New to Touring! (...ish)

[Jugular]

The rental idea is appealing and I've been searching the net for places that will just rent me the bike and some kit but with very little success, abroad the cheapest I could find was Breton Bikes (~£300 each for a week = might as well buy our own bikes if we go again and Sat to Sat schedule only) in the UK I've found www.cyclescotland.co.uk which looks like just the ticket but it is the opposite end of the island and I haven't heard the prices yet.

Anyway, thanks again for everyone's help, hopefully the gf will still want to go with me after all this research online.

 

[bigjim]

I buy these multitool kits from the £1 shop. One on each bike. Have never had one break and use them in the garage all the time. Same with puncture kits.

Jim

 

[jay clock]

Lots of good comments. I have several bikes, including a Koga Miyata for touring, but I would be very happy touring on my Halfords Carerra Subway 1 - to be frank it does 99% of what the KM does but at under 15% of the price. Two of those would be under £400.

Do have a read here about my trips, and this site has tons and tons of reports and ideas www.crazyguyonabike.com/julian

Finally, the Edinburg bike is a great idea too

 

[Jugular]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the helpful suggestions, I've managed to land myself a fairly ancient Dawes Galaxy that looks in good nick, but have yet to find a good bike for my gf to ride with me. I'm having difficulty finding any Ladies tourers that look anything like as nippy and sturdy, is this just my lack of understanding and are Raleigh Pioneers and Falcons the type of thing I should be looking for?
Please reply swiftly as we're going on the 5th July!

 

[Kirstie]

Good tool kit list suggestions from everyone, but also don't forget a small bag of zip ties of varying lengths (or cable ties, whatever you call them). They can be used to fix all sorts!

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Good move buying the Galaxy, I've used one for years and been everywhere on it (well, in Britain and bits of France, anyway!). Ms RT has just upgraded to a secondhand Galaxy (ebay special, two hundred quid), but previously she went touring on a bike I built for her out of the bits box and a frame I found in someone's bin. As long as you get out and do it, that's the main thing.
Good advice from everyone else on tools too, very little I can add to that!

 

[Amanda P]

but have yet to find a good bike for my gf to ride with me. I'm having difficulty finding any Ladies tourers that look anything like as nippy and sturdy, is this just my lack of understanding and are Raleigh Pioneers and Falcons the type of thing I should be looking for?
Please reply swiftly as we're going on the 5th July!

There's no real reason why a lady needs a "ladies" tourer. A diamond frame is stiffer and easier to find than a bike with a ladies' frame, and there's no problem riding it unless your girlfriend was planning to ride in a tight skirt... (It's an appealing idea, but not very practical!)

Ladies are on average smaller than gentlemen, though, and differently proportioned (et vive la difference), so choose carefully. Galaxys tend to be quite long frames, for example, so ladies can find themselves quite stretched out on them.

Mrs Uncle Phil has an Orbit Ventura on which she's done the End to End and various other rides. She's very happy with it - it is a little large for her, but then she is very small. It may be for sale sometime, but for now, have a look here. If there's one in the right size left, you might be in luck.

 

[Kirstie]

i've got an ultragalaxy (49cm) and it is slightly long, but remedied with short reach bars - I'm 5'6" with a 30" inseam. My friend who is 5'3" tours on a specialized tricross (49cm) and it's superb, ribble also do v small frame sizes which suit. Those are the only bikes i have experience of...

 

[snorri]

Me and my gf are planning to go on a cyclecamping tour in the South West looking to go further afield in future if we like it, and I could do with all the advice I can get.

If by "the South West" you mean Cornwall and Devon, are you aware of the hilly nature of that area? I took the train to Penzance once with the intention of a couple of weeks touring there, but soon found it too hilly for me and set course for John O' Groats which was a much easier option.
If gf and you are not enthusiastic about hill climbing, then that corner of England may not be a good place to start a cycle touring career.

 

[Jugular]

Thanks for all the advice and help, we ended up winning Jayclock's daughter's old bike on eBay, a Falcon Westminster which seems to fit well, though Kat's current preference would be straight handlebars we're going to give the drops a try and change them before any future tour if she doesn't like them. I'll try and put up pictures of the bikes when we're all packed, perhaps on www.crazyguyonabike.com.
People have mentioned that the South West is very hilly but we're both quite athletic and happy to take it slow or walk up if we're too tired, part of the benefit is the sheer number of campsites, meaning if we get fed up of the long ride we can stop off and enjoy the scenery. I haven't visited the South West much so of all the areas of the country it'll be very new to me.... ok, ok, look we bought the train tickets already!

 

[Arch]

Remember you get a discount at the Eden project if you arrive by bike... Just in case you fancy that...

With regard to equipment and so on, in my experience (not huge, but I've toured a bit), there are somethings worth spending more on and some not and (with perhaps the exception of very cheap allen keys and spanner made of cheese metal), everyone has different things they prefer to spend the dosh on, and it make take a few trips for you to find out your own preferences. So don't get too hung up about it, and learn as you go.

Clothes - you can probably manage with one set of cycling clothes and one of 'evening wear' (no, not ballgowns and tuxedos!), and just rinse the cycling stuff out each evening. What you take over and above that depends on how much you care about having different outfits. I tend to take a top and a pair of fairly loose cotton trousers for the evening, stuff that rolls up small. I always end up taking one more item of clothing than I actually need, but then I'm a worrier...

 

[Jugular]

Hello again everyone, thanks for all the useful tips given before our first tour, we have now returned and I thought it would be courteous to let you know how we got on, and maybe help others with some tips.

The Route:
We went to Devon and Cornwall for our first trip, which was 5 days long, we covered 176 miles from Taunton to Plymouth via Croyde, using Sustrans 3 and 27 mostly. We attempted some decent climbs (biggest probably 800') and averaged about 8mph, which was definitely at our limit. We didn't go out there with much of a plan (return tickets to Exeter) and admit that planning in rest days and rough ideas of where we wanted to go by when (though not set in stone!) would have increased enjoyment.

Equipment:
We ended up spending alot on equipment. Not alot on bikes ~£150-200 each, but good quality panniers, clothing, cycling tools and camping gear were in the region of four times that amount altogether. Much of this is multi use (i.e. camping gear, general bike maintenance or shopping) so we don't mind so much but it's certainly a major outlay, especially when we consider how much we already owned or borrowed. Obviously once you've bought all this, holidays are cheap in future but you've got to be fairly confident you'll do it again. My plan was to make do with certain items and buy the best of the best for others such that they would last a long time and do the job excellently.

Everyone said we would love it and it would become addictive. Ok, I'd like to say we did enjoy it despite; the monsoon-like weather (a months rain in a day! It rained at some point EVERY day), the wear and tear to both our left knees (not sure why the left), the final day crash which bust my front wheel, the lack of route planning meaning late riding in search of campsites and not planning rest days for touristy things. I can't actually pinpoint what it is about cycletouring that we enjoyed but somehow it hit a spot. Addictive? We'll have to see, I'd be surprised if we tour again this year, but the plan is to tour next year and perhaps spread our wings a little. We might never recoup the expense of the holiday against alternatives but I can't say there are any regrets so far (except for crashing).

 

[Cathryn]

Glad it went okay - the weather's a shocker, isn't it!! I really like a plan to my bike tours as well, gives the trip some purpose.

Do try it again...maybe try a weekend trip when the sun is forecast, it'll make such a difference.