the pannier was setback enough to stop my heels rubbing.

I made my Mountain bike up to so suit my own requirements for pottering around on the trails and byways and also for touring:
Charge Duster 2010 frame, (has bigger diameter tubes than the Duster 2011 frame)
RockShox Recon Silver TK Solo Air 100mm Suspension Fork
Hope Tech X2 Disc Brake front and rear.
Truvativ Noir XC 3.3 Team Triple Chainset.( got it for £90 so could not miss such a good bargain)
Shimano XT M770 Derailleur and levers front and rear..
Race Face Evolve MTB Handlebar
Charge Spoon saddle
Mavic Crossride XC717 front wheeL
Halo SAS Pro 26 Inch Rear Mtb Wheel (heavy wheel but great for when I am touring off road fully laden)
Old man mountain Sherpa racks on the front and rear.
Current tyres are Schwalbe Marathon XR's for touring otherwise when not set up for touring: I use Panaracer Fire XC Pro's

 

[Crankarm]

Hardtail would be best IMHO unless you anticipate riding really rough terrain in which case a full susp MTB may be better but you probably wouldn't want too much weight in your panniers as this would effect handling, manoeuvrability and balance. Only down side with "modern" MTBs is the high head tube due to suspension forks meaning even with flat bars and flipped stem the height of hands is quite high which may be an issue for you if you are used to riding road bikes which typically have lower handle bars and thus hand positions.

But in essence MTB touring is no different to any other bike touring. If you are riding a lot on tarmac then consider slicks or at least narrower 1.5 -1.6 inch tyres as opposed to 2 - 2.25 inches which take a lot of effort to push along by comparison and will add more weight as they are heavier. A MTB tourer will come into it's own on rough tracks and really poor surfaces where you can make use of the front susp fork and 26" wheels which will take more abuse than 700C. Also if road riding you might find you spin out more readily as the big chain ring is typically only 44T with 12-14T rear sprocket on (26") 599mm wheels/tyres.

 

[Bodhbh]

Where are you? One of the long distance trails like the South Downs Way or the Ridgeway seems like a natural thing to give a go first. Both are about 80-100miles and good for weekend trips, also good for tweeking your setup.

Loads of people use them and as said above it's not hard to fit slicks/semi-slicks or rigid forks/lock them out. There are several racks you can use with disks and/or suss forks too (Tubus, Old Man Mountain, probably some others). MTB gearing is perfect for touring with camping gear too.

 

[LiamJC]

thanks for all the replies, lots of good info!

I'm starting in Cardiff, heading to South West area of Brecon Beacons Nat Park, hopefully set up at one of the hostels around there and spend a few days exploring around and also Afan Park which I can't wait for. I'm using a full suss, probably not the best option but I want to ride alot of trails (after dropping off my stuff at a hostel). My idea is to wander from MTB spot to spot, I also want to spend a bit of time along the Pembrokeshire coast, which kind of looks as if I'll be using more road, so I may have to look into getting some slicker tyres as a number of people have suggested, cheers!

I use a MTB for touring, and have done for the last 15 years, and have toured through South East Asia, Africa, Europe and the UK,
Currently I use a set-up which I made up to my requirements. Many people will tell you that MTB's are not suitable for touring for one reason or the other, but you have to remember we are all different in shape and size and physical ability, thus the reason I build up my set-up.

I made my Mountain bike up to so suit my own requirements for pottering around on the trails and byways and also for touring:
Charge Duster 2010 frame, (has bigger diameter tubes than the Duster 2011 frame)
RockShox Recon Silver TK Solo Air 100mm Suspension Fork
Hope Tech X2 Disc Brake front and rear.
Truvativ Noir XC 3.3 Team Triple Chainset.( got it for £90 so could not miss such a good bargain)
Shimano XT M770 Derailleur and levers front and rear..
Race Face Evolve MTB Handlebar
Charge Spoon saddle
Mavic Crossride XC717 front wheeL
Halo SAS Pro 26 Inch Rear Mtb Wheel (heavy wheel but great for when I am touring off road fully laden)
Old man mountain Sherpa racks on the front and rear.
Current tyres are Schwalbe Marathon XR's for touring otherwise when not set up for touring: I use Panaracer Fire XC Pro's

thanks for the info, its good to get a look at what sort of set up others have toured with! I've got a Giant Anthem X3, the rack I've got fits two smaller panniers and a Vango Banshee 200 tent, well clear of my heels thankfully.

Thanks bod, there are so many different trails to use, wasn't sure where to start. Ill check those out, probably adapt them to fit in a few MTB parks.

Heading off tomorow so I'll be learning pretty quickly what the next 2 weeks has in store for me

 

[superbadger]

Good luck with the trip, Your prbly on the road already; Mine is a basic Rigid MTB and I turned it into a tourer; Last year I biked from Leigh,Lancashire to Cromer,Norfolk and back(470 miles) and last month I toured North Wales and Anglesey but stopped at Llanberis,stripped the bike down,cycled up and down Mount Snowdon! Then headed home(316 miles). Heres my trip http://superbadger1973.blogspot.co....d-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=1